SORTILEGE, a species of divination, performed by means of fortunes or lots.
The fortunes prenestine, famous in antiquity, consisted in putting a number of letters, or even whole words, into an urn; and then, after shaking them together, they were thrown on the ground, and whatever sentences could be made out from them constituted the answer of the oracle.
Another kind of fortunes consisted in taking some celebrated poet, as Homer or Virgil; and, opening the book, whatever presented itself first to the eye made the answer; and hence it got the name of fortunes homericce, and fortunes virgiliane, &c.
The superstitious among the ancient Christians practised a similar kind of divination, by opening the Old and New Testament; whence it got the name of sortes sanctorum.