From the darkness, the witch produced Flame and Fire.
Conjuring in her palm, it broke through the darkness.
Flame leapt to the candles surrounding her working area,
Casting dancing shadows upon her crystals, cards, runes, and bones.
For she had come here to consult the threads of time.
Her need was great and her heart was heavy,
Causing distressing thoughts within her mind.
Taking slow deep breaths, she concentrated her will, and closed her eyes.
The runes called forth first, aching to be thrown.
She grabbed the stones and threw them high, hearing them tinkle as they fell into strange patterns.
The bones soon followed, crisscrossing and clacking.
The cards flew from the deck, in concentric patterns of past, present, and future.
And the crystals produced visions in her mind, singing softly within her spirit.
All around the working area, within the candlelit atmosphere,
Her heart slowly lifted and her thoughts gradually lightened.
Like the rising of the sun and the breaking of night by the dawn,
Her quandary was mollified and her answer was given.
Thus, she opened her eyes to the new vision of the future.
And smiled,
Knowing that her work…
Had only just begun.
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Grand tidings and welcome to you on this, the THIRTIETH EPISODE—we reached a MILESTONE, a whole new set of ten—of Beyond the Seas. My name is Kieran and here we are again, back at it for another week. I am so proud of the show hitting thirty episodes—and so happy all of you have joined in for the ride with me, following along with for all the witchy and folklore content. Ok kiddos, as you know, shameless plug, it is the show’s goal to reach 250 followers by the Summer Solstice on Insta, and our little circle there has already grown so much! So, head on over to @beyondtheseaspodcast and hit that follow button for not only all the funny and folkloric postings Claudia and I create, but also so I can take Claudia to Salem for witchy supplies and future items for giveaways. Also, follow Claudia’s page, @thefeatherwitchnyc, for her weekly tarot collaboration reels she creates alongside the show. I am so happy that we both get to create for all of you, in this the magickal year of change, and I cannot wait for all of you to strap in and ride the roller coaster with us. ALSO! If you have not yet already, do give the show a five-star rating, because that helps the show get more advertisement and exposure in the greater circles of the podcasting channels of the internet. It helps boost the show and get in front of more folkloric, witchy folks like yourselves. So as always, thank you all for being here with me today.
And now, artistic and literary updates. Let’s start with the book: I finished the delightful The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth last week and loved the journey through the hills, caves, lochs, and mountains of its fantastical world. There are evil witch hunters and a tyrannical Banrìgh that set forth their claws of persecution against any of the surviving Witches of the Coven. Young Ysabeau and her mentor, Meghan of the Beasts, have traveled their own roads and ended up with a whole slew of other new characters. I listened to the audiobook version of this story and am so happy to say that the narrator, Elle Newlands, has the most intoxicating Scottish accent that only makes the story more realistic and present. It was so, so, so good! One of my favorite audiobook experiences to date. There is much magick, lore, spellcraft, adventure, fae folk, moons and eclipses, Nyx hair, and a little boy who can heal with his hands—if that is up your alley, take a listen and catch up quickly because I already started the next book in the series, The Pool of Two Moons—which continues the adventures of Ysabeau, Meghan, and so many others. Now, artistically, I am almost off-book for the upcoming show at Theatre SilCo, Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery, that is sure to be one of my new favorites to perform. Again kiddos, if you are in the Silverthorne, CO area, to be sure to get your tickets to the show now as several performances are already or almost sold out. I cannot believe that and I am UBER excited to get back on that stage ASAP.
And now, the Card of the Week! This one is a doozy, magick makers, and it is not going to disappoint—if anything, it will reveal. Hence, The Seven of Cups. There is now no limit to what you may do, nor the voice of authority bearing down on you to be a certain version of yourself. The time has come to unshackle the chains of oppression and repression and allow your true self to flourish this week. Claudia says that this is now the time to reclaim the all that is you, the ancient knowledge that lies hidden within the depths of your being—it has always been there and the time has come to heed its call and bring forth its light. The world is desperate to keep ourselves from ourselves, but much like Odin sacrificed himself to himself to gain the knowledge of the Runes, so too must we surrender ourselves to the all that is us to bring forth that collective wisdom. Surrender, surrender, surrender. What a powerful week this is going to be!
And now, the Wine of the Week! Last week was an interesting week because the wine I first bought when I was back in the city was—and this is a first that this has ever happened to me—bad. Like, it had gone bad: the musky, vinegar-y taste was alllllll over that wine and it was one of the most unpleasant things to go through. Super sad—and wasteful. BUT. One of my lovely roommates gifted me with a half bottle of wine as a welcome home gift, and that is what I shall review for us all today. It is Pessimist’s 2018 Paso Robles Red Blend. This was such a kick in the mouth, and I loved it! There are so many flavors packed into this little bottle: chocolate, smoke, oak, cherry, blueberry, grass, honeysuckle, lavender, earth—it was so complex and so good. It pairs well with return journeys home, the taste of good wine after bad, white cannellini beans, white cheeses, and red pepper flakes.
And finally, this week’s topic. It feels ever so fitting to discuss, on this the thirtieth episode, a swathe of practices relating to the Ancient Art of Divination. I have several divinatory practices myself that I do either daily or frequently. The magick of peering into the future has always mystified and intrigued the human species—perhaps it is our fear of “what if” or the hesitation in making decisions that prompts us to set forth the query to the tools of the future. What methods reveal the threads of the future to we magickal practitioners? Which are the easier methods—and others more advanced? And how might we incorporate them into our practice today?
For now, grab your favorite bottle of red, find a comfy chair, and close your eyes as I tell you the tale of The Ancient Art of Divination—and take you…
Beyond the Seas.
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The practice of peering into the future is as old as the hills—and includes an innumerable amount of practices, tools, and sets of potentialities in order to do so. The world over, there are a variety of indigenous beliefs, practices, and methodologies that attempt to pull back the veil that separates the present from the future. So I myself do a daily divination each morning: I purify my body in the shower, allowing the water to rush over me and clear my mind for the day ahead. Then, after cleaning and brushing of the hair and the putting on of new, clean clothes, I pull out the Wildwood Tarot—knock three times upon the cards and gift them with the breath of my body—and ask them to reveal what I need to know for the day. Sometimes, one or more cards fly out of the deck and provide a glimpse into the future; other times, I sense a pull towards one card in particular and pull it out. Regardless of the day, it is the personal methodology of approaching the tool that makes the magick not only work, but also special.
But before we dive into the various practices of divination, what exactly is it? From the Britannica Encyclopedia, divination is “the practice of determining the hidden significance or cause of events, sometimes foretelling the future, by various natural, psychological, and other techniques. Found in all civilizations, both ancient and modern, it is encountered most frequently in contemporary mass society in the form of horoscopes, astrology, crystal gazing, tarot cards, and the Ouija board.
“Divination is universally concerned with practical problems, private or public, and seeks information upon which practical decisions can be made; but the source of such information is not conceived as mundane, and the technique of getting it is necessarily fanciful. The mantic (divinatory) arts are many, and a broad understanding can emerge only from a survey of actual practices in various cultural settings. A short definition, however, may be offered as a preliminary guide: divination is the effort to gain information of a mundane sort by means conceived of as transcending the mundane.
“Though the act of divination is attended by respect and the attitude of the participants in the divinatory act may be religious, the subject matter of divination (like that of magic) is ephemeral—e.g., an illness, a worrisome portent, a lost object. Divination is a consultative institution, and the matter posed to a diviner may range from a query about a few lost coins to high questions of state.”
And thus, today, I am going to lead all of us through a journey of different methodologies and ways of glimpsing the folds of the future. Now, it is safe to say, that whatever messages and images come through these tools may or may not come to pass: they are simply different possibilities of what may occur. It gives room for the practitioner to contemplate and decide the wisest course of action. That is what is so powerful, I feel, about these practices. So, without further ado, let us venture forth into The Ancient Art of Divination.
We begin our journey by taking a glimpse at none other than one of the most popular methods of divination: The Tarot. Now, I am planning on devoting an entire episode to this topic, so today’s discussion includes its main highlights. The following information comes from the illustrious Britannica Encyclopedia, which is rife with treasured information.
The Tarot refers to “any of a set of cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling. Tarot decks were invented in Italy in the 1430s by adding to the existing four-suited pack a fifth suit of 21 specially illustrated cards called trionfi (“triumphs”) and an odd card called il matto (“the fool”)… The trionfi each bore a different allegorical illustration instead of a common suitmark.
“…They were originally unnumbered, so that it was necessary to remember what order they went in. Whether or not trionfi were originally produced independently of standard playing cards, their function, when added to the pack, was to act as a suit superior in power to the other four—a suit of triumphs, or “trumps.”
“The standard modern tarot deck is based on the Venetian or the Piedmontese tarot. It consists of 78 cards divided into two groups: the major arcana, which has 22 cards, also known as trumps, and the minor arcana, which has 56 cards.
“The cards of the major arcana have pictures representing various forces, characters, virtues, and vices. The 22 cards are numbered I through XXI, with the fool being unnumbered. The tarots of the major arcana are, in order, as follows: I juggler, or magician; II papess, or female pope; III empress; IV emperor; V pope; VI lovers; VII chariot; VIII justice; IX hermit; X wheel of fortune; XI strength, or fortitude; XII hanged man; XIII death; XIV temperance; XV devil; XVI lightning-struck tower; XVII star; XVIII moon; XIX sun; XX last judgment; XXI world, or universe; and the fool.
“The 56 cards of the minor arcana are divided into four suits of 14 cards each. The suits, which are comparable to those of modern playing cards, are as follows: wands, batons, or rods (clubs); cups (hearts); swords (spades); and coins, pentacles, or disks (diamonds). Each suit has 4 court cards—king, queen, knight, and jack—and 10 numbered cards.
“…The adaptation of tarots to occult and fortune-telling purposes first occurred in France about 1780. For fortune-telling each tarot card is ascribed a meaning. The cards of the major arcana refer to spiritual matters and important trends in the questioner’s life. In the minor arcana wands deal mainly with business matters and career ambitions, cups with love, swords with conflict, and coins with money and material comfort. The tarot deck is shuffled by the questioner, and then the fortune-teller lays out a few of the cards (either selected at random by the questioner or dealt off the top of the shuffled deck) in a special pattern called a “spread.” The meaning of any card is modified according to whether it is upside down, its position in the spread, and the meaning of adjacent cards.”
It is safe to say that The Tarot is the most popular form of divination, followed I think by Scrying. It is the act of peering into a surface of reflective nature to glimpse images, sights, and sensations that arise within the surface while in a light, trance-like state. From the College of Psychic Studies, “The first recorded examples of scrying appear in China in around 3000 BCE, in Egypt in 2500 BCE, and in Greece in 2000 BCE. Nevertheless, it was the infamous French prophet, Michel de Nostredame, more commonly known as Nostradamus…who first put scrying on the map.
“…We can use scrying to gain personal insights about our life circumstances, or to find an object that we have misplaced. We can scry for clarity on relationships, or future outcomes of different choices. We can also use scrying to help us simply relax.
Scrying requires two ingredients: A scrying tool and a light trance-like state. There are innumerable objects that can be used as a scrying tool, but the following are most common: crystal ball, scrying bowl, obsidian mirror, tea leaves, coffee grounds, a lake or pond, a candle flame, smoke, [or even] a log fire.
The light trance can be achieved through a meditative awareness of the breath, the repetition of a mantra, or any technique that stills the mind and relaxes the body.
“When we begin to scry, we send a message to our unconscious mind that we are seeking information that is beyond the reach of our senses and conscious awareness. The mind projects symbols and images onto our scrying tool to convey the information to our conscious awareness. These symbols and images are then translated by the scryer into meaning – whether that be for the sitter, or in answer to an enquiry made by the scryer. This translation of symbols and images is an essential part of the scrying process.”
Scrying may be employed through simply picking up a piece of reflective crystal, like clear quartz, or peering into a bowl of water in candlelit room. One may also employ aeromancy, the art of scrying through atmospheric and weather phenomena, to ascertain answers and glimpses of the future. At the twilight hours of dawn and dusk, one may venture forth to the liminal space of lake or seashore and peer out into the moving waters, asking of them questions and seeking for answers. Here is where the individual practitioner has the opportunity to become creative: the art of divination is entirely able to become the vehicle of one’s choosing by conducting these acts in whatever way he wishes. The tools are made available to him and he seeks his objective through whatever tactics he desires—it truly is player’s choice. And I believe that is what makes these practices so powerful.
Refill your drinking horns, your goblets, your chalices, for the second half of The Ancient Art of Divination after this brief break.
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If you are like me, you probably love crystals, stones, and gems. I love the tangible feeling of their sharp edges and smooth, rounded shapes. They give comfort—and power. And to the inscriptions one may find on the stones do we now turn our attention, specifically to the Runes.
From the aptly named Norse Mythology for Smart People website, “While runologists argue over many of the details of the historical origins of runic writing, there is widespread agreement on a general outline. The runes are presumed to have been derived from one of the many Old Italic alphabets in use among the Mediterranean peoples of the first century CE, who lived to the south of the Germanic tribes.
“…From the perspective of the ancient Germanic peoples themselves, however, the runes came from no source as mundane as an Old Italic alphabet. The runes were never “invented,” but are instead eternal, pre-existent forces that Odin himself discovered by undergoing a tremendous ordeal. This tale has come down to us in the Old Norse poem Hávamál (“The Sayings of the High One”):
‘I know that I hung
On the wind-blasted tree
All of nights nine,
Pierced by my spear
And given to Odin,
Myself sacrificed to myself
On that pole
Of which none know
Where its roots run.
No aid I received,
Not even a sip from the horn.
Peering down,
I took up the runes –
Screaming I grasped them –
Then I fell back from there.’
“The tree from which Odin hangs himself is surely none other than Yggdrasil, the world-tree at the center of the Germanic cosmos whose branches and roots hold the Nine Worlds. Directly below the world-tree is the Well of Urd, a source of incredible wisdom. The runes themselves seem to have their native dwelling-place in its waters.
“…Presumably, then, after Odin discovered the runes by ritually sacrificing himself to himself and fasting for nine days while staring into the waters of the Well of Urd, it was he who imparted the runes to the first human runemasters. His paradigmatic sacrifice was likely symbolically imitated in initiation ceremonies during which the candidate learned the lore of the runes, but, unfortunately, no concrete evidence of such a practice has survived into our times.”
Now, there is a difference to note here, cauldron stirrers: there are two sets of Runes that we find throughout Germanic and Nordic history. They are the Elder and Younger Futhark Runes, respectively. Essentially, the earlier form of the Runes consisted of 24 phonemes, or visual representations of sounds—these 24 Runes are collectively known as the Elder Futhark, Futhark itself translating to Runes. During the subsequent Viking Age, when pillaging and great acts of travel and investigation were held, the 24 runes were shortened to sixteen—thus, the Younger Futhark was born. Simple is as simple does, yes?
Now, to use the Runes today in modern practice: either on wooden sticks or discs, or upon crystals of your own choosing (such as clear quartz, amethyst, onyx, obisidian, or lapis lazuli), engrave the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark and fill with gold. Imbue each rune with the power of your breath and life force by holding in your hands and sending breath upon it. Collect these finished runes in a black bag, hidden safely away and only used when needed. To do so, either hold the bag in your hands and ask of it a simple question, then draw forth one rune as the answer. Or: hold the bag in your hands, ask of it the question, open it, and scatter your runes before you. Note the position of certain runes to others, the relationship they have fallen into. Perhaps you reach in and grab a handful, or three or five. Truly, again, it is player’s choice here. Follow your intuition and allow the Runes to guide your reading as you listen to their call.
A similar writing system that is parallel to the Futhark Runes is the Celtic Ogham, and to it we next turn our attention. In the article I found on Gaelic.co by Rachel McEwan, who herself interviewed Dr. Conor Quinn—a linguist and polyglot—I learned that Ogham is pronounced like Ohm, not Og-um or Oh-am. Linguistics, people, linguistics!
“Ogham is essentially a twenty-letter alphabet (with five letters added later), apparently developed for “Primitive Irish”, the ancestor to the better-known Old Irish, which is effectively the ancestor of all three contemporary Gaelic languages (Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic).
“Who invented Ogham? No one really knows for sure. There are at least two separate stories. One is tied to the legend of Irish itself being created by Scythian king Fenius Farsa and his scholars after the Tower of Babel as – surprise surprise – the selected best of all the languages of the time, with Ogham as its writing system. The other associates it with the hero Ogma (Mac Elathan) of Old Irish literature, who some have attempted to relate to the mainland Celtic god Ogmios…
“What was Ogham writing used for? All we know directly for certain is its use in writing personal names, in possessor form…on the edges of standing stones and the like, as memorial (and possibly as territory/boundary) markers. But references in Old Irish (and later) literature also have characters writing Ogham on sticks to send messages, to record information, and to do magic.
“How exactly does Ogham work? Ogham, quite delightfully, is one of the few alphabets written and read vertically from the bottom to the top. Its twenty letters, called feda (= ‘trees’), group into four aicme (= ‘family, tribe’) of five letters each. Each letter is simply a cluster of one to five straight lines, scratched along the (usually) vertical edge of a stone. The first family (B – L – V/F – S – N) has lines drawn to the right of the edge-line (so one line is B, two lines is L, five lines is N, etc.). The second family (H – D – T – C – Q) has lines drawn to the left. The third (M – G – NG – ST – R) draws its lines diagonally across both sides of the edge. And the fourth family (the vowels A – O – U – E – I) is drawn either as short marks on the edge itself, or straight across both sides of the edge.”
Now, much like the runes, though entirely distinctive and separate from them, the use of the Ogham in divination is parallel: construct the twenty Ogham letters on sticks of oak, ash, or thorn and place within a large black or green bag. Ask of them your question and through the Ogham sticks onto your working area—note the relationship, the crossings of sticks, the distance among them, to uncover the answer to your query. I personally have yet to use Ogham, rather preferring the Runes myself, but ya never say never, right?
And here is where I get to talk about one of my all-time favorite methods of divination—and it is one of the simplest in the world. The magickal art of the Pendulum. It is so, so simplistic: an object, normally a crystal, suspended on a chain and held in the hand. Easy as that. Now, when facing a query, take up your pendulum and ask of it to show you its movements for Yes, No, Maybe, and I Don’t Know. Then thank your pendulum for its use and present your query to it next, noting the direction in which it moves. This answer is the solution to your problem.
The magick behind this tool is the connection it opens between yourself and your Higher Self. It is the wisdom and knowledge of the spirit within you that allows the natural tendencies, muscular contractions, and directional movements for the pendulum to follow. But as with all things in magick, it is the faith and will directed into the stone that creates the otherworldliness and etheric quality to the act. Personally, I have two pendulums: a Smoky Quartz and a Green Bloodstone. They both have vastly different energies and personalities to them, and each have different attitudinal answers to the same question. That is a powerful notion to think of. So when finding your next pendulum, place prospective pieces into your hands and feel into its energies—ask of it its view of you, wanting to build a relationship between it and yourself. If the feeling is mutual, then off to the races you both go.
For essentially, you magick makers, what we are all tapping into here through these divinatory practices are our psychic abilities, as expressed through the tangible tools of the Craft. Hence, let us know take a brief look at the Five Clairs of the Craft: Clairvoyance, Clairsentience, Clairaudience, Claircognizance, and Clairgustance. Clairvoyance is Clear-Seeing, often related to the visions and images that psychically appear in one’s third eye. Such powers related to this talent are Precognition and Remote Viewing. Clairsentience, or Clear Feeling. This is the talent and power of the Empath: understanding the emotions swirling around onself. Such powers related to this ability are Energy Healing and Psychometry. Clairaudience is Clear Hearing, the ability to receive messages and insight through intuited words, sentences, and languages. Powers related to this talent are Telepathy and Spiritual Guidance.
Claircognizance, or Clear Knowing. It is the intuitive understanding of a person, place, event, or situation. You just…know. Such powers related to this talent are Instant Knowledge and Intuitive Decision Making. And finally, Clairgustance, or Clear Tasting. It is the taste of material or food without putting the substance into one’s mouth. Powers related to this talent are Symbolic Insights and Energetic Discernment.
So how do we tie all of these powers, tools, and abilities together? Before we end the episode today, I proffer one more tool available to all humans who wish to peer into the future: Dreamwalking. It is the ability inherent within all of us to traverse the Dream Roads and receive information from the Gods, Spirits, Ancestors, and Otherworldly Beings. To do so, simply lay down for sleep and allow the body to relax. This next part is the most difficult: do not move the body whatsoever. Allow it to fall asleep while your mind remains awake, then become aware that you have now slipped out of your body and into the Dreamworld.
It is a tricky, tricky ability to master—but once done, it is the most magickal. It is, essentially, lucid dreaming—but heightened to a grander spiritual level. When done so through the lens of divination, it opens the inner senses and faculties to archetypal images, words, sounds, tastes, and experiences that reveal hidden information or answers to questions long pondered. It is the common ground that connects all the worlds, and opens the doorways to realms heretofore only dreamed of (no pun intended). And thus, makes it the most efficacious and enjoyable divinatory experience…which is why it is so hard to do.
But once mastered, it elevates the practitioner to a far more intuitive being. As do all of the practices and tools, when used frequently. To sit in silence with oneself is never easy, but is often the most rewarding. For in the silence of divination do we find the meaning of life itself—and the trust we inherently have for our own faculties. The Ancient Art of Divination is a reminder to us all that we hold the power within to traverse the Unknown—and return once more with previously hidden information that is now held aloft in the light of truth. And that makes the journey all the more powerful and enjoyable. And as a result, your magick, my magick—our magick—will always be stronger…because of it.
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The stories, research, and production elements were done and edited, respectively, by me, Kieran, with sources attached in the description. If you want to be a guest on the show, or have a topic you wish me to explore and discuss, send me an email at beyondtheseaspodcast@gmail.com. And be sure to hit the follow button, on whichever platform you enjoy the podcast, and look forward to more content next week. Until then, seek the veil between the worlds, and allow yourself to travel…Beyond the Seas.