Divination

Divination is a technique of ascertaining the answer, or most likely answer, to a particular question.  The form of divination used generally depends upon the question in hand; for example, if you were wanting to find a water source, tarot cards are not the obvious first choice!

Below is a brief description and explanation of the most commonly used forms of divination today to help you understand a little more about the various options available to you, as well as their positive and negative possibilities.  But first a little more on the topic of divination in general...

To understand the meaning of the word divination, one need only look at the word itself.  The art of divination is, literally, the connection with the Divine; a method of letting a higher source - be that your own soul, or the Gods - speak through the chosen receptacle.

The practise of divination has been around for as long as anyone can record, although nowadays a lot of the ancient wisdom of simply using nature to answer our questions is too often forgotten.  Have you ever stopped to ask yourself the origin of the magpie rhyme?  One for sorrow, two for joy, and so on was not initially the child's rhyme it is today, but rather a key to the answers this group of birds could provide to the question in your mind.  This, of course, relies upon it being a season when magpies are commonly seen!

Boudicca famously used hares to help her divine for her battle strategies.  She would loose a hare in the field and mark carefully it's path before using this to plot her own attack plans.

Still today people have an instinctive draw towards using nature to answer their questions.  Everyone can relate to the image of lying in a summer field looking up at the sky and telling stories or drawing figures and images from the cloud shapes.  Again, this is just another example of ancient techniques employed by craftworkers to divine an answer.

Another practise still used by the young which once held more significance was the use of the humble daisy.  If the question involved was one which could be simply answered as a yes or no, the querant would simply hold the question in their mind and pluck the petals individually, alternating between a yes and no answer until they reached the last petal to gain their final answer.

But what of the most commonly used techniques today?  Well, below is a basic list of the main methods people employ, although you need only see some of the examples given above and employ a little imagination to realize the multitude of options available.

Please click on the title of the method you are interested in learning more about.

Dowsing Rods
Generally made from either conductive metal or a water sensitive wood such as willow or hazel.  Dowsing rods are most commonly seen being used for water and dragon line dowsing, although they are equally useful for locating lost and hidden objects of any kind.  The rods are held loosely in the hands to enable them to move easily as the dowser moves carefully around the location awaiting the movement of the rods.

Ogham
A form of runes, the ogham is used in various forms, and most commonly employed by druids.  The more complex techniques in ogham are lost to the majority of modern day craftworkers, although the alphabet is still used on runic staves for divination.  Ideally, each stave should be cut from the corresponding wood, although nowadays more often they are all marked on oak wood.  Generally, the staves are square edged, and around five centimetres long, with an individual ogham letter carved or burnt onto the wood.  Each letter corresponds with a particular feel for a situation and the manner and order in which they are drawn guides the querant to the answers they seek.

An example of the ogham alphabet is given below:

Pendulums
Pendulums come in a variety of sizes, shapes and materials, and their purposes are equally varied.  Most commonly they are made from a length of fine chain around ten centimetres long with a crystal or metal weight at one end.  However, these can be pricey, so it may be of comfort for you to learn that I was first taught as a child to divine with a yes/no/maybe technique using a piece of string with a pair of scissors looped onto it!  As with so much in life, people may try to tell you that you need the fancy equipment just to make a fast buck, and more often than not you can improvise with what you already have perfectly well.  A nice compromise is to use a necklace with a pendant which you wear on a regular basis; the method I still use to this day.  For the simple yes/no/maybe method I refer to above, try the following technique:

Some people find it helps to begin by simply holding the chain and pendant in their strongest hand and allowing it to absorb their energy.  Resting your elbow on a stable surface, hold the chain lightly between your thumb and fore/middle fingers.  Keeping your hand steady, allow the pendant to settle to a still as you calm and still your mind, opening up to a higher energy than that which you use on a daily basis.  Ask the question aloud "What is my yes?" and await the pendulum's movement.  When it is clear which this is, simply say "Stop" and wait for the pendulum to come to a still again.  Repeat the process asking "What is my no?" and stilling the pendulum once more when you are happy you know it's signifiers.  Normally the pendulum will swing backwards and forwards for one, and side to side for the other, but which it assigns to what will vary.  Now hold your question in your mind and then ask it aloud.  Wait again for the pendulum to begin moving, bringing with it your answer.

With this technique, if the answer is not yet clear, or the question too vague, the pendulum may circle (or do something other than it's established response) to indicate a "maybe" or unclear answer.  Do be careful when using this technique not to hold the answer you hope for in your mind, however, as this will influence the chain's movement and thus render the exercise pointless.

Once you are comfortable with this process, you can begin to try using the pendulum to dowse for objects using variations on the technique given above.

Runes
Like the ogham, the runes rely upon one of the ancient systems of writing for their basis.  Unlike ogham, runes tend to be on rounded stones or pieces of wood, as opposed to staves.  In all other respects, they are very similar, in that the individual letters are carved or burnt onto the wood or stone, with each letter representative of a part of the answer to the question asked, dependent upon the location in which it is placed.

An example of the runic alphabet is given below:

Scrying
The common techniques of scrying are a method of tuning out the everyday way we see with our eyes in order to see past, present or future events with our higher self eyes.  The most popular methods used include darkened water, darkened mirror, flame and smoke.  However, the most well known image tends to be that of the crystal ball, although most people find this the hardest method to work with.

When working with scrying, you need to learn to relax your eyes, so that you are looking at the object you intend to scry from, but not focusing upon it.  It helps to keep your eyes half closed to prevent them becoming tired, and you should always keep a pen and paper or, if you have one, a dictaphone beside you in order to note down what you see.  Alternatively, have somebody with you to note down as you speak.

In general, at first you should find that the object you are looking at becomes hazy, and this is the point at which many novices fall down, as they instantly start to focus again!  Don't worry if this happens; it's an automatic response, and you will gradually train your mind not to respond like this.  After this, you should slowly start to see images forming, but at this point the experience will vary from person to person.  Some see images upon the surface they are looking at, whilst others see them in their mind's eye... here I personally have found the smoke or flame technique the easiest to start with for novices, as they tend to form clearer prompts for images to come.

A little like dreams, the results of scrying often seem confused or surreal at first glance, and it's down to you as an individual to do the subsequent work on divining their meaning.  Sometimes you may get a sense of the meaning of the image, other times you may need to question yourself more closely on what that image means to you.  At this point I would suggest you take a look at my article on dream interpretation to understand the process involved.

For others, however, the images may be entirely straight forward, or even a combination of the two.  At the end of the day, the best advice I can give - as with most of life - is to go with your gut reaction; your intuition is like any other muscle and the more you use it, the more reliable it becomes.

Tarot
Divided into two sections - the major and minor arcana - the tarot deck comprises a series of cards, with an individual design upon each card representative of an aspect of your answer.  Each deck will have a slightly different meaning, and it's essential when choosing a deck that you select the one which feels right for you; the one you feel most drawn to on all levels.  Just because a particular deck works well for one person, it doesn't necessarily follow that it will be the right one for you.

There are a whole host of spreads which can be used with tarot cards, and through time and experience working with the cards, you will come to know instinctively which one is appropriate for which type of question.  When working with a new deck, most come with an accompanying book to help guide you through the basic meanings of each card.  However, as time draws on, you will find that your best readings come from simply grounding and centring yourself before looking over the spread and allowing your higher self to tell the story, only referring to the book occasionally.