The 1st level of channeling is to tap into the higher consciousness of the individual channel.
This method involves divination through the burning of leaves, tree branches and herbs. It is a practice where a Diviner draws messages from the smoke of the fire and/or from the ashes that remain.
A Native American tradition that induces visions, vision quests and sweat lodges are reported to lead to many types of seeing, from future to past to Otherworld.
A person channels from the spirit realm and allows the spirit(s) to use their body to write a message or draw symbols to be interpreted later.
Botanomncy – (Scrying) – a form of pyromancy
The following article is a contribution from one of the regular members on thePagans Path Message board, Panther Witch. She has graciously allowed me to post her research on Divination Tools from the board here on the site. It is a great article and I thank Panther for allowing us to share it here on the site.
A meditative trance in a secluded area. Listen for what you may hear on the wind.
Watching of birds. From species of birds, to the migration of birds, this is one of the most common forms of divination. Commonly considered an omen when an unusual sighting of one or more birds occurs.
These cards are similar to tarot. Some use animals as the basis for their meanings, others use a combination of animals, plants, stones, symbols, ect.
This is the benefit of divination. To determine how your current choices have created a pattern of energy on your path for today, tomorrow and beyond. By understanding how your energy is being manifest by you, you can alter those aspects you dont want, and work toward those you do want. So dont think the future is set in stone. Its not, if you dont want it to be.
Depending on where you live, IChing can either be a type of bibliomancy, religious text, or a guide for how to divine the future by use of symbols and objects. The I Ching means Book of Changes and is a classic Chinese text that shows how to use a symbol system to identify order in the chaos that surrounds us. Historically it was viewed as an account from the time of Fu Xi in a similar story to the Noahs Ark legend in the Christian and Jewish texts. More modern meanings use the text as a guide to the oracle bones and the casting of them much like rune stones.
The 2nd level is to communicate with the Spirit guides or teacher(s) of the client, or the channel them self.
Runes – (Nordic Runes&The Ogham Script)
Its important to note that no one can use tools of divination to foretell the future in the modern perspective people see in TV and movies. What a psychic reader or divination tool can do is show you the probable outcome of energy patterns you have currently put into place up to today. But with free will and choice, you have the ability to change these outcomes. (Receiving A Reading)
If youre interested in using your psychic abilities for the purpose of Divination, then you might want to read the Psychic Development – Developing Your Talents article.
Drink a cup of tea, then tip the cup over onto the saucer to drain the dregs of the tea out. Look at the pattern of tea leaves and view them. Supposedly will tell the future of the person that drank the tea. Based on shapes and patterns in the remaining leaves at the bottom of the bowl or cup.
Created: 07.02.2009 Updated: 08.30.2010
Aura Readings- (How To Read An Aura)
Channeling – Also called Spirit Talking. A channel is different than a psychic, in that when one channels they do not interpret the information or energy being received from spirit. It is given to the client just as it is received. Not all psychics are channels, but all channels are psychic.
Some people use the aura around a person to see the immediate future. Also some places have an aura around them, but it may not be perceivable to sight. Auras can give you a sense of health, mental state, stresses, and sometimes things that the person is thinking about.
Spirit Boards / Witch Boards / Talking Boards (Ouija Boards)-
Wind Watching- a form of Austromancy
These are stones or sometimes sticks that are marked with either Norse runes or Ogham runes. The most common are using the Norse system. Readings again vary in how they are done. Some people pull a single stone, others use a spread similar to the tarot. Can be found custom made, out of stones, and hand carved, or commercially produced.
Wind Listening- a form of Austromancy
Youll also find links to more in depth articles about some of these divination tools that are here on PagansPath where you can learn more about that tools history, how to use and apply that tool to your divination practices.
The flame from a candle or a campfire may allow one to see various images dancing in the flames. Sometimes puts the person into a trance and allows visions. Smoke scrying is similar, but shapes are observed dancing on the smoke.
Similar to the crystal ball, this type of mirror (usually colored black) is possibly most reputable from Nostradamuss visions of the future. The colored glass can create a depth illusion in which a person can see objects, people, or happenings.
the meaning of numbers in everything, from giving letters in your name a symbolic number and reading that meaning, to the meaning of your birthday, to the oracle meaning of the number of any certain type of animal you see.
A plain bowl (sometimes made of metal, glass, or stone) that is filled to the brim with water, until the water bubbles at the lip of the bowl to create an edge. Used in meditation or trance.
The 4th level is with the Divine Conscious Mind.
Used as a tool to trigger visions, crystal balls come in many shapes and sizes and colors. Most commonly used in a trance or meditative state while looking into the ball and viewing any inclusions or shadows seen in the ball itself.
Also called tarotmancy, the use of tarot cards to foretell the future. Made up of the Major and Minor Arcana, there are usually 21 cards in the Major Arcana, and 4 suits of 14 cards in the Minor Arcana. There are custom decks available, and decks that use different suits, as well as some that have extra cards, or some that feature fewer cards. Some decks even change the names of the Major Arcana cards to suit the theme of the deck itself. Each spread can vary in number of cards, meaning, and even the depth of the questions asked.
The 3rd level comes with the Soul Group.
Everyone is psychic to one degree or another. Some people are just moreaware of the unseen energies within and around them than others are. But those gut feelings, that womans intuition, all are psychic abilities. If you havent already, Id suggest you go back a few postings and read aboutPsychic Gifts. This posting describes what being a psychic is, vs. what a channel.
The reading of the planets and stars and how they affect us. Astrology is very particular to Earth. The stars would align differently if you were on another planet, or even the moon. Theoretically this would make a difference on the energies surrounding you. Horoscopes are very common, and there are differing types. The zodiac is made of 12 houses in Western astrology. Chinese astrology uses a different system entirely, basing whole years on a single house, usually symbolized by an animal.
If youre interested in Divination Tools, you might want to see Panthers article onThe History of Divinationas well.
Fire and Smoke Scrying- (Scrying) – a form of pyromancy
Viewing of animal entrails to divine the future. First seen used in the early Roman culture, it is still used in some circles today.
This method utilizes observation of the wind and its affects on objects, such as tree, animals, clouds, the ground etc.
A device on a string or chain, usually made of stone, wood, glass, crystal, or bone that is polished into a point and then dangled from the string. Some superstition says that a pendulum dangled over a pregnant womans belly will move in one direction or another to foretell the sex of the unborn child. Primary methods use the movement of the pendulum to divine answers to questions, or even scry for the direction of an object that is lost. Supposedly uses the energy lines and patterns around the user and in the earth.
As with most things, there are different levels of channeling, each depending on the mission or purpose of the individual in this incarnation. For instance, someone may be in this existence to perform the service of Divine healing. Therefore they are a healing channel. In their own way, they do channel the energy from the divine directly into the body of their client. But unlike a clairaudient channel, they do not hear messages.
The reading of palms. Commonly thought a parlor trick, it uses the natural creases and lines in the palm of a hand to chart out things like how long the persons life will be, how many times he will marry, ect. Some people use palmistry like tea leaves, and view the patterns as shapes to divine the future of the person.
Typically used during a seance, a tear or heart shaped piece of wood is placed on a board with letters, numbers, symbols and some common words on it, then touched by everyone in the circle around the board. Sold as a game, or custom made. Supposedly works to communicate with the spirit world. Many stories highlight the more evil intentions around the board.