Fortune-Telling for Beginners

nce when I was just a girl, I was sent to town to pick up some boots that had been repaired for my father. On the way there, I ran into an old woman who was obviously having trouble walking. Since I was going the same way, I offered her my arm, and we slowly made our way towards the town. We didn't say a word during the trip, but it wasn't uncomfortable. As we neared the last hill before the town would come into view, the woman stopped and said that was as far as she was going.

To thank me, she offered to read my fortune with an old, faded tarot deck she kept in her pocket. Intrigued, I accepted, and we sat in the soft grass next to the road. I remember how dark and foreboding the once bright afternoon seemed to turn, although that could just be my memory. I don't remember which cards the woman turned over, because I was unlearned yet in the ways of the tarot, but I will never forget the woman's eyes when she told me not to go to town. I protested that I had an errand to run or my father would tan my hide, but her eyes pierced my soul when she told me to run, and to run quickly. I didn't argue again. I only looked back once during the run, but the woman was impossibly out of sight. When I got home, my father was angry and I was sent to my room without any supper and without allowing me to explain.

It wasn't until later that night that a friend came to see my father, and spread the news that the blacksmith had been robbed and killed in broad daylight that very afternoon. The culprits would probably not be caught since no one happened to go to the shop all afternoon; no one knew anything was wrong until it was noticed that the shop was still open after normal closing time. Questions came so fast into my head that I barely had time to register them.

Who was the woman? How did she disappear so quickly after reading my fortune? How did she know I was going to go to the blacksmith's? How did she read my fortune? Because of that day, I have spent my life studying the arts of Mysticism and scrying into the future.

Fortune-telling is popularly done through Crystal Balls (crystallomancy) or Tarot Cards (cartomancy), although almost anything can be used. Tea leaves, the stars, sticks, pools of water and stones are some of the numerous other methods used for divination. It is fitting, that the most unpredictable and random of the Schools of Magic, Mysticism, would be used to peer beyond the veil of what will be. The question becomes, whom do you ask for help? Is it Akatosh, the first of the Divines and the god of time? Or Arkay, who rules over your birth and your death? Or perhaps you would pray to Vaermina and her omens? I only briefly touch on the subject here, young learner, to illustrate that telling a fortune is not precise. This is just an introduction into the art of telling the future. Elements change depending on what aspect you are trying to learn. Beware, for you can influence your scrying to tell you what you want to hear, but not what will not come to pass. You must always be careful that your own prejudices do not cloud your reading.

Crystal Balls

The first crystal balls are thought to be Ayleid in origin, although a crystal ball can be made anywhere, of any crystal and any color, as long as it is transparent and the coloring is natural. It should also be perfectly round and naturally colored, and placed on either a wooden or metal stand.

The ball focuses the user's attention and helps clear one's mind, allowing the images one is looking for to come forth. There is also the ancient practice of placing a crystal ball in a gourd of water, to see who has cast a detrimental spell on another. As you've probably already surmised, crystal balls aren't only used to tell the future - they can tell the present or the past as well.

Sometimes a chant is used while divining as well, but this doesn't have power in itself. Both the ball and the chanting help to focus one's energy to enter into a trance state, which allows the user to see what is to be seen. It is with this that we see what we are looking for. There are different thoughts on how exactly we get the divination. Some believe that the Divines or Daedra grant our requests based upon their own whimsy and rules. Some believe that we have the power inside of us, and only when we quiet everything else do we truly hear what we already know. And some place the power in the crystal itself. In the latter case, the choice of which crystal to use is extremely important. In the other cases, it is only an instrument, and is not of paramount importance. Whichever you decide, you will find that you will become attached to your crystal ball and it will work easier for you with practice.

Tarot Cards

No one is quite sure when Tarot Cards first appeared, or even where they originated from. Various stories do all have one thing in common: they were made for the aristocracy's fancy. The Tarot was first used for fun, a game much like other card games, but with detailed and frequently ornately drawn figures to represent the suits. How many cards used depends on the deck, but most present day decks consist of 4 suits (Minor Arcana) and the Trump cards (Major Arcana). The suits consist of the wands, the cups, the pentacles and the swords. The Trumps are the pictured cards most often recognized with the Tarot Cards, such as the Fool card and the Fortune card. Precisely when Tarot Cards were first used to divine answers is unclear, but it was, in all probability, to keep the nobles entertained. The Tarot can be read at anytime, although there is an old Bosmer belief that reading the Tarot during the Witches' Festival, the 13th of Frost Fall, will provide special insight into the future.

When reading the Tarot, much importance is placed in the question itself. In asking a question, be sure not to ask a simple 'yes' or 'no' question; you should also not use them to make a decision. Use the Tarot merely as a guide. The question asked is often just as important as the answer given, for you can set yourself up with a wrong answer if you do not ask the right question. The question should be focused, but open-ended. Positive, but neutral. Detailed, yet broad. This may seem confusing, but the answer is there if you are wise enough to read it. The Tarot, although used to tell your broad future, is more often used to help you decide which path to take. As such, they are ofttimes used when major life changing events occur, such as a birth or a wedding.

The layout of the cards is also important. There are several different ways to lay the cards out, and the reading can change depending on where the card is positioned. Also, if the card is placed upside down, a different meaning is associated with it. Care must be given when the deck is shuffled by the supplicant, the reader must faithfully lay the cards out the way they are given, and not mistakenly alter their position.

It is prudent to keep in mind that Tarot Cards, as well as astromancy, are the domain of Hermaeus Mora. Unlike other methods of divination which can ask multiple other higher beings for help, the star and card reading remain under this Daedric Prince's power. The Divines cannot or will not help when seeking an answer in this fashion. Heed my words; his gifts are not always given freely.

The true power of scrying comes from within, even when aided by the Divines or the Daedra. Without internal discipline, you will be blind to its answers. It is the truly powerful who do not need any method to find the answers they are seeking. Everything else is but a tool used to realize what you already know or what the gods wish to tell you. It takes true wisdom to look for and to find the answers you seek, but do not be afraid. You cannot learn if you do not try. Remember not to put too much stock into a reading, until you become adept at its practices.