An Introduction to the Magick of Divination
The word divination normally brings to mind Harry Potter or other fantasy series, but fortune-telling is a real ability that anyone can learn. Some even make their living from it, like tarot readers.
There are many different techniques and tools you can use. However, before you get started, it helps to know what divination is exactly and how it works.
What Divination Really Is
Whether you’re a spiritual person or not, it’s easy to see that the universe appears to be following a plan. Now this plan could be the result of a sequence of events from cause and effect, but many believe that it’s divinely ordained by God or some other spiritual energy.
Regardless, divination is the method used to understand that divine plan not only in the present, but also in the past and the future.
This means that a diviner can discover knowledge about the universe they wouldn’t be able to through natural means. And natural means in this circumstance are daily survival tasks.
Not only is astrology included in that definition, but so are astronomy, meteorology, and other “scientific” observations of the universe.
Divination is how we learn about the narrative of the divine plan outside our present circumstances.
But Divination Isn’t Perfect
There are a lot of moving parts in the universe, including ourselves. Humanity calls the choices we make free will, but there’s also a concept in physics called entropy.
After the Big Bang, the universe began to expand. That expansion is slowly pushing apart everything in the universe. Eventually, there will be a heat death.
Energy can’t be created or destroyed, so in this heat death of the universe, everything will be so far apart from each other that there will be no more interactions. This happens because energy moves to a place with less energy to “balance things out” in a sense. That’s why our universe is expanding.
To translate this back to free will, imagine a survivalist who so desperately wants to be an individual that they move out into the wilderness to live without interference. Free will is essentially an organism’s expression of personal entropy.
We naturally desire to separate from the “divine plan” and create our own path.
This means that the divine plan is constantly changing because of how we choose to interact with it. Every moment, the plan has to change because we and other organisms create new input.
Why You Should Use Divination
There are two reasons to use divination: to follow the divine plan or to avoid it.
Some religions believe that divination is a positive and even necessary tool to life, while others see it as harmful and against God’s will.
Both arguments have compelling cases, but we can learn the most from Christianity. The Ancient Israelites were frequently told not to trust those who used divination, but prophecies and dreams were very informative, divinatory methods of spiritual revelation.
Christians in the New Testament were told not to listen to fortune-tellers and to throw away occult materials. However, they also used sortition (a type of divination with sticks) to find the next apostle. They also used prophecy, most famously, the Book of Revelation, to know God’s will. Christians are told to use spiritual discernment when someone has a prophecy: not to ignore it altogether.
The difference is easy to miss, but if you use divination to unite to the spiritual essence of the universe, then it’s acceptable. But if you use divination to break away from that essence or hurt others (as was always the case in the Bible), then what you’re doing is wrong.
You should use divination because it can help you be aware of the divine plan. Yet that doesn’t mean you become an automation with no free will. Christianity, for example, is founded on the concept of free will and the cultivation of the world.
The reason entropy exists in the universe isn’t so the universe is destroyed, but so the organisms and other spiritual forces within it can create something even greater than existed previously. Perhaps the universe won’t expand and create a heat death after all.
Divination is how you co-create with the divine plan.
Some People Should Avoid Divination
Although divination is a powerful and useful tool, not everyone should use it for themselves. Many become addicted to fortune-telling and become slaves to what’s revealed to them. Others are easily fooled by dangerous spirits because they attract negative energy.
Determining if you’re one of these people isn’t always easy, but you should be on the lookout for the following behavior:
- Rechecking your fortune after using divination to see if it “changed” because you didn’t like the answer
- Becoming depressed over what’s revealed and not using your free will to change your circumstances
- Feeling as if you’re being pushed to do something that will cause you or others harm (negative energy alert!)
You may find it helpful to seek out fortune-tellers if you’re prone to this negative behavior instead of doing it yourself. There may also be certain techniques or tools which are more dangerous for you than others.
Every divination method you use should be done with spiritual discernment, meaning you’re mindful and aware of what you’re doing. That way, you aren’t likely to fall victim to a divination addiction or become the target of negative spiritual energy.
Types of Divination
There are many different divination techniques, those for beginners and those who are more advanced. However, the five most common include:
- Astrology – Using the position of celestial bodies in the sky
- Tarot – Shuffling cards to determine the current spiritual energy of a question
- Channeling – Communicating with spirits or energy
- Prophecy – Dreams or other spiritual revelations
- Flipping a coin – Yes or no questions
Everyone either respects the diviner of one of these methods or uses them in their own lives. There are other scientific methods too, but when most people think of divination, they’re thinking of methods like the ones I listed above.
You don’t need any expensive tools or complex methods: flipping a coin is enough.
But if you wanted to, you could learn astrology. Some methods, like channeling or prophecy, are not as direct and usually require more spiritual finesse to do effectively. Even most fortune-tellers don’t use them for that reason.
However, it’s worth looking into at least once to see if divination is for you!