Looking to the Future in Uncertain Times

Lately, the collective fear and anxiety seem to be at an all-time high. This can be particularly hard on Wiccans, who are open and receptive to energy currents. In such uncertain times, the quest for answers becomes ever more pressing; we find ourselves turning to divination.

But although there’s a plethora of divination practices out there, some of them are not suitable for our unique circumstances. For instance, anything that involves invoking or communicating with spirits (like an Ouija board) can be risky: the global energies are restless, which can attract less than benign beings from across the Veil. Better steer clear!

The divination practices described below are safe to use during these uncertain times — and can bring you some peace of mind.

The results of any divination practice rely a lot on your mental and emotional state. To avoid any energetic entanglements that could affect the accuracy of your predictions, always meditate for at least a few minutes before using any of the practices described below. It is also recommended to light a candle and smudge your space before you begin.

This ancient Chinese cleromancy technique uses the Taoist principles of Yin and Yang energies to analyze the current situation and ascertain its auspiciousness. The idea is that everything in this world can be broken down into 8 key energetical components called “trigrams” (Water, Fire, Heaven, Earth, Lake, Thunder, Wind, Mountain).

These components mix together to form 64 more complex compounds, the “hexagrams”. The Book of Changes contains information for each one of these hexagrams and what they mean for you.

To find your hexagram, you follow a process of tossing three coins and assigning a mathematical value to your throw (depending on whether the coins are heads or tails). You toss six times, writing down the value each time and adding a line next to the number. If the number is odd, the line is whole — whereas if the number is even, the line is broken in half. When you have your hexagram, you consult the Book of Changes to see what course of action to take.

As a divination practice, the I-Ching can be a bit slow. The technique is somewhat involved (there are more nuances to it than what is described here) but because of that, it can help you reach a meditative state by the time you have your hexagram.

If you are relatively new to divination, casting runes is a simple enough technique to get you started. You just need a bag of cloth with all the runes inside: you think of your question, and pick one or more runes blindly.

There are two types of runes: the Norse runes and the Witch’s runes.

The Norse runes are 24 and correspond to the old Norse alphabet. They are traditionally made from wood, but nowadays you can find them in many materials. (If you can, carve your own runes on pieces of wood you've chopped or gathered yourself.) Each rune symbolizes both a letter and a word with further associations. For example, the rune B, Berkanan, means "birch tree" but it also means "birth" and "liberation". Traditionally, one of the runes is blank to symbolize Odin's infinite potential.

The Witch's runes emerged in the 1970s. They are inspired by the traditional Norse runes, but are even easier to read for beginners. They consist of either 8 or 13 pictograms (depending on which version you'll find online) with images like the sun, the moon, the star and arrows that represent crossroads. In the 8-pictogram system, each Witch's Rune corresponds to a Wiccan Sabbat. For example, you have the Sun rune for Midsummer and a black rune for Samhain.

Tarot cards emerged in 18th century Europe, becoming popular in occult secret societies. Nowadays, there are hundreds of different tarot decks, but the most popular is the Rider-Waite.

Tarot decks consist of 22 Major Arcana cards (that symbolize overarching energies) and four suits of 14 Minor Arcana cards each (that symbolize relationships and situations).

Each card, especially the Minor Arcana suit cards, has elemental and astrological associations. For example the Swords suit symbolizes Spring and Air. You don’t need to know all these associations to do a tarot reading though: just look at the image and let your intuition interpret it.

Since every tarot deck comes with its own book of interpretations, this divination technique is suitable for all. You can start small, pulling just one card a day and meditating on its meaning — or you can do elaborate spreads of 10 plus cards… The most important thing is that you choose a deck that suits you. You shouldn’t find the illustrations frightening or disturbing: it will interfere with your readings.

Tarot cards are not suitable to answer every question. If you need answers of a more practical nature, you should consider Lenormand cards instead: the deck consists of only 36 cards that work in pairings and can give you more clarity in everyday issues.

Scrying is the art of looking in any reflective surface to see shapes or get intuitive messages that could help you decode the future. Although crystals and quartz balls are more popular, you can also practice this technique with a mirror or a pool of water.

As far as divination techniques go, scrying is a very old and very difficult one — not suitable for beginners. There is no real guidebook to help you with scrying either. It is recommended that you start by meditating and connecting with your surface, so that it is awakened energetically. (You can do this by meditating while holding the crystal/mirror in your hands, or by submerging your hands in the water pool.) Then, when you feel ready, you can sit and direct a soft gaze towards the reflective surface, opening yourself to any messages or images that come through.

Don’t be disappointed if nothing happens the first few times! Scrying takes time and patience.