Samhain, pronounced sah-win, and otherwise known as Halloween in modern culture, Samhain began as a Celtic Pagan winter festival that marked the end of the harvest season and was essentially the eve of the Celtic New Year. It was a heavily known belief that during this time, the veil between our world and the other worlds was the thinnest. It was used as a day of remembrance and offerings to ensure safety and prosperity through the cold season.
Samhain represents the time of the year when the veil between our physical world and the spirit world is the thinnest, which makes this the ideal time to practice communicating with ancestors, spirit guides, and Deities. Together, we will explore the different methods of communication and divination that can spark a conversation that allows you to gain insights and knowledge from the other side.
Tarot & Oracle Cards:
Beginning as a card game in the mid 15th century, French occultists popularized decks of Tarocchi cards as tools for divination which led to the production of customized decks for practicing cartomancy. "Scholarship has established that the early European cards were probably based on the Egyptian Malmuk Deck invented in or before the 14th century".
Tarot cards fell off around the 20th century but have regained popularity in our current new-age society. Tarot is used throughout many cultures and varieties of witchcraft and paganism as a tool for communicating with your higher self, deities, and the energy of those who have passed. There are few rules surrounding practicing cartomancy, as it depends on the practitioner's personal preferences and intuitive interpretations to get answers that can resonate with the receiver of the reading, but there are tips for beginners that can make communication with a deck much easier.
- Ask open-ended questions: use phrases like what, where, and why, and steer away from yes or no questions.
- Trust your intuition: If you get the impression that the cards mean one thing but another interpretation of the card says something else, always follow your initial feeling.
- Combine your cards with Oracle: Oracle cards are similar to tarot but different in the way that they offer further insights beyond the 78 cards in a tarot deck.
- Create the appropriate space: clear your mind of any anxious or intrusive thoughts, and remember that tarot is best perceived when your mind is clear and open to communication.
- Don't take everything personally & don't overuse or over-question: Tarot and oracle can be a really helpful and insightful tool, but depending on your current emotional state, it isn't always correct. If you get advice that sounds like something you don't want to do or something that doesn't make sense, don't take immediate action until you get another opinion at another time. Also, if you continue to ask the same question hoping for different responses, your deck or whoever you are trying to communicate with might feel disrespected and not cooperate.
Pendulum Dowsing:
Pendulums have been used in many things throughout history and were first observed by Galileo Galilei, but the divinatory use of pendulums dates back to the Greeks and Romans and the Middle Ages, who used them to predict the future. The idea of using a pendulum is that a weighted object is suspended on a string or chain while being held in one position. "They respond to your body's own energetic field in conjunction with your higher self and intuition, provoking jerk reflexes in your arm and wrist that allow the pendulum to move in a certain way. This movement in your wrists/arms is what Chevreul discovered back in 1833, the Ideomotor Reflex. It is said that this reflex is derived from the muscles moving in your arm, which is triggered by your subconscious brain activity. So, by asking your pendulum a yes/no question, your energy field (aka your pendulum) simply responds to what your inner self already knows subconsciously." (Wild Folke 2020 "The History of a Pendulum")
Pendulums can be used anywhere and are strictly used for yes and no questions, although I have heard that they won't give accurate responses if you are dehydrated or have any other energetic imbalance. Take a drink of water before using, and simply as the pendulum what 'yes' looks like compared to what 'no' will look like. They can also be used to communicate with ancestors or other spirit guides by using a pendulum board which is similar to a Ouija board where the pendulum can use actual letters and numbers. I personally have not used this method but I have seen others use it successfully.
Rune Casting:
The use of runes for divination is an ancient tool used mainly by Norse seers and seeresses also known as Seiðmenn and Völva. Rune casting is a unique form of divination where symbols are carved into stones or woods and then tossed onto a plate or cloth, the job of the caster is to interpret where they land, and what they mean in combination with each other. Similar to Tarot reading, rune casting doesn’t aim to predict the future or tell fortunes. Instead, it serves as a tool for guidance, tapping into the subconscious to explore possible outcomes and help address challenges.
Whichever method you choose to use this Samhain the benefits of utilizing them during this time are clear. Ancestors offer us the wisdom to understand ourselves more in depth as well as ways to clear any behaviors, patterns or illnesses we may have received from them. Spirit guides can offer us the same, but their guidance can also include advice about blockages, career, and romance. Now is also a great opportunity to speak with a deity you might be interested in working with or vice versa as the modalities can help you to open a communication, and when combined with Samhain offerings, would be the ideal time to show your interest and begin any relationships.
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