Professor Kotkin entered the classroom through the trap door. She wondered if any of her students wanted to earn extra credit for the class before term ended, plus receive some help with their final exam. She turned to the board waving her wand as the words spread across it.

FINALS PREVIEW

Karen walked up the ladder to the Divination tower and found that she was the first student to arrive. She found a seat towards the middle of the classroom and waited for the other students to arrive.

Heshasa entered the Divination calssroom and looked at the board. Taking a seat she waved cheerily to Professor Kotin. She took out some parchamnt, ink, and quill. She was ready to take notes.

Professor Kotkin smiled at Karen as she took her seat and retuned Hesasha's wave. Then she took her notes and spread them across the table and waved her wand again adding the words....

FORMS OF DIVINATION

"I would like you to help me define different types of divination for me, some of which will be found on your final exam. Can anyone tell me what Botanomancy is?

Heshasa leafed through her book:Botanomancy-A method of divination by burning branches of vervein and briar upon which questions of the practitioners have been carved. The fire and smoke indicate the course of future action to be pursued.

Quote:

A method of divination by burning branches of vervein and briar upon which questions of the practitioners have been carved. The fire and smoke indicate the course of future action to be pursued.

Very good Heshasha. Botanomancy can also describe the method of using the life-cycle of plants, or to the process of using the property of herbs, oils and flower essences to help enhance your psychic awareness.

Now, can anyone tell me what Hydromancy is? Some of you may have had the class when Professor Riddle taught here.

(ooc: here is an SS source that will give you some of the answers I seek, but not all.)

http://www.snitchseeker.com/vb3/show...ht=tasseomancy

Heshasa who was about to raise her hand stopped herslef."I'll let someone else get this one,"she thought and kept her hand down.

"Don't feel shy Heshasha, go ahead if you know the answer." said Professor Kotkin feeling proud at the nobleness of her student. She is a true Gryffindor.

(ooc: I will make a list of names for others to define... taking one each... because I must go soon, at least for the night.)

Heshasa stamered slightly,"Hydromancy is a form of divination when three pebbles are thrown into standing water one at a time (one round, one triangular, and one square) and observations are made from the circles formed when the objects strike the water.

Laurasia sat & quietly took down her notes. She always loved studying & any extra help was always appreciated on her part. She noticed, with a small smile, that the Gryffindor student in the room was knowledgable in divination. It struck her amusingly that the students that don't usually need extra studying were usually the ones that took up the offer. She chuckled softly & continued with her notes.

"That's great Heshasha! Correct again! Now I'm going to make a list, and I want the rest of you to take turns giving us the definition (for one each) please. You are also free to add to the list if you have a favorite form of divination."

Dactylomancy
Geomancy
Pyromancy
Scrying
Ceromancy
Bibliomancy
Auramancy
Cartomancy
Padomancy
Xylomancy

(ooc: Please answer one EACH of these... or add one of your own... describing these forms of divination. I'll be back online tomorrow. Points will be awarded for participation.... Woot!!)

Karen raises her hand and says, "Dactylomancy is a form of divination practiced with rings in ancient times. There are various methods used. One method involves placing gold or silver rings on the fingernails in certain conjunctions of the planets. In another way a round table is inscribed with the letters of the alphabet and a ring suspended above. The ring will then spell out the message. Another method involves suspending a ring within a glass. If the glass is struck once it will indicate yes, and twice will be no."

Karen smiled, glad that she had reviewed her class notes from previous lectures.

Heshasa smiled weakly she was not used to answering questions. Taking out her notes she began to write the definitions for future refrence while listening to her classmates define the other forms of divination.

Kalaya jotted down definations and said just loud enough for everyone to hear, "Geomancy is a form of divination where a handful of dirt is held and then tossed to the ground, the patterns that it forms can then be interpretted." She had read that somewhere earlier she thought.

Laurasia raised her hand. "Pyromancy is the art of Fire Scrying. The practitioner focuses on whatever they wish to know & then softly gazes into a flame noting the various patterns & movements that come about to determine their answer. Or they throw an object into the flames & note the manner in which it burns."

Nadia raised her hand, "Scrying is the ancient act of divination for the purpose of clairvoyance. It is usually achieved by concentrating on or staring at an object having a shiny surface until a vision appears. Magicians and witches have practiced scrying throughout the ages. The typical stereotype of a person scrying is a Gypsy fortune teller looking into her crystal ball.

"Scrying comes from the English word "descry" which means "to make out dimly" or "to reveal." There have been and are many purposes for the activity; to see into the future, to find lost objects or persons, and track criminals, among others. In the Middle Ages a wise woman or a wise man with a natural gift of second sight was called upon for scrying purposes. Although the object used for scrying usually has a shiny surface, innumerable objects have been used for the practice over the centuries. The Egyptians used ink, blood and other dark liquids. The Romans used shiny objects and stones. Water has been used for gazing into. Mirrors are often used.

"There is an example of the interior of a cauldron being painted black, then filled with water at night, a silver coin was dropped into the water so to reflect moonlight. Such means have been employed to see visions and read mystical signs.

"Many witches scry in a magic circle to prevent outside influences from distorting their visions. Also, this is why most scrying is done at night in order to receive better psychic vibrations. As a general rule most diviners work at night in order to avoid the excessive psychic vibrations that are generated in the day due to the confusion of everyday living. The methods of scrying differ but after a period of concentration on the speculum visions, mental images, or impressions appear. Frequently the visions are symbolic and the scryer must be trained and skillful in interpreting their meanings."

Ginny entered the classroom. She quickly got organized and began writing notes.

Zekk thinks for a minute and realises he knows the answer to one of the questions that hasn't been answered yet. "Professor, Ceromancy is the use of wax melted onto a bowl, then it is poured into cold water, and the shapes it reveals are the signs." He hopes his answer is a thorough enough explaination..

Nabiya raised her hand and answered "Bibliomancy is divination using a book, more often than not, a bible is used. There are various ways to practice it, but the most commonly used is to place the book on it's spine and with eyes closed, allow the book to fall open to a random page. Then with your eyes closed again, point to a random line or passage in the page."
"Bibliomancy is a form of Stichomancy, the divination of lines. Some sources refer to Bibliomancy as a specialized form of Stichomancy, often falsely attributing the word "biblio" to the Bible, instead of the books in general."

Ginny raised her hand and answered.

"Hydromancy is divination via means of water. There are several methods of hydromancy. The first is a method which depicts a ring hanging by a string that is dipped into a vessel of water which was shaken. A judgment or prediction is made by the number of times which the ring strikes the sides of the vessel. The second method is when three pebbles are thrown into standing water and observations are made from the circles formed when the objects strike the water. The third method described depended upon the agitation of the water. A fourth method used colors of the water and figures appearing in it. In a fifth method of hydromancy mysterious words are pronounced over a glass of water, then observations are made of it spontaneous ebullience. In the sixth method a drop of oil was let drop into a vessel of water, this furnished a mirror through which wondrous things became visible. The seventh method of hydromancy was cited by Clemens Alexandrinus who cited that women of Germany watched the whirls and courses of rivers for prognostic interpretations."

Ginny was a bit tired from remembering all that information.

"well I know one that isnt on the list, tasseomancy, Its the form of divination where you use tea leaves to describe events in the future and it can also tell you when in the future, if its in a long time or just in the very near future" luna said smiling, this was one of her fave parts of divination and rememberd the lesson they had on it where she had awnsered loads of questions

Jessica quickly entered and took out parchment, ink and quill. Getting organized, she jotted down the notes.

Confidently, she raised her hand in the air.

"Professor," she said at break-neck speed. "Xylomancy is the art of fortune-telling through glass reflections. A person stares in any antique, oddly-shaped glass or mirror and can see symbols and signs that may be related to the future. It is usually used to tell whether good or bad luck awaits a person. If the symbol seen is of a darkhue, commonly black, grey or dark blood red, it points towards bad luck. Softer shades like blue, silver, yellow, pink and light green usually mean good luck.

"The word 'Xylomancy' is derived from very Ancient, Scrynche Word 'Xymance' which means 'Antique reflections.' It is an extremely difficult form of Divination, known only to very few. In families, it is sometimes passed on from one generation to the next. Rovena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of Hogwarts, was famous for being skilled in Xylomancy and was called 'Xylorta' which means 'Lordess of Antique Reflections.' The art orignated in Ancient Greece and Babylon and was passed on. Only fairly powerful wizards and witches can succeed in doing it, and that too after much practice," shestopped and blushed slightly, afraid she had said too much.

Professor Kotkin smiled as her students answered. "There are 3 left unanswered. Would you like to take turns again answering these? I will be awarding each definition with 5 points, so good work class."


Auramancy
Cartomancy
Padomancy

Xavier rose his hand. "Padomancy is a system of Divination widely used in ancient China, which reads the soles of the feet rather than the palms of the hands."

He was pretty sure he had gotten the answer right. He had read it in some random book last year.

"That's right Xavier, thank you. Now, I also want to add a list of symbols. Give what the symbols mean. These will be worth 3 points each.

Acorn
Clouds
Dog
Fish
Key
Monkey
Mouse
Spider
Unicorn
Volcano
Whale