Alphitomancy

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

A method of divination carried out with the help of a loaf of barley, which has been practised since the earliest days. It was used to prove the guilt or innocence of a suspected person. When many persons were accused of a crime, and it was desired to find the true culprit, a loaf of barley was made and a portion given to each of the suspected ones. The innocent people suffered no ill-effects, while the criminal betrayed himself by an attack of indigestion. This practice gave rise to a popular imprecation: 67 If I am deceiving you, may this piece of bread choke me." By means of it a lover might know if his mistress was faithful to him, or a wife, her husband. The procedure was as follows: A quantity of pure barley flour was kneaded with milk and a little salt, and without any leaven. It was then rolled up in greased paper, and cooked among the cinders. It was afterwards taken out and rubbed with verbena leaves, and given to the person suspected of deceit, who, if the suspicion was justified, would be unable to digest it. There was said to be near Lavinium a sacred wood, where Alphitomancy was practised in order to test the purity of the women. The priests kept a serpent, or, as some say, a dragon, in a cavern in the wood. On certain days of the year the young women were sent thither, blind-folded, and carrying a cake made of barley flour and honey. The devil, we are told, led them by the right road. Those who were innocent had their cakes eaten by the serpent, while the cakes of the others were refused.