On divination

On very, very, very, rare occasions I do divinatory readings for myself or others, though mostly for others. These readings are done with my Olympus Tarot or through ornithomancy, something I am still developing but which I am slowly getting better at.

Divination played a fairly large role in Hellenic every day life. Oracles given directly, like at Delphi, were rare and called chesmomancy. All other forms of divination practiced in ancient Hellas were performed by seers, not oracles. The biggest difference between oracles and seers was that oracles gave long answers which usually needed some for of interpretation while seers usually answered yes-or-no questions.

Divination of any kind was rarely turned to, to predict the future. To desire knowledge of the future was considered hubris. Instead, oracles and seers were petitioned to help answer questions about the present or to advice on a decision which had to be made in the very near future. 'Shall I go to war?', ' Shall I put my sheep out on the high pasture?'.

Reading is morally complicated for me. It is hard to balance the line between helpful and hubris. I'm not an oracle, I'm not even a seer. At most I am someone with good meditative abilities and a pack of tarot cards I can read instinctively. I have very clear ideas on the interpretation of signs and they always play through my mind before I start. Once I start reciting hymns, though, and giving sacrifice, my doubts fade. There is no room for them.

As I did a reading yesterday, I realized that divination is an odd thing to do for me. I put myself into a meditative mood where I become more receptive to the thoughts in my own mind. Every thought becomes crystal clear and once I start laying out cards or scouting the sky for birds, it's like the words tumble into my mind on their own accord. Sometimes I don't use tools and just sit and wait for the words to come, and they always do.

Where normally I wouldn't be able to read along with my thoughts, in this state of mind I can literally speak my mind with complete clarity. While in this meditative mode, it also becomes incredibly easy to link the cards or the actions of birds together. In my mind, strings form between them and I can literally see the cards connect with different colour threads while the birds leave behind patterns in the sky, depending on where they flew. Time passes completely unnoticed while I divine.

Once I am done, I lose the memory of what I have divined within minutes. Ten minutes afterwards, I might remember some specific bits or an overall message, but an hour afterwards it's all gone. That is why I record myself when I read for someone not there and send the sound file over. I erase the file once I have confirmation the file has been received. I will remember what I hear on the recordings, so I that is why I don't listen to it; these readings are personal and I am just a conduit (if you will).

I wonder if divination is like this for everyone, or if other people have different experiences. If you have experiences you would like to share then please, contact me? Divination is something I enjoy doing, although it's a tiring and time consuming experience. It's a way to give back that makes me feel closer to the Theoi, and for that, I will always feel grateful.