oneirocrisy

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὄνειρος (óneiros, “dream”) + the middle voice of κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge, decide”).

Noun

oneirocrisy (uncountable)

1. Prognostication based on the interpretation of dreams.
   • 1842, Charles Daubuz, Peter Lancaster, Matthew Habershon, A symbolical dictionary, page 175:

     Having consulted his father thereupon, well skilled in Oneirocrisy, he called his son Kilkhan, and explained them thus: That according to the first dream, out of the progeny of Kilkhan should arise three princes which should possess the empire of the Moguls, and should transmit it to a fourth, who should subjugate a great part of the world, and divide it amongst his children.

   • 1852, Abraham Moore Pindar, The Odes of Pindar, page 196:

     It seems clear that he was a proficient in this art of oneirocrisy ; it being the practice after his apotheosis (for he became a god) for his worshippers to sleep beside his altar in the pious hope of a prophetic dream.

   • 1975, David Sansone, Aeschylean metaphors for intellectual activity, page 42:

     The three types are oneirocrisy, cledonomancy and the investigation of chance omens encountered "on the way", i.e. while traveling.

   • 1987, Titus Burckhardt, William Stoddart, Mirror of the Intellect, page 57:

     There exists, nevertheless, a certain category of dreams, well-known to traditional oneirocrisy, the memory of which persists with an incisive clarity, and this can happen even if the profound content of these dreams appears to conceal itself.