Divination is the practice of intuiting and interpreting information about the self and others, the past, the present, the future, and the unknown through various methods and tools. The practice of divination is popular in many contemporary metaphysical communities, and has a rich historical tradition in many cultures and religions.
Divination can be a wonderful way to self-reflect, gain insight, or help clarify a situation. And the best part is that divination is an accessible practice for everyone! You do not need to consider yourself a psychic, medium, or witch in order to practice some form of divination. While you can explore many forms of divination, often people will find a few that they have a particular interest in or affinity for. In this post we will be highlighting 10 forms of divination that may be worth exploring for diviners of every experience level.
Forms of Divination
1. Cartomancy – Cartomancy uses cards as a divination tool, and includes methods such as tarot, Lenormand, oracle, playing cards, and affirmation cards. While tarot and Lenormand decks have standardized card meanings for a practitioner to learn, oracle and affirmations will vary across decks. You can also make your own card deck for cartomancy using something as simple as note cards. If you are interested in learning about tarot or Lenormand specifically, check out our previous blog posts covering them.
2. Casting – Casting is a divination method in which small objects are assigned meanings, scattered or arranged across a surface, and then interpreted for messages. The objects will often have designated meanings, but so will the place and position in which the objects land. Some common casting practices include Futhark runes, I Ching, throwing bones, casting lots, cowrie shells, Ogham staves, charms, dice, and more. For a deep dive into some different types of casting, check out our previous blog post.
3. Pendulums – Pendulums are a very easy, straight forward divination tool for beginners. A pendulum can be made from various materials, including crystals, stones, coins, bones, sticks, or really any small object that can be attached to a chain and suspended in the air. Pendulums allow users to ask primarily “yes” or “no” questions, indicating the answer by the direction that the pendulums swings. Some prefer to have a pendulum board or altar cloth with pre-established answers, while others create their own chart or assign directions meanings. Some even believe in asking your pendulum to show you what direction means “yes” and which means “no.”
4. Spirit Boards – Ouija boards have widely received a scary reputation due to misinformed media and entertainment. In truth, there is nothing inherently evil or frightening about a board with words written on it. The key is the intention: if someone believes only negative spirits will communicate through spirit boards, then that is what they are looking for when using one. However, setting the intention and boundary to only communicate with benevolent spirits turns a spirit board into a regular old divination tool.
5. Scrying – Scrying is the process of looking at an object or substance in order to discern information. For some, visual patterns, changes, and details of the object/substance may inform their interpretations, while for others the object/substance itself will help them focus and recieve psychic information. Some common scrying tools include crystal balls, mirrors, water, fire, smoke, polished stones, and melting wax.
6. Tasseography – Tasseography is the technical term for reading tea leaves or coffee grounds. This is a great form of divination for anyone who enjoys tea or coffee, as you can easily incorporate it into your routine. Tasseography involves looking at the shapes and patterns formed by the remaining tea leaves or coffee grounds in a cup and interpreting the images. While you can do this strictly intuitively, there are also books and other resources that delve into common symbols and their meanings. There are also special cups designed for tasseography that have words and charts inside.
7. Psychometry – Psychometry is the process of discerning information about a person, place, or event by holding an associated object. What you are really doing here is connecting to the energy that remains with the object, tying it to a person or circumstance through love, excitement, nostalgia, grief, regret, protection, fear, or other powerful emotions and intentions. Psychometry can be a particularly helpful method for mediums or those looking to connect with ancestors.
8. Psychography – Psychography, more commonly known as automatic writing, is the process of channeling psychic information through the written word. The key is to write from your stream of consciousness rather than consciously thinking about the words. As you may have guessed, these will not always be complete, or even coherent, sentences; yet often phrases will be written that contain clear, specific messages. Automatic drawing is a very similar divination method, where the images produced without planning or conscious thought can resonate intuitively or convey a message.
9. Bibliomancy – Bibliomancy is the process of randomly selecting a portion of a written text to serve as a message. The most common example of bibliomancy is flipping to a random page in a book. The phrase, sentence, or even paragraph you are drawn to on the page will contain a message for you. A similar exercise can be done with music as well if you prefer, where you shuffle a playlist and see what lyrics resonate clearly as a message.
10. Palmistry – Palmistry interprets the lines, shapes, and details of one’s hands to divine information about their personality and potential life path. Palmistry is a form of divination that is very centered on personal rather than external information, and so it can be very good for self-reflection or navigating experiences in life.
Divination: The Skills Behind the Gifted Intuitive
If you are interested in learning more about the different methods of divination, DTC is hosting a class on Wednesday, July 19 from 6:00–8:00 at our store in Downtown Rochester. In Divination: The Skills Behind the Gifted Intuitive, students will learn the basics about tarot/oracle, scrying, astrology dice, tea leaves, palm reading, and more. We hope to see you there!