Divination
Shamanic divination is the retrieval of information by specific means
in a shamanic journey. The information is usually on subjects for
which the shaman has no prior knowledge. It is similar to psychic
readings, Tarot readings, or other methods of retrieving information
from non-ordinary reality.
Divination is the retrieval of information from possible futures.
Using information from a divination to change one's choices and
selections in the now may change the course of the future that was seen
in the divination.
Divination can be useful for
- clarifications about
- finding lost objects
- finding geographical locations:
- places to live
- places to work
- places to retire
- clarification about events future
- clarification about events past
- clarifications about fears or nightmares
Why Divination?
Why indeed? Divination was one method used for finding
food. In some peoples, notably the Naskapi of the marginal
ecosystem of the Labrador Peninsula, practicing good and useful
divinatory methods were essential to their survival. Modern
peoples still use divination for accentuating survival and quality of
life, but rarely is it a life-or-death question for us in contemporary
society.
Asking a better question
Since decisions in the current "now" define and alter the course of
what comes next, divination can help retrieve information from a future
which might occur if all current situations remain the same.
Notice the absence of "when" questions. The spirits' view of time
seems different than ours does. I suspect that time flows
differently in non-ordinary reality, and therefore "when" just doesn't
have much meaning for the allies.
Formulating a question which will give a good answer to a divination
journey is an art, one that I am only now slowly learning.
Questions that have a more open-ended form give better results.
Questions such as "what is the best job for me to take?" can have
unexpected results. Best for what? For learning a difficult
life lesson? The allies might think that a job in which you will
be confronted with lessons you have not yet mastered is indeed the
"best" job for you at this time. That might not be what you mean by "best", though. A
better question for divination might be "which job will help me take
care of my family to maximize health, happiness and wellbeing for us
all?"
Finding the best question for divination is indeed an art, which is
practiced and perfected in the doing of it.
The Shamanic Art of Divining
Performing divination can happen while in a shamanic journey, or while
in ordinary reality with the help of the allies and the energies of all
that is around us. Or it may be a combination of both.
Divination truly uses all five of the tenets of shamanism, especially
"everything is connected" and "everything responds". Since
everything is connected, anything
that we interact with can respond, can give us the information we seek.
If we pull on the web of all things by asking, the web can
respond by telling us.
In ordinary reality, divination can be done by using ordinary
objects. Siberian peoples used methods such as scapulomancy, or
divining by throwing an animal scapula into a fire and then reading and
interpreting the cracks that appeared. Reading tea leaves is a
form of divination that often filters into popular fiction, but it has
its roots in real practices. "Throwing the bones", or using a toss is another form of
divination: bones, stones, or handfuls of ordinary objects are
thrown while holding the question in the mind, and the final resting
patterns are interpreted to shed light on the answer. How the
objects land, where they are in relation to other objects, how objects
are grouped together all inform the answer to the question. The I Ching is a well-known method of
using tosses and interpretations to answer questions. The
Old Testament speaks of the stones Urim and Thummim being used in
cleromancy by using them in tosses.
Divination is not the ultimate word in answering questions:
shamans are people, and as such, are fallible. Understanding and
interpretation may be incomplete, or they may be simply wishful
thinking if the shaman is him- or herself too personally invested in
the outcome of a question. Neither is divination a game.
All divinatory methods respond by the quality and depth of energy used
to employ them. If approached as a game, divination methods will
respond as a game. When approached with openness and with deep
reverence, divinatory methods will respond equally.
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Jeffrey
Rich
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