Tangible Witchcraft: Divination

What is divination? Well, if you take the word itself, it implies the Divine at work. Every person I know who does this sort of work agrees that they must "open" themselves to receiving messages through the tools that they use.

There are many kinds of divination, but for most people (who don't do this work themselves) they mostly think of "fortune-tellers" using tarot cards, tea leaves, and crystal balls. And those can be wonderful tools. I use some of them. But the way that I prefer and turn to most often is none of these, actually.

Unlike some Witches, I do not read tarot for others normally- and I don't read for money. I will do a reading if asked (usually alone and report back what I discovered). But I usually save tarot readings for my personal check-ins on small subjects that I keep to myself. I also use a pendulum for a quick check in now and again. The same goes with runes. Often, if there is a big question to answer in my life, I will pull an equal number of tarot cards and runes simultaneously so each rune and card correspond and clarify each other.

Scrying is another method that I often turn to- either in a black mirror which is devoted to my patroness or a black vessel that I use only for scrying (dedicated to another Goddess). I love that vessel- when the lid is on, it looks like a pitch black breast, perfect for its use.

I often use the vessel under a full moon. (By the way, for those new to scrying, this is also the method people use when using crystal balls. While there is a crystal ball in my home (that used to belong to two very powerful Witches and was passed onto my partner after their deaths), I don't use that method (or that particular ball!). There is a lot of stuff attached to that item, and I like my tools to just be in tune with me and who they are devoted to.

Ogham

My preferred method these days is dream and trance divination- when I journey to a specific place or to a specific being for answers. I have a gift of "seeing" quite well in dreams and often have dreams for other people or groups of people. I pass these dreams along when I can. After years of practice, I can reach states of trance possession and communicate with non-corporeal beings fairly well.

After having Rowan, it was hard to get a full night's sleep and my dream life was suffering. So my partner and I (who is also a Witch) decided to "trade off" nights co-sleeping with Rowan, and the person who had the night off was free to dream. It's been an awesome arrangement, both of us benefit from the extra sleep and the ability to reach REM sleep.

If you remember from past blog entries, I created a mask for just this purpose- oracular work. Oracular work is divination by contacting one specific being, rather than many or whomever shows up. Using the mask allows me to focus and not be distracted by the outside world. Works like a charm!

Do you do divination? If so, what type?