Slytherin Sock Syndicate

Day 24 - 1 row on Sock A Dactylomancy In modern dactylomancy, a ring is suspended like a pendulum above a surface that is marked with letters or symbols.  The direction of the swing indicates which symbols are to be consulted, or which letters are to be formed into a message, in response to a specific question.  Another form follows a similar pattern as Seance table-rapping.  In it a ring is suspended from a tumblers so it may touch the sides of swung.  The code is agreed upon ahead of time (e.g. 1 for yes, 2 for no).  A question is posed and the number of times the ring strikes the tumbler is interpreted as being the answer. PROMPT Have your own dactylomancy session.  Using either type of dactylomancy mentioned above, select a color to knit your stripe.  For example, place small pieces of paper on a table with color names and set up your own ring pendulum.   Or, using your pendulum and tumbler, ask if you should use a specific color.   Ask u...

Botanomancy - 2 Rounds on Sock B Today we are studying Botanomancy. Botanomancy is the study of smoke from burning certain plants or herbs and both the fire and the smoke is used together for divination purposes. Of course most of us will have heard of the use of sage in smudging rituals of the indigenous americans (and the over harvesting of white sage that the popularity of the ritual has caused). Sage is often used in this form of divination and there are many varieties of Sage (Salvia). Using this  google search  pick the colour of a leaf or sage flower that appeals to you and knit the last two rows on the  CHART  found here

Daphnomancy - 3 Rounds on Sock B Today we are studying daphnomancy. Daphnomancy is a form of pyromancy. According to the practice, the louder the crackles, the better the omens. If crackles were absent, the prognostic was bleak. A bright fire burning the leaves was also favorable, but if it smoldered and died out, the outlook was gloomy. History tells us, daphnomancy originated in ancient Rome. There was once a sacred grove of laurel trees. These laurel trees were planted at the grove by each Roman emperor when they ascended to the throne. Sadly the sacred grove withered and died in 68 AD. As you can imagine, this was a bad sign for the Roman Empire. Interestingly that is the same year emperor Nero died ending the long line of Caesars. More recently the practice of burning laurel leaves is associated with stress and anxiety relief. Some practitioners will write aspects and emotions they wish to banish on the leaf before they burn it. For today’s  3 rows of the  chart  for...

Day 21 Papyromancy--4 rounds on sock A Prompt: Papyromancy is a way of divination through folding paper. Some say a true papyromancer can crumple up any piece of paper, unfold it, and predict the future from the creased lines reading the creased paper the way that a palm reader would read a person's palm. Another form of papyromancy is done by folding an illustrated piece of paper and interpreting the resulting image. For today's stripe, we will be using an origami fortune teller, or cootie-catcher to determine the colours for this chart Follow this link to use the digital cootie-catcher Steps: 1. Select the Slideshow button in the top right corner to start 2. Choose a number between 1-6 3. Click the background the number of times you chose  4. Click one of the colours you see in the centre of the screen 5. Press the ESC button to stop the cootie-catcher Now you have the colour for the chart!  You can play again, or choose a neutral background colour.

Day 20 - 5 rows on Sock A Favomancy Favomancy is a form of divination that involves throwing beans on the ground and interpreting the patterns into which they fell.  It was practiced in Russia and in Bosnia.  The methods used by these two cultures is so similar, it is thought they share a common origin.  Since the method isn’t present in the West (at least until modern times), it is possible the origin may have been in the Middle East.  Especially since a similar method exists in Iran using peas specifically. PROMPT Have your own flavomancy reading!  Look at the beans on the ground and see if they reveal anything to you.  Then, knit the CHART for Day 20 using the color of your beans.  Use white (or any other preferred contrasting color) for the background color.

  Day 19 Turifumy- 6 rounds of Sock B Turifumy is the art of divination through the shapes that you see in the smoke and that almost always brings to mind the shapes that Bilbo and Gandalf would blow as they sat smoking on their pipes in the early evening, watching the sun go down, though of course their shapes were manipulated and the shapes we see in turifumy are naturally occurring. for today work the  6  rows, keeping your main colour going, choose a colour inspired by either the smoke or sunset you see if you were taking a quiet moment at sunset to do some turifumy. Use the  CHART  found here and remember 6 rows in your chosen daily colour. (this will be the 4th day worked on this chart and you have 2 days and 5 rows left in your chose direction)

Knissomancy-7 rounds of Sock B If we read that quickly one might think we are studying Divination by kissing. No, my lovelies we are learning about k N issomancy today. Knissomancy is the art of divining the smoke from burning frankincense. How exactly does this work? The diviner asks a question and drops the frankincense resin onto a fire. The smoke dictates the outcome. Caesar Longinus, in his ‘Trinum Magicum Sive Secretorum Magicorum Opus’ (1673), “…in which powdered resin was thrown into the flames. If the flame rose in one, it was a good sign; if lambent and divided, unfortunate; if in three points, a glorious eventum or result; if much dispersed, an ill death; if crackling or snapping, misfortune; if it was very suddenly extinguished, great danger.” That quote reminds me of Professor Trelawney and her dire predictions on the first day of class each year. Today you will be knitting the next  7 rows of this chart on SOCK B . Please choose one color that pleases you f...