I am connecting to the spirit of all life. Divination comes from the word Divine which tells me that I am trying to connect with the Divine Spirit to guide me through the path I (or somebody else) SEEK Guidance for.   When we talk of Divination, people automatically think of tarot, crystal balls, and other tools available,  what we are really doing is chanelling our own energies and allowing the universal energies to speak to us, we call the result of this process psychic abilities. I Think the strongest form of divination is meditation, because when we practice divination we are travelling in a sacred space of our mind - the subconscious - the third eye - this is what we believe holds all of the answers to the questions at hand - and all the connections to the psychic powers that are in "EVERYTHING" around us.  I'ts just a matter of tuning into this awareness.  Ultimately we are seeking to tap into the part of being, or the right brain, that we are not accustomed to using.

I would try to discuss all of this, I would ask for any help from their experiences and lessons to learn more about the spirit of life so I could understand how to truly tap into my Devine Self - Who is after all, part of the One Divine Spirit!

I am a living spirit in a human body and not a human body with a spirit. The human body is the vessle and the host is much forgotten about and has stopped being nurtured by daily use.

I've made a few changes to my post above, and am having fun thinking about this question,  so I would like to add more food for thought.  I would say; 

The art of divination is a process that uses our imagination.  When we use our imagination, or when we practice our psychic abilities we imagine the answer, the imagination is what manifests reality.  With applied effort, opening ourselves up to the energies around us everyday we are able to receive the messages more clearly offered through Divination and live a more spiritual life. 

...... still thinking and will try to add some more.........:) ok, changed a few words again, this an "evolving answer" lol,

I have had a chat with Amethyst and asked if I could provide a prize (along with the mystery prize) for this competition (just like old times).

I have a great herb starter kit with over 60 magicak herbs. It would be a great prize for anyone interested in Herbal Magick or making their own incense. Some of the herbs were collected by myself during the last Scorpio Full Moon. I have the complete list of them at home. I am presently at work, but will make an addition to this post with the full list of herbs later on today.

In Love and Light

David

Thank you David for supplying this amazing prize!!

The herbs in the herbal starter kit are 6gms packages of the follow:

Acorns, Agrimony, Echinacea, Myrrh, Angelica, Elder, Nettle, Arabic Resin, Fennel, Oak Bark, Basil, Feverfew, Oppoponax, Bay, Frankincense, Patchouli, Benzoin, Galangal, Quassia, Betony Wood, Ginger, Rose, Bladderwrack, Ginseng, Rosemary, Burdock, Hawthorn, Rue, Calamus, Hibiscus, Sage, Calendula, Horehound, Sandalwood, Catnip, Jasmine, Scullcap, Chamomile, Juniper, Australian Waratah, Spearmint, Cinnamon, Lady’s Mantle, St John’s Wort, Clove, Lavender, Star Anise, Comfrey, Lemongrass, Thyme Leaf, Copal Resin, Mandrake, Valerian, Cornsilk, Mistletoe, White Willow, Damiana, Mugwort, Wormwood, Dandelion, Mullein, Yarrow, Australian green lichen, Australian grevillia.

Although by the time the competition ends I may have added some more.

In Love and Light

David

Ok so we are assuming  that these  aliens have no concept of my spirituality!

Thats a tricky one !     I would begin by trying to establish a concept of the earth and apparently inanimate objects having an their own energy and connection to each other . I would try and explain this by comparing it to  heater. An object that appears to have no life of its own, projects heat (energy) and effects the environment around it with this heat. If you are aware of what  the heater does you can anticipate what will happen and why. ( the plastic object near the heater may melt or that the entire room will get hotter eventually) . OK  so the next step would be to explain how  these energies together, can manifest in many different ways! When using a divination tools of any kind you are tapping into that energy force and seeing what may happen or what has  happened that will effect later events or emotions.  This energy or  is also inside each of us. This is the direct link we connect with when we use divination.

Through meditation and truely listening we can understand how our own emotions and actions effect the energy and environment around us.  We can talk to the Divine through the messages sent using this energy. 

I may have over simplified the technique and concept here. But i think if youwere trying to explain divination to someone that had no idea to begin with this would be enough to begin with. I would then begin to explain the intricacies a little bit at a time !

Blessings

My instant thought when asked this question here, is of tapping into the divine source for the energy I need, the universal source. Energy is something that I've become interested in for a few years now after reading various books from science to The Celestine Prophecy, all relating to this idea of everything being made of energy including ourselves. That we share energy and can give back energy to mother earth. This is where the idea of focusing and talking to plants is based, in giving plants some of your energy, back to mother nature.

So even when I do personal reading for example, my thought is of the same energy source. For me personally I use runes, oghams and my faerie oracle cards, because the faeries speak to me the clearest and give me the most energy in return in helping give me clarity. A reading can take a lot of energy given it's nature so to rely only on my own energy would wear me out pretty quickly and I know no other abundant energy source and also loving source of energy than the divine.

As for explaining this to an alien, I guess I would try and explain the science at first, how everything is made of energy, but also that, that energy can be tapped into. That a method is used to prepare one self to harness that energy and then direct it, much like a device uses energy and directs itself toward a destination we too direct the energy toward a desired outcome and furthermore an understanding and connection.

As for using energy, I am always sure to give some back though, through other aspects of my life... "fairly take and fairly give"
 

Come visit me @ my new home!: seraphimianight.blogspot.com

First I want to say thank you to David for so generously offering this wonderful prize.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses and wanted to add an answer of my own.

Starting at the beginning, I believe that within every living thing there is a spark, an energy if you will, which inhabits our bodies and which survives its death and may be re-born into a new body later. This energy is our consciousness and holds within it all the experiences accumulated through our lives. Our consciousness, as well as that of everyone else is connected through the energy that exists within the Universe at any given time. You can call this the Source, or God(dess), Universal Light - to me they are all the same. This energy holds within it all knowledge of everything and every-time.

When I practice divination I use tools - for me this is tarot, for others it can be runes, ogham, whatever works for you - to connect with the part of my consciousness that is still connected to the Universe. Through the symbolism of the cards the Universe can help me see deep within the pattern of the tapestry that makes up our lives and help me see myself in the bigger picture. This allows me to obtain knowledge on a deeper level regarding where I am at in my life, where I am going. By seeing part of the path ahead of me I might be able to change my course (or stay on it), to one more beneficial.

As for the practical aspect of divination I would show the alien my cards and explain the symbolism I see within them. How the numbers and the suits represent different things, i.e. one's represent beginnings, and cups represent water. Water represents feelings and emotions. If there is also a ten of coups in the spread, this might symbolize the beginning of a happy relationship or home life, perhaps a marriage or children, etc.

Essentially divination is a way of taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture of the complex tapestry that makes up life. We are all part of a large tapestry, but being a single strand of thread it can be difficult to see what part of the pattern we make up. Divination helps us see the pattern.

First, I would start by telling the alien about the belief system in which I live; explain how everyone and everything is connected, and we are all one. I then would explain how I am, and everything else is considered energy. To make myself feel whole I connect with the energy in myself, and what is around me by sitting, breathing slowly, and feeling the energy from the earth and all that surrounds. Since, I already explained to the alien about the story of Lord and Lady; I'd tell him that I always include them and the divine and am sure to thank them by celebrating what they have given to us.

If I happen to not hear the messages of the lessons that I am to learn; ( maybe because I'm not centered, grounded, or have other outside interferences). I use other means of communication to hear the lessons. I then would show them runes. I would start by showing the alien each symbol on the rune, and explain what they mean, and how to interpretate them according to the situation I am in at the time. I then would show an example of how I would read them. As well as making sure to let them know that I like to meditate on the answer, and apply it to my life.

I of course would tell the alien what spirituality meant to me. How I feel that is a feeling, of oneness with the divine, and how I incorporate it into my everyday life. When I know that I am spiritually connected by feeling and beleiving in the energy around me I then can begin to live a life of peace. I would let him know that part of my spirituality involves respecting what is given to us. As long as I harm none; I can do what I want. Receiveing food from Lord and Lady is a gift, and I thank them by planting new harvests every year, and giving them offerings of such gifts to share with me. I celebrate on special days throught the year for their genorosity on a spiritual level.

Again I would make sure that the alien would know if I am lost that I can ask for guidence through my runes, and listen to the subtle answers, so that I can use them to live the best possible way. Without my spirituality, which is the "heartbeat" of life, I would be a lost soul. Through continued spirituality I can keep myself aligned with the energy, the Lord and Lady, other people, nature, and myself. Learning to listen and absorb the positivity of my gift is when I can begin to grow. In a nutshell the alien would know that spirituality is different for every person, and it is a feeling, a way of living, and applying the lessons of becoming one into my everyday life; and sometimes the anwers are unclear or I lose track of my purpose then there are other ways of communicating with the divine. Such as runes, tarot, and such.....

Well i'd first of all would say Wicca is my religion  Witchcraft is what I do and I'm a Witch cause I cast circles and a Pagan cause I trust our Mother Nature to protect vegetative life as well as animal life on our planet Earth.  How much I respect her for all her miracles of wondrous colors during different season changes through out the year. My religion is based on belief, magick, spells and nature. As a Pagan I'm very well tuned into what my surroundings are, meaning life forces and it's habitats, as well other thing involved here on Earth. First of all Outer Space is where the heavenly bodies. What I mean by this there are , other properties such a stars,  moon, sun and yes! Even the rainbow has a meaning to me. The moon, sun controls are tides how and when the sign shines on the back side of the moon separating the sunlight from one half of the sun. Darkness to the other side of the moon which separates  points of different places of our hemisphere. While the moonlight shines on one part of the world the sun shines as well on another part of the world all at the sometime.  I believe in more than one God! And many Goddesses! They help me with what ever I need at the moment to do my magick and protection from harmful spirits that may be leerking around, me at that time.Ii use tarot to help answer many questions concerning the past present and feature. How I do this I ground myself in to the roots of our planet to keep me safe from harmful forces. Meditate to see the beginning  results of what I hope to see through my cards  tell me what I must do or not.  It helps with advise for others or me. The cards are plainly marked with symbols that have meaning to me to help me know the out comes of my reading the cards. As well as the four elements and their element's.  Each color of a card helps me to identify and associate symbols and their meaning to a colors  associateion this with the out come. This can be quite draining of course! I even lose track of time when I'm in a light trance type momentum but I'm very much tuned into what is being asked of me, what i'm seeking for an answer perhaps to a problem for a favorable out come.! The end of the reading when it's over I ground my self to release some of the energy  this makes me tired and feel drained at times! When I do a readingIi call upon my Gods\ Goddesses to protect me.  I use herbs, candles. Herbs to attract the deities of my choice and the herbs cause it might be compelling or favorite scent of the Gods.   Colors of the candles all represent important things  in my reading \magick!  Blue candle is for calm and peace hoping this will attract only good spirits. Red well this color can either mean evil or love. Referring to what's going on and what i'm trying to do. like  sending harm to someone I'd use the red candle for this action. But I would never do any  to harm anyone , cause it goes against our law the Rede. Or I might use red just in case someone like my spouse thinks I no longer love him Ii'd use my magickal spell to hopefully let him know I do love him and he is the man of my dreams. White is for  Spirit or God one that is a for purity, honesty.  Most of all to protect me in the white light  that surrounds me.  I truly believe in all spirituality that the things we seek is truly deep with in our spirituality and our spirit.  When doing the Tarot or magick actually it is coming form deep inside my spiritual being meaning myself. I shall find answers to all my questions with faith, prayer I can make it possible for a favorable out come for me or someone else. So you see my friend, all you have to do is look inside yourself and that's not very far!  All well is well. I don't make promises just state the facts and how I see and read them. Blessed be Tempest Star

I would try & explain to my alien friend that Dvination is a means of communing with the Divine (or Source, or Universe, or One, or whatever you would call it) via specific tools or methodology (i.e. Tarot, Scrying, Channelling, Runes, I Ching, etc..)

It is a means of re-linking with our higher selves or spirit guides (as we lose memory of how much we truly are when we are on this side of the veil in a physical body in a realm where time/space/phyical laws hold sway), we are able to tap back into the Divine (as we are all one at the end of the day) & draw relevant knowledge from the collective consiousness & see along the lines of space & time which we cannot normally see via our physical eyes without practice or tools.

Short & Sweet as I am at work on a lunch break - but shows how I look at Divination.

Blessed Be My Brothers & Sisters..

Coven Council: New Student Guide

"Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will" - A. Crowley

I pondered this question and felt that i would answer my friend in this manner..Everything is a circle it is all connected.Every tree plant bird and stone has a life force and a spiritual point .In order to draw on these powers i believe one must be in harmony with the circle.no one thing in my beliefs can function without the help of another and no one person can pulll hi or her wisdom from these things unless they are in harmony with them..a good example of my tradition of this is duyuktv also known to the cherokee as the right way...before the green corn ceromony we go down to the river ..the whole village goes into the water with their faces painted white..here we face east and pray to the cardinal directions and ask that all negative thoughts are removed no bad feelings toward anything or anyone can be brought into our circle...only if u achieve this{it is based on a honor system and people do admit if they cant achieve this}can one enter the circle....after you have cpmpletely let go of all the petty nonsense that comes with everyday life you can look at a tree and know it has its power it has its purpose and you can feed of of that energy if need be.

I must say it is so wonderful to see photos of people since I was last a regular contributor.

You are indeed beautiful.

Have you had updates from the orangutan you adopted??

I am going over to visit the orangutan sanctuary next year with my partner. I'll make sure I forward any photos or video on to you.

Just wanted to say, and I feel a bit awkward saying this, but I truly honestly felt your presence during my convalesence
. There is a definite connect!ion!!.

Thank you! and congratulations on your position in the coven, richly deserved!!!!!

Always thinking good thoughts and beeming them towards you.

Love and Light

David

(A little bit naughty but mainly nice)

 I was just reading over everyone's answers, including my own, and a thought came to me. Rather then tell him a story, or explain the divinatory thing. I would just "SHOW" him/her/it?  What if the alien doesn't understand our language?

As individuals we have different levels of awareness; conscious, subconscious, and unconscious.  When I divine with tarot cards, I look at the images, and somehow my subconscious mind will pick up the elements of the images that I need to see, and relay those details to my conscious mind so I can work with them.  I don't pick up the same things in a given card each time it appears.  What my subconscious notices relates to the question of a given reading.  So far, none of this is very spiritual; it's merely that a buried part of my mind knows the answer. 

The rather miraculous part of tarot is that the cards that turn up, make sense; as not every card would fit every question!  This may be where our unconscious level fits in, which I believe is our link with the divine and the interpersonal, and where our "forgotten" life purpose and life lesson plans reside.  The term "unconscious" is meaningful only relative to our conscious minds.  We cannot reach the unconscious but with our subconscious as an intermediary, but the "unconscious" is perfectly aware of our soul purpose.  We are not aware of what cards we pull before we pull them, but I suggest that our divine awareness moves our hands on the unconscious level so that we turn up the appropriate cards; and thus we can work the answer back through our subconscious awareness to our conscious minds. 

So:  Conscious asks Subconscious the question; Subconscious asks Unconscious; Unconscious is our direct connection with divine awareness.  Divine awareness guides our hands; Subconscious understands the important details of the cards that Unconscious has chosen; then Subconscious tells Conscious so Conscious can make appropriate decisions based on the reading.

Coven Council: Online Junior Student Representative

Aw, sheepdip, DavidMichael!  You'll make my head all swole!

I'm glad you've found meaning in my post, but truthfully I only kinda put the ideas together while I was typing the answer, and was madly editing and compacting the post so it wouldn't be so blithering.  I don't know if I can expand. 

It's been a long time since I read anything of Freud, so I'm probably misremembering about the Unconscious.  It hasn't been as long since I read Jung, and what I think he said was that we have our everyday consciousness, our subconscious/dream awareness/trance state, and we have our unconscious.  What is in our unconscious, we are obviously unaware of, but it is there and shaping us.  Maybe the Psyche in psychology.  Or putting things another way using four components, in terms of personality, there is our public self, our private thoughts, the things about us that other people see but to which we are oblivious, and the things that neither we nor others are aware of.  This last being the unconscious, which is there and shaping us. 

I've joined the idea of the unconscious to the idea of the soul's goals for a given lifetime, which I first read about some years ago in Thomas More's Care of the Soul.  Between lives we parley with other, mentor souls (aka spirit guides), and choose what lessons we learn next, and what environments we should be born into to support those lessons; and when we are born onto the world's stage we forget all the behind-the-scenes planning.  (Our life is but a sleep and a forgetting....)  But the programme is still imprinted on us in our "hard drive" or unconscious, and by means of the subconscious as mediator we can try to keep ourselves on track with our purpose.  Thus, we experience wise dreams, trances, insights, and trenchant divinations, brought from the unconscious through the subconscious to the conscious mind, because our unconscious or soul level wants us to learn and succeed. 

If we are scrying something like embers, "chance" takes care of how those may tumble and what patterns our subconscious eye sees.  But to explain how the right cards, runes, etc. end up in our readings, I am having to fudge in the assumption that our "unconscious awareness" is somehow choosing them, or our hands are guided...by an external force...or on the unconscious level, are we all one, and there is no external force?

This is all just a hypothesis.  I feel that others responding in this thread are putting forth similar ideas.  All I've tried to do, is bundle together the loose ends of theories that I find appealing, into the neatest grouping that I could come up with at the time of writing.  The component ideas are not original.

Coven Council: Online Junior Student Representative

Maybe we can teach them about Charades, smiles. I'm not sure I spelled that correctly but I mean SHA-RAIDS; that's how I pronounce it just incase.

These last two posts of yours have been *such* a delight to read. I feel like you've articulated my thoughts for me and it allows me to visualize my ideas much better, like an image coming into focus.

As for explaining how we draw the right cards I imagine that on a very high level we are all light, energy and vibration, i supposed this would be on the level of the unconscious. So even though our conscious mind is not aware and sees only the back of the deck or runes in a bag or whatever, our unconscious knows exactly which cards are in front of us, and together with the subconscious this allows us to pick the "right" card at the right time.

I think one of the reasons we draw the cards "unknowingly", that is our conscious mind is unaware even though the unconscious knows what it is doing, is because if our conscious mind saw the cards/runes we might pick what we wanted to see as opposed to what we actually need. If we were truly connected to all our levels of consciousness we could pick the right cards while consciously aware of them, or better yet we would need only one card (or ideally none I guess...) because that card would take on the correct meaning for us regardless of the situation through our interpretation of it. Much like a crystal ball I guess, which is always the same but can show us the images we need to see.

You have given me a lot to think on with your posts JBW, thank you :-)

Blessings, Gwennie

Gwennie said: "These last two posts of yours have been *such* a delight to read. I feel like you've articulated my thoughts for me and it allows me to visualize my ideas much better, like an image coming into focus."

My sentiments exactly. JBW has really helped me make sense of a number of things in various posts.

She really hit the nail on the head with this one.

In Love and LIght

David

I'll have to chew this over some as I go about my morning chores, but surely thoughts will cause a physical reflex, and a physical reflex will cause a change in voice.  You know the difference in tone of voice when someone is saying the correct polite words, in a tight voice, and you know they'd rather tell you to go away and leave them alone!  Or if you're nervous but trying to sound calm, your voice is higher than normal and that vocal tremor just won't disappear.  Or if you're angry and every polite word conceals a dagger within it.  Words have power, all right, and not just what the words are, but the intention behind them, which can be heard by others as well.  (Don't look at me in that tone of voice! LOL)

I'll think some more on this and come back later.

Coven Council: Online Junior Student Representative

To me, and maybe it's an angle of mis-interpretation here, but the beginning concepts feel somewhat inter-related to Astronomy (perhaps Astrology? I know little on it, truth be told)? Or at least, open to incorporation within it. The positioning of stars, planets, etc, are surely to affect these vibrations, as may their positions be related to vibrations, thus resulting in the alignments that reportedly hold sway over interaction of the world and those within it. For a very simple point, the tides relating to the position of the moon (Of course, again, I haven't bothered to look much into that. Perhaps this is more gravitational or something further, though in a way that in itself would affect vibration), or people holding more sombre moods and apparently (albeit perhaps just a rumour I heard and took in many years back) having a higher rate of depression and suicide in full moons. Etc etc etc.

I don't have too much to add on the concept of spoken word on this matter, but from a mood perspective, your mood will also affect the way your actions and manner of movement. For example, in moods of high stress at work I move faster, sometimes over-moving if sliding around (sounds odd, but I don't know how better to summarise it ;p). That in itself will doubtlessly give off a different aspect of vibration and energy, furthering the ripple effect of it. This is a concept I believe furthers your ideas of thought resulting in vibration.

I would love to hear a take on these concepts as brought up by Gwennie, from a psychological perspective. Vibration on the mind and body, from outside sources, the way it then transforms to internal outward-bound vibration and sensations/moods/energies/etc!

I've read all the posts and have come to the conclusion that I really have a lot to learn!

To explain how I use my tarot to someone who has no idea depends on their level of understanding. I often find children usually have a greater understanding than most adult.

This is how I explained it to my daughter when she was 8 (oh my, that was 10 years ago!).

The cards in the Tarot are like the words and pictures in a story book. To read this special story, you need to be calm and settled so you breathe and relax. Sometimes you relax so much that you see normal things differently or you feel like someone is standing behind you.

Then you shuffle the cards so that the characters in the story are all in right places and then you lay out the cards for the beginning, the middle and the end.

The stories help people make important decisions, like a map helps us when we get lost. Once we find out where we are, then we can work out where we have to go.

Light and love GM

Im a shocker at explaning things... but here we go

Hello my dear friends, im about to tell you a magical story that involves the you. Think back to your happiness moment in your life, think about who was with you, where you were, your surroundings, .....now feel the love that was there that day, the joyness that was around you like a blanket or a caccoon that surround you and hugges every inch fo you, That to me is the feeling or spirituality and my love for the wiccan religion. That is what makes me want to learn and follow the rede That is what makes me proud to call myself wiccan.It is not something you can hold or touch, its a feeling deep inside you that words have trouble to describe! it is fair beyound you or me to fully understand and yet we dont need too :)

However we may not understand it 100% but there are things that we like to do to TRY and understand our path in life or the things that are happening to us and why. These things are called divination. Many people use different types of divinations from pretty cards with images on them that take your imagation to a whole different world, to different types of cyrstals that have been made by the earth and communicate with different energies and they look mesmerising!

Also people like to sit quietly and think about things and talk to themseleves as well as the spirits around them. This may sound strange and  like a crazzy idea, but its to do with the happiness feeling that i was talking about at the start. Some people get answers that they where looking for or not. It comes in waves or a sudden EUREKA! moment! ... I'll explain.Once again think back to a time where you were struggling and did not know what to do next, didnt understand something, felt lost,sad, confused and even frustrated, you where about to throw in the towel, then out of know where a slap across the back of the head of an idea flooding in! and you've fixed your problem! uve overcome it! uve done it! the joy the happiness all at once! you can hardly contain yourself and cant fix the problem quick enough!....the EUREKA moment! this is the feeling i get when i get my "answer" (even if i dont like it sometimes!)

these insights come from many different places, sometimes yourself, you inner self, your past, knowledge and growth , sometimes even from ansestors before you that give you a message, sometimes even the gods or goddess them selfs!..the point is not to ask WHERE they came from but use the answers to help yourself! and the others around you.

You see my friend, there are things that are still a mystery around us and we dont excatly need to find out what they are 100% becuase we have faith which cant be seen or proven, its just there within us all!