Working with Oracles
The Ancient Art and Practice of Divination
One part Jungian, one part mysticism. The history of Oracles is steeped in tradition, and yet anything can be utilized to tap the wonderings of what you already know.
The desire to predict the future and/or interpret the meaning of present influences has existed since the dawn of history, when cave dwellers first began divining shadows on walls to make intuitive guesses on the outcomes of the next big hunt. Over time, methods became more sophisticated and included everything from the patterns of nature (Augury) to reading entrails (Haruspicy). And although ours is a technological age of logic and analysis, to the Occult Practioner, the utilization of Oracles as a source of wisdom and divining has never lost its efficacy or influence.
What Is an Oracle?
In layman's terms, an Oracle is generally a tool used with the specific intent of gaining insight into a situation and the energies present that determine its outcome. Types of things that have been used as Oracles over time include bones, stones, cards, organs, books, smoke, water, fire and the wings of birds.
In short, if it exists, someone has probably tried to make determinations into their future with it.
Categories of Divination
Although largely speculative, Consciousness Psychologist Julian Jaynes divided aspects of the practice of divination into four basic categories:
Sortilege - Casting lots, sticks, bones or the like.
Augury - Divination that has a subjective interpretation such as dowsing.
Omens - Phenomena or supernal events that are interpreted to determine meaning and impact.
Spontaneous - Channeling wisdom through non-specific avenues such as books or conversation. Cledonism falls within this category.
This provides at least a foundational methodology by which a basic understanding of the practice of divination can be more scholastically studied to some degree.
Types of Divination
As meaning can come from any preternatural event or source, the methods of divination are literally as numerous as the things that fill the earth. Some of the more interesting and obsequious forms include:
- Botanomancy - Divining by the smoke plumes of burning Sage or Figs
- Brontomancy - Divining by thunder
- Cometomancy - Divining by the tails of comets
- Eromancy - Divining by water vessels exposed to the air
- Ceromancy - Divining by the dripping of wax into water
- Hydatomancy - Divining by drops of rain
- Knissomancy - Divining by incense
- Labiomancy - Divining by the shape of ones lips
- Lunamancy - Divining by the light of themoon
- Odontomancy - Divining by teeth
- Osteomancy - Divining by bones
- Papyromancy - Divining by folding paper
- Plastromancy - Divining by the cracks in a turtles shell
- Sortes Virgilianae - Divining by Vergil's Aeneid
- Spatilomancy - Divining by an animals excrement
- Thumomnacy - Divining by ones own soul
Further Links and References
Complete List of Methods of Divination
