In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: An oracle is a practice, object, or method that allows you to "read" the future. No, you don't need to climb a mystical mountain and present a floating trio of goddesses with a laurel wreath and a clear conscious to consult an oracle. Think of oracles like tools for seeing, or like shortcuts to the future. Oraclesfrom the Latin for "to speak"are just ways of making it easier on yourself. If you like unusual images and totemic symbols, the Tarot is the classic way to go. To get started, visit an experienced Tarot reader to see what a reading is like. Then you can start learning about the different cards and the history of the Tarot in divinatory culture. If you enjoy meditating on stories and coincidences, learn to consult the iChing and gaze into its mysterious world. If you enjoy deep meditation and open-ended symbols, consider scrying, palm-reading, or other more complex methods of divination that will allow you to put your own spin on the oracle. If you want to look to an oracle for your future-telling needs, you've got to do most of the work by providing a probing and open-ended question. This will help you interpret the oracular symbols that you receive and apply it to your interests. It only works if you lead with a question that's both open-ended and complex. Good questions to prompt the oracle usually start, "What should I notice" or "How should I approach" or "How do I think about" Leave enough open that the oracle can give you something concrete to interpret. Asking "Will I get this job?" won't work when you're throwing bones or reading the iChing, because you won't get a yes or no answer. Instead, focus on asking questions like, "What do I need to know to improve my chances of getting this job?" . Tarot cards are made up of 78 cards, featuring major and minor arcana, and resembling a deck of regular playing cards. There are four suits: cups, staves, swords, and pentacles, with strange art on each card that you can use to read in any number of different ways. It's one of the most famous and versatile methods of telling the future symbolically. Most Tarot readings tell stories, focusing on a specific question the querant is asking. If you want to learn more about Tarot, go in for a reading, get a guidebook, and get started familiarizing yourself with the deck. . The iChing is the book of changes. You can consult it using coins, marbles, yarrow stalks, or by other mathematical methods, which result in the drawing of a six-lined "hexagram," made up of two symbols, that corresponds to an entry in the book. Simply put, you'll throw some dice, ask a question, and read a few mysterious passages. If you enjoy poetry, chance, and meditating on stories, it's a great way of getting in touch the with future. Sciomancy is the art of divining the future by looking at shadows, looking into the dark for images and symbols for interpretation. If you want to get started, all you'll need is a candle and a well-developed sense of your own ESP. Set yourself up in a darkened room with plain walls. You should be illuminated from behind yourself with a single candle. Meditate deeply for a while, opening your eyes to look into the corners of the room, watching the way the light plays with the shadows. Record the images that arise for you out of the shadows, writing them down for later. Imagine that the room is your mind and the shadows are ideas, images, and thoughts that float around in it. What seems significant? What might portend the future? Similar to shadow-gazing, scrying is the art of looking into a reflective surface of some kind, most famously a crystal ball, to "find" images and symbols for interpretation. To get started, get yourself a crystal, most preferably made of clear quartz. Other acceptable crystals include amethyst, beryl, selenite, or obsidian. The crystal should be at least four or five inches in diameter. Charge your crystal in the light of the full moon, for the course of a night, and keep it clean and locked in a safe place where it will be free of psychic negativity. To stare into the crystal, hold it gently in your hands, or place it in front of you on a stand or a dark pillow. Enter your deep meditative state and stare gently into the crystal, looking deep, relaxing your eyes to allow images to reveal themselves. . Ever since there have been people, people have looked to the stars for guidance. Astrology has been used for millennia to learn about ourselves and about our futures. If you're interested in moving past your basic newspaper horoscope to learn more about interpreting symbols based on the organization of the stars. Astrology is just as much of a philosophy, or a way of understanding behavior, as it is a mystic tool. There are 12 astrological signs that combine the four elements, earth, air, fire and water, with one of the three qualitiescardinal, fixed, and mutable. Learning about your symbols, depending on the seasons and the changes can clue you into how you should look into the future and what you can do to make your future yourself.
Summary: Pick an oracle to consult. Ask open-ended questions of your oracle. Consider reading Tarot cards Ask questions of the iChing Read shadows. Gaze into a crystal ball or other reflective surface. Study the stars

Problem: Article: Hair is quite porous and it tends to hold onto smells more than your skin does. Tie back long hair and cover it with a bandanna or towel to prevent the smoke from getting to your hair. If you have a plastic shower cap, then this is ideal because the plastic will protect your hair and it will not pick up any of the smoke's smell either. The more clothing that you have on, the more likely you will be to collect smoke smell on your clothes. Consider taking off your shirt when you smoke or at least roll up your sleeves. You might also consider wearing a designated smoking jacket (or sweatshirt) when you smoke. You can keep it hidden in your room somewhere and wear it when you need to smoke. Make sure that you wash it at least once per week to keep it from smelling too much. You will need to have something to cover up the smell of the smoke, so try lighting a couple of sticks of incense or a scented candle. If you don't have any of these things, then you can also spray some air freshener around your room before and after you start smoking. To prevent smoke from escaping to other parts of your house, place a damp towel along the crack beneath your bedroom door. The damp towel will not only block the smoke from getting out of your room and absorb some of the odor as well. You want to try to direct as much smoke as possible out of your room. If smoke can't exit through an open window or duct, the smoke will leave its odor on walls, carpets, furniture and linens. If you happen to have a fireplace duct in your room, then that is even better. Fireplaces are specifically designed to allow smoke to escape a building, so it will be easier to direct smoke out of your room if your room has a fireplace duct. The better the ventilation of your smoking room, the less likely you are to be caught smoking indoors. Turn on a fan to push the smoke toward the window and to help disperse it after it forms. A tabletop fan pointed toward an open window or air duct is ideal. If you are smoking in a bathroom with a ventilator or exhaust fan, turn it on and aim the smoke toward it to quickly eliminate visible smoke and odors. The special ventilators work by sucking up excess moisture and air particles. Even though you may have kept the smoke from filling your room, you will most likely have some lingering smoke smell on you. Do what you can to cover up the smell of the smoke. For example, you can apply some aftershave on your fingertips, peel and eat an orange, or use a strong scented body spray on yourself.
Summary:
Cover your hair. Protect your clothing. Burn some incense or a scented candle. Block smoke from exiting under your bedroom door. Open a window. Blow smoke toward the exit with a fan. Cover up any lingering smell.