Stichomancy, or Bibliomancy, is our next form of divination to discuss from Dark Divinations. This time, we feature not one but two stories, as both “Damnation in Venice” by Joe L. Murr and “Miss Mae’s Prayers” by H.R.R. Gorman deal with variations on this theme.

Stichomancy is one of the most accessible divination methods, as it doesn’t require anything but a book to perform it. A wealth of sites exist willing to teach you how to do it yourself or do it for you. Even Cosmopolitan featured an article on the subject.

The querent simply chooses a book–some hold that it should be a sacred book, as in “Miss Mae’s Prayers,” and others that it should be random–and thinks of their question, firmly fixing it in their mind. Opening the book to a random page, they let their finger fall upon a random line (sensing a theme here?) and it will give them the answer to their question.

According to the Wikipedia article, even Robert Browning put it into practice! And several well-known authors have featured it in their work.

Look for more interesting features about the book and its authors, including interviews (this one is with editor Naching T. Kassa) and insights (for more on “Damnation in Venice”) on HorrorAddicts.net!

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