Coscinomancy is a form of

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

utilising a sieve and shears, used in ancient

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, medieval and early modern Europe and 17th century

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, to determine the guilty party in a criminal offense, find answers to questions, etc. The term comes into English via both New Latin and Medieval Latin ''coscinomantia'', and is ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek ''koskinomantis'' ( el, κοσκινομάντης) a diviner using a sieve, from ''koskinon'' ( el, κόσκινον) a sieve. The word is mentioned by a number of Ancient Greek writers, including Philippides, Julius Pollux, Lucianus and, most famously,

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from hi ...

. One method of practising coscinomancy is described by Cornelius Agrippa, best known for his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1533. Following the disputed Fourth Book in the same series, a work entitled the ''Heptameron, or Magical Elements'' appeared in the first volume of Agrippa's ''Opera omnia, or Collected Works'' (circa 1600). The first of two appendices to the Heptameron (chapter xxi) briefly covers many forms of ceremonial magic, including coscinomancy. Agrippa believed that the movement of the sieve was performed by a demon, and that the conjuration actually compelled the demon to perform the task. He further notes that the words of this conjuration were understood neither by the speaker nor anyone else (). The notion of a powerfully efficacious language of the spirit world is quite common in magic belief. The so-called

Enochian language Enochian ( ) is an occult constructed language — said by its originators to have been received from angels — recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his colleague Edward Kelley in late 16th-century England. Kelley was a scryer who w ...

of the 16th century magician

Edward Kelley Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English people, English Renaissance magic, Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is best known for working with John Dee (mathematician), John Dee in hi ...

, later revived by Aleister Crowley, is such a language. Kelley believed the Enochian words so powerful that he would communicate them to his cohort, Dr.

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divinatio ...

, backwards, lest he unleash powers beyond control. This concept can also be seen in '' The Arabian Nights'' in which a sorceress takes some lake water in her hand and over it speaks "words not to be understood".

Richard Francis Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

, ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (Kama Shastra Society, 1885) I. xi. p.80 There has been some speculation about the manner in which the sieve was to be held by the shears, with some writers suggesting that a piece of thread was used. In the 1567 edition of Agrippa's works there is a picture showing exactly this. It is clear that the sieve was suspended from the shears in such a way that the cutting edges of the blades made tangents to the outer rim of the sieve. Thus suspended the sieve is capable of some sideways movement, or even of dropping. The sieve was held by the two middle fingers only making it almost impossible to keep the sieve still for any length of time and thus ensuring a prognostication. The complicating factor is that in the Latin text accompanying the picture the sieve is said to "turn around" (''circum agatur''), which clearly it cannot do unless held at two diametrically opposite points on the outer rim. Other references to coscinomancy can be found in

François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...

' ''Pantagruel'' (1532: III. xxv.);

Johann Weyer Johann Weyer or Johannes Wier ( la, Ioannes Wierus or '; 1515 – 24 February 1588) was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was among the first to publish against t ...

's '' De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis'' (1583: xii.); and

Barten Holyday Barten Holyday or Holiday (1593 – 2 October 1661) was an English clergyman, author and poet.F. D. A. Burns, ‘Holyday , Barten (1593–1661)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 Career He was educated ...

's ''

Technogamia ''Technogamia, or the Marriages of the Arts'' is a Jacobean era stage play, an allegory written by Barten Holyday that was first performed and published in 1618. Performances ''Technogamia'' was first staged on 13 February 1618 by the students ...

, or the Marriage of the Arts'' (1618: II. iii. ll. 89-146 (G2v)).

Notes

{{Divination Divination