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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

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A Chymical DictionaryChaomancy

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Chaomancy

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 603

Chaomancy

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Divination in which the air supplies the signs.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341.

Historical Definition

Chaomancy is the art of foretelling through the air.

Meaning

The definition identifies the medium of the practice. It does not specify one kind of cloud, colour, wind or vision, so those distinctions must come from the passage being read. The subject is foretelling by signs, rather than a general study of the air’s material properties.

Austromantia narrows attention to winds and adds a strongly critical judgement, while Hydromancy and Pyromancy name neighbouring practices through water and fire. The set is useful for navigating the dictionary’s divination terms without assuming that all use the same signs or receive exactly the same evaluation.

Places to Read

Austromantia. Wind divination presented through a strongly critical description.

Hydromancy. Foretelling through manifestations associated with water.

Pyromancy. Divination through the signs of fire.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Chaomancy ; compare Austromantia, Hydromancy, Pyromancy, Geomancy

See also. Austromantia; Hydromancy; Pyromancy; Geomancy

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About This Reading Edition

The complete 706 historical definitions of the 1650 English dictionary, modernised and accompanied by expanded Diotimos commentary, reading routes, 15 textual notes and complete linked indexes.

Historical Text

A Chymicall Dictionary, London 1650, English version associated with John French, based on Gerhard Dorn’s Dictionarium Theophrasti Paracelsi. The containing volume also prints Sendivogius and Paracelsus; neither neighboring work changes this dictionary’s attribution.

About This Edition

Complete 706 definition paragraphs with new introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes; Diotimos Editions, 2026.

Rights

The historical 1650 English text is in the public domain. New introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and published with the site owner’s authorization.