A form of divination or fortune-telling supposedly performed by making sounds from the stomach or belly, sometimes called ventriloquism.
From gastro- (Greek gaster, 'stomach') + -mancy (Greek manteia, 'divination'). Originated as a curious pseudoscience combining stomach/belly sounds with fortune-telling claims.
Ancient people actually believed the stomach could produce prophetic sounds—gastromancy mixed ventriloquism's belly-voice tricks with mystical claims, showing how people once attributed magical powers to bodily functions!
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