A line from a person's hand that resembles a square is considered a bad omen whereas a triangle would be a good omen. ChiromancyĬhiromancy is a form of divination based on reading palms and based on intuitions and symbolism with some symbols tying into astrology. There are many variations of pyromancy depending on the material thrown into a fire and it is thought to be used for sacrifices to the gods and that the deity is present within the flames with priests interpreting the omens conveyed. Pyromancy is the art of divination which consisted of signs and patterns from flames. This also includes divination coming from thunder, comets, falling stars, and the shape of clouds. AeromancyĪeromancy divination consisted in tossing sand, dirt, or seeds into the air and studying and interpreting the patterns of the dust cloud or the settling of the seeds. Hydromancy originated from Babylonia and was popular during Byzantine times whereas in medieval Europe, it was associated with witchcraft. Water is used as a medium for scrying to allow the practitioner to see illusionary pictures within it. Hydromancy, a form of divination using water, is typically used with scrying. The Geomantic figures would then tell them 'anything' based on geomancy charts that were used to read from the shape. Geomancy was a form of divination where a person would cast sand, stone, or dirt on the ground and read the shapes. The art of geomancy was one of the more popular forms of magic that people practiced during the Renaissance period. Marco Mattei of Gesso and friar Jacopo of Viterbo confessed to taking part in magical practices. One such case in 1444, Inquisitor Gaspare Sighicelli took action against a group active in Bologna.

Demonic magic was usually performed in groups surrounding a spiritual leader in possession of necromantic books. Practitioners of necromancy or demonic magic in the late Middle Ages usually belonged to the educated elite, as the contents of most grimoires were written in Latin. Nigromancy contrasts with this as scholarly 'high magic' derived from High Medieval grimoires such as the Picatrix or the Liber Rasielis. Chiromancy is the divination from a subject's palms as practiced by the Romani (at the time recently arrived in Europe), and scapulimancy is the divination from animal bones, in particular shoulder blades, as practiced in peasant superstition. The division between the four 'elemental' disciplines (viz., geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy) is somewhat contrived.

The seven artes prohibitae or artes magicae, arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456, their sevenfold partition reflecting that of the artes liberales and artes mechanicae, were: John Dee and Edward Kelley using a magic circle ritual to invoke a spirit in a church graveyard

A darker magic