Bibliomancy - Tumblr Posts

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Bibliomancy - The Use of Divination using books. Traditionally done using holy or important books that are believed to hold truth. The book was balanced on the spine and allowed to fall open, a passage selected with the diviners eyes closed. Some use dice or randomizers to select a page, and some manually flip to a random page. The book may also be randomly selected from a library or other collection. (Source)

Shufflemancy - Shufflemancy is a modern form of divination that uses music as a guide to Insight on our innermost questions. Much like tarot cards or runes are shuffled after asking a question you would like to know they answer to, shufflemancy involves shuffling a playlist, asking a question, and finding your answer in the musical selection you land on. Music divination is perfect for beginners as it’s based largely on intuition and feeling rather than the deep knowledge that tarot cards, astrology, and other forms of divination require for proper practice. (Source)

Types of Divination

I have touched a little bit on divination before in one of previous posts and I believe I did mention that I was going to be doing one of these post, so here you go!

I am not the most educated when it comes to divination, I know what I know and it works, so why should I try anything else? Because growth, girl! Because expansion of the mind! Because it’s damn amazing to know all these witchy things! That’s why!

So upon doing my mystical research, I honestly learnt some really cool forms of divination that I’m annoyed I didn’t know before, so here are the different forms of divination :

Tarot Cards - the most common form of divination on this planet (besides crystal balls). You go to a carnival and happen across a fortune teller in a caravan, what has she most likely got on the table in front of her? A crystal ball and tarot cards. The only difference here is that anyone who actually uses tarot cards knows that this is not going to “tell you your future”, it’s simply vague guideline, just some probable insight into the forces at work. When I first started I relied on this handy book that helped me translate every card through the reading, now I only look at it every now and then. Three-card spreads are my favourite! You can literally use them for anything. I personally don’t like just drawing cards, i lay them out and hover my hand over the top moving across the spread out cards and whenever I feel a slight tug I know that’s the card. I go over it a few times just to be sure, but i just don’t like picking random cards, not my style.

Nordic Runes - another one I am very familiar with, created by Odin and given to humankind as a gift. (”Oh, they’re lovely, thanks.”). When I first got into the craft I think it was one of the first few things I was taught out of my reading and the symbols and their meanings are fairly well known. I have passed a handful of strangers with runes tattooed on them and when asked about them they actually knew the meanings and details of the runes. Runes are similar to the tarot in the sense that they are a guideline not so much a prediction, also generally used to address issues. Readings are done by putting all the runes in a pouch and drawing, depending on the question, the select number of runes out. My go to number is always three. There are some amazing DIY’s for runes, but the real magic is in the carving of the runes. I really like the way they look when burnt into wooden disks, especially if the bark is still intact in the edges.

Celtic Ogham  - this is one I had surprisingly never heard of. Out of all the books I have read on Celtic magic and they failed to inform me of this? What the heck, guys? So, from my understanding, there are 25 letters in the Ogham alphabet; 20 if you wanna be super traditional. They have so many correspondences I will honestly need to learn them all, but now is not the time. It was supposedly created by Ogma, to show off how well spoken he was, or something like that. (I only skimmed the article when it came to this part, sorry guys.) Now the method for using the Celtic Ogham is very similar to runes. The symbols are normally carved onto wooden staves, placed into a pouch and drawn out when seeking the answer to a question. Very cool and I plan to DIY a set of these someday.

Tasseomancy - the art of reading tea leaves. This is one I haven’t tried, purely because drinking tea with loose tea leaves just sounds terrible. Basically you need to make your tea with the loose leaves and drink it. You have to leave a little bit of the tea left over to swirl the tea leaves around so that they can form a pattern. Just do it a few times so the leaves aren’t spread out everywhere. You might end up with one big picture or you will end up with a few little ones. In this case go clockwise around the cup. It works kind of like a timeline. Now look at your blobs and try to see the images in the blobs. There are plenty of guides for figuring out what these images mean or you could just go with your gut feeling.

Automatic Writing - this method uses the spirit realm to get messages. For this you would need to be in a meditative state, enter with a clear mind or a question or thought and, with a pen and paper in hand, just let the words come to you. You can even write the question or subject on the piece of paper and let the spirits take over. Like with any form of divination, you will need practice. If you have been sitting there for 20 minutes and haven’t gotten anything then maybe take a break and try to clear your mind a bit more. This method is used by loads of mediums for getting answers or just connecting to people who have passed on. I would advise that we take caution when it comes to using this method as it can open doors for spirits, not all of the things you’re opening yourself up to are friendly, so always make sure you are protected and ready for whatever there is to come.

Osteomancy - reading bones, being South African I’m fairly familiar with the cultural background of osteomancy. The Sangomas (basically the medicine men) of the villages have been known to use this method of divination. The way it’s done is the bones were placed into a bowl or pouch and mixed with various stones, shells and feathers and shaken out onto a mat. Reading it relies solely on intuition and requires a lot of training to master. Depending on the bone and it’s position on the mat, the way it’s facing, the objects surrounding it. In my opinion this is one of the most difficult forms of divination to master.

Scrying - this one is also pretty common and comes in loads of forms (I will need to do a separate post for all the different methods of scrying. There’s fire scrying, water scrying, using a black mirror, etc. There tons of different methods but I’m going to use the example of water scrying. Most people like using reflective surfaces to scry since it is the easiest. Simply clear your mind again or keep the intent in the back of your mind and focus on the water. Follow all the slight ripples until you’re fully connected to the small body of water. You could see images or shapes on the surface or you could see mental images. It’s different with everyone and what the universe is trying to show you.

Pendulum Divination - the easiest to make, since you can use your own necklace as a pendulum, this is purely for yes or no questions and is basically a simplified version of a ouija board. Again, take caution when working with spirits. You might think you’re talking to a recently deceased family member or one of your ancestors and it could end up being something else completely and be in a bit of trouble. When using the pendulum some people use sheets for more advanced questions but I would say just using the four directions; left, right, front and back; for answers. Ask some basic questions that you will know the answer to first to see which direction is “yes” and which is “no”. Once you have that down you can ask away.

Numerology - using numbers in divination. Numbers hold a lot of magical significance (any witch can tell you that). There are specific numbers that we like to stick to and we stick to it for a reason. Odd numbers are related to a feminine energy, while even numbers are related to masculine energy. Different numbers have different meanings and in order to use this method research should be done on the different meanings of numbers. Play around with numbers in magic. use numerology to find your birth number, name number, fate number, your pinnacle numbers, etc.

These are all the methods of divination I could cover for now. Watch this space for upcoming, in depth tutorials for each of these methods.

Types of Pokemancy

Recommended reading before diving into this article:

An argument for Pokemancy & why it makes sense in the modern occult community

Before I begin discussing the different types of Pokemancy, I am going to refresh everybody on a few definitions:  

Pokemancy is a form of divination that is practiced by using Pokemon in ANY form to produce messages, advice, and possible divine future events.

Divination the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. Divination, or “to be inspired by a god”, is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual.

Divination comes in many forms, and as such, so does Pokemancy. Below I am going to offer a list of the different types of Pokemancy that can be used. This is not a complete list; it will continue to grow and develop as different practitioners advance the development of Pokemancy.

TCG Cartomancy: Probably the most widespread type of Pokemancy; it is the use of Pokemon TCG cards in order to divine messages. This is comparable to tarot, oracle and lenormand. Like a tarot reading, the person interprets the cards that are pulled for the reading in order to deliver the message to the querent (person receiving the reading). TCG Cartomancy decks can be put together using any of the thousands of Pokemon cards in circulation, the sky is the limit with what you put into your deck. Energy cards, trainer cards and stadium cards can also be used!

Even the coins used in the TCG can be utillized! If you don’t have time to sit down for a complex reading, or if you just need an answer of ‘yes’ or ‘no’, go ahead and flip one of those coins. Likewise, heads represents ‘yes’ and tails represents ‘no’.

Unown Glyphs: Developed by Ursah Bee, this is comparable to using a bag of runes. Making your own set of runes is a historically well-known system. When making a set of Unown Glyphs, the practitioner takes all of the variation of Unown and carves them into different mediums, such as: bone beads, wooden discs, clay discs, or anything else that is easy to carry around in a bag. 

By following the link provided for Ursah Bee, you can read her correspondence chart for the Unown Glyphs.

Pokedex Bibliomancy is similar to standard bibliomancy, which is the practice of foretelling the future or receiving advice by interpreting a randomly chosen passage from a book, except it is used with the Pokedex! Simple open up the Pokedex in your game, close your eyes, and scroll through the Dex until you feel the urge to stop. Open your eyes, click on the entry given, and read the text associated with the Pokemon that you landed on.

This can also be done with the printed versions of the Pokedex that are published through Scholastic. My recommendation is the Super Deluxe Essential Handbook: The Need-to-Know Stats and Facts on Over 800 Characters. Any handbook works though! I still have my original handbook from the days of Red and Blue, and works just as fine.

Pokemon Augury: Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds.  When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as “taking the auspices”. Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable. -Augury Wikipedia

Likewise, omens can be read the very same way with Pokemon. How, you may ask? By booting up any Pokemon video game and running into the wild to encounter a wild Pokemon! Simply relax and enter a state of mind where you wish to receive messages, and roam around the wild areas, taking note of what Pokemon appear to you. This can be especially magical when doing this in Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon GO, with the presence of Pokemon in the over world. However, this is effective for ANY game. This is a very accessible way for people to practice Pokemancy and divination who are still in the broom closet.

Don’t have a Pokemon game? Have no fear, you can practice this right here on Tumblr! Simply install New xKit and use the Pokes extension! Scroll down your dashboard and take a look at what pops up! 

Pokemon Augury is even seen directly in the Pokemon anime. When Ash saw Ho-Oh in the very first episode, he interpreted the sighting of the legendary Pokemon as hope and encouragement, a blessing for his Pokemon journey.

Are there any forms of Pokemancy that you use, but you don’t see it in this article? Send me an Ask, and share your practice here!

A Dodgy Guide to Bibliomancy: Choosing Your Books

I touched on this in my original post, but I don’t think I did the topic justice, so it gets its own post. So here we go.

Traditionally, sacred books are used. For a Christian, this means the Holy Bible. Other notable sacred books are the Torah and the Koran, but all three of these are for Abrahamics. Though, admittedly, anyone can use those books for bibliomancy, of any kind. If that’s what you want to do, more power to you.

For a Pagan, polytheist, and all variations thereof, though, these books might not necessarily work, and I think there’s a very easily determined answer for that: they aren’t necessarily sacred to you.

Let me explain.

We could argue all day on what it means to be sacred, but at the end of the day, what it boils down to is what is sacred to you. What do you find sacred? What books hold sacred meaning to you? Obviously, that answer is going to differ from individual to individual. What I find sacred and what you, the reader, find sacred aren’t going to always match up. And I think that’s a good thing because it means that, in the end, anything can be sacred. And that’s okay.

But this is about books.

I realized the problem with my initial post as I was reading Satsekhem’s post “Adventures in Bibliomancy” over on her Wordpress blog, specifically this paragraph:

I have a lot of books and I spent a good while perusing my bookshelves. Even though the stuff that I’ve read from Dodger and from other websites talked about using a sacred book, I wasn’t willing to try any of my other magical texts or historical books. This wasn’t supposed to be anything more than fun, right? I was supposed to be happy about working with a new divination system, right? So, I went to my fiction books and my hand snagged on Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. This book is pretty much sacred to me, which I felt made it damn appropriate. This book has walked me through some of the most severe depression bouts imaginable in my teenager years and I re-read the entire series every summer. (It reminds me of summers in Misquamicut, actually, since I usually took the book with me when we went on vacation.)

The issue here, I think, is that when someone says the word “sacred” they tend to think books with high holy value, books that have served as the foundation of a spiritual or religious practice throughout the ages. Now, you can use those types of books, but as Satsekhem points out earlier in her post, those books probably won’t have the same effect when you go to do your readings.

Why?

Well, I have a theory.

On the one hand, “holy books” have high value to an individual. They’re special in and of their own right and they have a lot of good things to say. On the other hand, the things they have to say tend to be dedicated to spiritual and religious practice in some way, shape, or form. And while they’re sacred, they aren’t necessarily going to be the same kind of sacred as Ender’s Game is to Satsekhem.

Have I confused you?

Here’s the thing about books: (most) books are art and art is a form of human expression. Most books detail the human experience in a variety of ways, but sacred books like the Bible to a Christian or the Book of the Dead to a Kemetic aren’t going to detail the same kind of human experience as a novel. They might not detail humans at all, instead gods or mythic creatures or animals of all kinds, but they’re still, inevitably, written by man and man has to find a way for those books to make sense to others or at least to themselves later on. Yes, traditionally sacred books speak to us in some way; if they didn’t, we wouldn’t regard them as sacred. That’s the whole point. But, as Satsekhem points out in her post, there’s a sort of disconnect between her feelings towards the Book of the Dead and Ender’s Game.

Enter nontraditionally sacred books.

When someone asks you what’s your favourite book, you probably have a general answer: one person might say a Harry Potter book; another might say The Fellowship of the Ring. But let me ask you a different question: what book changed your life? What book moved you in ways that no other book has? What book do you find yourself going back to again and again, that you love unconditionally, that you regard as a dear friend?

If you have an answer, congratulations: you have a sacred book.

This might not make sense to you, and to be honest, that’s okay. It’s 3:30 in the morning here so some of what I’m saying here might seem…off, or weird, or just downright wrong. But I’m going to continue writing anyway. If you have a problem with something I said here, let me know. My inbox is always open.

So now you have a sacred book that’s not Sacred, big S, like a high holy book. It still means something to you. You probably have a very well-worn copy at home that you thumb through at least once a year, revisiting old characters and places that make you smile and laugh, cry and rage. So now the question is “Can I use this for bibliomancy?”

Yes! Yes, you can!

The thing about bibliomancy is that it tends to work with almost any book. (I’ve yet to try it with a cookbook, so I cannot verify all books.) You could literally pick something off your bookshelf at home and start doing bibliomancy with that right now. Go on, try it. I’ll wait.

Did you try it? How did it work?

If it worked well, great! If it didn’t, well, you might wonder why not.

I’ve found that bibliomancy tends to work best with books you have some kind of relationship with, books you’re fond of in some way. I use my Annotated Brothers Grimm because it gives me good reading and the variety of stories in there means I get a balance of possible answers. Satsekhem uses Ender’s Game because it means something special to her. Dusken uses The Last Unicorn because she enjoys it.

It might take you awhile to find a book that works well for you, and that’s okay. Trust me, it’s worth it in the end if you’re willing to work at it. Sometimes it takes awhile to find the right book, but when you do find it, you’ll know. It’s a little like finding just the right Tarot deck: this one doesn’t have the right energy; that one might not have pictures appropriate for the querent; another might just seem silly to you. But, if you’re willing to search and work at finding the perfect Tarot deck, why not do the same for your books?

I can almost promise you that, in the end, it’ll be worth it.

Almost.

Good luck.