Ever heard of 'ornithomancy'?

According to Dictionary.com, ornithomancy is "Divination by means of birds, their flight, etc.". I'd heard of the concept, but not that specific word, before I read this article in the Daily Mail.

If you want to know what your romantic future holds, why not let a little bird tell you this Sunday morning.

According to the ancient practice of ornithomancy, the first bird that an unmarried woman sees on Valentine’s Day is an omen of the type of man she will wed.

Ornithomancy – the practice of reading signs from birds – dates back to ancient times and was practised by the Greeks, Romans and many other cultures.

There's more at the link.

According to the article, a sighting of the following birds means that you'll marry a man with the following attributes:

• BLACKBIRD: Someone involved in charitable or spiritual work, such as an aid worker or pastor.
• GOOSE: Works in communications, e.g. journalism, marketing, teaching.
• MAGPIE: An entrepeneur, someone quick to spot an opportunity.
• PEACOCK: Someone who takes pride in their appearance.
  
• ROBIN: Someone associated with water, e.g. in the Navy or a fisherman.
• WOODPECKER: An omen that no marriage will take place (this year, at least).
  
• YELLOW BIRD (any): The yellower the bird, the wealthier the person (the color is associated with gold).
  

There are many more listed in the article. Fun to read, but rather sexist, isn't it? I mean, all these birds allegedly have meaning for unmarried women. What about unmarried men? What do we look at? Fish? Frogs and toads? Squirrels?

Personally, of course, I think such predictions are for the birds . . .



Peter