Choosing A Divination Tool

There are so many options, and none of them are wrong. Here are some questions so you can be thoughtful in your choices

So we've talked about why people do divination. Wanting insight, the hidden information, wanting to gain access to what the Universe might have to share about the issues you are concerned about, is a pretty universal thing. So once you know that you want to "consult the Universe" using divination, how do you do it?

And that's where it starts to get confusing and overwhelming for a lot of people. Because the options really are limitless.

Many divination tools are mainstreamed now. Some are more obscure, and some may not even exist yet, because you have to invent them.

There are a lot of questions you need to ask yourself at this point, some you'll probably know the answers to fairly readily, others you might have to think about, either because they caught you off guard or are not as simple as they first appear. But here we go:

Do you want to eat a fish or be taught to fish?

If you're really only interested in a one-shot deal where you get information during a particularly dark or thorny time of your life, it might make more sense for you to seek out a practitioner to do a reading of some kind for you, rather than take the time and energy and trouble of learning a divination tool. I've been a tarot reader for over 30 years, and a professional reader for more than a 15 years and yet during a particularly large transition in my life, I went looking for a professional astrologer to help me sort through some of the questions I had about what was happening to me.

I know a little bit about astrology, too. But in this instance, despite the availability of expertise and tools, what I really wanted was to be in a purely receptive state with respect to divination around this particular problem. I wanted someone else to shoulder the task of running the divination tool and delivering the messages it had to give. I wanted to focus solely on absorbing the information and deciding what to do about it. And I wanted someone whose expertise undeniably exceeded my own.

Usually, however, I have all kinds of questions, and i like to know everything about a thing. Having a certain level of proficiency with a tool and being able to use it however you need, whenever you need, whatever question you might have, is a useful skill. Being able to throw down a tarot spread whenever I have a particularly thorny question I am considering makes my life better. I benefit from access to insight, and the ability to obtain that access at will.

The bottom line is, is your need for access to divination a sporadic thing, maybe even a once in a lifetime thing? Or is this about having access to that kind of information on the regular? Are you looking for a tool you can use your whole life, or a single interaction because of a specific circumstance? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, only what is wrong or right for you.

How much time and money do you want to spend on this?

There are a lot of different ways to slice the apple with respect to this question. But it is very important to view this from the perspective of time and money together. A good analogy to help unpack this question is crafting. For me, in my younger years, I loved making jewelry. I started as many do, with beading and wire-wrapping. A couple of classes and workshops later, and I was able to fabricate in silver, and set up a studio bench in my basement. I also started to learn wax carving and casting. I had a whole suite of handmade silver jewelry that I had made myself, and I was making multiples, particularly of the casted pieces, that I sold to friends.

Now, while it's true that making your own handmade jewelry is less expensive than buying it if you compare cost of materials to the cost of a finished product, that doesn't account for the amount of time you have to spend making a piece, and it also doesn't necessarily include the time and money spent obtaining the apparatus and the skillset to be able to do it yourself. To make the cool silver ring I am wearing right now, I spent money on classes, learning how to carve and cast. I spent a pretty hefty sum purchasing the wax and the carving tools, and since I didn't have the equipment to do the casting myself, I had to send the wax off to a professional casting company, and then had to spend the time to finish the casted piece at my bench.

All of this also took a lot of time. The casting class was an 8-week seminar at my local art center. Carving a wax takes days. The process of sending it out for casting can take a week or more, and the finishing also takes a day or two if you are doing it carefully.

In the end, was it really easier and cheaper than going to a craft fair and buying a piece by a local artisan? Arguably not.

Learning how to use a divination tool takes time. While there are lots of resources on the Internet, many of which are available for free, the truth is that most of us who want to learn a thing will buy stuff -- we'll purchase a book or attend a workshop. And then there's the cost of the divination tools themselves. Now, most tarot decks are not nearly as expensive as a flexshaft and proper burrs, grinding discs and polishing discs and all the rest, but for some people, shelling out $20 for a tarot deck can feel like a lot. And as many of us who do tarot will tell you, it is a rare tarot reader that only has one deck. Most of us collect decks, unable to resist the creativity and beauty and diversity of artwork that is out there.

Some tools you can make yourself. Ogham staves and Norse runes can be made from bits of found wood, a wood burning tool (the cheapest version of which is less than $10 from a craft store), and finished with sandpaper. But again, that takes time. And often because we lack time or want something that is higher quality, we will purchase things. My most treasured runes are the handiwork of the person who taught me how to work with Ogham, a 10-week course that was worth every bit of what I paid for it. They are carved to look like acorns and they make me so happy.

It's worth noting that some systems, like Ogham, are not as ubiquitous as the tarot, and even finding a teacher or a book can be time consuming and expensive. Astrology is everywhere these days, but obtaining the deeper understanding of how to cast and read charts takes a lot of work and study. Yeah, you can add an app to your phone for relatively cheap, but to really get into transits and synergies and some of the more detailed knowledge, you'll need to spend a lot of time in classes or reading books, and practicing. It adds up fast.

So as you start to think about working with a divination system, ask yourself how much time and money you really have, and how much you're willing to spend on learning (and doing) the system, both in terms of monetary cost and in terms of hours of study. Some systems can be learned quickly and easily using readily available online resources, and the tools can be obtained cheaply. But some are more time-intensive, less accessible and therefore the tools and the knowledge will cost you more. Be honest with yourself about your resources, both time and money.

Photo by Susanna Marsiglia on Unsplash

What kind of question are you interested in answering? How much information do you want?

I've been studying tarot for more than 40 years, and reading and teaching professionally for more than 15 years. I recently decided to start experimenting with the Lenormand divination system. Lenormand is a 36-card deck that was developed specifically as a divination tool by Marie Anne Lenormand in France during the Napoleonic era.

If you're accustomed to the rich symbolism and complex imagery of tarot cards, and the vast array of meanings that you can glean from pulling just one card, Lenormand reading is a bit of a shock to the system. Lenormand imagery is simpler, and much of the meaning in a reading is carried in the syntax between cards. What I'm finding is that the system is better for simple, concrete answers. Tarot will dive down the rabbit hole to examine your deepest desires, darkest fears and help you search the whole of your soul. Lenormand gives you the straight up simple truth, without fanfare or embellishment.

Tarot is the friend who will commiserate with you for hours to dissect every aspect of the incident with your boyfriend at the bar with the stripper -- the motivations, what was he thinking, all the nuances of your feelings. Lenormand will listen as you relay the facts, and will quickly weigh in with, "Girrrl, he's trash. You can't trust him. Dump him." We need both kinds of friends in our lives. But which friend we want might depend on the situation and how we're feeling at any particular moment. Lenormand provides its insight in a different format that is more immediate and less nuanced than tarot. That's not better or worse, it just is. There are going to be moments and questions where you want that.

So it is with all divination systems. Most divination systems have limitations in terms of the types of insight they are capable of delivering, the types of questions they excel at answering. Sure, there are moments where you want an uber-detailed psycho-spiritual analysis, or a reading that covers the broad spectrum of your life from childhood forward. And sometimes you have a very simple question for which you want a very simple answer, and It just ain't that deep. Choose a tool that provides the kinds of answers that match well with the questions you plan on asking.

Is there a form of divination you feel drawn to?

Tarot has been my jam from the minute I first learned what it was and gave myself permission to engage with it. The images on the cards, the structure of the deck with the major and minor arcana, the weaving together of threads from astrology, hermetic magic, numerology, Kabbalah, folklore and other elements was exciting to me and naturally fit with my pattern-spotting, easily fascinated brain. I know other people for whom the imagery of tarot is confusing and overwhelming. They much prefer the simplicity of the runes. I have other friends who also love tarot, but largely because the imagery sparks their natural intuitive ability.

Pay attention to the tools you feel drawn to. Maybe your natural affinity for animism means you find the practice of throwing bones fascinating. Maybe you find the forms of the I Ching speak to your soul. Maybe you find runes confusing because they are too much like stick figures. Maybe you find cartomancy attractive but don't feel that tarot is relatable for you. Perhaps the charts and mathematics and deeply detailed information that lies at the center of astrology really gets you going. Maybe the intuitive nature of a pendulum attracts you. Listen to your feelings. Start with the tools that you naturally feel speak to you. Don't feel like you have to start with a specific tool just because it's the one everyone else you know uses, or because it's the one your teachers use.

Also, don't hesitate to form your own divination tool if you are so inclined. I have one friend who has formulated a system that is akin to throwing bones or rune sticks that utilizes small tokens that are symbolic of ideas and events and people in their own life. It's wildly impressive and they find it useful. If you are creative and have the initiative to do such a thing, and it works, you need neither seek permission nor make apologies for devising your own divination system and tools.

Is there are particular pantheon or spiritual practice you adhere to?

All of the above regarding your natural attraction to a system or your feelings, there is something to be said for taking up a system that is closely related to your existing practice. If you are big into Norse practice and Norse gods, then knowing the runes becomes something you probably ought to pursue, especially if you're particularly seeking Odin. If you are more engaged with Celtic gods, you might want to explore whether Ogham is for you. Of course, it is also important to ask the question whether the practice you plan on taking up is a "closed practice" meaning that doing it requires belonging to a particular community or being taught in a specific manner by specific teachers. Using a tool that you're not supposed to in order to seek answers from the gods will unsurprisingly go poorly for you.

I will put in here that for a lot of divination systems, you don't necessarily have to have a gods-based approach to your spirituality to use some tools. You don't have to have a practice worshiping Norse gods to use Norse runes. It does help, and understanding Norse practice, even if you don't do it, will help you in your interpretation. You certainly don't need to be a witch or hermetic magician to use tarot, but understanding those practices will help you in understanding the symbology of a tarot deck. That said, if you're an atheist who loves the imagery of tarot and respects how the pictures tap into Jungian archetypes and want to use that to help unlock thinking about your problems, that is completely legit.

Divination tools are first and foremost, tools. Which means that how they are used will adapt to the hands using them. And that is as it should be.

Be thoughtful in how you choose, and in how you use.....but more on that to come.

Blessed be, witches.