Esoteric: Divining Energies
By "divining energies" I mean the energies that we use, call on, focus on (and with :o) when we look for answers to questions that we have to ask. In my mind, all divining energies are the same. It is the focus we use to access them that changes.
I do think that we know way more than we are aware of. I do think that there is way more to "our world" than we believe. And, for me, divining techniques are a way to access some of this. Whether the workings of this are described as "mystic" or are explained as "a way to access information we already possess" doesn't matter much to me. It interests me but it doesn't change much. We all have divining energies. And some of us are more practiced, more able than others. I believe that with these energies, as with all forms of energy, trusting that they exist doesn't change whether they're there or not but it definitely affects what we do with them.
•
The techniques I (will :o) describe to access these divining
energies are:
- Automatic Writing
- Dowsing
- I-Ching
- Runes
- Scrying/Gazing
- Tarot
Of these techniques, dowsing seems to be the one people have the quickest success with. Skeptics might say that this, like perhaps Ouija boards, works because we control the swing of the pendulum. Maybe. And the problem with that would be...? If we are bothering to ask a question, I assume that we are looking for an answer, wherever it comes from. In my experience, the answer is always worthy of the question (if I could put flashing neon lights around that I would) and, in my view, it is always what we do next with this that is the important part.
•
Certainly the divining practises mentioned here are not the only ones "out there". Beyond "those with names" there are lots of un-named ones that most of us practice at one point or another. For instance, I have a tough time imagining anyone who hasn't used some form of "If the next car I see on the road is red the answer is 'yes'." And I'm pretty sure that many a daisy has been sacrificed to "S/he loves me. S/he loves me not." These too are, to me, forms of "divination". And they actually serve as good examples of how I view "divination" and the why of it in general.
With respect to the "red car equals 'yes'"... I know that I have thought, on 'first seeing' a blue Ford, "Well... what I really meant was 'If the first Toyota I see is red then the answer is 'yes'." And, for the daisy... when I haven't liked the daisy's answer, I know that I have, at times, tried again (making up some reason or excuse for so doing) and I have also said "What does this daisy know anyway? It's just a daisy." (probably as often as I have hugged a broken apart daisy in sheer joy :o) And... how many of us, after flipping a coin, have uttered "Okay... best two out of three..."?
I write all of that because most divination practices are a way in to help with "the truth". At the very least they take us a step closer. With the 'red car', finding myself changing the rules in order to have "the universe" tell me "yes" is a pretty good sign that it is a "yes" I would like to have but it also tells me that there is something holding me back from "simply" giving myself this. (I wouldn't need an "external voice" to decide for me if I felt okay deciding this myself.) And, the daisy example is, to me, a way of hearing that I really would like to be loved by the person causing me to pluck apart this flower but it also tells me that it's either too good to believe or I'm not at all sure that this is the case (two sides of the same thing I suppose :o)
Seen this way, divination takes courage. It means showing up entirely and openly and ready to "hear". And it is all about the questions and our reactions to the answers. This is why, to me, it doesn't matter whether we ourselves answer or the answer comes from some mystical place. And, oh-so-importantly, no one embarks on a divination process to feel worse. The point is to feel better. So... finding myself sitting amidst a pile of daisy petals after finally getting my looked for "loves me" on the fifth flower is what? representative of sitting in my own truth of wants and beliefs and absolutely feeling the gap between the two. Does this make me feel better? Well, maybe not at that instant (a "yes" on a fifth try is a little what? 'empty' let's say :o) but my overriding want of "needing to know", my want to reconcile the gaps I sense must be present ultimately will. I believe this.
•
Things are as they are... whether we admit to them or not and whether we like them or not. We do though, always, have the choice of deciding what we will next do "with them". Whether this is an action we take or not, whether it is a shift or a strengthening in the meaning we give them, it is our choice. And this raises another point...
A big, important and ultimately empowering part of the divination process for me (whichever technique) is that it is simply a barometer. I view all answers that come as having the following "claimer" (the positive version of "disclaimer" :o) attached... "With respect to the question asked -and- with things as they currently are (meaning with the context, the focus and the momentum of the energy as it is currently moving) this is the outcome/the issue/the direction of where things are going." This is huge and oh-so-wonderful once the subtleties are appreciated.
Framing up the question is hard. "What is it, exactly, that I want to know?" This is tough, tough, tough! Luckily our reactions to the answers are incredibly telling. Take the "Red car equals 'yes'." or the "S/he loves me. S/he loves me not." examples. The questions appear to be clearly framed, the answers not mistakable but it is our reaction to the answer that leads us further given that the pleasure, the fear, the disappointment, the thrill, the confusion, the relief, the 'whichever' emotional reaction we have is immediate. Immediate. So... the "answer" we get is, often, just the tip of the iceberg with respect to the question. Why, now, are we asking the question? What is it that made us question this now or made us need to hear an answer now or made us feel we now need help in deciding? Listening to the listener teaches us much. And, again, this process itself shifts the energies. If we were to repeat the process immdediately, perhaps we would no longer ask the same question or we might frame it slight differently. And, if we stick with the same framing of the situation, the "current energies" would already be different. This is the "claimer" I wrote of above.
Approached this way, the divination process ultimately shows us our questions. And, once we are satisfied with our "asking", we usually find ourselves in front of not only the projected outcomes but the choices we have regarding the shifting or strengthening of "the tendency". This makes it, then, an empowering process of discovery. And it works.
At the very least and at the very best, consciously or unwittingly (it doesn't matter), simply embarking on this process of exploring, giving time and effort to the want to discover, changes things. Our focus becomes clearer. Our resolve solidifies or dissipates. Our energies, "the" energies shift and things no longer are or move as they were or did at the first asking. And, both at the very best and at the very least, I will again write that "The answer always reflect the worth of the question." Asking something insignificant in meaning will shift something insignificant in answer.
So... maybe this doesn't sound like the type of "divining" you would think of if/when you think of this but it is as I live it both for myself and for others. It is a barometric reading. It is only good. It can be incredibly empowering, even through the tough stuff be it "good" or "bad" (written with the traditional perspective in mind :o) And I do have a bunch of ethics that I apply to it.
•
Whether the technique is "known" and "named", whether it is of our own invention, choosing the right technique for the question at hand is important. It has to be a tool that we are comfortable using, it has be a tool that can give the type of answer we are looking for and, of course, it can be absolutely "tool-less" as well.
By this latter I mean that we can simply ask the question of ourselves and listen for the answer within us. I think that because this is so very difficult for most of us (it takes us often and directly into "head versus heart" territory), these "other" tools and techniques have been developed in the first place. We don't listen "well" or trust "easily". For questions that we struggle with, we are rarely objective (hence the struggle). And trust is more subjective (and dynamic) than I think we realize.
We, I think pretty much always, choose to ask our questions in places where we know we will get answers that are helpful to us. It is this "help" part that is the key. We sometimes work very hard and sacrifice much (have I mentioned five daisy's?) in order to hear what we want to hear. In this case we want help to stay in our "wishes". And sometimes we don't know what to do about the discrepancies between our "wishes" and our "reality". And sometimes we don't even know what exactly it is we need help with but we have the sense that there is something. All of these are "fine". We are where we are in our lives. Hopefully though at some point we want to take ourselves seriously enough to treat ourselves, our lives with "worth". Hopefully at some point we have the courage to ask the questions that are truly meaningful to us. And, exploring these is always significant.
We all have our "trusted" sources for advice on specific matters and they are rarely the same person or resource "across the board" of questions. The notion of "expertise" comes into play. Our own "comfort zone" is important. And the context of both the question and the answer changes things greatly... for us, for each of us. So it is for me with divining. I use whatever helps whenever I feel I need help. I love the Tarot and refer to it often. And/but I have also learned to listen more always. Like to the song playing on the radio or in my mind. Like being called to flip open a book and point to a passage. Like focusing in on a sign or billboard that I have unwittingly been staring at. Like simply "being present" in me and seeing wherever it is I really am.
Ultimately we want to move from "head versus heart" to a place where head and heart are aligned and feeling good. This is how I use "divining". This is how I view "divining". And with this intent, it can only ever be a good thing. But it's not "easy". It puts things right back into our own laps and says "Do you really want to know?" meaning "Do you really want the responsibility of figuring out and knowing what your choices are? Do you really want to be able to choose?"
To quote Dr. John Demartini in The Secret "When the vision on the inside is more powerful than the voices on the outside, you have mastered your own life." And, we all need help to define, refine, strengthen, update our internal vision particularly given that it continues to move in an outside context. It is to this end that I use divining energies.
•
An aside... I don't include astrology, palmistry, numerology or "like" systems in "divination". These are ways -- yes, like the Tarot -- that have put a structure over existing 'things' in order to describe commonalities and tendencies. And, yes, these commonalities and tendencies can be used to predict future tendencies in the same way as science and history and math can. But... most astrological, palm or numerological readings are to describe (usually to understand better) the person being looked at or the larger context we all find ourselves in. If/when they are used to "divine", to find, to predict, in my view it has to be personalized. The palmist has to be staring at my hand, the astrologer has to have all of my astrological information, ditto for the numerologist and, most importantly, they have to have my question. By all of that I don't mean to comment on the validity or effectiveness of any of them. I am actually quite intrigued by all of them. I don't though include them here given the way they are, in the majority, "used".
•
