An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present - Doreen Valiente 2018

Divination

Divination is the name given to the art of foretelling the future, or discovering hidden things, by magical means.

It is a practice as old as the human race itself, and innumerable means have been used, and still are used, for this purpose. Cards, teacups and crystal gazing are resorted to, often by people who would indignantly deny that they were practising witchcraft or even magic. Nevertheless, divination in all its forms has always been an important part of the witch’s craft.

It is difficult to say what is the oldest form of divination; probably seeing pictures in the fire, or listening to the voice of the wind, or the sound of a running stream or waterfall. Even a very ’civilised’, intellectual person today—by quieting the thinking mind and attuning himself or herself, in the right atmosphere, to the subtler forces of Nature—can achieve a certain message, a perception of the inner mind, by these means.

Many people have the erroneous idea that clairvoyance necessarily involves going into a trance; but this is not so. It means a degree of quietness, attunement and perception; the ability to lay aside for a while all the jumble and chatter of everyday life and allow the inner mind to speak, and tell what it perceives, either by means of symbolic vision, an inner voice, or simply by intuitive impression.

Because clairvoyance so often conveys its meaning by symbols, one finds so many lists of symbols and their meanings connected with, for instance, tea-cup reading. However, one does not need to learn a list of this kind, and stick to it by rote, although it may be helpful to the beginner to do so; because what really matters is what a symbol means to the person who is doing the reading.

For instance, the figure of a dog is usually given in these lists as meaning “a faithful friend”. But suppose the person reading the cup disliked dogs, and was frightened of them? This meaning would hardly apply in such a case. Therefore the individual element always enters into the interpretation of any divinatory symbols, and should be allowed for.

However, as psychologists are finding out in their interpretation of dreams, there are many symbols which do have a more or less universal meaning; and anyone who wants seriously to practise divination will benefit by a study of symbolism in all its many manifestations.

The writer can testify from personal experience that if divination is practised seriously it will give worthwhile results. If, however, it is done ’just for a laugh’, or in the spirit of, ’Oh, well, we’ll try it, but of course it won’t work’, then naturally no good results can be expected.

Sometimes ready-made sets of symbols are used for divination. The painted pebbles which are often found in the caves once inhabited by Stone Age man, were probably used for this purpose. Later, as civilisation advanced, man evolved much more sophisticated methods; for instance, the I Ching of Ancient China, the Tarot cards of mysterious and unknown origin, or the sixteen symbols used in the Western system of geomancy.

The essential thing is that the diviner should have some basic set of symbols which he is thoroughly familiar with, and which convey a definite meaning, but that is nevertheless elastic enough to give full play to the powers of psychic perception. It is necessary also that the question should be precisely formulated and concentrated on, with real desire for a true answer. Furthermore, the selection of the meaningful symbols must be at random, left to be carried out by the subconscious mind. There must be no attempt to force or twist the answer.

The most difficult thing for a diviner to establish is time; that is, when the thing will happen. Some rules about this are usually laid down in the method of divination adopted. In reading the symbols formed by the tea-leaves, for instance, the ones nearest the rim of the cup are supposed to be near at hand in point of time, especially those closest to the handle by which you are holding the cup, because that represents the person you are reading for. The ones in the bottom of the cup are fading away in the distance, into the future. But in the last resort, the diviner’s own feeling about a particular manifestation is the most important thing.

Various little ceremonies are associated with divination, to attract the right influences and make it fortunate. For instance, in tea-cup reading we are told to swirl the remainder of the leaves three times round the cup, then up-end it in the saucer and give three slow taps on the base, before attempting to read it. What this actually does is to distribute the leaves well, and allow time for the liquid to drain away, so improving the chances of the reading.

People may jeer at the simplicity of tea-cup reading; but it is in fact a very practical means of divination. The random shapes of the leaves give the inner mind something from which to form meaningful pictures; rather like the ink-blot test, which is a standard method of psychological testing. Also, the fact that a person has just drunk from the cup, and has thus been in intimate contact with it, has put that person’s influence momentarily upon the cup and its contents.

The methods used for divination in all ages and countries are legion; but the basic principles which have been explained in this article underlie them all. One should distinguish, however, between divination by the use of some method of signs, such as a spread of Tarot cards for instance, and divination by omens which happen without being sought for. To know the meaning of the latter is an occult study in itself.

While long scoffed at as mere superstition, the observation of odd and curious events has today been restored to respectability by psychologists of the school of C. G. Jung, who have given it the name of ’synchronicity’. It is wonderful what a long, high-sounding word will do! The study of witchcraft is often frowned upon; but the study of extrasensory perception, hypnosis, psychic phenomena, astral projection, telepathy etc., is today carried on by learned professors at many universities. Yet all these things in the old days were part of witchcraft, and were generally included under that heading. (See TAROT CARDS AND SCRYING.)