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Contributed by Fion. There is a DiviForum up for this section of the website, plus other things, for help, lessons, readings and whatnots. Please check it out.
Divination is the process of connecting to the divine in order to gather information or guidance. This is not necessarily to foretell the future, but rather to see several possibilities of future occurrences on the current path. It is not believed possible to see the future using divination because of the different possibilities; it is always changing. As with all Pagan rituals, it is not recommended to do divinations for other people without their knowledge and consent. One should always do some form of divination before any spell, to make sure that the 3 fold law is not being broken. Some believe that certain people have natural divination skills, but it is a skill that we can all develop over time. While all you really need in order to divine is faith, intention and will, many tools are commonly used to perform divinations. These tools include (ones with links contain more extensive info and how-to's):
There are many, many different types of decks, the most common being the classic Rider-Waite deck. They all share a system of images and symbols with common meanings. This system includes both the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana to make up the 78 card deck (though the number of cards in each deck may vary widely).
Here is a common tarot divination: The cards are shuffled in a way that is more symbolic to the reader, and laid out in an order called a "spread." The positions and combinations of the cards, as well as their images or symbols, all influence the overall meaning interpreted by the reader, who may be divining for himself/herself or another subject (who is almost always present during the reading).
Runic symbols come from many different ancient alphabets. The most popular are the Germanic and Norse systems. The rune symbols are usually carved into stones or small pieces of bone or wood; nowadays, you can find them in clay or glass as well. Sometimes a set of rune stones includes an entire alphabet, but often it is simply comprised of specific symbols with special meaning for the person casting them. Dreams
Dream divination is very common and considered by many to be very powerful. All sorts of people, members of any number of cultures and religions, regularly interpret their dreams, whether or not they are aiming to connect with the divine. The occurrences, objects, people, settings, symbols and so forth present in dreams are believed to carry great meaning about current ongoings in the dreamer's life, and also past and future paths.
Dreams are believed to be messages from the subconscious mind (perhaps from the Higher Self, the internalized Deity) and are commonly read using a somewhat defined system of meanings for the objects and happenings in the dreams. For instance, a dream dictionary might explain the significance of a dream about falling, and the dreamer can then interpret that detail as it applies to his or her own life.
I Ching
The I Ching may appear like a simplified version of rune casting. Six coins with two different sides are mixed and scattered onto a surface, and their positions dictate the order in which they're read. The most important factor in the reading is which side the coin lands on, and readings are most often performed in order to divine possible futures. The name of the process derives from the Ancient Chinese text on divination of the same name. People also use the hexagram images in this book to make divinations, and even for dream analysis.
Pendulums
Pendulums are weighted and most commonly pointed objects hung from a fiber or chain of some kind. The results of the pendulum reading are dependent upon the patterns in which it swings.
One form of pendulum divination uses a necklace or bracelet (or simply a specific pendulum tool) with a charm or pointed stone, crystal, etc. that is often warn by (or has been otherwise charged by) its owner. Certain directions are established and determined to have special meanings -- for example, an X shape on which one line means "Yes" and the other, "No," is scraped into the earth or drawn on a sheet of paper. The pendulum is then suspended in stillness over the center of the X, and energy directed through the body will cause the pendulum to swing following a certain line. The results of one or more of these actions are then interpreted by the reader. Circular and other patterns are also often read.
Scrying
In scrying, the reader concentrates on something visual, usually a reflective surface, until he or she has achieved a meditative state. In this state messages are communicated in the form of images or symbols, sometimes unique in meaning or form to the person scrying.
There are many techniques in scrying. Some people scrye in glass (usually black glass, or clear or colored glass painted black on the opposite side), in mirrors, in still or running water either in a natural body or in a cup or bowl, in crystal balls, in dark ink or other liquid pigments or mixtures, or in ocean waves. Others scrye in fire, or simply in the night sky.
Palmistry
Palmistry uses the lines on the palm, as well as its size, shape, blush, warmth and so forth, to gather information which is then interpreted through the general information and processes of palm reading known to the reader. Certain common lines on the palm are often attributed special meaning (such as the life or love lines).
Numerology
Numerologists use various mathematical systems of numbers in order to divine. Numbers are often ascribed to various characteristics of and information about the subject of the divination. Names, birthdates and locations are commonly related to certain numbers using detailed processes (such as assigning a number to each letter of a name then using a mathematical process to arrive at a certain final value from this group of numbers) which are then used in the divination.
Astrology
Astrology works under the belief that astrological bodies (such as stars, moons, planets, and combinations thereof) influence almost all aspects of our lives, including personality, relationships and behavior. Astrologists take into account the location of astrological bodies and their knowledge of the influences of each of those bodies, often combined with the location of these bodies at the time of birth of the subject of the astrological divination. They make predictions about the future based upon the predicted future locations of the same stars, moons, etc.
Most of us are quite familiar with Astrology, at least in that it assigns one of twelve signs (based upon astrological constellations) to each person, and these signs have become a part of popular culture.
Divination processes are often split into two groups: Intuitive and Structured. Most of the divinations mentioned so far are structured: tarot and rune casting, numerology and astrology readings, some forms of dream interpreting and palm reading. These are processes for which you might readily find extremely detailed instructions for doing readings. Several steps are generally involved and results may even be uniform. (Multiple people might find very similar meanings in the same spread of tarot cards, the same palm, or the same dream, for example.) Intuitive divinations are much more variable and tend to be reliant upon feeling and intuition, and personal interpretation, rather than a set list of symbols and assigned meanings. Any form of scrying, such as crystal scrying, pyromancy (fire scrying), hydromancy (water scrying) or mirror scrying, is certainly intuitive. Crystal ball gazing and reading tea leaves or clouds are also examples of intuitive divination. There are many tools for divination rituals and processes not detailed here because they are simply innumerable. Some others include the throwing of dice, reading dominoes and analyzing handwriting. Some tools are more popular than others, and this relative popularity changes over time -- but no tool or process is necessarily better than any other. |
 
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