Alectryomancy

Alectryomancy, also known as alectromancy, is a form of divination performed in Ancient Greece using a rooster. de Plancy, J. C., (1863). Dictionnaire Infernal. 6ed. pg.17
== Method ==
A circle is drawn on some sand, divided into twenty-four equal spaces. Each space is marked with a letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet. On each letter a grain of barley or wheat is placed.
A specially trained rooster is then placed in the centre of the circle. The letters corresponding to each grain the rooster eats are then noted in order, and are then assembled to form a word which was the answer to a question the person performing the divination has. 
== History ==
During the reign of Emperor Valens, diviners including Jamblichus tried using alectryomancy to determine the identity of Valens' successor, with the letters ΘΕΟΔ (Theod) being drawn. Valens learned about this and had a number of the diviners who took part in this divination executed and, according to Zonaras, had a number of prominent individuals whose names began with those letters executed. 
A different version of this event is recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus, who states that many philosophers and aristocrats performed magic, and they gathered one night to learn the fate of the emperor. They set up a tripod made of roots and laurel branches, on which they placed a basin made of a number of metals and placed the letters of the alphabet around it at equidistant points. Their leader, with a shaven head, wearing a long veil and holding vervain leaves, made an invocation which was accompanied by convulsions. Continuing his chant, he then stepped in front of the basin and held a ring on a piece of thread. When his chant stopped, the tripod began to shake and the ring started to move, striking letters one after another. Once struck, they spontaneously arranged themselves on a table to compose heroic verses about Valens' fate. Valens did not approve of learning about his fate from the underworld, so he had all those who took part in the ritual, as well as all other known philosophers and magicians in Rome, executed. Some of the aristocrats who managed to avoid proscription turned their back on magic, deeming it too likely to get themselves executed. In this version, it was not Alectryomancy that was used, but Dactylomancy. 
== Further Reading ==
* Caquel-Bonbec/The Hen with my Aunts by Junquieres
== See Also ==
* Rooster
* Marriage
* Dactylomancy
== References ==
Category:Dictionnaire Infernal
Category:Rituals
Category:Divination