Hello my friends and I hope everyone had a sexy Halloween and a beautiful Samhain. I’m still exhausted but that’s just how it goes. It’s hard to sustain the energy levels at this time of year, at least for me. I was talking to my dear friend and we were sort of remarking about somehow how the energy is really high, but we’re also just constantly on the verge of being like, wiped out. It’s a lot, it’s overwhelming. The dreams are vivid as hell and weird as shit, there are a lot of things going bump in the night, so to speak. The spirits have so much to say, and they don’t allow themselves to be ignored.
I got an email from a witch a couple weeks ago that sort of addressed this phenomenon:
Ever since I did my first spell, I’ve really dug in and moved forward, figuring out what I believe and what resonates with me in this work. Figuring out what calls to me and what doesn’t.
I’m just so de-energized!
I’ve been meditating and getting enough sleep, my eating habits have been more stress driven, so I’ve been keeping an eye on that, but I feel like my energy has been sapped. I am doing what I can physically to make sure there isn’t another cause, but is there any work you can recommend for energy levels and overall health for this instance? I have the ability to make soaps and things like that too, so there aren’t really many limitations.
Do you think there is a correlation in energy drain when someone is first starting out versus when someone is well established?
So I did have a couple suggestions, honestly, the energy drain is a factor that never seems to stop, although there will be periods when energy is high no matter how much spiritual work you do, and other times your energy will be drained no matter how well-rested you are. There are a lot of factors at work. The spell work you do is only one part of the equation. The moon phases, planetary alignments, the time of day, the time of year, our hormonal cycles, etc. all seem to team up to make sure that we never get too comfortable.
So it is what it is, but we can certainly do our best to set ourselves up for success. One thing that’s not sexy or exciting is simply grounding regularly. I know it gets trickier as the weather gets colder, but any time we can spend with our feet or our hands in the grass, in the soil, or at least outside in the sun, is going to make a huge difference. Another thing I like to do is sleep with selenite under the four corners of my bed. It creates a large crystal grid that cleanses my energy while I’m sleeping and it basically acts as a reset.
Lastly, hex-breaking soap! This witch is a soap maker, so I did give her the recipe I use for hex-breaking soap, and this stuff is legit. I use a goat’s milk soap base although you can use whatever base you like, and I add shea butter which is strictly for moisture, and then I add lavender oil, thyme oil, and olive oil. I drop a few tumbled obsidians in there as well for protection.
And this is a multi-purpose soap. It’s not just for when we feel like we’re under deliberate psychic attack, but any time we need to clear our energy, refresh ourselves, clear any obstacles that are against us, and make room for abundance. And I always recommend washing yourself starting at the crown of your head and moving all throughout the body down to the soles of the feet. Allow the element of water to wash all of that funk, that ickiness, that heaviness and negativity down the drain and away from us.
But again, it’s also just this time of year that can feel like a lot. So we’ve gotta give ourselves some grace and accept our cycles. Our highs are just as valid as our lows.
Today, we are going to talk about another form of divination. And this subject was suggested by Hedgewitch, and I’m pretty excited to talk about it. It’s one of those forms of divination that aren’t unheard of, but not super common. But the cool thing is that most of us probably already have what we need around the house to start trying it. Like, if you’ve got an old Yahtzee game in the closet, you’re set. We are gonna talk today about astragalomancy.
Astragalomancy, which is sometimes called cubomancy, is a form of divination that uses dice or historically, small, roughly cube-shaped bones. Usually knucklebones or ankle bones from goats, sheep or deer. The dice or bones will be marked with the traditional pips or dots, or they might be marked with letters or symbols. They’re thrown and read according to the numbers or symbols that are face-up or even according to the formation of the dice themselves.
This form of divination has been used all over the place really, the Greeks and Romans were really into it. It’s popular in Tibet, in South America, all along the Silk Road, Mesopotamia, so it’s not like there’s only one way to correctly interpret the messages.
And, ok so I have a book on Astragalomancy that I really like, Astragalomancy: A Loaded Guide: Intriguing Readings of 21 Discrete Dice Throws by Craig Conley and it’s a whole lot of history and some filler, to be honest, but it’s well-written and easy to follow and it is a straightforward guide to dice reading or bone reading. But there’s a bit in there that gives a really good overview that I wanted to read before we get into the meat:
There is perhaps no better way to conjure up the spirit of great antiquity than to roll dice. The very ancient game of throwing knucklebones dates back to the Trojan War, if we are to take Sophocles’ word. The original knucklebone was technically a bone in a sheep’s ankle, the astragalus, hence divination by astragalomancy.The great Greek philosopher Plato traced dice even farther back, to the ibis-headed Egyptian god Thoth, inventor of magic and writing and science, divine arbitrator, judge of the dead, and maintainer of the universe. Plato himself played dice not only with cubes but also tetrahedrons, octahedrons, dodecahedrons, and icosahedrons-the famous “Platonic solids” of geometry.
Plato said, “God geometrizes,” and that’s a key to why dice have always been associated with divination-the geometric solids, as building blocks of the universe, embody truths on higher planes.Over the centuries, several rules have been associated with throwing dice for divination. “However, it is entirely a matter of personal choice whether these are followed or ignored. Many of these rules are arbitrary and were probably developed to add mystery and significance to divination by dice. Do not be afraid to develop your own guidelines, nor to be completely spontaneous, using the dice in different ways according to your instincts at the time. Trusting your instincts is the best way to get a good reading.”
In other words, we can go through some common interpretations for certain dice throws and formations, but the more we do it, the more we can and should begin to interpret things using our own intuition and experiences. And that’s the truth for absolutely every kind of divination that we will ever do. The guidelines are just that; they’re guides. They are not the law. Our own sixth sense is always the authority, we should always trust our instincts when it conflicts with the so-called rules.
Now, for the purposes of our episode, we are going to assume that the dice or bones we are using have traditional dot markings on them. And like I said, a lot of dice have symbols or letters, but we are going to stick to the basics today. The first thing you will need is a circle to cast the dice in. You can draw it on the ground in chalk or you might use a cloth with a circle printed or stitched onto it, but whatever you choose to use, you’ll want that circle to be about 9 inches in diameter. This is how the reading begins .
The question is posed and the dice are cast. To determine the meaning of the reading you will first examine if any dice have fallen outside of the circle. Regardless of the question asked, when 1 dice is outside the circle – Difficulties lie ahead
When there are 2 dice the fall outside the circle – Arguments and Quarrels are likely
When 3 dice are outside, you’ve got yourself a sign of luck and success and no reading is needed and you can go confidently forward assuming that everything is going to be fine.
However, the dice that land within the circle are totaled up and their sum indicates the
Message and the answer is as follows:
0,1,2 – No answer available. Basically the Magic 8 Ball says ask another day
3 – A change in circumstances will happen soon
4 – Unpleasantness, arguments, misunderstanding
5 – Unexpected surprise or information, your plans and wishes will be fulfilled
6 – Loss of some kind, most likely financial, possibly material, or a relationship
7 – Potential hardships, gossip, finances, etc. They will eventually be resolved
8 – You should not act to hastily, lack of discretion may lead to misfortune
9 – A possible union in love or in business, success in romance and/or gambling
10 – New beginnings, possibly a birth, or a new job/promotion
11 – Potential loss of a person, death, short term illness; or the return of a person
who was estranged from you
12 – Important communication will arrive soon, seek counsel if it is a legal matter,
potential for a large sum of money
13 – Continuation on your current path
14 – A friend or relative will offer their assistance, possibly an new romance
arrives
15 – Proceed with caution, avoid starting new projects for the next week, do not be drawn into gossip
16 – A short trip will provide relief, entertainment, and potentially profit
17 – Change of perspective, adjustment to plans may be needed, be receptive to the council of others, even those whom you don’t know
18 – Luck, Success, Blessings, Attainment and Fulfillment
And that’s just one interpretation, we can use numerology too. So if you rolled three sixes which would add up to 18, you would then add the one and the 8 together to get 9. And as you may recall from the Numerology episode, in numerology, nines represent resolution. And, you know what, I’ll link to that episode too because it could be very helpful. If the numerology method is the answer for you.
But just to quickly recap that info, ones represent potential and opportunity. Twos represent duality or balance. Threes represent communication and cooperation, and also sometimes they will represent groups. Fours represent stability and structure. Fives represent instability and often conflicts. Sixes represent growth. Sevens represent knowledge and faith. Eights represent change, and also mastery or accomplishment. Nines mean something is coming to fruition or is resolving.
So give it a go. I love to recommend trying lots of divination methods because you just never know when something is going to resonate with you. And dice are inexpensive, they’re easy to carry around, and this is an ancient form of divination. This is not some brand new, fly by night kind of fortune telling. So just think about it. And come back again next week. My name is Eli Ro, and this has been the Middle-Aged Witch podcast.
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Astragalomancy: A Loaded Guide: Intriguing Readings of 21 Discrete Dice Throws by Craig Conley
https://middleagedwitch.com/numerology/
