Early AM Thoughts| Too Much Divination?

Let’s talk about divination.

I was sitting here and considering a post (or posts) I wanted to do today. Specifically a tarot post and then also sharing what Odu I got for the day, when a memory popped in my head. It was the memory of a post about people leaning to heavily on divination.

From this point on this is a stream of free thought. So it may or may not land in a sequential concept.

What does it mean to lean too heavily on divination? What’s too much considering that we utilize it in some form or capacity every day? Is it too heavily on divination or the tools?

Etymology of Divination

Divinacioun - divination - divinationem - past participle divinare

I could keep going, but I’ll stop there. Thanks to Etymology . com

The root of the word comes from a word that means “to shine” there are derivatives that mean “sky, heaven, or god”. In all its forms, it points back to the divine. Divine meaning “of god”.

So let’s discuss that. “Of God”

This is where people will either lock in or check out.

Regular Degular Divination

Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Science has co-signed that which our most Ancient Ancestors understood. We experience things as separate, however we are not. We are all connected to the same Source energy. That energy is simply manifesting in different forms, frequencies, vibrations, etc. I feel like at this point in our collective spiritual journey we should all understand the law of divine oneness.

So if we are one with source or “God” and so is everything around us…

What’s it mean to get insight from God?

When meterologists go to school to understand weather patterns using tools, they are learning to interpret patterns from nature. Isn’t nature of God? Isn’t nature divine? Does them using “tools” negate the fact that they are “predicting” the weather using nature herself as a guidepost for that prediction?

The farmers almanac has been helping generations of gardeners and farmers plan out their crops using everything from weather patterns, astronomy, moon phases (astrology), and folk wisdom. Sounds like a divination tool to me.

When you are standing in your room trying to make a decision and “ploop” intuition strikes and then a thought comes to mind about what you should do, that’s claircognizance.

That grandma, aunt, whomever sitting on the porch rubbing their knees saying, “It’s about to rain, get on inside.” and a massive downpour follows, she is using divination. Clairsentience to be specific.

“The vibe is off”

“Something doesn’t feel right”

“I just knew”

These are all the language of intuition, which, by definition, is psychic insight by its very nature. You just know. You just feel. You can’t explain why.

Intuition is divination.

Basic self divination is something we all do. You don’t think about it, and thus it just seems like regular life. And it should.

Trust that you have the discernment to make decisions using past experience, insight, practical reasoning, and intuition. Divination is not something limited to specific tools. Rudimentary divination is what you do on a daily basis.

I believe that the definition of “supernatural” is what stops people. It is the idea that you need to be someone “special” to have a divine connection. You don’t. You need to be,. Period.

What begins to make distinctions as far as connection is the depth, frequency, type, and potency of the connection.

That’s why I asked, "What' s too much divination?” We are all doing it on a regular basis in a rudimentary way. Everyone may not have a seance to get insight, but leaning on their intuition, watching nature, using previous knowledge and cultivating it into wisdom that is acted upon, divination.

Divination by Diviners

Though all people are in fact connected to the All, not all people are attuned to go beyond regular degular communication. Regardless of how you feel about it, there are some that are tapped to deepen that communication.

Even amongst those tapped there are still levels of how much you are able to lean in and receive guidance, insight, foresight, etc. Everyone’s gifts operate differently by function, frequency, and potency.

There will be some that are definitely more tapped in than the average Joe, but still not as tapped in as someone who is called to get deeper clarity and insight.

When regular degular simply isn’t enough to move the needle, this is where readers and diviners can be of support.

I make a distinction because of how deep someone is able to go in getting insight. By function of getting the information, it’s all divination. By virtue of ability and potency, some folks are readers, while others are diviners. Both, when aligned, are accurate. Diviners are attuned to a deeper layer of insight.

Again, what’s too much

I believe that the other idea here is that divination is looking for an answer outside of yourself. As an Iyanifa, I do not believe that to be the case, at least not how I divine. In Ifa divination it’s like a conference call. It’s you, the diviner, Orunmilla (Orisha of Divination) and your Ori. Now that last part is important. Your Ori is ultimately you. It’s you in your spiritual self. It is the you that remembers the choices made prenatally for your life and your divine connection to the All. (That’s still so basic an understanding. It’ll work for this conversation though.)

So if the conversation is ultimately happening with Ori which is You, you are not seeking answers from outside yourself. You are seeking guidance from within yourself that you alone can not translate. I, as the diviner, am a translator of what your Ori has been trying to get you to hear all the while.

This is why, rumor has it, that when I divine there is often an emotional reaction (especially the first time). It’s not that the information is foreign. It’s that you are finally hearing what’s been trying to communicate with you. Your body reacts viscerally to that level of clarity.

When considering that divination is a conversation with Ori, though the tools may be different, it’s a conversation with yourself. Some folks need a translator in order to get that insight, so they seek out a skilled diviner. Some folks are diviners in their own right and can divine for themselves. In either case, you aren’t looking for someone else’s answers. You are trying to hear your own.

So, I ask again, what’s too much divination?

What does it mean to seek out clarity, insight, etc. from the divine too much?

The other part is that we are having a human experience. In this life we are having a human experience. We are also having a spiritual experience while in this human form. The two experiences are not in competition with one another. They are working together in tandem. One supports the other.

Divination is not a substitute for common sense. Fire is hot. Don’t jump in it. And if you are listening, there is still a divine jolt that grabs you so you don’t do anything stupid. My dad always says that, “God protects fools and babies.” Divine guidance is always happening.

Divination helps you to decipher the guidance.

So Can their be too much divination

Everything is about moderation and what moderation looks like for the individual. Joe Brown that works at Costco and isn’t tapped to be a diviner, well he may follow his instincts and be ok. This is not to negate the wisdom of knowing your destiny, but that’s a different conversation. In a general sense that instinct is enough for him.

The Awo who has made Itefa but isn’t a priest yet needs to consult Ifa every 4-5 days (depending on which day you start counting on). However, the Babalawo or Iyanifa may need to consult Ifa daily, depending on what their destiny has aligned, based on their work.

Where it gets tricky to me is when you can’t trust the inner divination system. That’s why I asked, is it divination or the tools. When you can not trust what you are guiding yourself to, i.e. where Ori is guiding you, then we may need to discuss why.

Listening to your Ori and letting your legs follow, that’s divination to me. It is guidance from the Divine. When you are doing Ori work, that guidance is supported by mundane common sense in most instances. Are there going to be leaps of faith that seem against all rational thought? Yes.

Discernment (which is part of divination) helps you to know if this is a leap of faith or you are just making a bad decision (lack of discernment).

For myself

I enjoy divination in all its many forms. I am highly proficient in several forms of divination. As an Iyanifa, with a community, and very specific things in my destiny, I consult Ifa pretty frequently. I divine, in general, pretty frequently. This, however, is my destiny. There are reasons why this is so for me. Someone else may not need to tap in like that.

I also have a season where my Ori is like just sit and listen. That’s what I do. Listen and trust I got it. That may be what is called for most people in the world honestly.

Divining beyond the mundane is not light work. That’s why everyone isn’t meant to do it, not even for themselves.

It’s important to know what is in alignment for you and move accordingly. Some people are divining (i.e. reliant on tools) too much because they lack trust in themselves. Others are lost and confused because they are not divining (or getting divination) enough.

I will leave you with this, “God works in mysterious ways…”, my personal add on “Until you divine on it”

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading. Make sure you keep an eye out for what’s coming in our newsletter this week. I appreciate the support. Thank you to all those who are donating to Sacred Grove of Wisdom and Fellowship, Inc. Your donations help ensure that the work can continue and the mission gets fulfilled.

Have a great rest of your day!

Ire!