Aspidomancy is a rare term for divination connected with a shield, from Greek aspis (shield) and manteia (divination). Early modern and 19th-century occult dictionaries describe a diviner who draws a circle, sits on a shield inside it, recites incantations and falls into a trance to deliver prophecies. A second, simpler sense is divination by examining a shield.
Aspidomancy at a glance
| Etymology | Greek aspis, aspidos (shield) + manteia (divination) |
|---|---|
| Latin form | Aspidomantia ("per clypeum," by a shield) |
| Described method | Sitting on a shield or inside a drawn circle, in trance |
| Main sources | Early modern lists of divination; 19th-century occult dictionaries |
| Related methods | Lecanomancy, captromancy, gyromancy |
Meaning of the Word
Aspidomancy belongs to the long list of "-mancy" words coined or revived by Renaissance and early modern scholars to classify every imaginable form of divination. The Latin aspidomantia appears in such catalogues, glossed as divination "per clypeum," by means of a shield; the 1713 Bibliographia Antiquaria of Johann Albert Fabricius is one example. Modern dictionaries record two senses: divination performed by entering a drawn circle or sitting on a shield in order to summon an entity or reach an altered state, and divination by examining a shield itself. Like many terms in these lists, it is much better attested as a word than as a documented practice.
The Traditional Description
The fullest description comes from French and English occult reference works of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Jacques Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire infernal and Lewis Spence's Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920) (see Lewis Spence). Following the early 17th century French demonologist Pierre de Lancre, these works say it was practiced in "the Indies": the diviner traced a circle on the ground, sat on a shield in its center, and murmured conjurations until falling into an ecstatic trance. On awakening, the diviner answered the questions put to them, the answers being attributed to a spirit or, in the demonologists' view, to the devil.
This account should be read with caution. De Lancre was a witch-hunting magistrate, and European writers of his time often described the religious practices of distant peoples through vague, secondhand and hostile reports. No independent ethnographic evidence clearly identifies a specific culture or ritual behind the description.
Shields, Circles and Trance in History
The elements in the description are familiar from many traditions. The protective circle is a standard feature of European ceremonial magic, where the operator stands within a consecrated boundary; the cone of power of modern Wicca is a later development of the same idea. Trance divination, in which a seer loses ordinary consciousness and speaks with another voice, is found worldwide, from the Greek Pythia at Delphi to shamanic practices in Asia and the Americas. Shields themselves carried religious meaning in many societies, often bearing protective emblems (see protection symbols), and polished shields could serve as mirrors, linking the term loosely with captromancy.
Related Methods of Divination
- Lecanomancy: divination with a basin of water, oil or flour.
- Gyromancy: walking or spinning in a circle marked with letters until dizziness causes a fall.
- Crystalomancy: gazing into a crystal or glass to see visions.
- Metoposcopy: reading character and fate from lines on the forehead.
Together these show how early modern authors tried to classify divination by the object used, even when the practices were rare, local or partly imagined.
Aspidomancy and the Classification of Divination
Ancient writers such as Cicero, in his dialogue On Divination, already distinguished between "natural" divination, through dreams and inspired frenzy, and "artificial" divination, which reads signs according to learned rules. Aspidomancy as described in the occult dictionaries combines both: a ritual setting of circle and shield, followed by an inspired trance. Renaissance and early modern demonologists reused such classifications in order to condemn divination as dependent on demons, while antiquarians collected the names out of scholarly curiosity. Many Greek-derived terms, including aspidomancy, may have been coined or extended in this period by analogy with genuine ancient names. Modern historians of magic therefore treat these lists as evidence of how early modern Europeans imagined and categorized divination, rather than as reliable records of how people actually practiced it.
Assessment
Aspidomancy is of interest mainly to historians of occult literature and to collectors of unusual words. It illustrates how European scholarship on "superstition" mixed classical learning, missionary and travelers' reports, and demonological theory. There is no scientific evidence that trance divination of any kind produces reliable knowledge of the future or of hidden events; controlled tests of such claims have not supported them. Contemporary esoteric practitioners who use circle and trance work generally draw on modern ceremonial magic or neo-shamanism rather than on any surviving aspidomantic tradition. For readers today, the term is best understood as a small piece of the history of how divination was imagined and recorded.
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Related entries
On The Mystica today: Protection symbols
Frequently asked questions
What is aspidomancy?
Aspidomancy is divination connected with a shield. Older occult dictionaries describe a diviner who draws a circle, sits on a shield inside it, recites incantations and falls into a trance before answering questions. The word also covers divination by examining a shield. It comes from Greek aspis, shield, and manteia, divination.
Where was aspidomancy practiced?
Nineteenth-century occult reference works, citing the 17th-century French demonologist Pierre de Lancre, say it was practiced in "the Indies." This vague attribution is not confirmed by independent evidence, and historians treat such early modern descriptions of distant peoples' rituals as unreliable and often colored by hostility.
Is aspidomancy related to magic circles?
Yes, in its traditional description the diviner works within a drawn circle, a feature shared with European ceremonial magic, where the circle marks a protected sacred space. Beyond that shared element, there is no evidence of a continuous tradition linking aspidomancy to later magical or Wiccan circle practices.
Sources and further reading
- Methods of divination · Wikipedia
- aspidomancy · Wiktionary
- Lewis Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920) · George Routledge and Sons
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.