Recently, one of the Discord servers that I’m a member of posted this question… “What is divination to you? What does it feel like when you do it?”
Divination is a great many things to me as it’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, my mother started both my twin and myself out with Lenormand cards as bedtime story prompts when we were children. The three of us would take turns pulling a card, and using it to add to the story.
So, for me, divination is bedtime stories with my mother and twin sister when she and I were little.
It’s campfire stories in creaky lawn chairs around a fire with playing cards for prompts.
It’s lazy weekends in the woods communing with the trees, and communication with deity during devotionals and ritual.
It’s seeking answers, reassurances, and sometimes? A little bit of forewarning of what’s to come.
It’s speaking to my subconscious and letting it have a louder voice when it tries to whisper back, connecting to ancestors and guides allowing for easier communication, and a way of coaxing out my wounded inner self to have a heart to heart.
It’s a way for me to help myself, and help others as well.
Sometimes? It’s just something to pass the time or sate my curiosity.
All of these feel different on a physical, emotional, intuitive, and psychological level. That is because they are all very different, and yet they are also all the same in some ways. The resounding way in which they all feel the same, though, is in that they all feel… right. A puzzle piece that slips into place and fits just right. That’s how it feels.
I think there are certain types of divination that fit better with different forms of inquiry. And, that not all kinds are suited to all people. I personally haven’t really been able to connect with things like automatic writing, mirror scrying, or flame reading, for example. Whereas cards, and especially cards with rich imagery on them, are very easy for me to use.
Throughout the past 20+ years, I’ve used a variety of different divination techniques from multiple different types of card decks (tarot, lenormand, playing cards, oracles, game cards, etc) to pendulums, casting lots (runes, charms, oghams, dice, etc), coin spinning, stick and stone casting, tasseomancy, reading dust motes, stichomancy, smoke reading, and many more (I like to explore and experiment).
I’m sure that I’ll be exploring more in the future, as well. Some will come easy and become a part of my practice in some way, while others won’t be suited to me and I’ll pass on them and move on to something else.
Twisting the Leaf 