Blade divination is a form of divination by knifes, daggers, or swords. It’s official name is ‘macharomancy’ which comes comes from the Greek words, makhaira, means short sword or dagger and manteia, which means prophecy. Macharomancy literally translates as ‘blade prophecy.’ It is one of a few methods of divination based on the use of weapons.
Macharomancy was a method of divination popular among gypsies. They may have even invented it. In the method they used, the reader places a dagger on a wooden cutting board, usually used for bread, about 12 inches/ 30 centimeters in diameter. The board was divided up into fifteen sectors, with each sector having its own meaning (see diagram further down). The blade was spun three times. One of the three answers was considered to be the correct answer. The other two answers either augmented the correct answer, or were otherwise disregarded.