Bibliomancy : prediction of the future by pointing at random verse/sentence

Bibliomancy = (definition)

 ancient practice of using books as divinatory

tools:  one uses pages or passages to attain

spiritual knowledge or guidance in decision-making .

Example (from 2nd Century Common Era)

Publius Aelius Hadrianus (born 76 CE)

As a young military commander in the

Roman legions stationed in the Balkans,

Hadrian was still seeking out predictions for

the future. . .he sought the advice of the

famous Virgilian (poet and epic storyteller)

oracle.  This impressive-sounding process

consisted of simply of opening Virgil's

epic, the Aeneid, at random and reading a

message in the text; on this occasion it

provided him with a gratifying combination

of images: an olive wreath, a mighty realm,

a graying beard, and a regeneration of Rome.

[ p. 19 Following Hadrian: a 2nd Century

           Journey through the Roman Empire

by Elizabeth Speller.  Published 2003 by

Oxford University Press, London. ]