Xylomancy - Predicting the Future from Pieces of Dry Wood

Divination as a way of foretelling the future goes back to the time when human beings first tried to read in nature the sign of things to come. Trees and forests formed the natural surroundings of early man and thus it is no surprise that many forms of divination were based on these aspects of nature, xylomancy being one of them.

Xylomancy is a form of divination that interprets the future from pieces of wood, both from their shape when collected as well as the changes in appearance as they are burnt. The term is derived from ancient Greek words, xulon which means wood and manteia which refers to divination. The shape, color, thickness and the size of the branches and logs along with their position and formation on the ground are among the many aspects taken into consideration by the diviners in order to draw prophecies for the future.

In historical documents, xylomancy is frequently mentioned as a common form of divination in Slovenia. According to this, omens for the future were read according to the shape and position of dry pieces of wood found in one`s path. If a branch of a tree fell suddenly in one’s way, then it meant that a surprise was in store for the person who experienced the clue. Along with such occurrences, the patterns made by fallen tree limbs, branches, twigs, or other pieces of wood on the ground were interpreted as an indication of things to come.

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In the earliest practice of xylomancy, only branches that had fallen naturally were used for the purpose of divination, so as to remove the possibility of personal human motives in the interpretation of signs. However in a later system, branches were stripped off half of their bark and tossed to the ground to form random patterns which were then interpreted by diviners as portents for the future.

A variation of xylomancy involved observing the appearance of logs and twigs as they burnt and then interpreting them as a sign of things to come. The way the logs were arranged in the fireplace and their movements when they burnt was also invested with symbolic significance in many cultures. Thus according to Lewis Spence’s encyclopedia of occultism, “ it is perhaps a survival of this mode of divination which makes the good people say, when a brand is disturbed that they are going to have a visitor”. In this sense, xylomancy shares some features with botanomancy in which is diviners look to the shapes made in wood and leaf fires to discern future events.

Vestiges of this practice of xylomancy survive even today in certain folklore, the most significant of which is the tradition and customs associated with the Yule log. This refers to a large and extremely hard log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures.  It was believed that the log's role was primarily one of bringing prosperity and protection from evil - by keeping the remnant of the log all the yearlong, the protection was said to remain across the year.  The log was originally an entire tree that was carefully chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony with the purpose being to provide maximum warmth and endurance. In some European traditions, the largest end of the log would be placed into the fire hearth while the rest of the tree stuck out into the room.

The Yule log has frequently been associated with having its origins in the historical Germanic paganism which was practiced across northern Europe prior to Christianization.

James George Frazer in his work on anthropology, The Golden Bough holds that "the ancient fire-festival of the winter solstice appears to survive" in the Yule log custom while other writers like Swedish folklorist Carl Wilhelm von Sydow claimed that the Yule log had never had any religious significance, and was instead simply a festive decoration with practical uses. The tradition of the Yule log was discontinued as large fireplaces became an increasingly rarer feature of the average living room; but the actual log was eventually replaced by the practice of baking and serving log-shaped Christmas cakes at the festival time.

Xylomancy has even found a way into popular culture through the immensely successful Harry Potter movies based on the books about the boy-wizard written by K. K. Rowling. Xylomancy is mentioned as a subject taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This class is seen on Harry Potter's class timetable in the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. However, this cannot be considered canon, as it is not listed among potter’s subjects in the book, and he would not take divination until his third year.

In the end the popularity of xylomancy in ancient times and its continuation in some folklore today can be attributed to the fact that trees have always been invested with symbolic significance. Wood fairies and tree-spirits were one aspect of these while in certain cultures, trees were worshipped as divine beings; thus it is only natural that they form a part of some of the most important methods of divination.