Lexigrams: A Short History of LEXIGRAMMING & ANAGRAMMING,: April 2008

A Short History of LEXIGRAMMING and ANAGRAMMING,

plus DIVINATION by words and letters in the MANTIC ARTS.

Lexigrams have been around since ancient times.
Lexigramming and Anagramming and were popular word play games at the turn of the 19th.& 20th. centuries.
However…
Many folks heard about Lexigrams by way of Linda Goodman’s
chapter….not a book…about her personal experiences with discovering them.
The word LEXIGRAM(S) was already being used in ape/primate communication studies
before she then later applied the term to this free form style of word play.
This form of word play has been around as long as Anagramming, which is thought to have “officially” begun with the Greek poet Lycophron.
Lycophron
Lexigramming was however, most likely, already a popular past time, which Lycophron simply documented and is thereby remembered for it.

My family called it; as far back as anyone remembered, back to the 1800s:

LEXAGRAMMES and LEXAGRAMMING.
My partner’s family called it for at least as far back as the early 1900s:
LEXAGRAMS and LEXAGRAMMING.
A friend who would be over 110 years old if she were alive today..
called it:
NAME/WORD SCRAMBLE…(not SCRABBLE.)
Other names I have heard (there are more)Lexigramming called by oldtimers are:
NAME FRENZY
BREAKOUT WORDS
MYSTERY WORDS
DECODER
SHAKEUPWORDS...(a homemade game where pennies with letters marked on them are put in a jar or can, shook, dumped, then each player takes 50 tiles or lettered pennies and sees who can get the most words the fastest. There are two ways to play, and if anyone is interested I will describe it.

LEXIGRAMMING AND ANAGRAMMING,
AND OTHER FORMS OF DIVINATION BY LETTERS AND WORDS IS NOT NEW!
IT IS VERY ANCIENT!
MORE TERMS RELATED TO DIVINATION BY WORDS!
And ANAGRAMMING and LEXIGRAMMING are of these MANTIC ARTS!
logomancy…..divination using words
nomancy…..divination by examining letters of name
onomancy…..divination using proper names
phrontistery.info/divine.html
1. Ogham casting: by Ogham letters en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham
2. runecasting/Runic divination: by runes en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_divination
3. dictiomancy (dĭk’shə-măn’sē): by randomly opening a dictionary (English dictio(nary) + Greek manteia, prophecy)
4. gematria: by the Hebrew alphabet (Greek gē, earth + -metriā, measurement) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria
5. grammomancy (grăm’ə-măn’sē): by writing individual letters (Greek gramma, letter + manteia, prophecy)
6.graphology (gră-fŏl’ə-jē; also graptomancy): by studying handwriting (Greek graphē, writing + -logiā, study) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphology
7. graptomancy (grăp’tə-măn’sē) → see graphology above (Greek graptos, written + manteia, prophecy)
8.lisopsephy: by numbers and letters (Greek īsos, equal + psephos, pebble) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopsephy
9.literomancy (lĭ’tər-ə-măn’sē): by a letter in a written language (Latin lītera, letter + Greek manteia, prophecy) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literomancy
10.nomancy (nŏm’ən-sē, nō’mən-sē) → see onomancy below (variant of onomancy, influenced by Latin nōmen, name)
11,notarikon/netrikon: by initials (Latin notāricus, in shorthand) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notarikon
12.onomancy/onomomancy/nomancy (ŏn’ə-măn’sē): by letters in a name (Greek onoma, name + manteia, prophecy) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomancy
13.onomomancy (ō-nŏm’ə-măn’sē, ə-nō’mə-măn’sē) → see onomancy above
14.Ouija/Ouije: by ouija board (French oui, yes + German ja, yes) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouija
15.rhapsodomancy: by poetry (Greek rhapsōidiā, verse + manteia, prophecy) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsodomancy
16.stigonomancy: by burning writing onto bark (Greek stizein [stigōn-], to brand + manteia, prophecy)
17.temurah: by ANAGRAMS en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temurah_%28kabbalah%29
18.typomancy¹: by typographical errors (English typo + Greek manteia, prophecy)