Cephalonomancy
Encyclopedia
Cephalonomancy is an ancient form of divination which involved heating the skull of an ass
or goat
while reciting various phrases, often the names of criminal suspects. If the skull crackled or the jaw moved while a name was spoken, this was taken to identify the guilty party.
Ass
Ass may refer to:* The mammal Equus africanus asinus better known as the Donkey** Asinus subgenus* North American English informal term for buttocks* áss, one of the Æsir in Norse mythology* Ass , by Badfinger...
or goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
while reciting various phrases, often the names of criminal suspects. If the skull crackled or the jaw moved while a name was spoken, this was taken to identify the guilty party.