Astrampsychus
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Astrampsychus was the pseudonym used by the author of the Sortes Astrampsychi (The Lots of Astrampsychus), a popular Greco-Roman fortune-telling guide. The book contained instructions for throwing lots, the result of which would be used to look up cryptic verses by means of a numerical index. In essence, the procedure was similiar to the I Ching. The text is known from a 2nd century AD papyrus, and from a Byzantine codex of the 9th or 10th century. The latter is heavily modified, with Christian religious elements substituted for pagan ones.
External link
- Wiki Classical Dictionary: Astrampsychus (http://www.ancientlibrary.com/wcd/Astrampsychus)
- English translation of the dreambook (http://www.thing.de/projekte/7:9%23/dream_book.html)
- Brief "Nautical Lapidary" ascribed to Astrampyschus (http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/astdiv/astrampsychus.html)