5. Hydromancy was the practice of looking to water for clues about the future, and the Romans even used it before fighting the Mithridatic Wars
In the 1st century BC, Rome was engaged in the Mithridatic Wars, a series of three short wars against King Mithridates of the Kingdom of Pontus. According to the ancient historian Varro, before going into battle, Rome’s leaders would ask their seers to look into special pools of water for signs of what was to come. The beliefs of the time stated that certain colors seen in a rippling pool should be taken as good omens, while other colors and shapes should be heeded as warnings. However, this was just one variant of hydromancy, and a number of different cultures and civilizations have looked to water for inspiration and divination over the millennia.
For instance, St. Augustine is said to have observed the people of 5th century Germany practicing hydromancy. Women would go down to the River Rhine and study the whirls and currents of the water. Certain patterns were believed to be signs that good times lay ahead – for instance, a baby would be born safely or an upcoming harvest would be successful – while others were seen as warnings of hard times ahead. Hydromancy continued to be practiced well into the Renaissance, and was even named as one of the so-called “forbidden arts”, deemed an un-Christian way of trying to predict the future.