Patricia Telesco - Kitchen Witchs Guide to Divination: Finding, Crafting and Using Fortune-Telling Tools from Around Your Home

This edition first published in 2004 by New Page Books, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.newpagebooks.com

Copyright 2004 by Patricia Telesco

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-56414-725-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Telesco, Patricia, 1960

Kitchen witch's guide to divination : finding, crafting, and using fortune-telling tools from around your home / by Patricia Telesco.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 1-56414-725-8 (pbk.)

1. Divination. 2. Fortune-telling. I. Title.

BF1751.T46 2004

133.3--dc22

2004044823

Cover design by Cheryl Cohan Finbow

Cover photograph Colleen Koziara

Interior by Clayton W. Leadbetter

Printed in the United States of America

IBI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Dedicated to the Hearth God
or Goddess in everyone!
Let's eat, drink, divine, and
make magick together.

Let it be discovered by divination, or let a
divinely inspired man declare it.

Hittite prayer of Mursil II

H ow often have you heard yourself say, I wish I had known ahead of time? Well, count yourself in good company. Everyone wants a peek at the future, be it to see if that blind date's going to be a flop or fantastic, or to make a smart decision about an important career change. Truthfully, the nature of today's world is such that the only thing on which we can depend is change and the associated uncertainty it brings. The good news, however, is that there's a coping mechanism availablenamely awakening and empowering your natural divinatory abilities so that you can get better perspectives on life's perplexities.

Before you get nervous, please know that I've been a kitchen witch for more than 20 years. During that time, I've discovered that magick and divination have very little to do with hocus-pocus, and a lot more to do with sacredness and spirituality. Everything in this book comes out of that experience, and centers on your personal space (especially the kitchen). Before you know it, you'll be in your pantry scrying with the best of them.

Certainly, this won't be like the tarot readers you've seen on TV, who overgeneralize and charge a fortune for their time. Instead, the focus here is on seeing yourself in a new wayas a person who can unlock the intuitive talents you have within, using things in and around your home, and then apply them proactively. (And all the better, that this isn't costly at all!). Instinct and intuition are certainly a natural part of human awareness. Additionally, psychic abilities are completely natural too. The only problem is that most people haven't been encouraged to develop them since youth. Thus, we turn to divination tools and methods to help us unlock those abilities and access information that eludes us in our busy day-to-day life. Early diviners played a role similar to modern counselors. Their task was to provide alternative perspectives and hope. Today, each of us is our own priest and priestess, counselor and guide. Anyone with the right intention and concentration can learn to make or adapt their own divination tools, then use them to gather the insights they most needand that means you!

And you're certainly not alone. The interest in divination and fortune telling is growing steadily among people of all age groups and walks of life. Because it seems reason and religion are not always adequate for answering the questions that lay heavy on human minds and spirits, divination holds tremendous appeal. It offers anyone the gift of insight and a peek into realms often thought inaccessible. You want to know what's behind door number 2? Divination is one way to get those kinds of answers with a little training and tenacity.

Ah, but where to begin? Well, we can gather some hints from history. Divination is a time-honored tradition that appeared all over the world in many different forms. Because our ancestors had a very harsh life, they also had nagging questions and concerns about their fates. This, in turn, led to watching nature for omens and signs and creating a variety of predictive techniques, in an attempt to overcome fate's whims. No prophetic assistance that might prove helpful was overlooked. (Hey, I'm in this club too!)

Exactly how each divination method developed depended heavily on where and when it appeared. Divining by omens and signs was the first, quite simply because it required nothing more than keen observation skills. By 1400 B.C.E. healers in China were reading bones and shells to determine a patient's potential for recovery. Greek and Roman augurs listened to the wind and watched the birds for insights into the outcome of wars, and Tibetans used scrying to determine the Dali Lama's incarnations!

All of the people performing such arts provided a very valuable service to other individuals, communities, or whole countries. In the process, they also created a wonderful history upon which modern seekers can depend for tried-and-true divination methods to this very day. While society's perception of divination has been a love-hate relationship, depending on the era, the folk traditions from which many systems grew continued to thrive. Better still, for those of us who face hefty time constraints, many of these systems are wonderfully simple and pragmatic. Kitchen Witch's Guide to Divination was written with this tradition in mind.

Each of us faces a myriad of struggles daily. Divination is an instrument that helps us examine those issues objectively. To begin, however, each person has to understand what divination is and how it works (covered in of this book). Building on that foundation, you also need to know how to choose or design divination systems successfully.

Following that path, Kitchen Witch's Guide to Divination goes on to examine some pantry-based, handy divination methods that are simple to learn and utilize, whether you're in your kitchen, back yard, office, or on the road. While I cannot begin to predict every question you might ask of such systems, I can help you learn about simple symbols that are around you every day and how to use them when your own perspective is lacking.

Divination opens a spiritual window to each person who ventures into its domain. Through these methods we can see our present situations more clearly and peek into future possibilities. In those moments when you find life moving too quickly, when situations seem chaotic and confusing, when you just need a different outlook or an advisor that requires nothing more than what you have at home, turn to this book as a helpmate. Then, create a pendulum, design a coupon tarot, carve some runes, light a candle, or roll the dice. Look at everything in your environment with new eyes, and trust the signs you receive. In the process, your understanding and appreciation of the simple truths evidenced in everything from the stars to the earth beneath your feet will grow proportionatelyalongside your questing spirit.