Bibliomancy

Bibliomancy is a form of divination that seeks to know the future by randomly selecting a passage from a book, frequently a sacred text.

Related Topics:
Divination - Book - Sacred text

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The most common procedure involves placing the book on its spine, and with eyes closed, allowing the book to fall open to a random page. Then, with the eyes still closed place a finger on the open page and read the passage indicated.

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Among Christians, the Bible is most commonly used, and in Moslem cultures the Qur'an. In the middle ages the use of Virgil's Aeneid was common in Europe and known as the sortes Virgilianae.

Related Topics:
Bible - Qur'an - Virgil - Aeneid - Europe

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At the acclamation of Martin as bishop of Tours (371) a few cast aspersions, largely for his lack of personal glamor. According to the Vita by Sulpicius Severus,

Related Topics:
Martin as bishop of Tours - Sulpicius Severus

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:it so happened that the reader, whose duty it was to read in public that day, being blocked out by the people, failed to appear, the officials falling into confusion, while they waited for him who never came, one of those standing by, laying hold of the Psalter, seized upon the first verse which presented itself to him. Now, the Psalm ran thus: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise because of thine enemies, that thou mightest destroy the enemy and the avenger." On these words being read, a shout was raised by the people, and the opposite party were confounded. It was believed that this Psalm had been chosen by Divine ordination.

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Because book owners frequently have favorite passages that the books open themselves to, some practitioners use dice or another randomiser to choose the page to be opened. This practice was formalised by the use of coins or yarrow stalks in consulting the I Ching. Tarot is also a form of bibliomancy, the main difference that the pages (cards) are unbound.

Related Topics:
I Ching - Tarot

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Another variant requires the selection of a random book from a library before selecting the random passage from that book. This also holds if a book has fallen down from a shelf on its own.

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Bibliomancy is another term for Stichomancy, which means "divination from lines." Some sources refer to bibliomancy as a specialised form of stichomancy, since they think that the "biblio" in bibliomancy refers to the Bible rather than understanding that it refers to books in general.

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