Bibliomancy, the art of guessing the future using books

There was a time when books had a greater purpose than to convey knowledge to the reader. In the Roman Empire the so-called Bibliomancy or Sticomancy arose, the art of searching the future through books.

However, although it originated in the Roman Empire, the practice of bibliomancy became popular in the Middle Ages, both in Europe and in the Middle East. However, for these rites, not just any book was useful as in the Roman Empire, but at this time they used certain books. Historically, The Bible has always been the book of choice of the bibliomancers to determine the future, although classics such as Virgil's Aeneid or some texts by Homer have also been used.

Where does the word Bibliomancy come from?

Bibliomancy comes from the Greek Biblio (book in Spanish) and Manteia (guess in Spanish).

How does Bibliomancy work?

Bibliomancy is generally known as the rite in which a book is opened at random and the first paragraph of the page is interpreted. However, there are two different methods to carry out this ritual: the direct and the indirect method.

At direct method, the bibliomancer was in charge of being guided and opening the book on the appropriate page. To be more specific, the bibliomancer kept his eyes closed as he searched for the correct page to aid him in his divination. In this method, the bibliomancer could also ask the interested party to open the book himself.

On the other hand, in the indirect method nature is used. In this case the bibliomancer opens the book exactly in half and leaves it out in the open so that the wind is in charge of passing the leaves and determine which paragraph will be used for interpretation.

Is Bibliomancy practiced today?

Although it is not so common to hear about Bibliomancy today, there are still people who use it. In this case classics or some other book with which the interested party feels a certain affinity are used.

This practice can also be carried out autonomously, however it is considered that the expectations of the interested party can influence the interpretation and make the prediction worthless.