A Chymical Dictionary

Hydromancy

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Foretelling through manifestations associated with water.

In the book. Geomancy gives the parallel language of stars of the earth manifesting themselves as grounds for presaging.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353.

Historical Definition

Hydromancy is an art drawn from the stars of water when they manifest themselves to people, as in unusual inundations and similar events.

Meaning

The entry relates an art of interpretation to stars of water and their manifestations. Unusual inundations are an example, rather than an exhaustive list of signs. The subject is consequently a historical account of presaging through water, not simply the use of water in an operation.

“Stars of water” should remain visible. The definition does not replace them with an explanation of the physical causes of floods. Its interest lies in what a manifestation is taken to signify to a human observer.

Use in the Book

Geomancy gives the parallel language of stars of the earth manifesting themselves as grounds for presaging. Pyromancy names an art of foretelling by fire. Essodinum concerns presaging through marks. These comparisons make clear how the dictionary groups signs through different media without supplying one complete system of divination.

Places to Read

Essodinum. Foretelling by interpreting marks.

Geomancy. Earthly signs interpreted through the language of stars and presages.

Pyromancy. Divination through the signs of fire.

In This Edition

The modernised definition preserves the example and its unusual character. It does not turn an ordinary water event into an asserted prediction or add unmentioned rules for interpreting one.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Hydromancy

See also. Essodinum; Geomancy; Pyromancy