Divination

The practice of divination is widespread and has been known in virtually every historical period. Even biblical prophets used various forms of divination in reading the future, as did pagan priests, shamans, wise women and many more. From the earliest stages of civilization, people have used various means of divination when seeking help.

Despite the fact that divination has long been criticized and dismissed by the scientific community and sceptics as being superstition, there is something to be said about a practice that has continued to exist for thousands of years, and at one point in time was highly revered and sought after by members of the royal family, military and government.

For this piece, I am going to talk about divination. I will go over its meaning, some of its history, my personal thoughts and experiences with divination, as well as some examples of divination, its different methods and its practices.

As some of you may know, on top of a few other things, I am a professional tarot reader, I also conduct scrying sessions and other forms of divination on behalf of those who seek my services. During this time I have come to understand that there are many who have great misunderstandings in as to what divination actually is, it is my hope to correct some of these misunderstandings.

So what exactly is divination?

According to the Oxford dictionary divination is “The practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.”

As a professional tarot reader and someone who uses many different forms of divination daily, I can tell you now, its not that straight forward! Yes divination can help predict things that are yet to take place, yes some methods are stronger than others, yes in some instances “supernatural” assistance may be needed, but it is not a solid method for predicting the future, why? because everything is mutable, anyone who tells you differently is shafting you.

As I tell all my clients whenever I conduct a reading for them, divination in general, can give an indication of the possible outcomes to a scenario based on our current life path, that does not mean your future is set in stone! far from it, its just a guide to give you the power to create your own journey. I believe divination is a method of

1) Examining the full potentiality of a given situation

2) Deciding what action to take given the vast options that are open

3) Developing and using instinct to act.

Remember we are always in control of our destiny, our will is the whole of the law, it's what we choose to do with it that plants the seeds that will grow into our future.

The best way I would describe divination, is as a energy reading, but I will go into that in more detail later on, first I want to go over the origin of divination and some of its history.

The term “divination” originates from the Latin word divinare meaning to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesize, it is related to the word divinus meaning divine or "to be inspired by a god."

Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organise what appears to be disjointed items, symbols, images, or movements from random facets to provide insight into a problem/question at hand.

Today, millions of people practice various forms of divination, sometimes without even being aware of it, from consulting a daily horoscope to flipping a coin to decide a course of action, or simply seeking guidance from god, but this is nothing new, divination and its various practices have been around for hundreds of years.

The ancient Romans, Egyptians, Druids, and Hebrews all relied on different forms of divination for their questions and spiritual guidance.

Astrology for example was one of the first sophisticated forms of divination, dating back to ancient Mesopotamian times. As far back as 1000 BC the Chinese had "I CHING," an oracle which involved the tossing and reading of long short yarrow sticks. Another ancient Chinese divinatory practice which is still used is "feng-shui," or geomancy, which involves the erecting of physical structures by determining the currents of energy coursing through the earth. In the Middle Ages, the philosophers were averse to divination. However, among the common folk and some mystics, the practice was well known. A common practice in the Middle Ages was to toss grain, sand, or peas onto a field in order to read the patterns after the substances fell.

In ancient Greece both seers and oracles practised divination, and both were highly sought after for their abilities to offer guidance and predict events yet to come, but don’t be mistaken into thinking seers and oracles to be one in the same, they were not. Oracles were the conduits for the gods on earth; their prophecies were understood to be the will of the gods verbatim. There was a high demand for oracle consultations. Unlike oracles, seers were not in direct contact with the gods; instead, they were interpreters of signs provided by the gods. They were more numerous than the oracles and were highly valued by the Greeks.

Its also worth noting, that the Christian bible can be interpreted as categorically forbidding divination. However, some would claim that divination is indeed practised in the Bible, for example, Joseph practised hydromancy, a method of divination by means of water, when he divined the future by pouring water into a cup, throwing little pieces of gold or jewels into the fluid, observing the figures that were formed, and using them to make a prediction (Genesis). Even at the time of Jesus and his birth, the magi learned, by observing the stars that the Christ child would be born, and through this method of divination were able to determine at what time and what place in Bethlehem he would be born.

Within the Church, divination proved so strong and attractive to new converts that synods forbade it and councils legislated against it, regardless of this, today's Christian theology still includes invoking the name of the Holy Spirit and praying in the name of the saints to accomplish some personal goal, which is basically just another practice of divination.

Divination is versatile and cannot be boxed in to one method of practice, the basis of conducting any form of divination is to seek guidance, the method used to acquire this guidance is completely dependent on the practitioner and whatever techniques they wish to apply. Divination as a practice is vast and varied, far too varied to document in a simple blog, I will however go over some of the more commonly used methods and detail their practice

Astrology

Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies (planets, Stars) and their influence on human affairs and the natural world. Some believe that the positioning of planets and stars have a great influence on what happens in the human world and the course of one’s destiny. This method of divination has been used to formulate certain attributes associated with different zodiac signs as well as horoscopes. If you’re interested in learning about Astrology I would strongly recommend you start by learn the meanings of the planets, learn about the zodiac signs and the houses, then dive into some more advanced topics like squares and aspects. There are several books and online resources that can help you master this form of divination.

Bibliomancy

This method of divination is intended to predict the future and requires some practice. A book is the main element of this divination. While many people use a Bible, any book will do (even notebooks and diaries). After selecting a book, the diviner will close their eyes, open the book, and point at a phrase or paragraph (all while keeping their eyes closed). Upon opening their eyes and reading the selected area, they can interpret it as a message. It’s a straightforward practice in principle: simply ask a question and then open the book to a random page. The first sentence (or paragraph) will provide you the answer you seek, but you may need to get creative depending on the type of book you use. If this type of divination appeals to you, my advise would be to practice it often, and document your findings.

Cartomancy

This method of divination requires a deck of cards, most commonly, standard playing cards that typically consists of 52 cards are used. Every number, suit, and face has a meaning. The card reader will use the information provided by the cards drawn to apply it to the situation of the person they are reading, whether its themselves or someone else. Tarot is also form of cartomancy. Readings drawn from Tarot cards are not a clear sign of the future but rather a guideline for the diviner to interpret according to the forces in the room. Tarot cards serve as a guide, but because we all avail of our own free will, the readings are subject to change.

Unlike a regular deck of cards, Tarot cards include 22 extras. These include death, the devil, and the lovers. When it comes down to learning Tarot, there are endless resources at your disposal, my advise for those looking to learn tarot is familiarise yourself with a deck, use your intuition to start with, then practice and learn the meanings of each card. While it requires a lot of practice and commitment, I believe tarot is a useful form of divination to learn.

Dowsing

This method of divination typically requires a Pendulum and it is one of the easiest forms of divination to learn as it responds primarily to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions by providing a clear and sometimes definitive answer. You don’t need to be a diviner to use a pendulum many people use them on their own without any training. To use a pendulum for guidance, simply hold the chain and allow it to dangle without moving it. Once the pendulum is completely still, begin to ask simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. In response, the pendulum will begin to move. If it swings from side to side, it is indicating ‘no.’ A front to back movement signals ‘yes.’ if it goes around in circles the answer is not yet determined.

There are two types of dowsing that are popular:

• The type used with rods that are used to locate areas where there may be water. This method is also sometimes used to find missing objects.

• The second type of dowsing divination, as explained above, is when the diviner uses a pendulum to get answers to yes, no, or maybe questions.

More commonly, diviners will use this type of divination to locate missing objects, bodies of water, or determine the energy of a room.

Other methods of divination include, but are not limited to, the I-Ching, Lithomancy, Numerology, Scrying, Tasseography, Cromniomancy, Hydromany, palm reading, rune readings and many more.

There are hundreds of ways to practice divination, whether you prefer a traditional method or would rather connect with an object or nature to seek guidance, there’s no wrong way to practice this aspect of mysticism.

Majority of the time, and I can say this form first had experience, the main reasons people seek guidance from divination is to get answers, comfort, or healing, if you are looking to practice any form of divination on behalf of anyone else, please be compassionate and understanding of the reasons why someone may be coming to you in the first place. Divination is a powerful art that has sadly been tarnished over the course of the last millennia, so it is important that you honour the craft, and give it the respect it deserves, should you wish to practice it.

In this piece I have tried to explain some of the methods and theories behind divination, but having practiced this art in many of its different forms, the best way I can describe divination is as an energy reading, now what exactly do I mean by this?

Firstly I need to talk about your divine higher self, if you are unfamiliar with this term, your divine higher self is akin to what the Christians refer to as “the holly spirit” it is a divine energy that resided in all of us, and much like the Akashic records, this energy holds information on everything that has happened, everything that is happening, and everything that could happen, kind of like a mystical cosmic web that connects everything whether you realise it or not.

After years of tarot reading I started to noticing more and more that my divine higher self was at play, so much so (and you will know this if I have ever conducted a reading for you) that eventually messages started coming though before I even began the tarot readings. Eventually I realised that tarot, as well as many other forms of divination, is not just a tool to use when seeking guidance, it is a method of communication between you and your divine higher self, and the more I studied and documented this interaction, the more I realised that what is actually taking place is an energy reading, which should have been abundantly obvious to me form the start, considering I am a Hermeticist and everything is energy!

But what exactly do I mean when I say this? Bare with me as I try to explain.

My divine higher self is a type of divine energy that basically knows all. After years of practising divination, my connection with my divine higher self strengthened, in effect making it easier for me to communicate with my higher self, and to read/see/hear the messages that my divine higher self is trying to pass on.

In my opinion, based on my experiences, tarot readings and many other forms of divination bring about messages being passed on from our divine higher selves. When I read a persons cards, I am actually reading the energy that their divine higher self is sending out, which my divine higher self then translates so that I can pass the message on, make sense? Basically whenever you seek a method of divination for guidance, its your divine higher self that's giving you that guidance.

Your energy determines how that message comes through or better yet, what messages need to be coming through, and these messages are based on where you are in life, and how your situation is affecting your vibrations (energy) and the path these vibrations are likely going to lead you.

Divination is thought to be the practice of seeking out knowledge of the unknown (often the future) by looking for inspiration from the forces around us, I believe, from experience, that these forces are our divine higher selves. The roots of divination as a practice are unknown, but people have been practising it in its various forms for thousands of years, in almost every culture.

Whether you believe in divination as method of seeking guidance is 100% your prerogative. Personally I believe there is something to be said about a practice that has been sought after and survived, after thousands of years of persecution, plus I have seen first hand many “predictions” derived from different methods of divination come to fruition.

Regardless of where you stand on this topic, I hope that this piece has given you a better insight into divination as a practice and that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Remember knowledge is power, do with it what you will.