A Witch Dives into Divination
When someone mentions divination, does it conjure the image of the stereotypical gypsy from mainstream books and movies adorned in scarves that have gold coins sewn into the fringe in a dimly lit red caravan? Is there a crystal ball on a table for the gypsy to peer into and see your future? An empty cup of tea with the tea leaves left behind to make sense of the images within? Perhaps some small bones, or rocks with runes carved into them spilling out of a black velvet bag? Maybe trying to decipher the lines on your palm will give you insight into your love life? The list of divination methods go on and on. Fortune tellers are just experts at reading body language, right? They speak in generalizations to bait the customer to reveal more information so that they can, then build the reading off of the imparted information. While there are charlatans out there that are only trying to make money off of unsuspecting customers, there are also honest readers and I’m sure they don’t appreciate the stereotype.
Divination has been practiced in one form or another for millennia. That really piqued my curiosity. It has been around for so long, and practices typically don’t endure the test of time if they don't work. Maybe there actually is something to this. I decided now that my practice is out in the open, I should at least study divination even if I didn’t plan to incorporate it into my practice since it has been a useful tool to others. As a student of witchcraft, I felt it best to experience it for myself and not to just read about the subject before drawing my conclusions. I wanted to see if this was real first hand. I decided to start with Tarot. Decks, books, and online resources are abundant, not to mention the cards are just beautiful to look at.
Tarot began in the medieval period as a game called Tarocchi played by Italian nobles that morphed over the centuries into the divination system we know today. The cards grew from their original four suits when the trionfi (trump cards) were added sometime during the fifteenth century which would become later known as the Major Arcana. These new cards weren’t just simple cards only depicting the number and suit, these new cards were diverse in their symbols and the illustrations that represented them. It is believed that, after the Major Arcana was added, the cards began to be used by some not just for entertainment but for divination purposes as well. However, during the rise of the Roman Catholic church and its influence over leadership across the world, many occult and pagan practices, such as divination, receded into the shadows for fear of being declared heretical and suffering the accompanying punishment. Before the invention of the printing press, decks were handmade and most were lost to the ravages of time. Some of the oldest specimens that exist today, examples of the Tarot of Marseilles, are decks that were created by use of the printing press during the early 1700’s. This style of deck still used the simple designs of the four suits, the Minor Arcana, assigning Roman numerals to the cards in the Major Arcana and is the prototype to the cards we see today. The printing press allowed multiple decks to be created in less time than creating them by hand. Because of this innovation, Tarot began to spread more rapidly than ever before across Europe, but still remained in the fringes of acceptable society.
Over the years, I had seen fleeting images of Tarot cards but didn’t pursue more information regarding them since I wasn’t openly practicing. I had read that you needed to be gifted your first deck but that did not make sense to me. Who would give a deck to me? I didn’t know anyone else interested in Tarot. I could ask for a deck as a present but who knew when or if that would actually happen. I had also read that you need to connect with the deck and part of that is through the imagery of the artwork. What if I didn’t connect with a deck that I was gifted? I didn’t want to waste time or money. I said to myself, “I’m a modern witch! I’m taking matters into my own hands. I don’t need to wait for someone to give me a deck as a present, I can give myself a gift.”
After that realization, I knew I needed to select a deck. I was surprised at the immense number of different decks available. I spent days watching YouTube videos where the content creator would flip through decks showing the imagery of each card. After seeing so many styles of artwork and learning about the various types of Tarot decks. I opted to learn to read the Rider-Waite Smith imagery and went with the Radiant Rider-Waite Smith deck from US Games. I decided to go with this artwork because it is the most widely utilized imagery for modern Tarot decks. There are established interpretations of these cards readily available with some slight variations here and there, but generally speaking, the cards interpretations are fairly consistent. While I’m curious about Thoth Tarot, I thought it best to explore that later since the majority of decks and books available are for the Rider-Waite Smith imagery. Now that I had my deck, I was ready to rip into it and start reading but I decided to wait. Being the practical student of the craft that I am, I decided to verify which lunar cycle is purported to be best for divination. Of course, it wasn’t the phase that I was currently in, it would be the Full Moon. Luckily for me, I only had to wait a few days.
Even though I had my doubts, I still wanted to give it an honest chance. The evening of the Full Moon finally came and I was able to set some time aside so that I wouldn’t be disturbed. Because of my hidden practice that I had recently brought into the open, I didn’t know any of the card meanings and I thought this a benefit to me as I wanted to do this reading solely on intuition. However, I did have a book at the ready if at the end I couldn’t intuitively interpret the meaning of the cards and to see if my interpretation was in line with the consensus. I unwrapped the deck from the plastic overwrap that protected it. I cleansed the deck with the smoke of my incense and consecrated it for use in my practice. I meditated with the deck for a few moments before shuffling, allowing my energy to flow over the cards. Tarot cards tend to be a little larger than standard playing cards and can be a challenge to shuffle for those with smaller hands. I used a combination of shuffling styles to really mix them up. Then after cutting the deck several times with my left hand (traditionally used because it is connected with the side of your brain that controls creativity and intuition), I fanned the cards out and ran my left index finger over the cards, stopping when a particular card caught my attention. There are many acceptable methods for selecting cards for a reading. Since I was a skeptic, I opted to work with a complete random pull of cards. If the deck really wanted to tell me something, it was going to have to work for it. For this first reading, I decided on a Past, Present, Future spread to see how accurate it could be. The skeptic in me wanted proof that Tarot wasn’t just a parlor trick. I turned over the first card, the Two of Pentacles represented my past. A person juggling two golden pentacles in an infinite dance. Uh…two months prior I had decided to leave my job of 20+ years and change career fields entirely. I’d gone through a lot of changes financially in that time. I opened the book to see if I was on the right track. If you are not familiar with Tarot, the pentacle suit is often associated with things concerning money, career, material security and what keeps you grounded. I turned over the next card, symbolizing the present, The High Priestess. The image of her sitting in her sacred space with symbols of her practice brought to mind inner wisdom and divine knowledge. I was learning to listen to my inner voice again now that I was openly practicing witchcraft; that innate knowledge that I had banished to the dark confines of my mind years ago. I again referred to the book, confirming this card represents divinity, your intuition, and spirituality. It often appears in readings when needing a reminder to listen to that internal guidance. Okay, you’ve got my attention now. I reached a tentative hand out to turn over the third card, my future, not sure if I wanted to glimpse what might be there. The Magician appeared, relief flooding through me. It gave me the confirmation that I was on the right path. The image of the practitioner at his altar, one hand pointing skyward, one to the ground evoked an image of balance. I verified in the book that The Magician is a representation of willpower and having the confidence in the ability to manifest desires. A person that steps into their own power. I was left utterly astounded. I just sat there with my mouth agape. My mind was whirling with activity. How? They're just cards! It had to be a fluke! That’s just not possible!
I’ll admit that this reading had left me a little shaken and I didn’t pick the deck up again for a few weeks. I analyzed and reviewed the spread again and again. Had I been projecting? I hadn’t had to look at those cards for more than a second that first time to understand what each was symbolizing. What I read in my resources only confirmed my interpretation. The Two of Pentacles specifically symbolizes adapting to change and balance. I had recently made the decision to leave my current employment because it was not work that I wanted to do anymore; I needed to restore the balance in my life by heading in a new direction. The High Priestess symbolizes connecting with the divine and your intuition, which I was actively working on. And the Magician represents where I intend to be in the future with my practice and my life. I had to see if that was just a coincidence. The next spread and each subsequent one I have completed since, have further cemented my belief that all objects in this world are connected by energy. The person requesting the reading imparts energy to the deck and in turn the deck shows that person a lesson they need to learn. I have not had to struggle to understand the meaning of an individual card, and in turn how these cards relate to one another within the spread, and how they correlate to the question posed. The cards have helped me immensely in my shadow work, forcing me to recognize parts of myself that I did not want to acknowledge. It has made me contemplate issues that I have been struggling with for years. Tarot has been honing my mind to search out and listen to that inner voice that was buried for so long.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines divination as “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers or as unusual insight or intuitive perception”. So, while many stop at the beginning of that definition and think that divination is just fortune telling and trying to see into the future, they totally miss the larger part of what divination actually is, using intuitive perception. A lot of what we need to know is information that we already have but can’t access at a conscious level. These divinatory methods aid us in bringing forth that knowledge to our conscious mind. Another point to keep in mind, some insinuate that Tarot cards tell the future. However, that is not accurate. In the spread, if there is a card that is to be considered the outcome or the future, it truly is only a possibility. It is simply what could happen (or not happen, depending upon the question or situation posed for the spread) if the advice given through the reading is not taken to heart.
So, can Tarot cards tell you your future? In my opinion, no, that's not their purpose. Their purpose is to help you divine needed information and in that process could show you a possible future outcome. Key words there, could and possible. They help you tap into your intuition and are a very useful tool that I intend to explore further and will most likely stay a part of my practice. I did not start out thinking that I was going to really enjoy divination. I can say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I’ll be quite honest, I had no qualms saying that I didn’t think it was real. While yes, I believed in magic in the sense that there are energies that we are able to manipulate around us, I still wasn’t ready to dive in and believe that some card, bone, or stone could tell me anything worth knowing. I can now say how completely wrong I was and can’t wait to deepen my study of Tarot and to learn other forms of divination as well.
Tarot is yet another reminder that all things in this world are connected energetically. I’m a modern practitioner and thought certainly I was the furthest thing from that stereotypical image. Well, I am a witch, I do have Celtic and Eastern European origins, and I also like the nomadic lifestyle, so maybe, I’m just a little closer than I originally thought…
