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Bone Deep Divination

This is just going to be a quick post explaining curiomancy/osteomancy, showing my curiomancy set, and providing some tips so that you can make your own set.

Curiomancy is the art of divination through small, symbolic objects—anything from a key to a coin, a feather, or a seashell. Osteomancy, its bony cousin, uses bones—animal, occasionally human, ethically sourced—to glean insight from the way they fall or relate to one another. Both practices are intuitive, tactile, and highly personalized, making them stand out from more rigid systems like tarot or runes.

Keep a journal or list to log your piece meanings.

My curiomancy set took me about three years to complete. Each item was individually chosen based on my own, personal association with that object. What makes curiomancy and osteomancy deeply personal is that you build your own set. You choose what each item means, or better yet, let the item tell you. A plastic spider could represent opportunity. A wheat-back penny might speak of money, luck, or something worth remembering. Over time, your collection becomes a living language—one only you truly speak.

I keep a special cloth with my kit that I use to read with. It has a custom sigil on the back.

Creating your own set connects you directly to your practice. It forces you to observe patterns, develop symbolism, and work with intuition over preset meanings. That makes it wildly potent. This is your cosmology, not someone else’s.

Tips for Selecting Bones or Curios:

• Let them call to you. You’ll know when a piece belongs in your set—it’ll catch your eye, feel odd in your hand, or tug at your gut.

• Start small. Don’t aim for 30 pieces right away. Begin with 7–13 and let the rest come organically.

• Ethical sourcing matters. For bones, find remains in nature or purchase from reputable sellers. Know the animal if you can; its spirit may linger.

• Balance the energies. Mix light and dark, organic and artificial. You’re not building a pretty set—you’re building a tool that mirrors the world.

• Keep a record. Write down meanings as they emerge, but allow them to shift over time. Like bones, meaning is alive until it's not.

• Do practice readings to learn how your pieces interact with one another and the surface/spread. I read my bones in a spiral, others may use quadrants or a custom map.

Both curiomancy and osteomancy are less about the pieces and more about the story they tell together—an evolving mythos whispered by wood, metal, plastic, glass, and bone. This ancient divination form is still as relevant and potent today as it has ever been.