Divination Arts

Haruspicy

Haruspicy is the ritual interpretation of animal entrails, particularly known from Etruscan and Roman contexts.

How to approach it

Understanding this practice involves identifying the period, place and source describing it. A preserved object, a literary account and a later reconstruction offer different kinds of information.

An important distinction

Descriptions of these rites are cultural records, not ways to determine someone's health, guilt or future.

An example to explore

Study a drawing or museum object and observe its symbolic divisions without recreating the rite.

Taking the idea further

To explore further, compare the related concepts and note differences in material, procedure and interpretation. If you open a related tool, read its own rules; sharing a symbol does not mean carrying out the same practice.

← Back to glossary

Explore oracles and divination