Divination Techniques
Once you connect with your psychic abilities, you may find that some tools of the trade will help enhance your abilities. These are often described as divination techniques. These tools can help set the tone and put you in the right space to connect with your higher self and engage in psychic work.
To connect with your psychic ability, rituals can help focus and attune the mind. In every line of work, there is ritual to prepare for the task ahead. Athletes, for example, stretch their bodies before they begin to run or throw, limbering up so that their bodies are in the flow of energy. Writers often have a favorite space to work in, usually a desk that puts them in the mindset of sitting down and allowing their thoughts to pour out onto the page.
One particularly effective ritual in psychic work is to light a candle when doing a reading. This tiny flame sets the tone in the room, announcing that you are calling in the white light to surround you and the person for whom you are reading. As you light the candle, you are focusing your energy on connecting through the veil. The active element of fire represents the flame of enlightenment and the intention for information to come quickly from the spirit world, like lightning out of the blue.
Another helpful technique is to create an area where you will work each day to attune your psychic ability. Some people create an altar. Others use a table or desk for their designated sacred space. In this space, place objects that create a feeling of reverence and connection. These might include crystals, gemstones, feathers, a crystal ball, colorful scarves, statues of deities, a Himalayan salt lamp, candles, and wands. You may also want items that you use in your intuitive work, including tarot cards, runes, photos, and articles of clothing or jewelry that you may be using to tap into the energy of a specific person.
Each day when you begin your work, you are training your mind, body, and spirit in the same way as an athlete. To begin, relax your body, stretch, and then do a series of deep breathing exercises. As with all spiritual practices, begin each session with a protective white-light prayer. Surround yourself and everyone involved in a protective shield of white-light energy.
Once you have relaxed the body and surrounded yourself in a protective energy field of pure white light, you are ready to attune your mental vibrational field to the higher intuitive planes.
A common practice is to gaze upon an object, which puts you into a trance-like state in order to be open to receiving psychic information. This is called gazing, and it stops your mind from running away with random thoughts and allows it to focus. Gazing at a candle flame or into a crystal ball are two common meditative practices of this type.
You now want to direct your thoughts to a specific question and open the mind to move from cognitive thinking into receiving information from the higher intuitive planes. During this time, you are attuning your body and mind to becoming a receiving instrument. You are in passive, yin energy—receptive, allowing information to come through you. You cannot be in active, yang energy to receive this information. You must relax and open the passageways so that the energy can flow through you.
Athletes call this being “in the zone,” when their mind is not racing with thoughts. They are not thinking about what is happening around them; instead they are in the “flow,” in the now, trusting that their body has the muscle memory to know how to perform. While in this zone, they are simply being. They are trusting in the process that they have trained themselves to do, to be in this flow and operate at the highest level of functionality possible.
When you attune your mind and body to relax and be in the flow, you can then direct it to open to the intuitive fields. This is not different from any other endeavor or skill you attempt to learn and work with. It requires practice, patience, and a willingness to work to get results.
Whether you create a sacred space to work or use an object to focus on like a candle or crystal ball, the key to success with enhancing your psychic ability is to set up a daily routine in which you practice opening and working with your intuitive ability.
Create this routine so that it becomes second nature to you. This is exactly the same way athletes are trained to practice daily so that their mind and body are attuned to the rhythm and design of how it feels to engage in their activity. Over time it will feel completely natural to slip into psychic mode.
Once you have attuned your mind, body, and spirit and have protected yourself, your client, and the area with the protective, pure white light, you are now ready to begin psychically reading.
The following are some examples of divination tools that you might like to incorporate into your work.
Reading Crystal Balls
Crystal balls have been used for centuries to help attune the mind, body, and spirit to psi ability. Using a clear quartz crystal ball is a form of divination also referred to as “scrying.” This type of divination can also be created by gazing into water poured into a bowl, a still lake or pond, a pool of ink, or a mirror or other reflective surface.
Divination in this manner was used by the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and people throughout Europe. Two of the most famous scryers of this type were John Dee, the astrologer to Queen Elizabeth, and Nostradamus.
In sacred geometry, the shape, size, and form of each item call forth an action into being. The shape of the crystal ball is a round sphere. The round shape represents infinity and the ability to see energy from all directions. This is much different from using a wand, which focuses energy in a distinct direction, from point A to point B.
When using a crystal ball, you are asking to see the big picture and how it affects everyone in the situation that you are inquiring about. It helps provide a clear understanding of what is occurring in the past, present, and future and on the earth plane and the higher planes. Crystal balls are best used to see big-picture prophecies of this type.
To care for your crystal ball, always store it in a box until you are ready to work with it. After working with the ball, return it to its box and keep it away from sunlight and heat.
Working with your clear quartz ball establishes a personal connection between you and the crystal, so do not allow others to hold or work with your crystal ball.
Ancient wisdom teachings say to always put your crystal back into its box after working the ball or to cover it completely with a dark cloth. If it is a smaller size, it can be placed in a velvet pouch.
The ancient beliefs say that those who know how to work with crystal balls can see through other crystal balls belonging to people they know. They can peer through your ball into your home and office seeing what you are doing, as if using a hidden camera. This is another reason to pack up your crystal ball and put it away after using it—so that it cannot be detected by others.
To connect with your crystal ball, hold it between your hands and focus your energy around the ball. You may also like to charge it for a few hours under the full moon.
How to Work with a Crystal Ball
Wipe the ball with a silk scarf before placing the ball on its stand.
Dim the lights in the room where you are working and light a small candle with just one flame. Place the candle about a foot away on the table on which you are working so that the flame does not reflect directly into the crystal ball.
Surround yourself in white-light protection, asking that only the highest and best energies be made manifest through to you. (See chapter 8, “Psychic Self-Defense and Cleansing.)
Gaze into the ball, relax, breathe deeply, and move into a dreamy, meditative state.
The crystal ball does not form images inside. It works as a clear quartz crystal to help magnify and focus your energy in order for you to see intuitive images from the other planes.
Hand-size crystal balls can be used to connect and communicate with other people with whom you have charged crystal balls for telepathic communications.
Remember, the intuitive ability is within you! You are the psychic wise woman or wise man. You are the oracle; the crystal ball is a tool to help you focus your sixth sense energy.
Reading Tea Leaves
The art of reading tea leaves has long been a practice of divination used by the wise women of Chinese, Greek, Scottish, French, Irish, Eastern European, and Romani origin.
Also known as tasseomancy or tasseography, tea-leaf reading is a form of divination using the intuitive ability to discern the meanings of the leaves and their symbols left behind in the cup of tea. Tasse means “cup” in French, and -mancy comes from Greek and means “divination.”
Best done in a comfortable, cozy, and quiet environment, the entire process of sipping tea is a form of holistic healing that relaxes the mind, body, and spirit and allows one to unwind and take a moment to reflect upon what is most important in life.
Tea-leaf reading is an ancient form of divination that, when done properly with clear intention and focus, connects us with the sacred traditions of our ancestors and the elemental kingdoms.
As spiritual beings inhabiting a human body on the earth plane, we have the ability to communicate with the plant kingdom. As wise women and men and shamans are aware, every part of a plant can be used in various magical and ritualistic practices.
In tea-leaf readings, we talk to the plant (the loose-leaf tea). We ingest the essence of the plant by drinking the tea, and our saliva, which contains our essence and DNA, intermingles with the tea.
The entire act of tea-leaf reading is a magical experience. We begin with the cup, which represents the sacred chalice of the divine feminine energy. Then, using the elemental energy of water when brewing the tea, we call forth these water spirits to activate and connect with our emotional and intuitive fields.
Spirit moves quickly through water, so as the plant kingdom (tea leaves) is heated through the elemental spirit of water, plant and water combine and connect to create an open portal to access the spiritual planes. As we sip the tea and think about our question, our essence (saliva) intermingles with the plant and water energies, and the combination of the three elements brings forth the answer to our personal question.
It is said that through the reading of tea leaves, issues regarding what is surrounding the person at this time are revealed.
This meditative practice brings focus and clarity and, when done properly, can open psychic channels and allow messages from the spirit world to come through.
How to Read Tea Leaves
As with all spiritual practices, begin each session with a protective white-light prayer. Surround the tea, the teacups, and everyone involved in a protective shield of white-light energy.
Use loose-leaf tea that is a small to medium size. If your leaves are large, chop them before brewing your tea. It’s optimal to use a light-colored teacup and saucer, and the cup should have a wide brim.
Brew the tea in a teapot and then pour it into the cup. For personal readings, you can pour a small teaspoon of tea directly into the cup if you prefer.
The person who is having the reading should drink the tea from the cup, focusing on their question while sipping the tea. Continue sipping the tea until a little less than a teaspoon of tea is left in the cup.
Then, holding the cup in the left hand, swirl the tea around in the cup three times while focusing on the question. Next, turn the teacup upside down onto the saucer, allowing the remaining water to drain from the cup. Lift the cup from the saucer, and you are ready to begin reading the leaves.
The cup is read from the rim, beginning from the handle and then moving clockwise around the cup. The leaves closest to the rim indicate which events are unfolding immediately. The lower the leaves are to the bottom of the cup, the further away in the future the events will occur.
Leaves close to the handle represent the person asking the question and indicate actions connected to them. The leaves are read beginning from the handle and then moving clockwise around the cup. Leaves across from the handle indicate outside influences by other people and situations.
Gaze upon the leaves and use your intuitive abilities to look for symbols and patterns in the leaves. Each pattern tells part of the story of what is going on with the querent and those around the querent in regard to the question.
Always read the cup first. If more information is needed, you can also look at the saucer for further guidance. A person should only have a tea-leaf reading done for them once a day, and no particular question should be asked more often than monthly.
Helpful Tips
My great-grandmother read tea leaves for a living, and I learned the basics of how to read the leaves from the knowledge passed down in my family. Over the decades of reading the leaves, I picked up some tips that I find especially helpful.
Mercury Retrograde
During Mercury retrogrades, it’s best to ask questions that look into the past rather than to ask questions about the future, as communication can be unclear during this time. During the Mercury retrograde, questions should be focused on things to review, revise, reconsider, restore, and resolve. It’s a good time to ask questions about healing past situations.
Tea Blends
Give your querent a choice of different teas. The ingredients in the blend of tea also give a hint to what your querent is feeling (or what you are feeling). What ingredients in the blend are appealing at this time? For example, I am currently drawn to chamomile citrus, indicating I am looking for soothing energy and a burst of citrus to cleanse and clarify.
When reading tea leaves for others, you can explain to them that the subconscious choice of their intuition is helping them select a tea that is good for them at this time in their lives. For example, they may choose peppermint tea because they need a boost of energy, chamomile tea to help soothe their nerves, or a strawberry and peach blend that indicates that their heart chakra is opening to new love. The reading begins for the person by observing the tea blend they choose along with the color and style of the teacup they select.
Tea Parties
When hosting a tea-party reading for a group, select several types of tea blends so that each person can select the blend that they need at this time. In addition, provide a variety of cups in a wide selection of colors for each person to choose, but make sure the inside of the cup is white so that you have an energetically and visually clean slate upon which to read the leaves. The color of the teacup chosen by each person can also be read intuitively to see their current state of their emotional, mental, and spiritual auric fields. (Consult my book The Awakened Aura if you’re looking for additional information on meanings of each color and the connection to the auric world.)
Tea gatherings provide a beautiful opportunity to psychically read the tea leaves for people. Hosting or attending gatherings is also a wonderful and easy way to help teach others to open up to their own natural intuitive abilities, as you can guide them through reading their own leaves in their cups in a fun and entertaining manner. I’ve done tea-leaf readings for individuals, small groups, and for an entire ballroom full of people, guiding guests through sipping the tea, asking their questions, and then reading the leaves in their cups. I walk around to each table, answering questions and helping people if they are stuck on what a particular symbol means in their cup. People of all ages enjoy the activity and share how much they love tuning in psychically in this way when they thought they never could tap into their intuition.
Reading Seashells and Crystals
Since ancient times, crystals, gemstones, and seashells have been used in magical rituals, energy work, and deeply spiritual practices because their energy provides a powerful impact on both the earth and spiritual planes. Ancient Egyptian high priests and priestesses used lapis lazuli and carnelian for personal work on the body and in the temple rituals.
The Greeks referred to gemstones as the bones of the earth and used them as protective talismans. The Druids used temples made from stone, such as Stonehenge, for their ritual work, and the Romans turned amethyst into goblets in order to ward off the effects of alcohol.
Modern-day energy workers work with crystals and gemstones to enhance the mind, body, and spirit connection and for protection and restoration in the auric fields.
Our destiny is to further understand and explore the mind, body, and spirit connection as we evolve in human form. Many natural items are available to help up connect with our psychic energy through the vibratory power of crystals and gemstones and with seashells, which are the bones of the ocean.
My mystery school is named the Temple of Stella Maris. In Latin, stella means “star,” and maris means “of the sea.” The name is a direct reference to the power and connection between the higher planes of spirit in the stars and the intuitive, emotional depths of the oceans here on earth. This is an ancient, esoteric teaching. When you learn how to connect these two realms, your psychic ability increases tenfold.
Reading gemstones and seashells is a form of divination that is similar to reading runes, tarot, or tea leaves. The natural energy from the ocean and the shells provides a powerful conduit to the other realms, revealing the mystical connection to the depths of the oceans and the stars above.
Shells can be used to form protective circles when working in the spirit realms and are an important addition to the creation of any altar, whether for a permanent altar in the home or for ritual use.
The shapes of the shells have meaning and practical uses, which define which shells can be used for protection, love, romance, fertility, prosperity, and intuitive abilities.
How to Read Seashells and Gemstones
Here’s the ritual that I teach to my students on how to read for clients using seashells and gemstones:
First, you begin with a starfish. The starfish is placed in the center of a table, and it is the anchor around which all shells and stones will move. The starfish is the portal and the anchor to the spirit world, and it has five points. From top left to right, they represent the past, present, and future. The left-bottom point is what’s holding you back or blocking you, and the right is the final outcome of the question.
Create a circle around the starfish using large cowrie shells. These shells create a circle of protection.
Before your client arrives, select eight gemstones that you will use for the reading. Here are ones that I recommend:
• Clear quartz crystal: can be programmed for any use or intention, clarity
• Rose quartz: unconditional love and self-love
• Amethyst: peace, balance, meditation
• Lapis lazuli: high-priestess energy, wisdom and truth, communication
• Green aventurine: opportunity to create or generate wealth
• Moonstone: clairvoyance with the divine feminine, soul retrieval
• Hematite: protection, removes negative energy
You can also include your personal stone, one that speaks to you specifically with meaning. You can also consider the shapes of gemstones, such as pyramid, cubic, round, etc. Shapes in crystals can be used to signify what is going on in the person’s life, and interpretations of shapes vary from reader to reader and should be understood by personal intuition. Place these gemstones in a velvet pouch.
Next come the seashells. The shapes and types of the shells indicate their meaning:
• Cowrie: protection and money coming your way
• Swirl (like conch or button): change, new energy, wanting to grow and evolve
• Clam (like clams or cockle shells): something has yet to be revealed to you, a gift
• Scallop (like lion’s paw or calico): time and patience needed for this outcome to unfold
• Triton: spirit is at work on this, trust the process
• Sand dollar: time to make a decision, no more inaction or analysis paralysis
• Alphabet cone: symbol of the akashic records
• Nautilus: the golden mean; sacred geometry; connection between earth and spirit planes; balance of mind, body, and spirit
Place these shells into a separate velvet pouch.
When your client arrives, surround yourself, your client, the shells and stones, the table, and the room in the pure white light. Ask your client to focus on a question, and as they are doing this, ask them to pull five stones from the velvet pouch and place the stones around the starfish in the manner that feels right to them. They do not know the order and meaning of each point.
Ask your client to continue to focus on their question and to draw five shells from the bag. The client follows the same process as with the stones, placing them around the five points of the starfish.
Once the shells and stones have been placed, refer to the meaning of each point of the starfish. As you intuitively read each point, delve deeper into which gemstone and seashell they drew and placed at each point of the starfish and how these all correspond. Refer to the meanings of the shells and stones to reveal the answer to their question.
At the end of the reading, bag up the crystals and shells that the client drew. Give them to the client with instructions to pull the shells out of the bag in three days’ time after the reading and think about what the reading explained and how the client can make changes for the better. Then have the client place the shells and gemstones together somewhere in their home where they can see the items as a powerful reminder of what they are working on to manifest or transform. If a specific gemstone had great meaning for them, they may wish to carry the gemstone with them daily in their pocket or purse.
Dowsing
Dowsing is an ancient form of divination used for locating items, and many people who swear that they have no psychic ability and that psychic ability does not exist still claim to be dowsers or use dowsers in their work. These people include farmers and oilmen, who often hire dowsers to help them determine where to drill for oil in the fields. To dowse, people hold the stick or rod near their solar plexus and walk across the land. They ask for guidance to find what they are seeking, which most times is related to locating an underground water source, oil, or some type of mineral.
The most common style of dowsing involves using a dowsing rod, which is a long stick or rod that forms a Y at the end, or dowsing rods, which are two sticks or rods that are held with one in each hand. The rods in each hand stick out straight ahead until they sense the water or material underground. When the rods sense the water, they cross over each other, showing the person the area where the water or material can be found underground. The Y-shaped stick points out straight ahead until it finds the water source, and then it moves to point downward, showing where the water or material is located.
What I’ve found interesting is that dowsing works best when the rods are centered at the solar plexus area. There is a direct connection to the third chakra in this process. In traditional feng shui, a lo pan device, which is like a compass that reads direction and energy, is used. When using the lo pan, the reader is directed to hold it at the solar plexus area in order to receive the most accurate reading.
Another form of dowsing is to use a pendulum. In this case, the dowser spreads a map of an area out on a table, holds a pendulum over the map, and watches for the pendulum to change its energy. It may speed up, slow down, or make faster clockwise circles over the area that has the desired water or sought-after material. As the dowser gets closer to the area on the map, the pendulum may drop down, allowing the point of the pendulum to specifically indicate where the material can be found.
This technique can be used not just to locate water, oil, or minerals but also to find lost items and people. The map for this does not need to be elaborate. Simple dowsing can be performed by drawing a map of your home and then holding the pendulum over this map to locate car keys or an item in your home that has gone missing. However, a map is not required for pendulum work. Many psychics hold the pendulum in front of their body, again centering it close to the solar plexus area and then walk around a room, around an open field, or among a group of people in order to find what they are searching for.
Dowsing can also be used for psychic readings. Many psychics use pendulums to determine the sex of an unborn child. The pregnant mother sits comfortably or lies down, and the psychic holds the pendulum over the mother’s belly. Typically this works best when the woman is six months pregnant or more. The psychic determines the factor, the way the pendulum moves, that will foretell whether the child is a boy or girl. The most common directions are assigned in this way: if the pendulum swings in a clockwise motion, it’s a girl, and if the pendulum swings in a back-and-forth motion, it’s a boy.