Oculomancy is one of the oldest forms of physiognomic divination, focused entirely on the eyes as the most revelatory feature of the human body. The idea that the eyes are windows to the soul appears across virtually every ancient culture.
Practitioners read the colour of the iris for temperament, the whites for health and fortune, the shape of the eye for character, and the direction and quality of the gaze for truthfulness, strength of will, and hidden intentions.
In the medieval tradition, a person unable to maintain direct eye contact was suspected of deception or dark association. Some traditions read subtle involuntary eye movements as oracular signals responding to spoken questions, a technique resembling modern ideomotor observation.