Creating Your Own Divination System

darkkittie099

I have grown fond of the idea of creating my own divination system. I have looked into things like charm casting, gemstone divination, collection divination/bone casting etc. and I really would like to create my own system combining many of these items. The thing is that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the process. I want to be able to have a piece for every possible life situation one could ask for/represented, emotions one experiences due to these situations but I feel lost as to how to go about this. I am afraid of the system I create not being detailed enough or leaving something off. I have some small books on bone casting but what I am really looking for is things like lists of emotions, lists of life situations etc. vs. “this piece means this”. I hope I am making sense since it is a bit complicated for what exactly I am trying to ask for. Although the books are great, there are shortcomings and sometimes books might not have what exactly you are looking for. Tarot, Lenormand, Sibilla cards etc. are so good at having cards to represent so many things that a person can go through. I want that same thoroughness in whatever it is that I create but at the same time I don’t want it to be like a card system ( I REALLY hope I am making sense lol).

For those who created their own divination systems (runes, oracle cards, etc.) how did you go about it? What sources did you use to help you make your cards or pieces etc.? Any lists of things to include? Any tips for someone thinking of doing something like this? Thank you so much! :)

Love and light

-Darkkittie
 

AJ

you've been here a long time, do you remember the ones members were putting together using small found objects? Each persons was radically different from the next because they were so personal

BodhiSeed made one from buttons with shaped features like stars or anchors, she uses it brilliantly.

I think the key is deciding what material you want to use, then start putting it together.
Like being overwhelmed by a box of crayons, at some point you have to choose one.
In fact that might be a fun oracle, all based on the symbology of color..

Tarot is the only medium I know that addresses everything under the sun.
 

Amsonia

Since you are a human being, you will/have experienced everything, or a close friend will.

If I was doing this, I might start collecting things from around me when I was doing something, feeling something, deciding something. That way, you'll be pretty likely to remember it, plus, you could take a picture of the Item and put it in a journal with the meaning/experience you had. It would really concretely associate your own meaning/feeling/decision/experience, plus you'll have a journal.

Here is an example...you area waiting for a bus in the middle of a busy noisy city, all of a sudden you find yourself in the 'moment' hearing the wind in the street tree, noticing a small wildflower blooming in the crack in the sidewalk, seeing a small boy run to his mother for comfort, etc. You think..this is one of those moments where you find clarity within the crazyness, find peace within yourself by being in the moment and seeing the beauty around you and not the 'mess'. Look around, do you see an acorn or a stone on the ground? Maybe a bottle cap. Pick it up...now this is the divination peice that means clarity, or zen, or whatever you want o call it.

Another, your best friend calls and tells you she found a lump, she's scared. you look around and see a your pink heart shaped rose quartz piece. You pick it up. Later, your friend calls and tells you it was just a cyst, no problem, yay! Now the rose quartz represents fear and worry over something that doesn't need to be worried about, it will be OK in the end.

One more...you are working hard on a project at work. Someone takes the credit for your work. At the moment you find out, by email, you look around on your desk. You pick up a paper clip. Now this item means "watch your back, someone is working to take credit for you work, or slight you in some way"

Hmmm, actually, maybe I'll try this myself...one interesting thing, as you are doing this, it takes the focus off your actual issue, experience, etc. And brings you outside of it to try to categorize it, which in some instances, may be a good thing, helps you to reduce the drama maybe and focus on the interesting interplay of experiences in your life.

How you would "cast" such a disparate group of objects though I don't really know. It would help if you tried to pick things that were relatively the same size.
 

Onaorkal

you've been here a long time, do you remember the ones members were putting together using small found objects? Each persons was radically different from the next because they were so personal

Bodhitree made one from buttons with shaped features like stars or anchors, she uses it brilliantly.

I think the key is deciding what material you want to use, then start putting it together.
Like being overwhelmed by a box of crayons, at some point you have to choose one.
In fact that might be a fun oracle, all based on the symbology of color..

Tarot is the only medium I know that addresses everything under the sun.

I'm quite new to the forum, but I remember reading a thread about that several months ago!
I thought it was a really nice idea so I slowly started putting a 'divinatiom set' together. But since the way I do it is I add objects to it when I find little 'treasures' outdoors, it takes a really long time! I only have 2 objects as of yet! (Well I guess it's harder during winter months, it's probably going to get easier now.)

The thing is, I haven't decided what meanings my little objects would hold. I think I'll leave it as a more intuitive kind of tool. Hopefully I'll remember where and how I found all my objects and that could serve as hints as well.
 

AJ

Welcome Onaorkal!

If it were easy everyone would be doing it...or worse selling 'just for you' oracles :)

Seems to me if it meant enough to pick up, it wouldn't need a memory nudge.
It would tell you what you need to think about regardless of what it meant the day you selected it.

Do you have a junk drawer? If things were important enough to go in the ever accessible junk drawer, some of it might feel right. How about the bottom of your purse of backpack?
Jewelry box? Game boxes, if you don't play games anymore there might be some great items, you bought them, you can use pieces of them any way you like. Monopoly thimble comes to mind. A raffle ticket would shout Take A Chance :)
 

Onaorkal

Welcome Onaorkal!

If it were easy everyone would be doing it...or worse selling 'just for you' oracles :)

Seems to me if it meant enough to pick up, it wouldn't need a memory nudge.
It would tell you what you need to think about regardless of what it meant the day you selected it.

Do you have a junk drawer? If things were important enough to go in the ever accessible junk drawer, some of it might feel right. How about the bottom of your purse of backpack?
Jewelry box? Game boxes, if you don't play games anymore there might be some great items, you bought them, you can use pieces of them any way you like. Monopoly thimble comes to mind. A raffle ticket would shout Take A Chance :)

Oh thank you haha, but I'm not THAT new (I can see that I'm getting closer and closer to the 1 year mark!) ;)

Picking up objects from my own 'useless' and kinda 'forgotten' stuff is not a bad idea! I shall have a look at all those drawers and closets! :) Thanks for the tip AJ :D
 

ana luisa

Hi Darkkittie :) Excellent suggestions already ! If I can I would like to add some points I had to consider when creating an oracle. They may be useful to you too . First, use the medium that you feel comfortable with. I, for instance do not feel attached to stones so working with a stone oracle would not bring me much feedback. Second, start small and then expand. It's no use getting yourself a gazillion trinkets and getting lost in the quantity. As you read with them, you'll feel the need to increment it slowly. Third, and this is something I didn't expect to matter as much - assign the role of a significator to a piece. Spacially, you may need to identify what's nearest and most important to the person so that helps a lot. Now, you mention feelings and going a bit deeper. Well, when you do not have images of "scenes" as you do with Tarot, things do get a bit "cleaner". The embellishment will usually come from extra pieces and, most importantly, your intuition. Finally, keep a journal and take notes as you go along. Sometimes a piece will show you something different that you hadn't thought of. Most important of all, enjoy the whole process and do not rush it ;)

A thread by Zannamarie on how to read animal crackers http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=69472

An old thread of mine using songs as oracles http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=95233&highlight=Tuneomancy
 

Mr. Woolery

I have done this. I carry a small bag in my pocket almost all the time with a pendulum and several different colored beads and a special stone. Instead of advice, I will tell you how and why I developed this little system.

First, I wanted something that would be a fun way to get some insights into a client's personality. I also wanted to introduce basic pendulum concepts. Third, I wanted to avoid the in-depth questions better answered by other tools. So, my parameters are defined by what I want to divine.

Second, I had to find a fairly basic framework for interpretation. I chose colors to represent the elements. Hence, the beads. I could use crayons, paint sample cards, or aquarium stones. I am a glass worker and I like the beads as my elemental color indicators.

Third, I needed a selection process. I teach basic pendulum use to the client and then go through the process of having colors selected for particular aspects of life.

Fourth, I needed a spread or layout or what-have-you for order of interpretation. This is primarily for my convenience, as I don't want to get lost in the middle of a reading when I am tired and have to figure out "what did I say this means this time?" You know how it is when you are creating tarot spreads on the fly? I wanted to avoid the potential issues so this becomes a fairly quick way to get into personality readings.

By the time I defined what I wanted the system to do and what the tools would be, I was almost done with the whole thing. It was a matter of doing a few readings to refine the methodology. That's it.

So, questions:

1- what do you want your new system to do that existing systems do not do for you?

2- what tools are you most comfortable with (in general, like cards, curios, etc.)?

3- what tools are you least comfortable with?

4- do you want a system that is heavily ordered (like tarot spreads that have particular meanings in particular positions) or very intuitive (like how does this little object make me feel at this moment, neglecting any prior associations)?

5- how portable do you want it to be?

6- is this just for your own use or will you use it to read for others?

I think by the time you have a solid answer to each of these questions you will have eliminated a lot of dead-end approaches, which at least gets you closer to the solution you seek.

My experience was that with question answering, it is works best for me to use tarot, playing cards, and runes. They answer different things different ways. For personality insights, I really like my little elemental system and palmistry. I tried to work out a personal oracle card system with different archetypal situations and influences on different cards, but never came up with an idea that was more versatile or useful than what already exists. Obviously, from the range of oracle decks out there, others have more success than I did with this approach.

-Patrick