Wicca for One

Divination

Divination is really a spiritual diagnosis whereby we try to discover what subtle influences are at work in our affairs. It can be exceedingly helpful if rightly done . . . A divination should be regarded as a weather vane which shows which way the winds of the invisible forces are blowing.

—Dion Fortune, Practical Occultism in Daily Life

Most Witches practice some form of divination. Many favor the cards—both regular and tarot—while others prefer astrology, crystal-gazing, palmistry, and similar practices. You don’t have to practice divination; there are many Witches who do not. But in case you want to, here are some suggestions. There are certainly many hundreds of books written on all of the different forms. My own, The Fortune-Telling Book (Visible Ink Press, 2003), is an encyclopedia covering all possible forms, should you need to review what is available before settling on something. For now, let’s look at skrying (crystal-gazing), sortilege, cartomancy, and radiesthesia (pendulum) as typical examples.

By divination we mean the attempt to elicit from some higher power or supernatural being the answers to questions beyond the range of ordinary human understanding . . . In nearly all cultures specially gifted people, seers or mediums, are recognized as affording the necessary link with the supernatural world.

—Michael Loewe and Carmen Blacker,
Oracles and Divination

Skrying

This can be practiced using virtually any reflective surface. The first thing most people think of is a crystal ball, but a good one can be expensive and hard to find. Affordable acrylic (plastic) ones are available, but these scratch easily and the last thing you want is any blemish on the surface that will break your concentration when using it. To get the feel of the practice, before deciding whether or not this is for you, use a glass of water. Use a clear, uncolored, undecorated tumbler filled to the rim with water. Stand it on a blank surface (black velvet cloth is recommended) and position it in front of you as you sit at a table. You will be looking down onto the surface of the water. Use a single candle for illumination, and place it behind you so that you don’t see it reflected in the water. The black cloth it stands on is used so there is nothing visible around it, to distract you.

Before you start, decide what it is you want to see, then clear your mind (with deep breathing and white-light building) and gaze into the water. Don’t try to imagine anything there, and don’t stare without blinking (your normal blinking is fine and won’t interfere with the skrying). Simply stare into the water and let anything come that may.

Some people see the crystal/water get cloudy. This then thins and a picture is seen. For others, the picture seems to materialize without the clouds. What you eventually see is similar to looking at a miniature television picture, though it may be moving or still, color or black and white. Just study the picture and see what is presented. Eventually the picture will fade away, and you’ll be left with the blank water again. Immediately write down everything that you saw, even if it seems not to relate to what you wanted to see. What is presented is frequently in symbolic form and has to be interpreted. This is why it’s a good plan—at least when you first start—to write down what you see. That then gives you ample opportunity to study what’s there and think of various possible interpretations. It can be very similar to working out what a dream might mean.

Of course, you might not see anything. Don’t strain. If you’ve seen nothing in ten to fifteen minutes, then give up. Try again another day. Persevere and you will almost certainly see things eventually. But if you are never successful, then just turn to some other form of divination; skrying is not for everyone. However, if you are successful then practice on a regular basis—at least once a week. You will get to the point where you can decide at the start what you want to see (what is happening at a distance or what someone in particular is doing) and, after the initial mind-clearing, will go on to see it.

As I said earlier, any reflective surface will work. One tool favored by many Witches is the “magic mirror.” This is a black mirror that is used instead of a ball. It’s also known as a speculum. You can make one simply enough by taking a picture frame (no picture in it) and painting the back of the glass with black paint. An especially elaborate—and extremely effective—one can be made from one of the old Victorian picture frames that have the oval, convex glass. Take out the glass and reverse it, so that it is concave, and paint the back of it black. You end up with an extremely effective gazing mirror that looks very magical! Highly polished copper is another favorite for gazing. Try different things.

Sortilege

This was also known as “casting lots,” and has been used for thousands of years. The word “lot” comes from the Anglo-Saxon hlot meaning “allotment”; gehlot meaning “decision.” The basic form of sortilege is for objects, such as stones and bones, dice and dominoes, to be thrown down after being mixed or shaken together. Their relationship on landing is interpreted, as may be the area where they land, which may be subdivided into pertinent sections. The face of the object, or the revealed color or symbol that lands uppermost, is also significant. Black and white beans are sometimes used, as are small bones, dice, shells, and stones. When dice are used it’s called “cubomancy.”

Today you can use such things as dice and dominoes to throw down and interpret. There are various books that give you the meanings of the different layouts.10 I-Ching coins or sticks also can be used. A favorite divination method with Witches is casting runes, which you can make yourself. Once again, it’s better to use something you make yourself rather than something commercially produced that you buy from a store. At Præneste (Palestrina), Italy, the oracle of Fortuna had a number of oak tablets kept in a chest. Each tablet was inscribed with signs and symbols. When the oracle was consulted, an acolyte would draw out one of the tablets, at random, from the chest. This would then be interpreted by the priest. Such drawing of lots could only be done on certain days of the year, at Præneste. These oak tablets were similar, in effect, to the runes, which you can make on small pieces of wood, bone, clay, or similar.

The runes themselves were an early form of writing found in all the Germanic countries in Western Europe. The word rune means “mystery” or “secret.” It stems from the old Low German word raunen, “to cut,” or “to carve,” since runes were carved into wood and cut into stone. The earliest form of runes had twenty-four letters divided into three groups of eight. Later, new letters were added and, by the ninth century in Northumbria, there were thirty-three letters. In Scandinavia, however, letters dropped out and the total fell to sixteen.

Runes were not simply a form of writing. The individual runes would be studied and interpreted, for divination purposes. As Ralph Elliot said in Runes: An Introduction, “Communication . . . remained a secondary function of runic writing throughout its long history, much more common was the use of runes to invoke higher powers to affect and influence the lives and fortunes of men.” In Teutonic times the main workers of magic and divination were women. The Teutonic, or “Germanic,” nations embraced the peoples of High and Low German speech, Dutch speech, Danes, and Scandinavians.

The runes themselves can be made from a wide variety of substances. One popular method is to cut small pieces of wood and to mark the runes on each piece using a wood-burning tool. A suitably sized tree branch—about one-half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter—can be sliced into a number of discs and the runes carved or burned into them. Some Wiccans collect, or buy, flat pebbles and paint the runes on these. Runes may also be carved into clay tablets and fired in a kiln, and etched or engraved into metal and then mounted on small wooden tiles.

Runes

The number of runes produced depends on the method of divination to be followed. Most runes used for divination are based on the twenty-four original Teutonic runes. These were divided into three groups of eight runes, each group known as an ætt or ættir (Sandi-navian meaning “number of eight”). They are comprised of Freyr’s or Freya’s Eight, Hagal’s Eight, and Tiw’s Eight. Freya was the daughter of Njord and the sister of Frey. She was the goddess of love and beauty. Hagal was a minor deity about whom very little is known, though these eight runes are always attributed to Hagal. Tiw, Tyr, Tiuz, or Ziu, was a sky god often identified with the Roman Mars.

The runes, their names (Anglo-Saxon names given), and meanings (various meanings are attributed to the runes, depending upon what book you consult), are presented in the chart that follows. They are sometimes referred to as futhark (or futhorc), named after the first six letters.

Rune	Name	Meanings
FREYR’S	ÆTTIR
1	feh	money; goods; the price to pay; success and happiness
2	úr	obstacles; strength, manhood; good fortune if no risks are taken
3	thorn	great spirit; petty annoyances; take no risks
4	ós	something important to be said; be wary
5	rád	ride; saddle, a journey; long overdue change; be prudently adventurous
6	cán	torch; fire; a protection; listen to the inner voice; grasp available opportunities
7	geofu	gift; sacrifice; take others’ advice
8	wynn	joy; happiness; separateness; be grateful for what you already have
HAGAL’S	ÆTTIR
9	hœgl	natural forces that damage; someone else’s battle; events are beyond your control
10	níed	need; constraint; necessity; needs may not be met; problems ahead
11	ís	ice; that which cools or impedes; no movement; no hasty actions
12	géar	year; harvest; time of natural change; patience
13	éoh	avertive powers; limitations; stay calm
14	peorð	secret or hidden thing; roots of a mystery; take no chances and you may be lucky
15	eolhs	defense; protection; inspiration; health; safety; be decisive
16	sygil	sun; life force; good luck; time for a change; relax and be calm
TIW’S	ÆTTIR
17	tír	honor; time to get things moving; take action
18	beorc	fertility; growth; formation of close relationships; take the long-term view
19	eoh	horse; transport; movement; assistance needed; prudence
20	man	human being; a man; strengths and weaknesses; avoid stress
21	lagu	water; sea; fluidity; conduction; trust feelings; things are not what they seem
22	Ing	heroism; withdrawal; fertility; marriage; flexibility
23	éðel	inheritance; property; practical issues to sort out; be patient, unselfish, and active
24	dœg	day; light; fruitfulness; prosperity; on the right path; make haste slowly

Most of the runes can have a different meaning if seen reversed (some few look the same whether upright or reversed). These are as follows:

Rune	Name	Reversed Meanings
FREYR’S	ÆTTIR
1	feh	love frustrated; absence of initiative
2	úr	a chance missed; weakness
3	thorn	regret a hasty decision; disruptive opposition
4	ós	an elderly person who will prove to be a nuisance; ignorance or lack of inspiration
5	rád	traveling that will interfere with plans; error in judgment
6	cán	loss or misplacement of something valued or of a friendship; self-imposed ignorance
7	geofu
8	wynn	be careful in business matters for three days; conflict and disharmony
HAGAL’S	ÆTTIR
9	hœgl
10	níed
11	ís
12	géar
13	éoh
14	peorð	too high expectation that will be disappointed; presence of negativity
15	eolhs	don’t get involved with people who will use you; vulnerable and unprotected situation
16	sygil
TIW’S	ÆTTIR
17	tír	don’t trust him or her, he or she won’t stay long; falsehood; double standards
18	beorc	worrying news concerning a relative; obstructions
19	eoh	journey by sea; disharmony; quarrels
20	man	an enemy—the next rune will tell how to handle it; alienation; underachievement
21	lagu	keep within your limits; insensitivity; lack of feeling
22	Ing
23	éðel	beware mechanical devices; possible accident or damage; poverty; insecurity
24	dœg

For divination purposes, to these twenty-four runes may be added a twenty-fifth that is blank on both sides. It can have various meanings, such as an indication that the question needs to be rephrased, that the forces at work are changing too quickly at present to give a definite answer, or that the answer is simply unknowable at the present time. It can also be used as a Significator (the rune representing the person being read), in the manner of such a tarot card, if you are throwing the runes for someone else. In this latter case it would be picked out and laid down ahead of any that were to be thrown, and the position of those thrown would be interpreted in relation to the significator.

No one knows exactly what each of the runes meant originally; those shamanistic meanings have been lost in time. For this reason, the above meanings, and any others found in the many books on runes, are the meanings attributed by various authors. If you wish to work extensively with runes, it is a good idea to take each individual runic character and spend time meditating upon it in order to find what it means to you, personally. Then stick with those interpretations.

The runes may be cast anywhere: on the ground, a table, or a prepared surface. Some feel that it should be a prepared surface, since the runes may be viewed as sacred and as “voices of the gods.” Such a prepared surface may be no more than a piece of cloth kept especially for the purpose, or it can be a richly tooled piece of leather or a decorated wooden board. The surface is traditionally referred to as the “field” for the runes. Some rune-casters will draw three concentric circles on the field or in some other way divide it into three areas. Again, different specifications are found for these three areas. One possibility: center—the inner self; second—influences; outer—future events. Another possibility: center—being; second—thinking; outer—doing. Other rune-casters do not draw anything but simply throw down the runes on the field.

The runes are usually kept in a drawstring bag. It is possible to shake up the runes inside the bag and then to reach in and draw out any specific number for a random casting. Some of the castings that have become popular are:

Odin’s Rune: Many people do this to start the day, or when they reach a point of needing an indicator of where or how to proceed. The method is simply to reach into the rune pouch and, while concentrating on any problem, stir up the runes and then pull out just one. This is “Odin’s Rune” and is an indicator of where your path lies. Another method is to spread all the runes on the field, face down, and then to pass your hands lightly over the backs of them until one in particular draws you. This one is turned over as “Odin’s Rune.” (A further suggestion is to again draw one rune at the end of the day and to see how it compares to the first one drawn.)

Three-Rune Spread: Draw three runes from the bag (or turn over three from the full set laid face down) and interpret; for example: 1—past, 2—present, 3—future, or 1—present situation, 2—suggested course of action, 3—new situation evolving. Come up with your own ideas on using the runes.

Although numerous ways and means for contacting spirit forces and invisible realms exist, and probably always have, divination has consistently remained the global favorite. Its continuous popularity has insured almost as many methods for its use as people who use it.

—P.M.H. Atwater, The Magical Language of Runes

Cartomancy

Cartomancy is divination with cards. Tarot cards are most popular, though readings can be done with regular playing cards. There are also various specialized decks on the market. The tarot originated in India and was brought westward by the Romani (Gypsies). The deck is divided into two parts, known as the Major and Minor Arcana, or the Greater and Lesser Trumps. The Major Arcana consists of twenty-two cards, each with an individual title and depicting a particular scene. The Minor Arcana is sub-divided into four suits: Wands, Cups, Pentacles, and Swords. There are fourteen cards in each suit: Ace through Ten plus Page, Knight, Queen, and King. In some decks there is simply the appropriate number of symbols shown on each card (for example, four cups or seven swords). In other decks there are separate and distinct scenes for each card, which incorporate those symbols.

You can read the cards for yourself or read them for another. The start of the process is to choose one card from the deck to represent the person being read. The best way to choose this card is to go through the whole deck until you find one card that resonates for the Querent (the person being read). A shortcut (like many shortcuts, not the best way) is to pick one of the suit cards: a Cup or Pentacle for a fair-haired person; a Wand or Sword for a dark-haired person; Page or Knight for a younger person; Queen or King for an older person.

The balance of the deck is then shuffled by the Querent, while concentrating on any question(s) they may have. Usually the deck is then cut into three piles by that person, cutting to the left with the left hand. They are restacked by the reader, and then the cards are either chosen (face down) by the Querent or drawn off the top of the pile. The number of these cards will depend upon the particular spread that is being used for the reading. For the Celtic Cross spread, for example, ten cards would be chosen. I’ll use that well-known spread as an example.

The Significator is laid out first, face up. Then the ten cards are laid down, face down, in the order in which they are chosen—first chosen in the first position, and so on. This is the order for the Celtic Cross: