In recent years we have seen a revival of various divination methods ranging from the tarot, to reading tea leaves, the runes, the I Ching, oracles and so on.
If we look around us, it is easy to make the connection between the outer turmoil and the inner anxiety that pushes us to externalize our worries into cards, stars, or anything that can provide a glimpse of hope.
I think in this context it is really important to clarify that divination here is 100% reflection of the person using the tool.
For example, if you use the tarot lets say, when you shuffle the cards, in a way you meditate and breathe out into the cards all your worries and fears, even those that maybe you cannot explain to yourself. So you release yourself from them by projecting them onto the cards.
When you spread out the cards, the images anchor your mind and slow it down, giving you a chance to structure the inner turmoil into order. When you do this you talk to the cards, but you actually talk to yourself, you derive meaning and guidance from yourself via the cards or what tool you are using.
If you analyze the process closely you will see that the steps have a lot in common with the therapeutic process. You externalize the thoughts, anxiety, etc., you try to make sense of it, and then you give it meaning, this way conquering it in a way, and empowering yourself to go on.
Just like the famous inkblot test, the tarot works through the same projection mechanism. We project our inner story onto the archetypal symbols and by reading them we connect to our wider human experience and we see ourselves more clearly.
Often it can be also just about the fact that we slow down, we sit and focus on the cards, or runes, or tea leaves, and we give our minds the chance to settle and to put things together.
Frequently we write down what we learn during our divination session and we think about it. This combines it with journaling and mindfulness or a bit of meditation, which are frequent therapeutic tools.
This is the positive side of divination practices, because as always where there is light, there are also dark, dusty corners in which instead of using divination in a healthy, symbolic, reflective, empowering way, we use it in an unhealthy, literal, compulsive, disempowering way.
Divination is not about finding out the future, it is about finding out more about ourselves in the present moment and about building ourselves up to survive the present and to decide what happens next in our lives.
The various divination systems all have the same goal, although they employ different tools, all help us restore order within ourselves by giving us the chance to listen to ourselves and to turn confusion into clarity.
I started thinking about this topic when, in T.K. Maxx (in US called TJ Maxx), they have added a book section, but the books here are beautiful, expensive editions, of course with the small usual discount. Quite a few of these books have esoteric themes, and this made me think of the revival bit.
I found there quite a lovely book, which I bought for the knowledge, not because I will start doing palmistry too soon, but I like to know a bit about everything, or as much as I can.
This book:
It is a very good general book, providing enough info to make you interested and to guide you to further reading for each section if you want to do that.
While reading through the book I started thinking about divination and how it has been the human race’s psychotherapist since ‘the beginning of time’ fueled by the same instincts that now drive us into therapy.
I think divination is an amazing support on our journey and it should not just be dismissed because of misconceptions.