So I am a few days overdue for this post, I apologize but things have been busy at home. Anywho onto the real point of the post.
So divination.... What is it?
Any action that attempts to
solicit information directly from the Divine,
through the use of interpretive tools.
-Erin Dragonsong
There seems to be a common misconception of Divination is that it is the work of the devil but the root word of divination is divine. So in other words even if we did believe in the devil we would still be working with positivity... the divine.
How divination works varies in opinion like most things in Wicca and Paganism as a whole. Some believe that the ability to do divination comes directly from themselves, others believe that it comes solely from the divine (whether that be gods, goddesses, the energy source, or all of the above), and others (like myself) believe that it comes from the divine and yourself working together.
Divination comes in many different forms. Through cards, stones, pendulums, crystal balls/water, tea leaves, astrology, palmistry, and much more. In this post I will talk about the types of divination I dabble in.
Types of divination:
Tarot cards-
These are cards which are typically in a set of 78. They are divided by 22 major Arcana cards and 56 minor cards. The minor cards are divided into 4 suits (cups, wands, swords, pentacles). You take the cards and concentrate on a question or a situation you want to know more about while you shuffle. There are many different ways to shuffle and draw cards. I like to shuffle normally then lay them on a table and mess them up so they have a chance to be upside down. Then to draw I pick from the top. Others fan the cards out to pick, etc. The cards can tell the past, present, and future. Different spreads (different card layouts) are used for different subjects Each card means a certain thing and then you use intuition to tell how the cards all relate.
Oracle cards-
Like tarot cards it's a deck of cards with meanings. There is no set number of cards per deck, no suits, and they typically are much more literal and less interpretive. Usually people interested in tarot start with oracle cards
Runes-
Runes can be made on any material really like stones or wood. Most commonly they are on crystals. My set of runes are on rose quarts. They are inscriptions from an ancient German alphabet "Elder Futhark". There are 24 runes in a set. Each rune has a different meaning much like the tarots. There are different ways to cast runes. You can pick them out of the cloth bag or grab a random amount and roll them out like a handful of die.
Pendulums-
Probably my favourite form of divination. These can be as simple as a necklace with a pendent on it or you can get an actual pendulum. Mine has a chain with rose quarts on the end acting as the pendent. What a pendulum does is it allows you to communicate with and work with the energy around you, your spirit guides, deities, spirits (ghosts), etc. It answers yes or no questions. How I like to use a pendulum is I like to ask if a certain energy is there. I typically ask for Gaia. I then say if you're here can you show me a yes answer and the pendulum will swing north to south. Then I say can you show me a no answer and it will change to swinging east to west. Then I ask tester questions like am I boy, do I have blue eyes to see if it answers properly and then I carry on and have a conversation and ask questions.
Tea Leaves:
Also known as tasseography is when you get a tea cup and saucer and you brew tea with loose tea. The person you are doing the reading for will drink the tea until it is almost empty. You then will flip the cup over onto the saucer. A lot of people who read tea leaves have a sort of ritual they do with the cups before turning it back over. When they do turn it over they look for any shapes/images in the cup starting from the top until they get to the bottom. Different images represent different things.
So these are some ways to do divination. There are other ways as well and I encourage you to do some research about them! Next post will be about Wiccan rituals!
Check out some of my earlier posts through these links: Altars and tools: Part 7, Witchcraft and Magickal workings: Part 6, What happens when we die: part 5
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