Alectryomancy

Today’s word of the day is alectryomancy, an ancient practice of foretelling events by means of a rooster. The letters of the alphabet were traced on the ground in squares within a circle, and a grain of corn was placed on each; a rooster was then permitted to pick up the grains, and the letters under them, being formed into words in the order of their selection by the rooster, were supposed to foretell the event. Sometimes written alectoromancy.