Omphalomancy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A method of divination involving the interpretation of the navel's appearance to forecast outcomes
2. An ancient practice relying on the observation of one's belly button as a means of predicting future events
3. A form of fortune-telling that interprets the features of the belly button to predict future happenings

Etymology: Omphalomancy takes its first half from Greek "omphalos", meaning "navel", and its second from "manteia", meaning "divination", the same ending found in words such as "necromancy" and "geomancy". Put together, the word describes predicting the future from the navel, a practice that sounds like a parlour joke but rests on an old and serious idea: that the body's centre could reveal hidden things. The Greek "omphalos" also gave a famous name to a sacred object. At Delphi, a stone said to mark the centre of the world was called the omphalos, and it sat beside the shrine where the oracle gave her prophecies. The navel-reading practice grows from the same root, so the word joins two very different kinds of centre: the belly button and the sacred stone at the middle of the earth.