	Site Map \| FAQ in Daily Almanac for May 25, 2012
Skip Navigation Home Asian Pacific American Heritage Atlas Encyclopedia Dictionary Thesaurus Features Quizzes Timelines Countries

Fact Monster Kid's reference,
games, quizzes

Editor's Favorites

| Share

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—O

Oracle of Sieve and Shears

(The). This method of divination is mentioned by Theocritos. The modus operandi was as follows:- The points of the shears were stuck in the rim of a sieve, and two persons supported them with their finger-tips. Then a verse of the Bible was read aloud, and St. Peter and St. Paul were asked if it was A, B, or C (naming the persons suspected). When the right person was named, the sieve would suddenly turn round.

“Searching for things lost with a sieve and shears.” —Ben Johnson: Alchemist, i.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Oracles

Oracle of the Holy Bottle, Bacbuc