Gyromancy
Was performed by going round continually in a circle, the circumference of which was marked by letters. The presage was drawn from the words formed by the letters on which the inquirers stumbled when they became too giddy to stand. The object of this circumcursation was simply to exclude the interference of the will, and reduce the selection of letters to mere chance. In some species of enchantment, however, the act of turning round was to produce a prophetic delirium. The religious dances, and the rotation of certain fanatics on one foot, with their arms stretched out, are of this nature. These cases really indicate a magical secret, of which, however, the deluded victims rarely possessed any knowledge. In the phenomenon known as St. Vitus's Dance, and the movements of the convulsionaries, manifestations of spiritual intelligence were quite common. The tendancy of the spiritual force is to act spirally, rhythmically, whether in the use of language or of the bodily members. H