Runes, I-Ching, and Tarot
Runes, I-Ching, and Tarot are tools used in the attempt to divine meaning from the past and present, and to predict the future. Whether divination to predict the future works or not, these tools can be used to help you better understand yourself, and to make better decisions about what you are doing now and how you can move toward a more fulfilling and successful future.
For all of these divination tools, most professional readers agree that they do not directly forecast the future. Instead, they hint at the things you need to pay attention to, particularly things you're not paying adequate attention to right now. By looking at your life in a new way, you give yourself fresh options, or open up previously obscure ones.
Runes
Runes are based on an ancient Germanic alphabet that was used for writing, but also for magic and divination. Runes as they are used today in divination consist of each letter of the Runic alphabet carved into a stone. The querent reaches into a bag containing the 24 stones and gives one random stone at a time to the reader, who arranges them in a pattern to read the answer to the querent's question. Alternately, the reader may reach into the bag, grab random stones, and "cast" or toss them down randomly in front of himself.
From this, the caster can read the position of the stones, the patterns in which they fall, and the letters on the stones to determine an answer for the querent.
I-Ching
I-Ching is based on a book of Chinese philosophy that may be one of the oldest written texts in the world. The name translates very roughly to "Book of Changes," but the word is complex and can also refer to easy, simple, regular, or persistent.
The book is structured in an 8x8 matrix of sixty-four hexagrams. These sixty-four items represent the state and dynamic relationship of the eight elements recognized by the Chinese, each represented by a series of three straight and broken or unbroken lines (a "trigram"). An example of an I-Ching trigram is on the flag of South Korea, where the four sets of lines surrounding the central t'ai chi symbol in the center represent the four primary elements.
Divination is accomplished by random selection of numbers that correspond with the hexagrams, taken together giving the reader a specific line in the I-Ching to meditate on to gain guidance.
Tarot
Tarot is reputed to come from Gypsy fortunetellers, who claim to have gained their knowledge from ancient Egypt. Regardless of its origin, it came to light in Renaissance Italy, where it became a craze both as a fortunetelling tool and as a game. Our modern deck of cards is a modified version of the original Tarot.
Today's Tarot is composed of a 22-card Major Arcana deck and a 56-card Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana is analogous to regular playing cards with an additional court card – the Knight – for each suit. The Major Arcana, on the other hand, are unique and intended to reflect major influences on the querent.
In a reading, Tarot cards are shuffled and laid out in one of several patterns. The reader determines the meaning of each individual card, and then looks at their meanings taken in relation to one another and their position in the layout.
Using Divination as Guidance
Divination is not a good thing to use by itself, but it is an excellent way to get yourself to look at aspects of your life that it's easier to ignore. Divination is not fortunetelling. It is guidance.
If you choose to use divination to help guide your life, you should be aware of the different options available to you. You don't have to stick with one, but whichever divinatory tool you use should be comfortable and make sense to you. Generally, this means selecting one that corresponds to the culture in which you grew up, but this is not necessarily true.
Once you have had a reading done, you should meditate about it before making any decisions. That is the true value of a divinatory reading. It makes you think in a different way. And by thinking differently, you can see alternatives that you could not see before.
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