Belomancy, alsobolomancy, is the ancient art ofdivination by use ofarrows.[1] The word is built uponAncient Greek:βέλος,romanized: belos,lit. 'arrow, dart', andμαντεία,manteia, 'divination'. Belomancy was anciently practiced at least byBabylonians,Greeks,Arabs andScythians.
Arrows were typically marked withoccult symbols, with feathers for every known method.[citation needed] In one example, different possible answers to a given question were written and tied to each arrow; for example, three arrows would be marked with the phrases,God orders it me,God forbids it me, and the third would be blank: the arrow that flew the furthest indicated the answer. Another method involves the same idea, but instead without shooting arrows. They would simply be shuffled in aquiver, worn preferably on the back, and the first arrow to be drawn indicated the answer. If a blank arrow was drawn, they would redraw.[citation needed]
Use of belomancy dates to ancient times; it is likely mentioned in theBook of Ezekiel 21:21, shown below in the original Hebrew and translated to English in theNew American Standard Bible:
Jerome agrees with this understanding of the verse, and observes that the practice was frequent among theAssyrians andBabylonians. (Something like it is also mentioned inHosea 4:12, although a staff or rod is used instead of arrows, which isrhabdomancy rather than belomancy.)[a]
Verse 3 of SurahAl-Ma'idah in theQur'an forbids belomancy (الأزلام),[2] while verse 90 of Surah Al-Ma'idah states literally[3]
Belomancy is also attested inpre-Islamic Arab religion. In hisBook of Idols, early Muslim historianIbn al-Kalbi mentions that there were seven divination arrows in front of the statue ofHubal in theKaaba.[4]
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– viaOxford University Research Archive (ROA).