Free The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter by Allan Zola Kronzek, Elizabeth Kronzek Page B

toward the past as well as the future. They were frequently asked to find lost objects, identify thieves, discover the whereabouts of missing persons, and locate buried treasure (centuries ago, when banks were few and far between, many people buried their valuables in a hole in the ground, a practice which led others to try to locate them and dig them up). Ordinary folks were also able to practice some do-it-yourself divination, which they learned from the cheap illustrated booklets on palmistry, astrology, and other subjects that could be purchased as early as the sixteenth century. For the most part, however, divination remained in the hands of professionals who claimed to have information, training, and “a gift” not available to others.
    Two additional systems of divination were added to the fortuneteller’s arsenal in later centuries. Cartomancy—divination using playing cards—was developed around the mid-seventeenth century, about 150 years after playing cards first appeared in Europe, and soon became the trademark system of wandering gypsy fortune-tellers. Tasseomancy—divination by tea leaves—although practiced in China from about the sixth century, did not appear in Europe until the mid-eighteenth century. These new systems quickly became quite popular, perhaps because card playing and tea drinking were already part of everyday life. Although many ancient systems of divination have now been abandoned, all of those taught at Hogwarts remain in use to this day.

 
    Hundreds of systems of divination have been devised over the centuries. Here are a few of our favorites.
    AEROMANCY : Rather than forecasting the weather, in this ancient system of divination the weather is the forecaster. Believers saw omens of the future revealed in atmospheric conditions such as thunder, lightning, the shapes of clouds, the direction and strength of the wind, and the presence of halos around the sun or moon. Aeromancy was practiced by the priests of Babylonia and is one of the oldest divinatory systems.
    ALECTROMANCY : A rooster ( alektor in Greek) was the key to this ancient form of divination. The letters of the alphabet were drawn within a large circle and grains of wheat placed on each letter. The order in which the rooster ate the grains spelled out a message. If the words made no sense the diviner interpreted them. Grains were immediately replaced as they were consumed so that any given letter could appear as many times as the message required.
    ALOMANCY : In many parts of the world, salt was once believed to have magical properties. In this system of divination, the practitioner would toss a handful of salt onto a surface and then interpret the patterns that appeared. This ancient practice may be related to the superstitions that spilling salt is unlucky, or that tossing it over one’s shoulder, usually the left shoulder, brings good luck or deters bad.
    APANTOMANCY : Chance encounters with animals were once believed to be full of meaning. In medieval Europe, accidentally meeting up with a goat or a hare foretold imminent good luck, especially if the hare was escaping from hounds. Seeing a bat, a raven, or an ass foretold ill. Interpretations of the same encounter vary among cultures. In the United States, a black cat crossing one’s path is often considered a sign of bad luck, while in Britain it can have the opposite meaning.
    ASTRAGALOMANCY : Divination by throwing dice dates back to ancient Egypt, and many systems have been passed down through the centuries. (In case you’re wondering where it got its name, it’s from the Greek word astragalos , which refers to the knucklebone or vertebra of an animal, the original material from which dice were made.) A simple system, explained in a medieval booklet, involved three dice. Tossing three sixes meant your wishes would come true. Two sixes and a two indicated success, but with hardship. A six and two fours meant forget it—what you wished for was a bad idea and should