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Like any other school of Magick, Divination uses many different methods in order to divine esoteric knowledge, including the past, present, and possible future. 

Important note: It is important to remember that, no matter the type of divinatory practices used, no single person is able to tell the future. There are always variables at play that may change your future and your destiny. Divination simple says that, should things continue as they are, this is the most likely outcome of the situation.

How does divination work? 

In and around all things is a flow of energy. You can think of this flow of energy as the circle of life type of thing from Lion King. “The circle of life flows through us all”, or, like water: Water particles are everywhere, even in the air we breath, and is thus constantly in motion. Same with energy. Energy makes up the very fabric of our existence, making us connected to everything around us.

Here’s a witchy secret they don’t often bother to tell you: We are connected to this energy, and this energy is connected to all things. Energy, at its base, is information.

When we tap into this energy, we are able to see the information that the energy has to give us. Different diviners use different methods of tapping into this energy, but it’s all the same.

Kinds of Divination:

By no means is this list exhaustive. As mentioned before, there are many ways in which diviners practice divination. None is better than the other, and all accomplish basically the same thing. There are a few that I have dabbled in, and a lot that I have not.

Cartomancy

The most common and well known form of divination is divining using a deck of cards, most commonly tarot. Among the cards are different sets of titles and imagery that is meant to invoke some sort of reaction from your intuition. The best way to work with the tarot, oracle, or any other deck of cards is allow the cards to speak to you, and not you for it. In other words, allow there to be a natural progression as you read the tarot, instead of forcing meanings where there may be none.

Runes (Futhark)

Runes are another form of divination that use ancient symbols housing esoteric wisdom to divine. According to the legends which I’ve read, the runes are Norse in origin, but the exact details of how they came to be is a mystery. It is said that they were sacred to the Norse goddess Freya, and were possibly even discovered by her. She then introduced then to Odin, the Allfather, god of war, and the greater mysteries. Odin, who became fascinated by them, hung himself in a tree to die a shamanic death, and was then reborn as Odin the Runemaster. At some point, it is rumored that Odin then gifted the runes to man. 

Whatever the legends, the runes do have an energy all their own, but are not quite as easy as the tarot to read. They are symbols, ancient and unknown in origin, not pretty little colored images on a deck of cards. The best way to work with runes is to learn their general meaning, and allow them to expand their knowledge to you over time. 

Scrying

Scrying is another popular form of divination that uses a smooth, reflective surface in order to “See” images within the depths. Most commonly, crystal balls, black mirrors, and bowls of water are used. 

This form of divination is difficult to master, and takes tremendous patience. Thus, I will not be able to go into further detail about this at present.

Osteomancy

“Throwing bones” as it were. I’ve had more time to learn a little bit more about this, and I have a very basic understanding of how this form of divination works. 

Osteomancy uses bones, preferably from small animals, as well as other shells, beads, and curios collective known as the “bones” thrown out onto a cloth to divine the future. Depending on where the bones land, the diviner is then able to use their meaning to paint a picture of the quarents future, past, and present. 

I’ve read a few blog posts about this form, and it seems that, most commonly, osteomancers use what is known as “animism” the idea that everything has a spirit and is alive, in order to divine. While this may or may not be true, I believe that bone throwing employs the use to psychometry in order to decipher the bones.

Which brings me to my last point…

Psychometry

Psychometry is a powerful way to exercise your “Psychic muscles”, but it also takes a lot of patience to learn. Psychometry refers to the latent or inherent or learned ability to perceive residual information off of objects and/or people, usually by touch. 

Psychometry is best practiced in one of two ways. 

Collect various, preferably older items, such as necklaces, pocket watches, other small antiques, wood, shells, etc. Place all of the items under a cloth or under a bowl and then shuffle them around, making sure that you shuffle long enough for you to have no way of knowing where each item is. You then place your hand over the object, fell its energy, and try and divine what the object is. It’ll take time, but your accuracy will vastly improve, and you’ll find that other esoteric things come to you easily.

Find random objects such as old building bricks, signs, lampposts, antiques, etc. and place your hand on them. Close your eyes, and try to sense the object. See all of the memories that it houses within. Who did it belong to? What has it witnessed? Where did it come from? Eventually, you’ll begin to gain an understanding of the objects around you even without needing to touch them and close your eyes. Then, eventually, you’ll be able to divine a person’s past, present, and future using the same exact method, giving you yet another tool in your divinatory arsenal.

There are, of course, many MANY other methods that I missed. The ones I mentioned above are simply the ones that I personally have, so far, dabbled in. The tarot, of course, is my strongest practice, but others are working their way up there as well.

Short list of other divination practices:

Tesseomancy- Tea leaf reading

Pyromancy- Fire scrying

Lithomancy- Stone throwing

Pendulum- Divining with a heavy, pointed object on a chain

Numerology- Divining with numbers

Astrology- Divining using the stars and their alignments