Billiardmancy: Divination for the Dirty Dive Bar Regular
I have developed a system of divination that I've termed Billiardmancy, because it seems to me that no one has developed anything surrounding pool games in terms of witchcraft and divination.
Now obviously not everyone is going to use this form of divination, nor is it necessarily accessible or convenient for... well, literally anyone who doesn't regularly play pool with friends at a bar (or owns a pool table. Them bitches be expensive) And even so, how many of those types of witchy, professionally-minded people hang out in dirty old dive bars on their nights out?
Anyways, here's how you do The Thing, and if anyone would like any more information on this or has any questions, please feel free to reblog or shoot me an ask.
Billiardmancy Basics for the Dirty Dive Bar Regular: A Mostly Comprehensive Guide
First things first, how the FUCK does this shit work? Well, think of it almost in a sortilege/runecasting type of way, where the "center" are the items closest in terms of time to what you're reading, and the ones further away are further removed/less indicative of influence on the situation at hand. Except, well... there is not a "center". Well, there is, but it's not the "center." It can be anywhere on the table, because it's actually the cue ball: i.e., the representation of self. Or, in layman's terms, the big white ball represents the person that the reading is being done for/about.
Now, I bet you're wondering about setup. How is this all performed? Well, that's simple really. The person who the reading is being done for (or the reader, if doing it themselves) both racks and breaks the balls. When racking, use intuition and place them where they feel right, like shuffling a deck of tarot/oracle cards. I personally use an 8-ball game spread versus a 9-ball spread for the greater variety, but it can be done either way. You'll just be using less balls, which in the end is actually easier - think of it as doing an 15 card tarot spread versus a 9 card one. Less info means less accurate, but easier to read (especially for beginners).
Now, once they've been racked, they gotta be broken up. Whomever is breaking the rack is the same person who racked the balls, so they get the say of where they want to break them - "shooting from the kitchen" is not required, but suggested just for the sake of the "randomness" of the spread. Now, what happens if the breaker pots the cue when they break? (i.e.: the cue ball goes into the pocket instead of staying on the table). Well, there's a few different answers for that.
Was this a yes-or-no type of reading? If yes, a potted cue ball is immediately a "no."
Was this a reading for what to expect in the future? If yes, potting the cue ball is a bad omen, but one should re-rack and re-break for a more thorough reading.
Was this a situation-based reading? If yes, re-rack and disregard the potted cue.
Was this a general state-of-life reading? If yes, refer to point #3.
Now, what the hell do the balls even mean? Well, I have a general list of their representations. In combination with other balls, consider the issues "tied," or dependant on one another. The further apart different balls are, the less connected they are to each other in terms of the situation at hand. I consider balls having influence on one another if they are within one diamond mark away from each other (in terms of lateral distance).
(You see those dots running around the edge of the table? Those are the "diamond marks." They're actually called the "sights" or "diamond system" to professional players, but I've always just called them diamond marks).
And, likewise, balls "in front" of other balls (from the 360 perspective of the cue) are blocking out those particular issues - either obscuring them from view, preventing them from coming forth, or interfering with whatever is behind them.
Now, onto what is arguably the most important aspect of this type of reading: what do the balls mean? Well, here's a quick list:
One Ball (Solid Yellow): The ego, centralism, nearsightedness, greed, personal thoughts, self-esteem, beginnings, the mind. Aligns with the element of air, the planet sun (obvi not actually a planet but w/e), the sign Leo, and the masculine aspect.
Two Ball (Solid Blue): The emotion, equanimity, movement or change, control, compromise, fluidity or flexibility, feeling. Aligns with the element of water, the planet Jupiter, the sign Pisces, and the feminine aspect.
Three Ball (Solid Red): The drive, passion, creativity, movement, expedition, travel, anger, betrayal. Aligns with the element of fire, the planet Mercury, the sign Leo, and the masculine aspect.
Four Ball (Solid Purple): The intuition, purpose, divinity, the astral self, knowing, self reliance, instinct, problem solving. Aligns with the element of air, the planet Saturn, the sign Aquarius, and the feminine aspect.
Five Ball (Solid Orange): The innovation, options, diversity, procrastination, decision-making, choices, mechanical or technological, turmoil, unrest. Aligns with the element of fire, the planet Mars, the sign Sagittarius, and the masculine aspect.
Six Ball (Solid Green): The stability, grounding, steadfast, prosperous, financial, fertility, abundance. Aligns with the element of earth, the planet Earth, the sign of Taurus, and the feminine aspect.
Seven Ball (Solid Burgundy/Brown): The heart, love, commitment, luck, tolerant, obsessive, controlling. Aligns with the elements of fire and water, the planet Venus, the sign of Aquarius, the both the masculine and feminine aspects.
Eight Ball (Solid Black): The shadow, unseen forces, shadow self, subconscious, malice, evil, spite, internalization, depression, self-loathing, the veil. Aligns to the element of Earth, the planet Neptune, the sign Libra, and the masculine aspect.
Nine Ball (Striped Yellow): The influence, outside forces, acquaintances, unforeseen circumstances, things out of your control. Aligns to the element of air, the planet Saturn, the the sign Gemini, and the feminine aspect.
Ten Ball (Striped Blue): The destiny, future changes, callings, motivation to change, things out of your control, purpose. Aligns to the element of water, the planet Jupiter, the sign Scorpio, and the feminine aspect.
Eleven Ball (Striped Red): The reflection, balance, as above so below, not all things are as they seem, opposites, magnetism. Aligns to the element of Air, the planet Uranus, the sign Libra, and the masculine aspect.
Twelve Ball (Striped Purple): The advancement, opinions, intellect, learning, apprenticeship, teaching, bestowed knowledge, callings. Aligns to the element of Air and Earth, the planet Mercury, the sign Capricorn, and the feminine and masculine aspect.
Thirteen Ball (Striped Orange): The deception, preconceived notions, adversaries, shooting yourself in the foot, willful ignorance. Aligns to the element of fire, the planet Mars, the sign Aries, and the masculine aspect.
Fourteen Ball (Striped Green): The comfort, things within control, ease, home, calm, parenthood, gentle growth. Aligns to the element of Earth, the Moon, the sign Cancer, and the feminine aspect.
Fifteen Ball (Striped Burgundy/Brown): The destruction, that which wishes to impede progress, chaos, unrelenting forces, unrest, nightmares, war. Aligns to the element of fire, the planet Mars, the sign Sagittarius, and the masculine aspect.
Of course those who are used to reading tarot understand that not all of the meanings of the cards are applicable to every reading, but the primary purpose always stays the same when combined with other cards. However, they also know that, depending on the position in the spread and the combinations with other cards, the meanings do change. This is also applicable in billiardmancy, where the meanings can change based on proximity to the other balls.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering why there are also elemental, planetary, zodiac, and masc/fem alignments to these meanings as well, and there's a simple reason for that: I just wanted to lol. Theoretically, in practice, it can provide some good further insight to the meanings of the balls and what can and can't be construed about the reading itself. You wanna use 'em? Go for it! You don't? Then disregard! No reason to fret about about an aspect that has no real necessity on the subject, but they're there if you want to use them.
One last piece of info that I think is very important: You already know about potting the cue and what that means depending on the reading type. But what happens to the other balls that you sink? Well, that's super easy: Just don't read them! Think of them sort of as the cards that are left in the deck when doing a tarot reading: they just don't apply.
Later on I'll be posting a "mock reading" to go more in depth on the method in which you can actually perform the reading. It will be specifically how I do it, but if you find a way that works better for you, then I would recommend doing that instead. Your confidence in divination is important, and if you don't have any confidence there, it's not gonna turn out so good.
Again, if y'all have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
-Quex