Capnomancy (otherwise known as ''

libanomancy Libanomancy (also known as livanomancy and knissomancy) is a divination primarily through observing and interpreting burning incense smoke, but which may include the way incense ash falls as well. Del Rio, Martín Anton''Investigations Into Magic.'' ...

'') signifies a method of divination using

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

. This is done by looking at the movements of the smoke after a fire has been made. A thin, straight plume of smoke is thought to indicate a good omen whereas the opposite is thought of large plumes of smoke. If the smoke touches the ground, this is thought to be a sign that immediate action must be taken to avoid catastrophe.

Etymology

''Capnomancy'' comes from two Greek words: καπνός (''kapnós''), meaning

, and μαντεία (''manteía''), meaning divination or to see.Encyclopędia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World
p. 1659

History

The first recorded use of capnomancy was in ancient Babylonia where the ceremony was performed at religious dates throughout the year using

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

branches or shavings. In

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...

priests would burn animal sacrifices and then perform Capnomancy over the smoke produced by the fire. The

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

were thought to practice ''dendromancy'', a form of capnomancy, using

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and mistletoe branches. It was also used by the

Semang The Semang are an ethnic-minority group of the Malay Peninsula. They live in mountainous and isolated forest regions of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan and Kedah of Malaysia and the southern provinces of Thailand. The Semang are among the different eth ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, who would use the ritual to determine whether a camp was safe for the night. There is reference made to the practice in both 17th and 19th century religious texts, although these do not describe how the practice was performed.

Modern usage

Capnomancy has been reportedly used as late as 2003 in

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 (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, where citizens would practice the ritual by using smoke plumes from chimneys. Other modern variations of the ritual involve burning cedar sticks, incense or candles with ribbons tied around them. Hands are sometimes used to manipulate the smoke with practitioners reading the shapes that are then produced.

References

{{Divination Divination