Xylomancy
is divination of the past, present and future using wood, twigs or fallen tree
branches. In biblical times seers would
divine based on the pattern fallen tree limbs or other pieces of wood made when
lying on the ground. Like Dendromancy and Tephramancy
(divination of ashes in burned tree trunk) it is thought that it has its origin
in the tree worship.
I’ve searched the web and found several sites that are
related to Xylomancy. Most have the
statements above and then links to various resources on trees. Art
of Divination for example has a list of trees correspondences. For example it lists the Blackthorn for
unexpected change and Beech for stability and energy flow.
Some ways to practice Xylomancy include stripping the
branches of ½ the bark and tossing them on ground to examine the random
patterns made. Further watching the way
logs are arranged in a fire place while they burned was another form of
Xylomancy.
I found this video of Yule logs burning if you'd care to give it a try.
I found that Llewellyn lists this as divination by observing
the pattern of thrown sticks or staves. To me this sounds slightly different then the
first definition which makes it sound as though we’re looking at random tree
limbs falling in or around someone’s property and the second like throwing of bones.
I then discovered that if I could only get my FAFSA to
recognize Hogwards as a valid college I could go take a course on Xylomancy and
learn divination by analyzing pieces of burning word. Again slightly different than the original definition
and in my mind leads more to fire
scrying than “wood scrying”.
In my reading I’ve found that generally people ancient times
(and sometimes me when I find my mirrors turned faced down) look at things that
are out of the ordinary or different as an omen. For example, if a baby died and a midwife was
present she was sometimes accused of witchcraft
and held accountable for the baby’s death.
If a black cat comes to your house, it brings difficulties, and breaking
a mirror would be considered a bad omen.
So there you have it, a very basic introduction to
Xylomancy. I’d like to thanks my dearest
sister Kallan, for a
wonderful suggestion of this word and to remind you to head over to check out her blog!
Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(
Posts
No comments
Post a Comment