What Divination Methods Do You Know?

Divination - an intriguing matter, especially in times of change or doubt, when a person is uncertain about their future, their relationships, their financial situation, etc. One wonders what Latvia's government has divined in coffee grounds or otherwise, in approving next year's budget and action programme for preventing/not preventing the economic crisis. Whatever the case, everyone wants to know the most important things first, to intuitively sense and avoid misfortunes, to think one step ahead, to preserve relationships and stability.

The turn of the year is also approaching, when since ancient times Latvians have poured lead fortunes and divined for the coming year. This activity requires advance preparation - lead is needed, a vessel in which to melt it, a spoon to pour the fortune, a bowl of water. All diviners in turn scoop the melted lead in the spoon and, turning the spoon over the bowl, pour the lead into the water. This must be done quickly and decisively, so that a compact little lead figure is formed. The solidified lead creation is taken out of the water and dried. Then everyone together examines it - both turning the poured fortune pieces in various ways and observing the shadow projected by candlelight onto the wall - and considers what this figure resembles and what it might mean for the future.

Lead pouring I personally perceive more as a familiar ritual or an interesting attraction, since usually in the poured figures a person sees what they want to see, or catches sight of what they fear most. It is a purely psychological moment.

Of the divination methods, the most captivating and most mysterious to me seems to be card reading. Even just Tarot cards or the horoscope cards of astrologer Sēnis. I have heard of reading coffee grounds, but I cannot even imagine how it is done and what good things one can see in them. Of course, the most romantic form of divination is with flower petals - loves me, loves me not, will come, won't come... During student days we amused ourselves with divination by poetry book. How it works - think of some matter or person, open a page at random and read. Since during student days there is usually a heightened interest in the opposite sex and relationships, and every other poem tends to be about love, it is quite an effective method of divination. :)

A more serious form of divination is palm reading. A few years ago I had even diligently begun to study materials on palm types, the lines of fate and life, the shape of nails, the Mounts of the Moon and Venus. I must say, a captivating matter. Given that it also has a certain scientific basis - not for nothing are physical and psychological portraits of people constructed, dominant character traits determined both from the size of the palm, the fineness or bluntness of the fingers, and from the wide or narrow forehead, eyebrows, etc. In my view, each person already has within them their own preconditions for success or failure. The question is how successfully we develop the former and how wisely we navigate around the latter.

No doubt many and various other divination methods exist...