Choosing a Divination System – Tarot, Runes Or I-Ching?

There are many divination systems out there, that allows a person to foretell the future events. Europe is famous for Tarot cards, that became a symbol of the western occultism. China on the other side is known for I-Ching, complex and mystical art of hexagrams. And the cold North is known for Runes, magical symbols given to humans by gods. Which system is the best, which one should you choose?

This is a question I’m often being asked when people begin their journey into the occult arts. Many wants to learn some divination system, as they perceive it as mandatory element of their occult practises. Well, you can literally divine from everything – bones, ash, tea, coffee, MacBook Pro if you want – because the object you’re using for divination purposes is just a way of focus. For example, in popular scrying (often known as crystal ball reading) the crystal ball is a mean of focus only and there’s no difference if you’re going to use a crystal ball, a quartz, a mirror or a glass of your LCD monitor.

Personally, for beginners I recommend one of three divination systems – European Tarot cards, China I-Ching and Norse Runes. Which one should a beginner choose? Well, I-Ching is very complex and it requires great interpretation skills so you would have not just learn all the hexagrams possible (and there’s a lot of them, 64 to be accurate) but also different ways of interpreting them. But if your memory is good and you have a plenty of time for learning, then I-Ching will be the best choice – it’s most accurate divination system when used properly.

And if you believe you want something darker and more mysterious, then I recommend learning about Tarot. This 500-years old European system is one of the most mysterious, and at the same time it’s probably the easiest to learn – it requires some time, too, but in the end within few weeks you can start giving readings for people.

And probably the most difficult not to learn, but to use, is runic systems. 24 runes are easy to memorize, and there are easy to cast, but interpretation is very difficult. In most cases, you need to use your innate psychic abilities in order to understand the meaning of cast runes, and the message they contain. That is why runes, probably the most powerful of divination systems, are also the hardest to use on daily basis. But being an accurate runecaster means you earned a respect and skills.

Which one would you choose? Try each system if you want, try to feel which one works better for you, and then pursuit further. Do not try to learn all the divination systems, there is no need for that. If you will learn one good enough, it will provide you with answers to all your questions. Seek perfection with one system, and not minor skills in all.