rockofeyeblog:

This is spawned by seeing so many damn posts about divination and divination practices that are, essentially and unfortunately, junk. Here are some thoughts on being a diviner.

With the advent of the internet and the availability of information, it is inevitable that everyone and their mama decides to pick up a Tarot deck [or a set of runes or open a book for bibliomancy or whatever..] and puts their shingle out to do readings. Ever the curious monkey, I’ve had a few people over the internet do readings for me, both blindly [either without them knowing the question or with them knowing the question but without them knowing anything about me including my name] and on a more informed basis. It has been…less than stellar, to say the least. It’s one thing to know the meaning of a Tarot card or a rune and another thing entirely to be able to read them, to access the threads of Wyrd that tie into your reading, and to paint a somewhat complete picture for your client to see. I mean, honestly, if I wanted to know what the Hermit means in a Tarot deck or what Cweorth means, I can Google just as well as the next internet-savvy person. But, what I want when I ask for divination is your skill and, if you don’t have it, your services are pretty useless to me.

If we want to practice divination, there are some things we need to come to terms with:

First, divination is not an equal opportunity employer. Anybody can pick up a Tarot deck or toss runes, but not everyone can access Wyrd and/or the Gods or the right headspace or weave together the larger story that your tools are telling you. Some parts of divination can be taught, but you have to have a gift for it in some way…and that gift can not be taught, transplanted, or bought. To put it bluntly, you may not have the gifts to do it and no matter how hard you practice, how many books you read, or who you consult as a teacher, this will not change.

Second, you are not a capable diviner after reading a book or two or doing a couple readings for your friends. It takes work, and a lot of it. The diviners I consult [whom I know personally and off-line, but I’ll talk about that more in another post] have practiced for years and have given a lot for their skills. In fact, if you are advertising yourself as a diviner and you have [and I will be very, very generous] less than two years experience working with your tools regularly, you are doing a disservice to yourself and to those who trust you with their concerns and you shouldn’t be practicing. I personally won’t consult anyone who has been practicing less than five years and even then I’m a little wary. Why? Learning a divining skill is a journey. As a diviner, you take the journey of the Fool, if you’re a Tarot person, or you learn the stories of the runes, or the story of whatever your tool is. You take time to meditate on each facet [each rune, each card, each symbol] and reflect on that and then return to the same facet again and again and again. Also, a lot of divining tools have Spirits attached to them. While consulting these Spirits and working with them is not a must-have for divination, it certainly makes your tools a more powerful ally and there is no damn Spirit I know Who is going to hurry along so you can start doing readings over the internet. It takes serious time to a) know the tools and/or Spirits, b) to get to a place where your divining becomes intuitive and comes from accessing the Wyrd and things like it, and c) develop and refine signal clarity.

Third, it’s not just about the skills with your tools. To be a competent diviner, you need to be an excellent counselor who can listen and give IMPARTIAL feedback. You need to have gone through some serious periods of self-differentiation—that is, you have to be a grown-up and realize that it is Not About You. The worst diviners I know inject themselves into their readings—they can’t set aside their biases and experiences to see what actually is being said. A good diviner know when their biases are in play and can either self-correct for that or, if they’re truly ethical, will refer out to another diviner because they cannot be impartial.

Along those lines comes number four, which is a big repeat of the above: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. No one comes to a diviner because the diviner is super-special-awesome. No one comes to a diviner because they are the cool kid. They come to a diviner because they have a question or a problem that needs some exploration. Your ego has no place in the equation and, if you can’t get past that, you have no business reading for anyone. Don’t do divination because all the other spiritual people on Tumblr do it—that’s self-serving. Don’t do divination because you think it will make people like you or depend on you—that’s a reflection of your poor self-esteem.

Fifth, and finally [for now], realize that, when you divine, you are entering into a trust relationship with your querent. All it takes is one misstep and you fuck that shit all up. You know how they say in marketing that, when something is great, a person will tell one or two people but when something is wrong or awful, they tell at least seven? Yeah, that goes for divination, too. I know that, when I’ve gotten bad readings, I don’t go back nor do I refer people to them [and I do a LOT of referrals]. When asked, I will tell the truth and your reputation will suffer. There’s also something akin to karma attached to it—if you are incompetent, that reflects in your Wyrd. If you lead someone astray, that reflects in your Wyrd. If you are using tools you have no right to use, that reflects in your Wyrd. Kinda heavy, isn’t it? This is what all the would-be diviners on Tumblr don’t get—there are consequences attached. Sometimes they are from the universe, sometimes they are from your Gods if you have them, and sometimes they are from other people’s Gods or Spirits. Personally, I would think twice before breaking out the Tarot cards and anteing up.

Next up, how to select a diviner and what to look for/look out for.

I’ve been reading steadily - every. day. sometimes multiple times a day - for 3 1/2 years and am only *just* starting to discover the breadth and depth of answers the cards can give. Sometimes the 3 of Swords is a weather forecast, and if you can’t tell the difference between “looks like rain” and “looks like heartbreak”…