What Is Meant By Gastromancy ?

Gastromancy is a form of ventriloquism (art of throwing one's voice) and divination that was especially popular in the 17th and 18th century in Europe and America. It involved interpreting noises emanating from the stomach which was more often than not in the form of words and then predicting the future on the basis of the sounds.

Another form of gastromancy was divination by way of gazing in a crystal ball or a large pot like glass vessel filled with water; in earlier times children were asked to gaze within the translucent surface and describe the images that were formed on the basis of which predictions were made.

In the US gastromancy used to be a popular pastime with people at one time actually believing in its veracity though later on when the science of ventriloquism was made public the concept slowly lost its popularity. Gastromancy is still practiced as a hobby by certain ventriloquists and is often an event at birthday parties and the like.

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