My Divination Philosophy
Jul. 20th, 2011 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wrenstarlingWhile I'm not sure there's such a thing as a "typical" card-reader (medium, fortune teller, insert term of choice here), I am sure that I wouldn't be one if there were, and I thought I should tell you all about my approach. It's not just my deck that is unique!
Most importantly, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in any deity; what I believe in is not truly sentient in the way that we think of it; deterministic and conscious. I believe in a kind of universal subconscious, a complicated sort of hive-mind kind of thing. It is this that I believe we are tapping into with our various methods. The methods we use, cards, runes, signs and symbols, are all about slipping into the stream of information, the tangled web of all the awareness in the universe, sideways and drawing out bits and pieces that are relevant to us.
I believe that my role is that of interpreter; I have a good line into this pool of information, one that works particularly well for me, and I'm able to fish for others as well as myself; in fact, I'm better at fishing for others than for myself! I'm a better conduit than I am an end point. This means that the more information I get from your end of the equation, the more accurately I can interpret what I get at the end of my line. So I and my deck work best when you give us a detailed question to answer...although we also are less likely to get a 100% clear answer the more specific the question is, because the smaller the fish we are looking for, the harder it is to catch. Again, this is part of my role; I might catch a fish two over from the one we really wanted and I have to deduce what the fish we really wanted was trying to say. Fortunately, these fish swim in interrelated schools. It's also part of my role to help you shape your question so that it is specific enough to get a good answer but still give us the biggest fish to catch possible; good calibration of the question is part of what makes me a good fisher of information.
So, first, I discovered my calling and created my deck; that would be the line in the water. You give me questions; that's the bait. I, sometimes with, sometimes without your help, fine tune that bait to catch the ideal fish. I catch a fish, and, even when less than ideal, it came because it was interested in the bait; because it was related to your question, and I take that fish and read its bones for you; I find out how it is related to that bait; sometimes we do that together, as you might have information that might allow me to interpret the results more accurately or completely. Then, if worse comes to worst, we can always go fishing again!
Yes, I like analogies and metaphors; it kind of goes hand in hand with what I do! Divination is very much an art rather than a science, but there is method in it, and I wanted to give you a peek into mine. I hope this was helpful!
P.S. Now I want to go fishing. Or at least have fish for lunch or something!
P.P.S. Yes, I should have used a bird analogy. Oh, well!
Most importantly, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in any deity; what I believe in is not truly sentient in the way that we think of it; deterministic and conscious. I believe in a kind of universal subconscious, a complicated sort of hive-mind kind of thing. It is this that I believe we are tapping into with our various methods. The methods we use, cards, runes, signs and symbols, are all about slipping into the stream of information, the tangled web of all the awareness in the universe, sideways and drawing out bits and pieces that are relevant to us.
I believe that my role is that of interpreter; I have a good line into this pool of information, one that works particularly well for me, and I'm able to fish for others as well as myself; in fact, I'm better at fishing for others than for myself! I'm a better conduit than I am an end point. This means that the more information I get from your end of the equation, the more accurately I can interpret what I get at the end of my line. So I and my deck work best when you give us a detailed question to answer...although we also are less likely to get a 100% clear answer the more specific the question is, because the smaller the fish we are looking for, the harder it is to catch. Again, this is part of my role; I might catch a fish two over from the one we really wanted and I have to deduce what the fish we really wanted was trying to say. Fortunately, these fish swim in interrelated schools. It's also part of my role to help you shape your question so that it is specific enough to get a good answer but still give us the biggest fish to catch possible; good calibration of the question is part of what makes me a good fisher of information.
So, first, I discovered my calling and created my deck; that would be the line in the water. You give me questions; that's the bait. I, sometimes with, sometimes without your help, fine tune that bait to catch the ideal fish. I catch a fish, and, even when less than ideal, it came because it was interested in the bait; because it was related to your question, and I take that fish and read its bones for you; I find out how it is related to that bait; sometimes we do that together, as you might have information that might allow me to interpret the results more accurately or completely. Then, if worse comes to worst, we can always go fishing again!
Yes, I like analogies and metaphors; it kind of goes hand in hand with what I do! Divination is very much an art rather than a science, but there is method in it, and I wanted to give you a peek into mine. I hope this was helpful!
P.S. Now I want to go fishing. Or at least have fish for lunch or something!
P.P.S. Yes, I should have used a bird analogy. Oh, well!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-20 05:27 pm (UTC)Does that make sense?
no subject
Date: 2011-07-20 06:24 pm (UTC)I'm not exactly sure what you're asking there. "signs and symbols" was part of the phrase "cards, runes, signs and symbols", as examples of the various methods we use to access this universal subconscious.
I do believe that sometimes this subconscious engages in a subtle form of active communication, by sort of twisting things about until a needed symbol pops out. (I also believe that other animals probably tap into this subconscious better than we do because they lack the intensely developed ego of the human being.)
IF I'm understanding your question, the answer is both, depending.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-20 07:59 pm (UTC)That probably answers my question. I was thinking along the lines of (possibly making up a story here) someone seeing a particular bird and connecting it as some kind of omen or portent. Is that simply because that person's brain made a random connection, or did that particular bird show up because it was supposed to, so that that person would see it? (Is it the chicken or the egg?)
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Interesting.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-20 08:15 pm (UTC)Even if, in the end, it's all truly random, I'm not sure that changes the validity of the meaning a person gets from an omen or sign; human beings are complex creatures and the universe is a complex place. Because I am very aware of this, I tend to be fond of grey areas.
*nod* Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-21 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-21 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-21 02:01 am (UTC)I usually think of card reading as a way to talk about general topics. I think we all worry about certain things all of the time, and a good reader is pretty much a good counselor.
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Date: 2011-07-21 02:47 pm (UTC)I also keep a blog called Crackin' Wise in my role as wise woman, which includes both wisdom and spellcraft.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-21 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-21 02:48 pm (UTC)