Part I - Introduction
by Sagewoman
As promised this next series of lessons is going to be on methods of
divination and simple techniques that you can use to assist you in
your daily life without being a pro at any particualar method. The
thing to remember is that just as with anything that you want to
become accomplished at, you must faithfully practice until you have
become a master at what you are doing. This applies to practicing
Wicca as well.
Here are some definitions of what divination is from various sources
that I would like to share with you simply because each are unique
and enlightening in their own way.
"Divination may be defined as information relating to, or proceeding
directly from God, or a god; or as intuitive discovery...what we are
receiving could also be proceeding directly from our own
subconscious."1
" (1) the practice of attempting to foretell events or discover
hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means, (2) augury;
prophecy and (3) perception by intuition; instinctive foresight."2
"...divination can involve any method by which events are interpreted
and /or explained. Divination is more than foretelling the future.
It does involve prediction, but can also involve divining some truth
or interpreting omens and signs as part of its practice"3
Some of the most familiar forms of divination that we see used today
are tarot, runes, dreams and I Ching, but there are several types of
divination which we can familiarize ourselves with. After a time, we
come to choose our favorites and end up sticking with them.
Here some of the many categories of divination, some of which are a
bit unusual:
Aeromancy-The casting of dirt or sand into the wind to determine
answers by the direction the wind takes it.
Apantomancy-Observing objects that appear haphazardly.
Belomancy-Divination by the flight of arrows.
Bibliomancy-Consulting a passage or line in a book at random.
Catoptromancy-Divination through a lens or a magic mirror.
Ceromancy-Dropping melted wax into water and observing results.
Chiromancy-Divination by the line of the hand.
Crystalomancy-Divination by clear globe, pool of water, mirror or
transparent object.
Geloscopy-Interpretation of a person's laughter.
Gyromancy-Spinning and falling to ground leading to oracles.
Hepatoscopy-Observation of a sheep's liver.
Myomancy-Divination by studying the entrails or the movements of
rodents.
Oenisticy-Divination by studying the flight of birds.
Onomancy-Divination by rearranging the letters in a name.
Ooscopy-Using an egg to determine the sex of an unborn child.
Phrenology-Studying the bumps and contours of the head.
Physiognomy-The study of human facial features.
Pyromancy-Divination by smoke and fire.
Tasseography-The reading of tea leaves and their shapes.
Xylomancy-Observation of the position of twigs on the ground.
"Divination and seership always begins with the self. Seers need to
be able to shed or set aside the outer self and look closely behind
their own masks or the masks of others for whom they are seeing.
Through the development of divination and seership, we learn to see
ourselves and the world differently. We learn to see connections and
patterns where previously we had not seen them."
Source: Crystal Balls and Crystal Bowls by Ted Andrews
Divination has probably been around as long as man has populated this
planet. Since the beginning of time we have have tried to explain
the things around us and gain control over what we experience.
Divination is just another one of man's attempts to do just that,
except it goes a step further in order to get a glimpse of that which
has yet to come to pass.
Repeatedly, throughout history in myths and legends and even in
scripture, there have been numerous accounts of individuals who have
in one form or another relied upon the use of divination. There is
one account in the Hebrew bible in I Samuel, where Saul prohibits the
use of divination, however, as history would have it, later on relies
upon it for his own purposes via the witch of Endor. And of course,
no one can forget the mixed reactions that arose when it was
discovered that the President and Mrs. Regan relied upon the advise
of a professional astrologer for guidance back in the 80's.
When we use divination, there is a certain amount of prediction
involved. We may see events that will occur in the future or just
symbols that may suggest various meanings, but does that mean that
what we see is written in stone? To presume that it does is to imply
that there is no free will, no choices that we could make to alter
the future, no changing our minds and selecting to follow a different
path. If this were so, what would be the need for living? The whole
reason that we keep going through the cycles of birth, death and
rebirth is to learn whatever lessons the gods intend for us to learn
and move on to the next level of consciousness, whatever that may
be. Without choice, there would be no progression. On the contrary,
we would be merely puppets in the hands of merciless puppeteers and
the whole world would indeed be just a stage with us as the players.
Our scripts would be set without the option of editing and the magic
would be gone from our lives. What a hopeless existence it would
be. So keep in mind, that when you are reading for yourself, or
especially if you are reading for someone else, EVERYTHING is subject
to change and there is no reason for readings to end with anything
but a positive outcome.
Now, we can't just jump in and start to divine the future. We must
properly prepare ourselves step by step, so that we begin to, (as Ted
Andrews suggests), step outside of ourselves and look at things
differently.
ASSIGNMENT
Below you will find an exercise from his book referenced above that I
would like to share with you. The purpose of this exercise is to
encourage stepping outside of yourself, to use your imagination, and
to see yourself from and objectively intuitive viewpoint. If you
can, get this book. It is an excellent resource. Have fun with this
and post your responses to the school. All you have to do is fill in
the blanks with the first or first two thoughts that come to your
mind as you read each statement. Don't dwell on them. Let your
responses come quickly. Here goes...
If I were a stone I would be...
If I were a tree, I would be...
If I were a bird, I would be...
If I were an insect, I would be...
If I were a machine, I would be...
If I were a tool, I would be...
If I were a fruit, I would be...
If I were a flower, I would be...
If I were a kind of weather, I would be...
If I were a mythical creature, I would be...
If I were a musical instrument, I would be...
If I were a kind of profession, I would be...
If I were a law, I would be...
If I were an animal, I would be...
If I were anything in the world, I would be...
If I were a color, I would be...
If I were a fragrance, I would be...
If I were an emotion, I would be...
If I were a state, I would be...
If I were a vegetable, I would be...
Now, after you have finished this, the next step is to look for
patterns in your answers. To do this you look at the qualities and
characteristics of the answer. For instance if for type of tree you
chose PINE, then study the pine tree. Read about the myth and lore
of it. Study its characteristics, herbal and otherwise.
Do this with each answer then compare them. Are the qualities
associated with one answer that are similar to the qualities of
another answer? Look for the commonalities. Some of these may be
clear, others may not. This will take time. You may not be able to
find links to all. That's ok. Just do what you can. If you have
three or more with a connection showing up, then there's a kind of
pattern beginning to form. The more similarities showing up in your
answers, the more important the pattern and its significance. When
and where in your life did that quality or characteristic appear?
Where would you like to see it? Did it ever show up when you didn't
want it to?
It is important to treat this exerciese as fun. We're not creating
psychological profiles. Actually, you should note that this type of
thinking is what is involved in divination...looking for patterns,
commonalities, repetitions, and solutions. This is a tool to
stimulate the subconscious into seeing these things, so have fun with
this.
That's it until next time.
Brightest Blessings. Sage
