In the seedier neighborhoods of our cities, or along the unsightly strips leading into our smaller towns, you are likely to find signs advertising the services of diviners: palm and tarot card readers, astrologists and crystal gazers. Missing is the haruspex—in Roman times, a priest who practiced divination by inspecting animal entrails—and for obvious reasons. The ritual sacrifice of animals, except under carefully regulated conditions (sport-hunting, the slaughter of livestock, the euthanizing of pets) is strictly prohibited. And yet, perhaps there are other occasions in our daily lives that invite the attention of the haruspex.
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/apr/18/guts-spring/
