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Scapulimancy

Scapulimancy is a method of divination that uses the lamb's shoulder blade to read the future. Obscure as it may sound, it has been practiced since antiquity around the world; everywhere from China, to Greece to the British Isles, to Native American communities in North America.   Technique varies from region to region, sometimes the bone is boiled, held up to the light- the translucent parts tell the story.  Other traditions bake the bone and read the cracks.  In ancient greece soldiers would read the bones the night before big battles, a translucent scapula meant victory. Scapulimancy is still practiced in parts of Greece and Eastern Europe.  We tried it on easter, and there was a pattern of a keyhole in the middle of the scapula... the jury is still out on what such a symbol might mean...-Emma Piper-Burket

Episode featured in: 
Ruminating about Goats
April 11, 2010

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