Recordium Regenerati

There are various forms of divination practices out there: tarot, pendulum boards, mirrors, crystal balls, water… anything you can put your mind to and focus on can become a source of divination. Everywhere you look there is always a sign of your deity or patron being present, always a message to be discerned. Did a specific bird land by your windowsill? Check the species, see what spiritual meanings are defined by that bird’s presence. Perhaps you found a flower lying on your car’s engine hood? All plants have spiritual meanings tied to them. Even something as simple as a literal billboard sign on the side of the road can be taken as a spiritual message- it is up to the practitioner to define this and discern meaning when needed.

Osteomancy is a form of divination as old as the times before civilization. Bones were commonly gathered and tossed to read prophecy and scry futures, and oftentimes this form of scrying was very acute in predictions. Bone reading is fully intuitional, with little solid definition behind what each bone’s position, length, shape and structure stands for. There can also be other trinkets added to a worker’s bone set, such as stones, crystals, plant seeds, anything truly meaningful to the practitioner. No two sets are alike, so what one diviner may see may end up completely different from another. Bones and items are commonly swapped out often, keeping these sets unique in their power.

How to Throw Bones

Bone throwing, bone scrying, bone reading, Osteomancy…these are all the same definition for the act of divination with bones. To begin, collect items that have meaning to you. These do NOT have to be bones, but it is highly important that they are meaningful to yourself. Assign different concepts to these items: yes/no to a coin, magic to a piece of labradorite, even something as simple as mind/body/soul to a set of sticks. Anything is possible with this form of scrying, and your set can have as many or as little items as you wish.

Once you have a set you wish to use, grab a tray or in my case a cardboard box. Hold the set in your hand, think of your question or just a general idea, breathe that concept onto the bones…and toss them into the tray. Based on where they land, which direction their points face, where they cross on top of each other and where they’re the closest to other objects can determine the answers to your reading. Remember, this is intuition talking, not the solid definition like tarot has for their cards: what are the bones saying to you? Did your coin face tails? Then perhaps that’s a no. Did your labradorite touch to your soul/mind sticks, but your body stick was left to the side? Perhaps you need to work on your physical body and take a break on your magic. There are many meanings that present themselves in your readings, and it is up to you to decide what advice you take from it.

Try it out sometime, and if it doesn’t work the first time…try again. Practice makes perfect, and failure is only part of your learning.