What Makes One Form of Divination Better than Another?

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

Or donate directly via Paypal

This message board is The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum's SMF Archive Board. It is closed to new memberships and to posting, but there are over 250,000 messages here that you can still search and read -- many full of interesting and useful information. (This board was open from February 2007 through June 2011).

Our new vBulletin discussion board is located at http://www.ecauldron.com/forum/ -- if you would like to participate in discussions like those you see here, please visit our new vBulletin message board, register an account and join in our discussions. We hope you will find the information in this message archive useful and will consider joining us on our new board.

[V]

Popular movies probably haven't done the oujia board any favours either (Witchboard anyone?).

 

I love that movie!  No doubt, Malefador is one gnarly spirit!

I've also heard skeptics argue against both the board and pendulums since they could be dependent on the movement of the user.

I have another take on ouija and pendulums.  This is totally UPG for sure, but they seem very "earth-driven" whenever I use them.  Don't get me wrong; I use my pendulum frequently, but I've learned to read what it says very carefully. 

It's almost like the spirits that come through the pendulum are more like elemental or one-way intelligence.  (I haven't used a ouija much since I've been an adult, but it seems that it may draw the same type of energy as the pendulum does.)  Tarot feels more well-rounded to me; maybe it's just because more intuition is required (for me, at least).

When I read for others, I use a combination of tarot and palmistry (sometimes even astrology).  But, when I read for myself, I use the tarot and then check my understanding of the reading with my pendulum.  However, I rarely use the pendulum when reading for others; I seem to get a lot more from the cards when I'm reading for someone else.

[KatAutumn]

What makes one form of divination better than another?

I have to agree with others who have said there is not any particular method of divination that is inherently better than the other ones. It really depends on the person as to which vehicle(s) of divination they feel speaks to them the most accurately. I use the pendulum, Tarot, Oracles, Ogham sticks and the Runes. For me, the pendulum is the one vehicle that I am most comfortable with; however, I get more in-depth answers by using the Tarot. One method that never spoke to me was scrying. I tried just about every method of scrying known to mankind and it just never "clicked".

I have a theory that perhaps the reason the Ouija board gets such a bad rap is because it has long-since been a teenage slumber party game rather than a reputable method of divination. Unfortunately, one too many stories about the boards screaming when thrown into a fire or how the Ouija board confirmed that so-and-so was taking Jane Doe to the school dance did much to discredit the reliability of that particular method; however, it all comes back to whatever the user feels most attuned to.

[ErickaJo]

What makes one form of divination better than another? F'ex, I've seen/heard a lot of disparaging of ouiji boards over the past few years, but tarot decks, runes and pendulums seem to be viewed as not only legitimate, but also superior forms of divination. I'm curious, why is that? Is it because there's more history to them? Or are they just popular? Maybe it's because they're more portable? (It is pretty hard to hide an ouiji board!)

"Better" is an opinion.  The tarot is better for me, because I understand it.  I think Fords are better than Chevys because that's what I drive.  I know where the cruise control is.  I like knitting better than crochet because I'm clumsy at crochet.   

You can have the nicest deck in the world and not know how to use it, or what to read from it.  You can throw a pile of rocks on the ground and read what it wants you to read.  Which one would be "better" for you?

[Purplewitch]

I know where the cruise control is.  I like knitting better than crochet because I'm clumsy at crochet.   

Totally OT but I am SO the other way around!! I cannot knit to save my life.... crochet, I do.

[JoWV]

Of course, I once read an article by a woman in Circle Magazine who experienced much the same thing with a pendulum (and a page with the alphabet on it) - she came into contact with an entity who tried to make her believe that she was here to save the world and that she would have to meet him somewhere in Egypt to begin their great mission. (Fortunately, she eventually realized that he was full of crap.) And of course, I've experienced something similar without any kind of divination, just inner work. So I guess that means you just have to be careful no matter what you do.

Good to know that there as many creeps and weirdos in the spirit world as there are on the internet!!

[Fagan_the_Pagan]

What makes one form of divination better than another? F'ex, I've seen/heard a lot of disparaging of ouiji boards over the past few years, but tarot decks, runes and pendulums seem to be viewed as not only legitimate, but also superior forms of divination. I'm curious, why is that? Is it because there's more history to them? Or are they just popular? Maybe it's because they're more portable? (It is pretty hard to hide an ouiji board!)

Specifically about the Ouiji boards, I think that, as others have mentioned, its reputation as a game is what seems to discredit it.  I mean, I've only ever used a Ouiji board once, and that was when I was, like, 6 or something.  It was with my cousin on one of those Parker Bros. ones. I was trying to contact the spirit of Blackbeard.  I came to think of it as sort of a game after a while.

I use runes more than anything else, though I haven't done all that much with any of them. 

[RootRealm]

What makes one form of divination better than another? F'ex, I've seen/heard a lot of disparaging of ouiji boards over the past few years, but tarot decks, runes and pendulums seem to be viewed as not only legitimate, but also superior forms of divination. I'm curious, why is that? Is it because there's more history to them? Or are they just popular? Maybe it's because they're more portable? (It is pretty hard to hide an ouiji board!)

In my view there is no superior form of divination.  Divination has been practiced in so many forms over time: people have divined with eggs, sand, snails, straws, rose leaves, livers of a sacrificed animal, arrows, smoke, wind and basically anything that works.  (See Scott Cunninghams' book, Divination for Beginners).  Also in my view, one of the most important things for any person who uses magic or divination to develop, is their capacity for intuition.  When we develop our intuition to a point where we can readily and easily follow it, then, together with being familiar with a few kinds of divination, we will naturally be able to find the "right" type of divination for our purposes, as well as knowing, intuitively, how to "read" different results that we get.  Some methods work better for certain types of people with certain capacities, for instance I think Tarot works very well for visual types.  Divination based on the squeakings of mice (it was practiced! Read Cunninghams' book!)  would probably be better for someone auditorally oriented.  I think one problem with the Ouiji board, as someone else pointed out, is that it is not merely a divinatory device, but has been used to contact spirits.  Therefore when you use it, you may inadvertently be drawing in unknown spirits. 

[Tags:]

Jump to: Please select a destination: ----------------------------- About The Cauldron ----------------------------- => Rules and Regulations => Cauldron Announcements ===> Volunteers Needed: Site Assistants and Projects => Introductions => Board Questions, Suggestions, and Feedback => Chat and CauldronMUX Support => Test Board ----------------------------- Religion and Philosophy ----------------------------- => Paganism For Beginners => Books and Other Resources => Pagan Religions => Pagan Spirituality => Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology => Worship and Ritual => Holidays and Festivals => History and Religion => Faith in Everyday Life => Philosophy and Metaphysics => Non-Pagan Religions and Interfaith Discussions => Miscellaneous Religious Discussions ----------------------------- Magic and the Occult ----------------------------- => Magic and the Occult for Beginners => Witchcraft, Hoodoo, and Folk Magic => The Western Magical Tradition => Chaos Magic => Lodges and Other Magic Organizations => Miscellaneous Magical Discussions ----------------------------- Special Interest Groups & Special Discussions ----------------------------- => Special Topic Discussions => Chavi Memorial Chronic Illness SIG => General SIGS ===> College Pagans SIG ===> Cooking SIG ===> Divination SIG ===> Home and Garden SIG ===> Pagan Parents SIG ===> Teen Pagans SIG => Religious SIGS ===> Asatru and Heathenry SIG ===> Cauldron Cill ===> FlameKeeping SIG ===> Hazel and Oak: A Celtic Polytheism SIG ===> Neo-Druidry SIG ===> Reformed Kemeticism SIG ===> Ta Hiera Hellenic Polytheism SIG => Book/Media Discussion Boards ===> Academic Book Discussions ===> Pagan Religion Book Discussions ===> Magick Book Discussions ===> Fiction Book Discussions ===> DVD/Video Discussions ----------------------------- Life, the Universe, and Everything Else ----------------------------- => Pagan Announcements => Prayer and Energy Requests => News and Politics ===> Religious News ===> Non-Religious News ===> Political Discussions => Social Discussion Boards ===> Art, Poetry and Writing ===> Books ===> Computers and the Internet ===> Crafts and Hobbies ===> Family Life ===> Gaming ===> Health and Medicine ===> Humor and Quizzes ===> Music, Television, and Film ===> Pets ===> Science and Technology ===> Sports and Recreation