The room falls quiet as I pull out the black deck of cards, slowly laying them all out in the small space on the carpet between myself and my three friends. We look to the seventy-eight eyes that stare back up at us from the back of the cards, the simplistic design shaded under the low flickering string of lights in my bedroom.

   I turn to one of my friends, focusing as best I can on the energy she carries before instructing her to focus and to flip one card over. Then another. And a third.

   The room sits in stunned silence after I interpret the three cards she picked.

   Divination is more than the prophecies and foggy crystal balls that one might read about in far-fetched books or note in fantastical films. Divination is a real world practice that has been ongoing for over a millennia in different cultures across the world.

   As Lisa Marie Eisenhower described it, divination “is the practice of reading energies or situations that affect or have affected the past, present or future of a querent. The seer divines answers for the querent using elements found in nature, such as water, stones or bones, or arcane cards or tiles with characters or pictograms that have a symbolic relevance.” 

   Divination is conducted through a multitude of different mediums, such as those named earlier. An important aspect of each of these mediums is that they are at least partly chance oriented. “Using a medium that involves some chance and random probability heightens the prospect of the reader’s personal feelings and intentions not interfering with the accuracy of the reading,” Eisenhower said.

   Divination in itself finds further insight to the significance of or deeper meaning tied to events and other aspects of a querent’s life. Thus, people will often turn to this practice when faced with challenges and obstacles that they are stuck on in their lives. 

  Divination is a fascinating practice to explore. It can provide a sense of clarity and security for the querent and an opportunity to explore questions that are seemingly unanswerable. Divination is more than a class at Hogwarts. It can provide guidance and moments of reflection that can be simultaneously surprising and obvious.

   Eisenhower reflected, “I offer to do readings professionally because I love the aspect of service that accompanies it. It’s an opportunity to focus energetically and spiritually on a single person with caring intention. Doing readings for clients also gives them an opportunity to be heard by someone (me) without an agenda, and to feel heard, validated and appreciated.”

   “For my part, especially because we are living in a time of upheaval with a pandemic and a great deal of sociopolitical unrest, I feel that taking the time to do divination and remind clients of how connected we all are is a pathway to peace and understanding between people. I have been able to witness people taking the time to repair and renew relationships, and feel a heightened sense of confidence and purpose. The message that comes through consistently is one of gratitude and love. ‘You are seen. You are important. You are necessary. You are loved. Those who have passed on have not forgotten you or how much they love you.'”