selenomancy

Etymology

From seleno- + -mancy.

selenomancy means divination by the appearance and phases of the moon. Similar to lunomancy. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

SELENOMANCY — [Noun] Divination by observing the phases, appearance, and atmospheric phenomena of the moon. From the Greek selēnē ("moon") and manteia ("divination, prophecy"). Unlike lunomancy, its Latinate synonym, or astrology, which maps a vast celestial bureaucracy, selenomancy is an intimate, singular obsession. It is the reading of a livid halo as a portent of storm, the timing of a battle by the precise sickle of a crescent, and the interpretation of a face glimpsed in its highland seas—a quiet, patient study of the one light that waxes and wanes, a mirror held up to our own inconstancy.

noun

Divination by the appearance and phases of the moon. Similar to lunomancy.“He is openly incredulous about the gem glossopetra, shaped like a human tongue and supposed to fall from the sky during an eclipse of the moon and to be invaluable in selenomancy.”