15 Types Of Divination To Consider Adding To Your Practice
The future isn’t set. But there are several divination methods to add to your practice that can help you find higher meaning in events and maybe help you understand what the future holds.
Quite simply, divination is the practice of seeking knowledge from higher beings or learning about the future. Although some define divination as fortune-telling, it’s so much more than that. Any time you work with guides, angels, or your favorite deity, you seek unusual insight, or exercise your intuitive perception, you’re practicing divination. Here are some of the most common types of divination in use today:
Astrology
People have used astrology for centuries. For instance, early Indian, Chinese, and Maya peoples had elaborate systems to divine meaning from the celestial bodies above. In the Middle Ages, it was considered one of the fundamental liberal arts and regarded as an authoritative source of information in the royal courts of Europe for centuries. While astrology isn’t solely a divination tool, some witches find it incredibly useful for divining the future or making decisions that could have a large impact on their plans.
Automatic Writing
Putting pen to paper, witches who practice automatic writing write without conscious thought. The activity requires disconnecting from the conscious mind to allow the pen to be guided by the subconscious, the intuition, or an outside intelligence. Automatic writing is a great way to begin your practice of contacting your angels or spirit guides if you’re uncomfortable with other ways of contact.
Cartomancy (Card Reading)
Both tarot and oracle cards rely on the reader’s intuition to determine their meaning, even when a guidebook is included in the deck. Tarot cards date back to the 15th century in Italy, and are based on a structure of four suits – pentacles (sometimes coins), wands (sometimes rods), cups, and swords – as well as the Major Arcana. Oracle cards are more freely structured and may feature any number of messages or themes. Using either type of cards can help you exercise your intuitive side and learn more about your subconscious.
Clairaudience
Some people can hear things outside of what is considered a normal range of hearing. These people are sometimes channels or mediums who can hear voices from the spirit world. Clairaudience can also show up as being able to “hear” a loved one in trouble across thousands of miles. Those with clairaudience skills describe messages coming in the form of words, unintelligible sounds, or even music. Practitioners claim that we all can hear such messages; it just takes some practice to learn how to discern them.
Clairvoyance
Clairvoyance means “clear seeing,” and those with this gift are said to have a sixth sense and can see energy. Often considered extrasensory perception, or ESP, clairvoyance allows a person to see things outside of the typical physical perceptive range. Clairvoyance may come in the form of seeing auras, frequent daydreaming, and, surprisingly, a fantastic sense of direction.
Dowsing or Divining Rods
Dowsing rods are usually two L-shaped metal rods that can be used to find water, minerals, or communicate with supernatural entities. The practice dates back to the 1500s, when people used dowsing rods or a forked branch to find gemstones and buried metals in Europe. In the United States, “water witching” was a popular practice before we had access to public water systems. Today, ghost investigators use dowsing rods to ask questions of spirits.
Graphology
Graphology is the use of handwriting analysis to find larger meanings, such as the mental or emotional state of the writer. Graphology can also be used to determine certain personality characteristics about the person whose handwriting is analyzed. In contrast, forensic handwriting analysis used by law enforcement focuses on determining the identity of the writer.
Numerology
Numerology is similar to astrology in that your life path number and horoscope tell you information about your present and future based on your birth. To determine your life path number, add all the digits in your birthday until you reach a single digit 1 through 9, or the double digits 11 or 22. So, a person born on August 20, 2019 would determine their life path number by adding all the digits 8 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 9 to reach 22. Numerology is a fairly straightforward practice that’s easy to learn and use in your day-to-day life.
Oneiromancy (Dream Interpretation)
Psychics and oracles have used dreams to find deeper meanings about the present and future for centuries. Today, the practice of oneiromancy – dream interpretation – helps the practitioner predict the future based on their dreams or the dreams of others. Interested in analyzing your dreams? Experts suggest keeping a dream journal at your bedside so you can record your dreams immediately upon waking up. Then, finding the meaning behind your dream is as easy as a quick Google search.
Palmistry
Palmistry, sometimes called chiromancy, uses the characteristics of a person’s hand to determine what the future holds for them. Everything from the color of one’s palm, to its shape, lines, and even the lengths of the fingers give the palm reader hints about the person’s present and future.
Precognition
Have you ever met someone who knows when something is going to happen before it does? Perhaps you’re one of these people. Precognition gives glimpses at what might happen in the future. These glimpses come across as impressions or may show up in the form of dreams or flashes of intuition out of nowhere. Pay attention to your thoughts when something seems to show up in the back of your mind “out of the blue.” It might just be a precognitive hit.
Psychometry
Some witches can learn about a person or event just by touching an object. Psychometry means “object reading,” and people with this gift can pick up on the vibrations left behind by the object’s previous owner.
Rune Casting
Like card reading, rune casting helps you tune into your subconscious. Originating from ancient German and Nordic tribes, runes feature a symbol that corresponds with a meaning found in a guidebook. While runes will not tell you the future, they can give you glimpses into the internal knowledge you already have – what your heart wants you to pay attention to.
Scrying
Scrying relies on a crystal, flame, bowl of water, or mirror. To scry, one gazes at the surface of their preferred medium to relax the physical eyes and invite the spiritual third eye to the surface. Scrying is often used for accessing the Akashic record, the subconscious self, or in communicating with a deity. Some of the most popular forms of scrying include:
- Crystallomancy, or crystal gazing
- Pyromancy, or flame gazing
- Hydromancy, or water gazing
- Mirror scrying
Tasseography (Reading Tea Leaves)
For as far back as ancient China and Greece, into medieval Europe and the ancient Middle East, people have read tea leaves to demystify the present and future. The drinker asks a question in their mind, and then the reader proceeds to discern the present and predict the future based on where the leaves rest in the cup. Everything from the shape of the leaves to where they’re located in the cup gives the reader clues about the inquirer.