Divination

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Divination (from Latin divinare "to be inspired by a god", related to divine, diva and deus) is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual. Diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact with a supernatural agency.

Here you will find a few different views on how to work with a pendulum, and other divination practices.

Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed, random facets of existence such that they provide insight into a problem at hand. If a distinction is to be made between divination and fortune-telling, divination has a formal or ritual and often social character, usually in a religious context; while fortune-telling is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion.

Divination is often dismissed by skeptics, including the scientific community, as being mere superstition: in the 2nd century, Lucian devoted a witty essay to the career of a charlatan, Alexander the false prophet, trained by "one of those who advertise enchantments, miraculous incantations, charms for your love-affairs, visitations for your enemies, disclosures of buried treasure, and successions to estates", though most Romans believed in dreams and charms. It is considered a sin in most Christian denominations and Judaism. A simple tool used for communicating and gaining guidance from the spiritual world. This is one of the easiest methods of divination.

When used for divination, the pendulum acts as an amplifier that signals energy vibrations coming from a spiritual guide or the divine. These vibrations focus their attention on the pendulum and cause it to move in specific directions, giving you the answers to the questions you put to the tool. The pendulum is simply a string or chain, waited by a pointed or spherical crystal or some other form of heavy object.

It is best to use all natural materials in the construction of your pendulum and its string or chain. To use a pendulum, sit at a table. Rest the elbow of your writing hand and hold the end of the chain between your thumb and forefinger. Ask a "yes" or "no" question. Hold your arm and the chain perfectly still and wait. The pendulum will begin to swing. There are two different methods of interpreting these movements.

If the pendulum swings in a circle either clockwise or counter clockwise, the answer is yes; if it swings in a back and forth motion the answer is no. If it refuses to move, to answer is given. The second method of interpreting involves only circular motion. A clockwise circle is yes; a counterclockwise motion, is no. Pendulum divination has survived through the centuries. The two most common pendulum models involve either the suspension of a ring from a thin silk thread, or the suspension of a crystal from a chain.

First, get a feel for your pendulum, carry it with you for a couple of days, keeping it in a velvet or silk cloth. ( I carry mine in my pocket if I know I am going to use it in the next few days).It will tune into your energy. Then you would be able to test its power. Hold the chain between the thumb and forefinger and let the pendulum hang down, it should not touch anything or anyone though. But make sure your hand and arm are completely still. Wait until the crystal or ring has stopped swinging at the end of the chain before you begin.

Ask a question to which you KNOW THE ANSWER IS YES. The crystal should begin to move either side to side, back and forth or clockwise or anticlockwise etc. Whatever pattern the movement follows, make a note that this would always be your 'yes' answer. (You can verify by repeating the question, to make sure).

Follow the same steps, this time asking a question to which you know the answer is NO. Again, note the movements and this should always be your own 'no' answer.( I always ask it to give me a YES and then to give me a No before I start anyway).

Then you can start asking questions that you don't have an answer to. The ancient Romans and the French seer Nostradamus were renowned for using the pendulum. Both used a different method from the one we use today. They used a method of basin scrying by means of a pendulum to produce letters that formed prophetic verses. The bowl or basin used was made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver. A ring with occult characters engraved upon it was attached by thread to a wand. The twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet were engraved into the flange of the basin. The table used was probably a tripod in which to support the basin. It was made out of branches of laurel and had three legs.

If you're using a ring suspended from either a silver chain or a silk thread, you should also use a goblet of water. The answers to your yes/no questions come in the form of the tapping sounds of the ring inside the glass. A single tap indicates a yes while two taps indicate a no. More than two taps indicates the spirit is not certain of the response. Another method involves using a sheet of paper with a cross marked upon it. The ring is held suspended over the cross in the left hand upon a silk thread. If the answer to the question asked is yes it will swing back and forth along the vertical arm of the cross. If the answer is no it will swing side to side along the horizontal arm of the cross. Once you become familiar with the use of the Pendulum, you can also use it to find lost articles or to dowse for water or treasure.

There is a parlour trick which always works and that is to use two coins of different metals and test them first with the pendulum to see which way it goes, then ask someone to put the coins in their hands and hold out their clasped hands after moving the coins behind their back, I then hold the pendulum above one hand at a time then tell them which coin is which, love to see their faces when they open their hands. Pendulum Divination, also known as radiesthesia, dowsing, rhabdomancy, or water witching, is divination by utilizing human sensitivity to the subtle energies emitted by any source living or inert.

Some folks believe that their spirit guides act as the source of energy in revealing secret information. The history of this pendulum divination can be traced back over 5,000 years to the ancient Orient. The pendulum is the main instrument used for this area of divination, although wooden rods are also used. This practice became very popular in the Middle Ages and was a favored practice of divination through to the early nineteenth century. The practice lost favor after that but then there was a great renewal of interest in the twentieth century.

In 1933, the British Society of Dowsers was formed. The pendulum is a simple tool. The basic design is a weight of some sort suspended on a fine chain or a length of chain. A dowser is a person who is sensitive to hidden information and uses an indicator, like a pendulum or a rod, to intensify that sensitivity. There are a few different ways to hold your pendulum while working with it. Most dowser's will hold the end of the chain directly between their fingers. Just about any small weight can be used for your pendulum. Some people use a pendant necklace, or a ring on the end of a length of string. Coins, crystals, roots, or keys can also be used, as long as it is heavy enough to act as a pendulum.

Quartz crystal is said to make a powerfully accurate pendulum. Some commercially produced pendulums are hollow and unscrew to give access to an inside cavity. You can place in here what is known as a "witness"- this would be a sample of what is being sought. For instance, if you were looking for water, you would put a couple of drops of water inside it. Some prefer pendulums created of presonal gemstone preferences, or of Amber and Jet, although amber are often too light for proper pendulums, they are often added, as they are helpful in adding mystical or magical power to the divination practice. The recommended length of chain or string is approximately 20 to 30 cm.

It has been said that consistent use of your pendulum helps to forge a connection to your personal energy. It does take a bit of practice.

How to Use:

First, your pendulum should be cleansed from previous influences. This can be accomplished by either submersion into salt water, or by permeating it with the smoke of a cleansing botanical such as sage, hyssop, or sweetgrass. If you can't find a ready to use incense, use loose incense on charcoal and smoke it well. If you use salt water, leave it submerged for 2 to 3 hours and wipe dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
Hold the pendulum between both of your hands until it is warm, to charge it with your energy.
Next, seat yourself comfortably at a table and start out with simple yes/ no questions. Fix in your mind the direction of "yes", and the direction of "no". Most people consider it yes when for vertical movement, and no for horizontal movement, but do what feels right to you.
Hold the end of your chain between the thumb and first finger- right hand if right handed; left hand if left handed- allowing the pendulum weight to be suspended about an inch above the surface of the table.
Resting your elbow on the table, let the weight of your pendulum hang comfortably and ask a "yes" or "no" question. Although you attempt to keep the pendulum still, it will start to swing either vertically or horizontally.

Dowsers will add other movement interpretations as they become more comfortable and use their pendulum more, such as swinging in a clockwise circle= yes, and swinging counterclockwise (or widdershins) as "no".

Some Dowsers suggest not having your elbow on the table. This is not recommend as fatigue and unsteadiness may unduly influence the motion of your pendulum. It is crucial that you do not consciously try to make the pendulum swing. It should swing of it's own accord like the planchette of a Ouija board (Talking Board) moves without being manipulated.

If you are having any trouble discerning an answer, it may be that the question asked is too ambiguous and need rephrasing. It's also possible that the question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Consider the wording of the questions carefully. You do not have to speak the question out loud, just focus on it as you begin.

After you have worked with your pendulum for awhile, you might want to determine more than yes and no answers. This is where things get really interesting. A variety of things can be used in dowsing: maps, a calendar, pictures, there are even Talking Boards to use specifically in pendulum work. You can buy a Talking Board, or make one of your own by putting the letters of the alphabet in a semicircle on paper, and placing it on the table.

Some have used a calendar to find the accurate date that events will happen, such as a baby being born by laying a calendar on the table and suspending the pendulum in the center above it.

Maps can be used in the same way for a number of questions- like finding something that has been lost.

There is so much more to divination that simply using a pendulum or utilizing a talking board. The definition of "Divination" is:

: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers

: unusual insight : intuitive perception

There are hundreds of different types of Tarot Card decks, our favorite is the Stephanie Law deck, and we use it all the time! Which may be purchased through Amazon for a very reasonable price! I have been using it since it became available and I am quite happy with it!

Because Tarot cards are such a powerful and flexible magical tool, it deserves special attention. Reading tarot cards is both an art and a science. Reading tarot cards is a science because magic is a precision science, so all procedures need to be duplicatable and produce reliable results. At the same time, reading tarot cards is an art form that both requires and enhances the development of intuitive and psychic abilities. In this article, we will review all the basics of reading tarot cards.

The first thing most people want to find out is the meaning for tarot cards. Because there are so many decks out there, and so many different spreads (or ways to throw and interpret the cards), assigning a specific meaning for tarot cards, across all decks and spreads, is quite impossible.

However, it is possible to develop a strong working relationship with specific decks of cards so that the meaning for tarot cards in your specific deck or decks becomes very clear. The more you work with a specific deck, the greater your connection with that deck will be; and the more accurate your readings will be; just as with your pendulum. In addition, the more you practice the more you will be able to intuit the meaning for tarot cards, regardless of the deck or spread.

The runic alphabet is an old Germanic literary language, which were used in all of Northern Europe. In addition runes has always had a magic, prophetic meaning. Runemasters used them to practice magic on somebody, cure the ill, protect holy rituals and resurrect the dead. Runes also had an important role in making prophecies.

From the very beginning each of the 24 runes in the alphabet had their own name. It is said that runes were also used to interpret omens from the gods, especially Odin. The legends the runemasters told, tied the runes to Odin. He appeared as a Shaman or a wandering wise man (even if he also was a warrior, lawgiver and lover of great capacity). He is described as wearing a cloak and a wide brimmed hat, one-eyed and with a blackthorn-staff. A legend about his life tells he spent 9 days and 9 nights in the tree of the universe, Yggdrasil, until he noticed some runestones on the ground. He reached for them in pain, grabbed them - and was released by the magic of the runes.

One believe that the runemasters made their runes themselves by carving them in a rock, wood or leather. Afterwards they coloured them with magical ingredients, which at times can have contained blood. If they were consulted about a coming event, they spread the runestones on the ground. Only the stones which landed with the runeside up were interpreted.

The original, magical symbolism tied to each rune, is lost. The following interpretations are based on astrology, numerology and I Ching. If it is hard to get hold of runestones, you can make your own from small stones or pieces of wood, which should be about the same size. Many specialists claim that the runes work best when they're made by the person who should use them. But remember: There's nothing magical about the rune-stones, they just connect you to your intuitive process in your "inner self."

Reading the Cup or Tea Leaves is essentially a domestic form of Fortune-telling to be practiced at home, and with success by anyone who will take the trouble to master the simple rules laid down in these pages: and it is in the hope that it will provide a basis for much innocent and inexpensive amusement and recreation round the tea-table at home, as well as for a more serious study of an interesting subject, that this little guide-book to the science is confidently offered to the public.
This is probably because the Reading of the Tea-cups affords but little opportunity to the Seer of extracting money from credulous folk; a reason why it was never adopted by the gypsy soothsayers, who preferred the more obviously lucrative methods of crossing the palm with gold or silver, or of charging a fee for manipulating a pack of playing-cards.

It is somewhat curious that among the great number of books on occult science and all forms of divination which have been published in the English language there should be none dealing exclusively with the Tea-cup Reading and the Art of Telling Fortunes by the Tea-leaves: notwithstanding that it is one of the most common forms of divination practiced by the peasants of Scotland and by village fortune-tellers in all parts of this country. In many of the cheaper handbooks to Fortune-telling by Cards or in other ways only brief references to the Tea-cup method are given; but only too evidently by writers who are merely acquainted with it by hearsay and have not made a study of it for themselves.

This is just a taste of the types of divination are readily practiced, among many many others. We thought it might give you some inspiration to go on a journey and learn more, so you may find your intuitve powers and flex them! Enjoy the journey....

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