Hieromancy - Predicting the Future by Observing Objects of Sacrifice

Divination is much more than a simply foretelling of future events; in its original sense it also included discovery of what is hidden or obscure by supernatural or magical means. While most forms of divination were harmless in that they involved studying of natural phenomenon or physical objects for signs and omens, some were particularly brutal and one of these was hieromancy.

Hieromancy is divination by observing objects of sacrifice. Seers would notice the behavior and the movements of the animal or human being sacrificed — how they move in their death throes, how the blood flows and the shape the eventually lifeless form takes – in order to draw inferences about future events or seek answers to pertinent questions. The term is derived from ancient Greek where ‘hieros’ means holy while ‘manteia’ refers to divination. In the sense of the etymological origins of the term,  hieromancy also includes foretelling of future events from an examination of sacred things offered during sacrifice like for instance incense, flowers and anything else used in a religious and ritualistic context.

Not much is known about when and where hieromancy originated even though it seemed to have been commonly used for divination in ancient Greece and Rome where it may have been used alongside other associated forms of divination like haruspicy and anthropomancy. The former is a kind of hieromancy which used sacrificial animals for the purpose of divination. In this procedure, the entrails of the animal would be cut open and the shape, color and other details of the organs examined as ways of drawing omens for the future. For instance if the organs of the sacrificed animal were diseased or placed in an abnormal way, then it would mean that the gods were not propitiated which in turn could either mean the coming of misfortune or that the supplicant’s favor would be dismissed by the gods. On the other hand if the seer found the organs of the sacrificed animal to be in a healthy condition, he was likely to draw favorable omens for the future.

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When hieromancy was performed with humans as objects of sacrifice, it became a form of anthropomancy. If the victim of the sacrifice put up a fight while approaching the sacrificial altar, escaped the stroke of the axe, did not die at first instance or did not bleed freely, or if the victims’ organs were found to be defective or the heart not big enough, it was thought that the gods were unwilling to grant good fortune. Sometimes in anthropomancy the viscera of the victim would be opened up and organs like the spleen, liver, heart, important blood vessels as well those of respiratory and digestive order would be read as symbols of the future in which case the practice shared many aspects of haruspicy or haruspication. Apart from living objects, hieromancy also included the studying of the appearance of inanimate objects after having been offered in sacrifice.

Such objects would have been those commonly used in magical and religious rituals. It was also important that the sacrifice for the purpose of hieromancy be conducted in the right manner and accompanied by proper chants for the divination to be successful.