Make Your Own Divination System

I have discovered that the universe will talk to us in any language we understand. All you have to do is define your language. It can be as complex or as simple as you like. The important point is to make it meaningful to you.

I've used Tarot cards, runes, I Ching (coins and sticks), Ouija, astrology, the flight of birds, ordinary playing cards, random signs, crystals, and the pendulum. I've consulted mediums and gone on Shamanic journeys. Except for the crystals and the pendulum, they all worked for me.

Probably the best example of variable meanings is Tarot cards. Over the years, I've used three decks: Rider Waite, Motherpeace, and Circle of Life (which is the one I use now). I learned a lot about the meanings of the decks. And you should. Deck creators have specific symbols and meanings in mind when they make the decks. Also, you should study the cards to get clear on what the images mean to you. As my understanding or interpretation of a Tarot card changed, so did the answers I received.

There's a great book for delving into your personal meaning of the cards: The Heart of Tarot a book by Amber and Azrael Arynn K. For plunging into historical symbol construction try The Ancient Tarot and Its Symbolism by David LeMieux. There's an online class offered through DailyOm, Create Art for Your Soul, that guides you in constructing your own cards from contemporary images.

Symbols
Choose symbols that mean something for you: stones, cards, pictures, sounds, odors, the direction of the wind, etc. Important to get in touch with your intention. When you develop this language for the universe, you need to be clear on what the symbols intend. Think of Lyra and the Aleithiometer. One symbol, a bee, can stand for industry, community, communication, food, etc. Don't lock down your symbols. Leave a little fudge factor because language is imprecise.

Yes/No
A simpler system is yes/no or heads/tails. You could use coins, sticks, or beads. Those prayer beads commonly used by Buddhists are divination devices as well consulted by shaking, random grabbing, and counting down (an odd number remaining means "no" and an even number means "yes"). Yes/No divination is what the I Ching is based on (yin and yang lines). You can do Yes/No with the Tarot by pulling three cards at random and letting the appearance of a Court Card mean "Yes." No court cards means "No." And there's the old standard flip-a-coin: heads=yes, tails=no.

Get Answers
Once you have your system, find a way to let the symbols come to you randomly. This opens your system to the universe so it can use your language. A caveat about answers: they are not final or inevitable. You always have choice. Think of your answers as warnings, advice, hints, or possibilities. Use the knowledge wisely. Don't over ask or ask the same question repeatedly. The universe may give you garble out of frustration. And don't ask a question to get a particular answer. Keep your mind open to possibilities. As a friend once said to me, "Sometimes the answer is neither A nor B but Q."

Following a Pattern

Back on the left. Sleeve on the right.

I can't believe I have knitted the back and one sleeve of a sweater. I usually struggle to finish caps and scarves. I've fallen into crochet and knitting the way I fell into spending days with my grandchildren and making day trips to Yogaville. It's the only path open to me.

Sure, there are other things I can do and have done. I still have novels, poetry, blogs, landscapes, and other art. Somehow, none of those activities are as compelling. Handcrafts seems more important to do right now. Like spending time with my grandchildren was important. The way falling into a variety of spiritual experiences was important.

Like knitting and crocheting, tending children and practicing spirituality are crafts that accrue through small accomplishments over time. The relationships builds as does the practice. Slowly accruing anything has been near impossible for me.

Jumping to conclusions, seeing the big picture, dreaming, visioning—all of these are easy for me. I can see things coming a mile away. Or even further.

I'm enjoying looking closely and seeing what is right in front of me; taking it one step at a time.

So, anyway, I have two parts of a sweater now. I've been helped along the path to steady accruing by the Lion Brand Knit Along which I followed on Ravelry. Thanks to the Lion Brand instructor (who offered a lot of excellent tips) and all of the other participants (who offered a lot of great photos of their progress and more great tips), I actually finished a vest that fits. I got the correct gauge and only made one serious mistake: a dropped stitch on the back and I was able to fix that.

I don't know where crocheting and knitting will take me. It simply seems important to do right now.

One Mystical Boat

In her book, The Wisdom of No Escape, Pema Chodron writes about sticking with one boat, going deep along one path instead of shopping religions every time you come up against pain. During one of my recent stays at Yogaville, I had a consultation with Mataji (Swami Gurucharanananda) who advised me that “sampling here and there is not a path.”

My first path was Catholic. I had nothing to do with that. I was born Catholic and followed that path for 18 years until one day I looked at the genuflecting congregation and saw that they were just following a routine. There was no spirituality involved.* They had this memorized routine for mass: words they said, sitting, standing, kneeling. None of it was spiritual. I could see right through them. That was when I decided to go on a spiritual quest.

I began my quest by partying because I was a freshman in college and that’s what freshman do. After a couple of deathly experiences, I began investigating the Mormon church because my best friend and everyone we knew were doing that. So, I “investigated” and “prayed about it” and “received a testimony” that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was the one true church.

I transferred to Brigham Young University. I met a man and got married in the temple and brought my children up in the convenant. I was a Mormon for 18 years. And then one day it hit me that there was no spirituality in my path and I left that church.

For years I wandered with no path until I met a group who had decided to make up their own religion. So I did, too. I created my own goddess. From there I began investigating the basic and ancient religions, and acquiring gods and goddesses. After 12 years of snatching the best bits from other religions, I finally wanted to know what I really believed. I took the famous Belief-O-Matic quiz and learned that I was first of all Neo-Pagan, second New Age, third a Liberal Quaker, and fourth Unitarian Universalist (UU).

I had heard murmurings of Neo-Paganism in the various online discussion groups over the years but figured that real pagans were hard to find——what with the Inquisition and all. I felt I had a grasp on New Age and wasn’t interested in Liberal Quakers because sitting around not talking didn’t seem like a good way to investigate spirituality.** There was a UU church I drove by frequently and that seemed a convenient place to start.

In the Sunday services I found the first spiritual lectures I could relate to. The minister spoke from experience with facts and research. It was a thoughtful approach with nuggets of wisdom that catalyzed my quest. I joined the local UU congregation and plunged into a plethora of small groups investigating various spiritual paths i.e., Taoism, Buddhism, Humanism, and Yoga.

This led me into the wider community where I joined a local Buddhist group, a local pagan church, and a Shamanistic journeying group. This has been my path for five years: investigating and living various paths in an earnest effort to walk my own personal path. Which is what led me to Pema Chodron and Sri Swami Satchidananda. UU reorganized and focused my spiritual quest.

I am in one boat. A boat of my own device. A boat that lets me investigate creeks and rivers, canals and oceans. With it I’ve discovered there is only one path: the path to my own true nature. This is what Buddha, Jesus, Patanjali, Guru Nanak, and Mohammed were all talking about. True spirituality is the path to one’s true nature. The one and only boat. Or in Yogaville parlance: Many Paths. One Truth.

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*As part of my investigations through my UU membership, I have reclaimed the parts of Catholicism that are good and precious to me.

**It’s ironic about my aversion to Quaker silence because that’s a big part of my practice now: meditation. Sitting around quietly, breathing and noticing. Also, the Richmond Quakers sponsor the Dances of Universal Peace. Shows what prejudice will keep you from.

Sky 274 - brown haze

Wow! Saturday blew by and I didn't even notice that I had not posted a sky. Yesterday I decided, in a fit of rebellion, to not post one. I thought about posting "This sky left intentionally blank." and then didn't. I guess I wasn't that original (even if he did post after I had the idea – but who can prove that? And I don't care anyway. Really. It's just that I was all thrilled about my creativity until I read his tweet. Now I'll just have to find something else to be thrilled about).

Sky 221 - facsimile

Like what I really saw when I tried to photograph this moon. Only the sky was black and that gold thing was the moon. It was just so amazing. I can't get over it.

Archive: 5-25

(2009) DAZ 3D

(1996) P.O.V. Ray

0202 - Words and Art

(2006)

anyway. safari. safari. safari. and more safari. did some surfing. yep the web is more like a jungle. (2005)

020220001c (2000)

ooky (2000)

Hero and Dog

It's a start.

Current Fads
Listening. Romance Unlimited (unpublished iMix); my heart
Watching. Iron Man (2008)
Activity. running away to the woods
Gadget. iPhone 3GS
Writing. Gertrude, so far (NaNoWriMo 2010)
Location: Regulus, about 15 miles from the orphanage

when day is done and shadows fall I dream of you

when day is done I think of all the joys I knew

that yearning

returning

to be held in your arms

I know love, what's so love,

without you life has lost its charms ...

and although I miss

your craziness

the whole day through

I miss you most of all

when day is done

impatient: new moon

Happy Moon Dance

Song of the Night: Dancing in the Dark, Diana Krall
App of the Night: Planets

A visit with the moon

The moon and Jupiter.

Urban moon.

The moon and my red solar light.

Uban lights as fireworks.

The moon as sparkler.

Stephen King for Free!

Watch a series of animated graphics. Reminds of "The Plant" serialization days. Never did get the whole thing. I guess the publisher got wigged out over PDFs. You know, there's just too much concern about locking up content.

I got it bad and that ain't good

Visions of dancing beneath the trees and gliding along the river dance in my head. And then there's the Wicked Tinkers luring me out under the full moon. Gosh. I must dance. Let me go!

Song of the Day: The Rant - Wicked Tinkers

a dream about a poem

I dreamed that a man was reading a long poem just out of my line of sight. A man with a nice, warm voice. He was reading slowly with a deep complicated emotional reverence. He read carefully three times as if he were memorizing or maybe preparing for a presentation. As he read it the third time, I following along silently, knowing all the words. When I woke up all I could remember was:
she adjusts me
hands that heal
hands of faith

I wrote the words down during breakfast. The dream has been haunting me all day. I feel a need to report it. So, here it is.