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(6) AEROMANCY

What the thunder said.

Aeromancy is not so much divination from the classical element of air, given that air is invisible and intangible of itself, but more divination from atmospheric conditions or weather.

As such, it has a long pedigree in history. Obviously, humans have always been concerned with atmospheric conditions or weather, albeit perhaps more to divine those atmospheric conditions or weather themselves rather than divining other things from them – particularly for agriculture.

Still, the sky and weather readily lend themselves to expressions or perceptions of the divine or supernatural reality – storms particularly so. Even now, for me one of the primary aspects of modernity is how we have harnessed the divine power of lightning for our own use, as our prehistoric ancestors harnessed the divine power of fire.

Yet again, there’s probably enough variations of aeromancy for their own top ten, but I’ll focus on those corresponding to different atmospheric or weather conditions.

Anemomancy or austromancy – divination by wind (depending on whether one goes by the Greek or Latin root for wind)

Ceraunomancy – divination by thunder and lightning. Of course, one can divide that further into divination by lightning or astropomancy, and divination by thunder or brontomancy.

Nephomancy – divination by clouds, no doubt replicating much of that favorite childhood game of seeing shapes in clouds, as humanity was also to do with the stars (but more on that later).

Wikipedia also lists chaomancy for divination by aerial visions, and uranomancy for divination by the sky, in its long list of methods of divination, but these would seem to largely correspond with one or another of the above.

As a method of divination, aeromancy would appear to be almost as versatile as hydromancy, particularly in combination of all its variations, although similarly lacking quite the same potency for visions as pyromancy. On the other hand, divination by thunder or lighting would seem more dramatic than hydromancy – similarly to the use of thunder or lightning as effects in stage or film.

As a school of magic, aeromancy would seem similar in versatility to hydromancy, particularly if one extends it through all atmospheric or weather conditions, although they also seem to overlap in such things as clouds, fog, mist, rain, sleet and snow.

I always thought that the airbenders in Avatar were unfairly nerfed to being essentially just windbenders – anemomancers or austromancers rather than true aeromancers in our parlance of mancy. At very least, I call shenanigans in the series giving lightning to firebenders.

Indeed, there are few things in nature with such raw elemental power as storms, up there with tsunamis (for hydromancers) or volcanic eruptions and earthquakes (for pyromancers and our next entry).

Similarly to pyromancy and hydromancy, aeromancy becomes even more potent if one extends it to sound, or more metaphorical uses of air as a medium such as breath (including the breath of life) and voice.

RATING: 4 STARS****
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(7) HYDROMANCY

Glug glug glug…

But seriously, hydromancy or divination by water has one of the longest pedigrees of any method of divination, no doubt reflecting the importance of water for human survival or life in general, and of bodies of water to human civilization or societies.

Divination by water should be distinguished from divination for water, most famously that of dowsing – or attempting to divine the location of water, typically wells or other underground bodies of water.

Just as divination for water tends towards forms of dowsing, divination by water or hydromancy tends towards forms of scrying by looking at water or bodies of water, particularly those identified as divine or sacred.

Think Galadriel’s Mirror in The Lord of the Rings – except why couldn’t it have been Galadriel’s Jacuzzi? I’m sure I’d have had many meaningful visions, particularly with Galadriel in it.

The permutations of hydromancy are almost endless, including observations of color, ebb or flow, tides or currents, ripples from pebbles or other objects cast into water, or the movement (or flotation) of objects in water.

Again, one could probably squeeze out enough drops of hydromancy for their own top ten within my top ten, but I’ll just mention two here as worthy of distinction – cryomancy or divination by ice or snow, and hydatomancy or divination by rain or rainwater. To which I’d add my own invention of flotsamancy and jetsamancy, for divination by flotsam and jetsam.

As a method of divination, hydromancy would appear to be as or even more versatile than pyromancy, although perhaps lacking quite the same potency for visions, at least from burning particular substances.

As a school of magic, hydromancy would similar seem more versatile than pyromancy – particularly if one extends it throughout all forms of water from snow and ice to clouds or mist, not to mention the full volume of it as the surface area of our planet and within our bodies or all life (in the style of blood-bending within water-bending in the Avatar series), even more so if one extended it in more metaphorical senses of cleansing, healing and life. Or ebb and flow, rhythm and tides – in the style of the metaphorical comparison of the Tao to water.

RATING: 4 STARS****
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(8) PYROMANCY

Burn, baby, burn!

But seriously, we come to the first of the four classical elements, with pyromancy as divination by fire or flames.

Similarly to somatomancy and theriomancy, it is likely that pyromancy was one of the first methods of divination in human history or prehistory, reflecting the importance of fire itself in human prehistory.

Fire was the first major human tool or technology – game-changing in the power it gave humans to change or shape their environment (and indeed themselves, by the ability to cook or prepare food), such that it might be compared to the Industrial Revolution. And that’s before its use in other technologies that might be similarly compared to the Industrial Revolution, such as pottery or smelting. For that matter, the Industrial Revolution itself revolved around combustion – and much of human technology before and since might be compared, literally and figuratively, to humanity holding up its flaming torch in the clearing it has made for itself with fire or combustion.

SF writer Arthur C. Clarke famously observed that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Typically, we tend to apply that to our contemporary technology or projections from it, but it has also applied to technological thresholds in our history or prehistory – the use or smelting of metal for one was often compared to magic, and even more so fire itself, portrayed as magic or even divine.

“The most basic form of pyromancy is that in which the diviner observes flames, from a sacrificial fire, a candle, or another source of flame, and interprets the shapes that he or she sees within them”. However, there are several variations on pyromancy, particularly when combined with burning or casting particular substances into fire (such as salt, in one variation of alomancy or divination by salt).

There’s probably enough variations of pyromancy for yet another top ten within my top ten, but I’ll just go with some major ones here – capnomancy or divination by smoke (or movements of smoke), causimancy (or causinomancy or causimomancy) and empyromancy or divination by burning, and lampadomancy or divination by a flame or flames.

Shoutout also to carromancy (divination by melting wax) and ceromancy (divination by dripping wax in water) – which I would like to adapt to my obsession with lava lamps (lavomancy?)

As a method of divination, pyromancy would seem to have considerable potency and versatility – particularly if one combines it with visions from burning, ahem, particular substances, or smoke inhalation.

As a school of magic, it would seem to be powerful but limited in versatility – pretty much like the school of evocation in Dungeons and Dragons. Sure, it feels reassuring to stride into a dungeon loaded up with fireball spells to shoot from your fingertips, but there’s not much else one can do with that except, well, shoot fire from your fingertips.

On the other hand, one can imagine pyromancers being at the forefront of fantasy Industrial Revolutions – as firebenders and the Fire Nation were in the animated Avatar series. Also, pyromancy becomes somewhat broader if one extends it to other forms of energy, heat and light, particularly in more metaphorical senses (such as life energy or heat of passion).

RATING: 4 STARS****
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