Augurista

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A diviner defined by media, bird signs and a hostile evaluation.

In the book. Berillus and Berillistica provide related mirror or crystal vocabulary.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 8; facsimile PDF page 336.

Historical Definition

Augurista is a superstitious practitioner who works with looking-glasses, crystals and waters, and especially with the singing and flight of birds, to foretell events. The practitioner also observes other rites for the same purpose.

Meaning

The entry does two things: it describes practices and judges them superstitious. Its media include reflective or transparent objects and water, while bird song and flight receive particular emphasis. Those concrete details identify the kind of practitioner intended more clearly than a general replacement such as “magician.”

The judgement belongs to the historical dictionary’s voice. Our explanation preserves it as evidence of how the author separates accepted from rejected kinds of knowledge. A term can be technically informative and polemical at the same time. The dictionary does not present a neutral taxonomy of every practitioner it names.

Use in the Book

Berillus and Berillistica provide related mirror or crystal vocabulary. Divinatio and Sortilegium open neighbouring categories of foretelling. Their comparison can reveal the differences among media, methods and evaluations within the book.

Places to Read

Berillus. A divinatory looking-glass described with a critical judgement.

Berillistica. A practice of viewing visions in the glasses described under Berillus.

Divinatio. A general term for foretelling.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 8; facsimile PDF page 336 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Augurista ; compare Berillus, Berillistica, Divinatio, Sortilegium

See also. Berillus; Berillistica; Divinatio; Sortilegium