Gyromancy
Gyromancy
A form of divination performed by going round continually in a circle, the circumference of which was marked by letters. The presage was drawn from the words formed by the letters on which the inquirers stumbled when they became too giddy to stand. This practice has a curious connection with the familiar technique of psychic circles, in which the sitters place a finger on a glass surrounded by letters of the alphabet, when the glass touches letters in turn to give words or messages.
The object of this routine was simply to exclude the interference of the will and reduce the selection of letters to mere chance. In some species of enchantment, however, the art of turning round was to produce a prophetic delirium. The religious dances, and the rotation of certain devotees on one foot, with their arms stretched out (for example, the (see Dervishes), are of this nature. These cases really indicate a kind of mystical secret.
In the phenomenon known as St. Vitus' Dance, and the movements of the convulsionaries, manifestations of spirit intelligence were quite common. The tendency of the spiritual force is to act spirally, rhythmically, whether in the use of language or of the bodily members.
(See planchette )
Sources:
Waite, Arthur Edward. The Occult Sciences. 1891. Reprint, Secaucus, N.J.: University Books, 1974.