Online Reference For Body, Mind & Spirit

Term: Tyromancy

DEFINITION:

Divination by omens found in and on cheese. The shape and patterns of mold found on cheese were interpreted. Young women would divide cheese into pieces and write the name of a different suitor on each piece. It was believed they would marry the person whose name was on the piece of cheese where mold first developed. Possible answers to a question would be written on pieces of cheese and all of the pieces would be dumped into a cage that held a hungry mouse. The correct prediction would supposedly be on the piece the mouse first began to eat. Another form of tyromancy would find omens in the patterns and designs formed as the cheese coagulated.