When we choose a thing from a set of things as part of ritual or fortune telling, such as pulling a rune or tarot card, we are practicing three different skills. The one everyone knows about consciously is that we are practicing the application of knowledge we learned about that system. For example, if we work with the Elder Futhark we might associate Ehwo with a horse. There are two other skills that reading runes teaches us. One applies to all rune readings, like knowledge-based interpretations do, and the other only applies to picking from a set.
The second skill is psychometry. When we either cast runes or pull a rune we get psychic impressions off of the runes by touching them. This skill may generalize to other systems. For example, a practiced rune reader may get impressions off of tarot cards too, even without knowing anything about the tarot system. A practiced rune reader may even get impressions from objects that are not fortune telling lots, or from places. For example, decades ago when I visited England I got psychic impressions from the henge at Avebury and from an old church, which I wrote about in some of my earliest posts on this blog. My trained ability to get impressions from my rune stones generalized to getting impressions from a standing stone circle and other buildings.
Seeing order in randomly generated patterns is the essence of fortune telling and interpretation of omens. Hundreds of years ago, people might expect to go outside and see many different species of birds routinely as part of their everyday experience. Thus, reading the first type of bird one sees after asking a question was something people could reasonably expect to do as part of their normal lives, because seeing random birds was part of people's normal lives. My everyday experience includes the internet. I see random stuff on my Facebook feed and on the day's Google Doodle as I'm sipping my morning coffee.
Random stuff is exactly what's traditionally used for fortune telling and omens. Rune casting interprets the way lots fall on a cloth. The rune Perthro, the rune of destiny or wyrd, is shaped like a dice cup, which refers to rolling dice to read a fortune. The heathen art of reading bird omens derives a positive or negative answer from whether one sees a white bird or a black bird first. (Black is the good color, because Odin's ravens are black.) In other traditions, tea leaves make patterns in a cup, and a deck of cards has a traditional significance for each card in Tarot and in cartomancy.
Bonnie Blackwell (Fort Bragg, CA) I channel art and poetry. I live two lives: one, at my home by the sea in northern Calif, and the other, in Zurich, Switzerland.Anyone interested in my work can contact me at artbblackwell@gmail.com Autumn Skye Morrison (Powell River, BC) In creating art I find my stillness and rhythm, my teacher and passion. Each painting offers a reflection of the light and shadow of our humanity, our sublime geometry, and our timeless divinity. May we celebrate this fantastic adventure, inspire, and be inspired. autumnskyemorrison.com
In today's Fiery Tuesday, we have a set of stories that touch on minority religious beliefs in North America: a Muslim prisoner's beard sparks a Supreme Court case; Canada to ban polygamy?; when is fortune-telling fraud?; welcoming Pele's lava; a Sikh sues to join US military -- with his beard intact.
Why should Pagans give a care about the Holt vs. Hayes Supreme Court case? This post lays out the important religious rights issues in the case.
Iris Soleil De Lis
You missed April Fools Day by quite a margin here. At least I assume this is a joke, because the title is exactly opposite the content that follows. T...
Steven Posch
Poppy Seed or Walnut Filling
Beat 3 egg whites until stiff. (Use yolks in dough.) Mix whole egg with 1/2 cup honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 pound gr...
Anthony Gresham
I looked up potica on Google. There are a fair number of recipes out there but I don't see any with poppy seeds and apricots. Could you get your fri...
Anthony Gresham
Russian oligarchs who displeased Putin accidentally fell out the windows of tall buildings. Chinese oligarchs who displeased chairman XI accidentally...
Anthony Gresham
I used to make rum balls the last Sunday in October. I left them in the cookie tin until Thanksgiving. I would only eat two of them a day from that p...
