Methods of Basic Divination (1)

While researching various forms of basic divination, I became amazed at people’s creativity and attention to detail. It seems to me that people will use anything to divine with.

From The Skeptic’s Dictionary, I uncovered an extensive list. Here is a sampling:
• aeluromancy (dropping wheat cakes in water and interpreting the result)
• aeromancy or acromancy (divination by examining what the air does to certain things)
• alphitomancy (dropping barley cakes in water and interpreting the result)
• axinomancy (divination by the hatchet: interpreting the quiver when whacked into a table)
• belomancy (divination by arrows)
• botanomancy (divination by herbs)
• capnomancy (divination by the smoke of an altar or sacrificial incense)
• chalcomancy (by vessels of brass or other metal)
• cleidomancy (divination by interpreting the movements of a key suspended by a thread from the nail of the third finger on a young virgin's hand while one of the Psalms was recited)
• coscinomancy (divination by a balanced sieve)
• cromniomancy (divination by onions)
• daphnomancy (divination using the laurel branch: how did it crackle when burned?)
• gyromancy (divination by walking around a circle of letters until dizzy and one falls down on the letters or in the direction to take)
• kapnomancy (by smoke)
• koskinomancy (by sieves)
• krithomancy (by corn or grain)
• lampadomancy (interpreting the movements of the flame of a lamp)
• libanomancy or knissomancy (interpreting the smoke of incense)
• lecanomancy (dropping precious stones into water and listening for whistles)
• macharomancy (by knives and swords)
• myrmomancy (divination by watching ants eating)
• oinomancy (divination by wine)
• onomancy (divination by names)
• onychomancy (interpreting the reflection of sun rays off fingernails)
• ornithomancy or orniscopy (interpreting the flights of birds)
• pyromancy or pyroscopy (divination by fire)
• rhapsodmancy (divination by a line in a sacred book that strikes the eye when the book is opened after the diviner prays, meditates or invokes the help of spirits)
• sideromancy (interpreting straws thrown on a red-hot iron)
• theriomancy (divination by beasts)
• tiromancy (interpreting the holes or mold in cheese)
• tyromancy (by cheese)
• urim v'tumim (reading sacred stones attached to the breastplate of the high priest in ancient Judaism)
• uromancy (divination by reading bubbles made by urinating in a pot)
(Source: Carroll, Robert, “Divination”, The Skeptic’s Dictionary)