Categories of Divination, Magickal Information Gathering & Actionable Intelligence
“The skilled Sorcerer has the capacity to be a one-man intelligence agency…we must learn to use different types of divination to compliment and enhance each other…in an attempt to put together a well-rounded strategy that can be molded to fit any situation.”
~ Jason Miller
- Omens
- Augury
- Sortilege
- Spontaneous Divination
- Viewing
- Sending the Watcher
- Informants
Omens: the interpretation of unusual or important events.
Once an omen has been spotted, you need to interpret it for it to be meaningful. Sometimes the meaning will be obvious. Often, however, you will need to seek out guidance from other types of divination. A tarot or pendulum reading can sometimes shed some light on an omen, but, more often than not, the best place to look for interpretation is other people.
Augury: ranks probabilities and interprets the results; relies upon a connection between the
conscious mind, the deep mind, and the divine.
- Candle-spell aftermath
- Tasseomancy (tea leaf reading, coffee grounds reading)
- Rhabdomancy (dowsing, etc.)
- Pendulums
Sortilege: any type of reading that involves the casting of any kinds of lots.
- Tarot Cards
- Playing Cards
- Ifa
- Runes
- I-Ching
- Mo Dice
- Geomancy
- Osteomancy (bone throwing)
Spontaneous Divination: the interpretation of whatever is in front of you.
- Akashic Records
- Aura Reading
- Psychometry
- Bibliomancy (any book)
- Televisiomancy
- Computermancy
- True Dreaming
- Direct Psychic Intuition
Viewing: viewing distant, future, or even extra-planar events in the mind’s eye or upon a special surface.
- Mirror Scrying
- Water Scrying
- Fire Scrying
- Crystal Ball Gazing
- (Scrying)
Sending the Watcher: creating a “fetch” or “bud-will” made from your own astral essence and sending it to observe a person or place."
How to Create a Watcher
Rather than creating a being out of elemental energy we are simply exteriorizing a portion of our own astral essence. To accomplish this, sit comfortably with you back straight and focus your mind upon your solar plexus, which will direct the winds in the body to gather. Take several deep vase breaths and feel the accumulation of energies at that point. Once you are tuned into those energies, exhale forcefully and will a portion of the energy and awareness from your own body to shoot out in front of you in a straight flow and gather into a sphere in front of you connected by a cord.
Notice I did not say visualize this. Visualization can be used in this process, but if you focus too much on the particulars of the visualization you can loose the feel of it. Remember that visualization is a tool to get something to happen, not an end unto itself. Once the sphere is created, simply instruct it to go and observe someplace or someone until you call it back.
When you are ready, call the sphere back in front of you, then see its form dissipate back into the cord, which than retracts into your body. Now meditate and allow any images or impressions that have been gathered by the watcher to appear to you. Some will see very clear images this way. Some people will hear more than they see. Some will neither hear nor see, but feel an empathetic impression. It all depends upon your gifts and training.
This practice should only be attempted by those who have a firm grasp on protective magick and have the capacity to banish and exorcise effectively. It is vital that you recall the watcher on the same day that you dispatch it. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever go to sleep without recalling the watcher. The watcher is a part of you and would be susceptible to influence and attacks of many kinds if it was connected to a dreaming host.
Informants: calling beings to appear and answer questions at the time of an offering…more formal spirit summoning and interrogation can be attempted with spirits that are specifically suited to providing information.
Actionable Intelligence
“…we must develop a real strategy of intelligence gathering rather than just learning to read cards or cast runes. If multiple types of readings from multiple sources all point to the same conclusion, it’s a much better bet. By keeping an eye out for omens and synchronicities we can pick up on
approaching important events and pivotal moments approaching. By utilizing sortilege, augury, and spontaneous divination on a regular basis we can actively monitor the future for anything of interest. Keeping a diary of divinations is very useful for tracking your accuracy and improving your performance. If we do have a particular problem or interest that arises, we need to apply not just one reading, but multiple readings from different systems to arrive at what we can call actionable intelligence.”
“…the best divination is the one that doesn’t come true. Ideally, divination should provide enough actionable intelligence to avoid or improve the prediction. Time is not linear, and the future is by no means written. Every moment consists of just one of an infinite amount of probable futures collapsing into the present. Through divination we can get a feel for these probabilities, and through Sorcery we can alter them to our benefit and the benefit of others.”
~ Jason Miller
Ref: The Sorcerer’s Secrets: Strategies in Practical Magick (Jason Miller)