Where to start when using divination yourself: picking your method

Earlier I told you about divination: what it is and how it works. We humans have used divination for eons already. Ever since we became conscious of our own thought process, we have tried to use it to make an unpredictable world more predictable. Maybe you want to learn how to use divination yourself. This blog discusses how to start with divination and why it’s important to pick your preferred method.

Start with divination: pick one method

The best advice I can give you is to start with one method. Learning a new skill is difficult enough without being all over the place. Which to choose? Well, reading is easier to start with than scrying, since scrying requires you to achieve a deep state of trance. So, if you’re just starting out, I’d advise you to start with reading.

Within the tools you can use to do a reading, there are levels of intricacy as well. Tarot is the easiest to start with, cos its imagery supplies you with a lot of detail. Runes are less detailed and bones even less so. I started with Tarot myself, the Rider Waite to be exact. Through time I got to know other decks that suited me more, but I still return to the Rider Waite regularly.

Using a book when getting to know a method

An advantage of starting with the Rider Waite Tarot is that there are a lot of good books to help you out. However, my advice would be to not stick to the books too closely. Turning to the books will make you get stuck in your head, trying to learn meanings by heart, while the cards themselves will speak to you if you let them. How? Easy. Just look at them and your intuition will tell you what the images you see are about.

The books are mostly convenient to let you see the pattern behind the cards. I mean the fact that each of the four lines in the minor arcana is linked to an element and thus to a certain type of human characteristic. And that the order in the major arcana always works from beginning to end with a lot of stages of development in between. There are many more of these patterns that will help you understand the system behind tarot. Books and methods are helpful in pointing these out you.

Divination is not about the head, it’s about the gut

Whatever you chose to you, remember this: reading or scrying has nothing to do with use your head or ratio. In fact, your head will more likely get in the way when practising divination than it will help you. The most important step in divining is always learning how to tap into your inner wisdom.

Call it your gut, call it your intuition, call it the collective subconscious. I don’t really care what you call it, these are only words. As long as you heed these words: divination starts with learning how to switch off your brain. You will need to invest a lot time and effort to learn how to do this. But it will be so worth it! Not only for divining, but for all your magical work.