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divination | |
July 17th, 2020 | |
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A few days ago I coded a shell-script version of the I Ching (Book | |
of Changes), and made it accessible on Gemini [0]. In the process | |
I added a note on the Gemini site quickly addressing some concerns | |
over the use of digital tools for divination. It all felt rushed | |
and incomplete and I think I have more to say on the subject, | |
perhaps a lot more. Gemini isn't the place for that, though. This | |
is definitely a gopher topic. | |
[0] I Ching Shell Script | |
I practice a number of forms of divination including consulting | |
the I Ching, tarot cards, tasseography, cleromancy (whether with | |
dice, dominos, or runes), and so on. There's a number of forms | |
I don't practice for various reasons: horoscopy, gematria, | |
extispicy (ew), ouija, augury, and oh so many more. Someone has | |
figured out a way to use just about anything for divination. | |
Before we get too far into this, let me drop some dictionary magic | |
on you. Here's the definition from two online dictionaries: | |
Divination: | |
1. the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the | |
unknown by supernatural means | |
2. the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future | |
events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the | |
interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers | |
Seeking knowledge, usually hidden knowledge, by the aid of the | |
supernatural. Cool. Got it? | |
So there are a billion forms of divination out there, but why? Do | |
they all work? Do any of them work? How do they purport to work? | |
Lets focus on the last bit first. How does divination work? This | |
is the interesting bit for me at least. | |
In cleromancy the mechanism of action is some sort of randomness. | |
Cleromancy is about "tossing stuff" like dice and seeing what | |
comes up. Some practitioners suggest that the randomness allows | |
the supernatural to take direct action and influence the results | |
of the toss. Other practitioners would say that the toss and its | |
randomness is just that and not influenced by the supernatural, | |
but the querent (person seeking information) must use their | |
intuition to understand the results of the toss. That type of | |
practitioner moves the supernatural action internal to the | |
unconscious mind and changes its domain of action to the | |
interpretation alone. But there are still other types! Some see | |
the unconscious mind as affecting the toss itself in a sort of | |
blend of the first two. Others shy away from intuition and suggest | |
self-reflection and psychology allow the interpretation of any | |
symbol to be helpful as a means of thinking in a new way about the | |
issue. | |
Yeesh, that's a lot, and that's just cleromancy! But what about | |
chartomancy (books & cards)? Is the mechanism of action different? | |
On the one hand, there are far more established symbols present | |
in, say, a tarot card than in a rune. Consulting the I Ching or | |
the Bible likewise greatly increases the available symbols and | |
interpretations. The act itself is still governed by some sort of | |
randomness, or chaotic action as I like to call it. Shuffling | |
cards, separating yarrow stalks, even flipping pages promotes some | |
sort of uncertainty and allows for the possibility of and unknown. | |
Does this unknown mean that a supernatural power is guiding the | |
result? That's a matter of faith and, ultimately, irrelevant. What | |
about the interpretation? Is that guided by a supernatural power? | |
Again, a question of faith that has no ultimate bearing on the | |
value of divination. What‽ | |
Yeah, you read me correctly. I'm saying that it doesn't matter if | |
there's no supernatural involved at all or if there is. The aim of | |
divination is to seek to foresee the future or discover hidden | |
knowledge and divination can succeed in both cases regardless of | |
the origin of its power. | |
Lets side with the pragmatic doubter practitioner for a moment and | |
assume that there's no magic at work here at all. We're going to | |
go through some exercise that will result in symbols ready for | |
interpretation. The process we have just taken was designed to | |
orient our mind to the problem, focus upon it seriously, perhaps | |
spending a significant amount of time in so doing. We are now | |
asked to review and interpret these forms which have a variety of | |
possible meanings requiring we try to apply them systematically | |
and in various combinations to the problem or subject. That | |
thought process involves mental judo and an openness to new ideas. | |
It will inevitably bring insight and... wait for it... hidden | |
knowledge. It will also undoubtedly influence future actions and | |
have a major impact on the events to come. BAM! Divined. | |
Now, allow yourself to take the seat as an individual who has | |
faith in the machinations of the supernatural. Given even a hint | |
of influence from that "other", the results gain significance and | |
their origins may carry more weight, but the interpretation and | |
internalization of that information is unchanged. It really | |
doesn't matter. | |
I really enjoy the processes, especially the lengthy ones with | |
much ritual like the yarrow stalk I Ching method, or the ones that | |
are inherently delicious like tasseography (reading tea leaves). | |
If I have any advice to give on the subject it is to enter into | |
divination with healthy skepticism, not to undermine the results | |
but to fully engage with them. Don't take any reading at face | |
value or you've done yourself a disservice. |