Divination Series - Part 8 - Stichomancy/Rhapsodomancy

Whose heard of Stichomancy, or its alternative, Rhapsodomancy? I sure hadn't until this Series, but amusingly enough had been engaging in this practice a good decade or so ago with my best friend of the time using a dictionary while bingeing on peanut butter oreos.

So what is Stichomancy (aka Bibliomancy), you're asking?
According to thefreedictionary.com:
Stich´o`man`cy

n.

1.

Divination by lines, or passages of books, taken at hazard.

So yeah. Pretty simple, right? We'll get to a basic "how to", but first, some more history:According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word bibliomancy - meaning “divination by books, or by verses of the Bible” – was first recorded in 1753. Sometimes this term is used synonymously with stichomancy (from sticho- “row, line, verse”) which can be defined as “divination by lines of verse in books taken at hazard”, and was first recorded ca. 1693. To make use of stichomancy, you don’t need a bible, all you need is a book or any reading material for that matter; even a magazine or newspaper can work just fine. Sometimes we are faced with decisions we just can’t find an answer to, and stichomancy can help reveal your subconscious thoughts and desires. It really works by the law of attraction: you will attract a passage in a book that you are meant to read at this point in time. Carl Jung called it synchronicity: same things happen at the same time. The book passage you will choose will be in perfect alignment with your vibration of energy. You can’t make a mistake. All forms of divination work that way. How To Bibliomancy practitioners traditionally use the bible to extract answers from. In stichomancy, any kind of any time period by any author can be used. Some psychics think that the book of choice should not be a very old book or any book that has been read by the person asking the question, because old and used books already have too much history in common with the questioner. Dog-eared books and books that always open on the same pages (those which have been read the most passionately) are perfect for others. I personally prefer books without a history. What you prefer is what may work for you. Very often, brand new books that do not have a history with the questioner but are fresh from the press, lead to astonishing and exact answers. So, how do you do this? You pick a book, preferably a new one with no history. You may take a book that has been in the possession of someone else. You ask a question with the intention of receiving an answer or a hint from the universe. You can say it aloud or to yourself. You open the book by putting a finger or finger nail anywhere you like between the pages. Then you pick a paragraph or passage without looking. Some people do this blind-folded, some don't. The Interpretation Of Book Passages Bibliomancy and stichomancy are very free techniques. They are a combination of interpreting poertry and throwing dices. This doesn't mean that they are techniques that will not be enjoyed by people who want straight answers. Sometimes they can really give you "aha!" moments by giving you astonishingly accurate book passages. Sometimes they don't. And that's when you have to contact your inner artist and ask her or him what to make of this. If you are an abstract thinker, stichomancy techniques may be thing for you.

So there you have it. Stichomancy. Who knew?