How to Choose a Divination Method

From tarot to runes, from crystal balls to palmistry and the i-ching – there are hundreds of different methods of divination out there. Nobody is proficient in all of them, but in order to master one method thoroughly, you should concentrate on one to begin with. But which one, and how can you choose? Here are some factors to help you narrow down the choices.

Why Are You Divining?

The ultimate purpose of your divinations is one of the most important factors in choosing a method. Different types of divination are most useful for different types of divination goals.

• Do you want concrete answers to life questions? Divination is, as Hermione Granger would say, quite a “woolly” subject, and no method can guarantee you definitive answers – however, some methods are better at this than others. Horary astrology is a pretty accurate question and answer tool, and dowsing pendulums are good for choosing between different alternatives. Tarot can also be used in this way.
• Are you trying to glimpse the future? Bear in mind that almost all divination methods agree that the future is not set in stone, and can be altered. When you use divination, what you’re actually seeing is a snapshot of what future events might be if you choose not to change the path you’re on. Tarot is a very popular choice for this, but runes, the i-ching and predictive astrology can all do the same thing.
• Do you intend to read for others, or only for yourself? If you intend to read for others, you’ll need quite a visual tool to use. Tools such as cards (tarot or otherwise), runes, crystals or charts are best for this purpose.
• Are you trying to develop spiritually? Dowsing is an excellent way to develop your psychic senses, and all of the scrying methods such as crystal balls, water scrying and mirror scrying are also great for developing your senses and heightening your intuition. If your sole purpose is spiritual development, you might be better off avoiding the more structured methods of divination (those which rely too much on standard interpretations) and instead pursuing the more abstract methods.

How Much Are You Willing to Learn?

Some divination methods, such as astrology, can take many years to master. Others, such as tarot, i-ching, runes or palmistry also take quite a long time if you want to reach a good level of proficiency. Scrying or dowsing, however, can usually be picked up very quickly, and angel cards or other types of non-tarot divination cards can also be quite fast to learn if you’re willing to devote some effort. Some divination methods, such as bibliomancy, take only seconds to learn how to do, and if you’re already quite intuitively developed you’ll find it easy to get answers through these quick pickup methods. How much you’re willing to lean and how much time you want to devote to your divination studies is another factor to consider when selecting a method.

How Much Are You Willing to Spend?

Our ancestors managed to divine for next to nothing, using shells, animals and features of the natural world. Some divination practitioners still manage to do this, but for most of us, a serious commitment to learn a divination skill is going to cost something.

How much it costs can be up to you – if you’re going to learn tarot or use an oracle card set of some kind, you have the expense of the deck itself and often a couple of books too. Astrology uses no physical tools as such, but you’d still need to invest in some good books or a course or two to begin with. Palmistry uses something we all have on the ends of our arms, but again, you’ll still need some books or training to learn to make the most of it. Two of the cheapest methods of divination can be runes and scrying. You can make your own runes from pebbles, crystals or slices of wood, and then all you need is a book or a good online guide. You can buy crystal balls to scry with, but you can also use a simple bowl of water, your own intuition and a working knowledge of symbolism – it doesn’t come much simpler or cheaper than that.