anthracomancy

Etymology

From anthraco- + -mancy, from Ancient Greek ἄνθραξ (ánthrax, “coal”) and μαντεία (manteía, “prophecy”).

anthracomancy means divination by studying burning coals. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

ANTHRACOMANCY — [Noun] Divination by interpreting the appearance, behavior, or ashes of burning coals. From the Ancient Greek ἄνθραξ (ánthrax, "coal, charcoal") and μαντεία (manteía, "prophecy, divination"). Unlike pyromancy, which interprets the grand, theatrical gestures of open flame, or capnomancy, which reads the transient, airy script of smoke, anthracomancy is a grammar of the aftermath, a scrutiny of the settled and the skeletal. It is the patient reading of a crumbled grey mountain range in the morning grate, the careful sifting of ash for a telltale shape, and the observation of a single coal's stubborn, enduring glow—a quiet consultation with what remains when the spectacle has passed, seeking truth in the quiet geometry of its death.

noun

Divination by studying burning coals“Around the vestry were tripods for anthracomancy, skulls for necromancy, mirrors for enoptromancy, or perhaps for putting on stage makeup.”