Oracle of Sieve and Shears (The)

This method of divination is mentioned by Theocʹritos. 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 Jonson: Alchemist, i. 1.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.