You Can't Have Divination Without the "Divine"

Merry meet, my fellow pentagram-laden websurfers, and welcome to a topic that's crucial to the practice of Pagans everywhere, one rooted in ancient times but which has easily assimilated the needs and desires of the modern age: divination. The etymology of the word itself dispels the concept of "fortune telling", which is, in all actuality, a commercially spawned term. Divination is the acquisition of "hidden" knowledge through a union of sorts with the divine. It is closely linked to the concept of prophecy, which is to predict something through divine guidance (though the word origins of the various varieties of divination point toward the fact that divination is linked more toward the sense of sight and prophecy is linked more toward the action of speech). Some forms of divination have definite cultural and historical roots, some don't. Theories about the origins of the Tarot are so numerous they often overshadow the fact that the symbolism is what's important. But whatever method you choose, keep in mind that what's important is the magickal link between macrocosm and microcosm; when you use divination your looking out at the world through the eyes of the gods.

Now for the net connection: there is a treasure trove of information available on divination - its methods and magickal applications - but, like so many other subjects, a blind search will certainly doom you to hours of digging through coal for that single diamond. What follows is a "starter's list", if you will. It is by no means inclusive: I limited it to the Tarot, the runes and links to online readings (one of my favorites, CyberPalm, an online palmistry site, is currently down; I plan to keep checking on it and suggest you do the same). I predict that these links will be useful to you. No charge for that prediction.

Tarot:

Introduction to Card Meanings at The American Tarot Association
Entering via the American Tarot Association's homepage, click on "Tarot Resources", and then on "Card Meanings by James Rioux". What you will reach is the most inclusive, concise and well-written collection of essays on the meanings of the Tarot cards, both the Major and Minor Arcana, available on the net. Good stuff.

Four Feathers Bookstore's Tarot Resources
Your choices on this site include "Tarot, Karma and Reincarnation", "Tarot Card Cycles", "Tarot and Numerology", "Tarot Spread Theory and Useful Tarot Spreads" and "The Mythic Tarot - Mythological Analogies". An excellent site to help increase your Tarot knowledge and hone your Tarot skills.

Runes:

Arild Hauge's Runes Page
An excellent Runic resource that contain information about the various runesets (Germanic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, the runes of Greenland, et al.) including history, meanings and cultural influence. Simply a great font of information.

The Runic Journey
Practical information on the Elder Futhark runes and how to use them magickally. The subpages include "Meanings of the Runes", "Divination" and "Magic". An excellent introductory experience for the beginner or a nice way for the expert to refresh his knowledge of the basics.

General:

Facade
The best source for free online readings including the tarot, runes, the I-Ching, stichomancy (a form of divination where the diviner opens a book at random and reads from its contents) and bibliomancy (a form of stichomancy which utilizes and holy books). Entertaining and a useful tool for the Pagan on the go.

Home Page Current Issue Past Issues The Frater's Domain Quill's Corner