Tarot cards, astrology apps and crystal healing may dominate modern spirituality trends, but an ancient form of fortune-telling involving cheese is quietly drawing attention again online.
The unusual practice, known as tyromancy, involves reading patterns, textures and even the type of cheese a person chooses to predict aspects of their life. The centuries-old ritual has resurfaced in public conversation after Chicago-based writer Jennifer Billock, who calls herself a “cheese witch”, spoke about her work in recent interviews.
According to Billock, different cheeses can reveal clues about a person’s past, present and future, much like tarot cards or tea-leaf reading.
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What exactly is tyromancy?
Tyromancy is a form of divination linked to cheese. Historically, believers interpreted cracks, mould patterns, holes and melting shapes in cheese to seek guidance about relationships, career, health and personal decisions.
While historians differ on its precise origins, folklore commonly traces the practice back to ancient Greece before it later spread to parts of England and Europe.
Unlike mainstream fortune-telling systems, tyromancy remained a niche tradition and was often viewed with scepticism. Yet fragments of the practice survived through oral folklore and alternative spiritual communities.
Jennifer Billock, speaking to the New York Post, said she discovered the practice during the pandemic after searching online for unusual methods of food-based divination. She now describes herself as the “world’s only professional cheese fortune-teller”.
How the ‘cheese readings’ work
According to Billock, each session involves four pieces of cheese. The first three are interpreted similarly to a tarot spread and are meant to represent the past, present and future. The fourth piece is used to answer a specific personal question. She claimed different cheeses offer different levels of symbolic complexity.
“A blue cheese can be very noisy, with a lot to see and figure out,” Billock told the New York Post. “A Kraft single or a really clean piece of cheddar is more focused. The message is clearer.”
Billock conducts both online and in-person sessions. She reportedly charges around $65 for physical readings and slightly lower rates for virtual sessions where participants arrange their own cheese.
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Her readings are not limited to dairy products either. Billock, who also refers to herself as a “kitchen witch”, said she has interpreted fortunes using wine, beer, croissants and even curry.
Why quirky spiritual rituals are finding an audience again
The increasing interest in tyromancy comes in light of the larger trend towards ritualism, symbolism and superstition among millennials and Gen Z, especially on social media platforms.
From manifestation routines and crystal healing to AI-generated horoscopes and “angel numbers”, many modern spiritual trends function less as strict belief systems and more as tools for comfort, self-reflection or entertainment.
Academics specialising in digital culture have observed that millennials and Gen Z generations seem to gravitate towards personalised rituals that entertain while also offering emotional solace. The resurgence of tyromancy might seem bizarre; however, it is proof of how ancient traditions keep on changing with the times even on the internet.
