Divination

**Divination** is an elective subject available beginning in a student's third year. Students study a myriad of ways to scry information about the future, including tea dregs, crystal balls, visions, and Astrology and horoscope charts. Other methods of divining the future include smoke patterns, dreams, tarot cards, and the interpretation of prophecies, though the latter is quite rare. Guides and textbooks allow students of Divination to discern or translate what observed symbols intend to mean.

The class is taught by Ilka Krev.

## How Classes Work

**Class Syllabus**

Every week a new lecture will be posted, explaining what everyone will be working on that week and will include a form for you to submit a short synopsis of your assignment once you are done. There are no scheduled times for Divination, and it is an open door policy throughout the week. You may come in and read the lecture and do your assignment when it is most convenient to you.

The year is split into two halves. The first half of the year is dedicated to one of two core Divination subjects: Tasseomancy (tea/coffee reading) and Cartomancy (tarot reading). These two subjects are taught every-other-year, with increasing complexity as the students get older. The second half of the year is a mixed-age subject, with each year focusing on a more exotic form of Divination (Palmistry, Crystal Balls, Knucklebones, Blood Scrying, etc.).

While you can always choose to do a solo scene (especially if you need to do the 'homework'), most Divination methods flourish with a partner, and you can do the assignment as many times as you like during the week, even just for fun!

Professor Burke will frequently make an appearance to answer questions and do smaller on the spot lectures. However, if you need help and he isn't around, you can use t!fried bot command to try and summon him if he's available! There will be more information on that in the section below. Also, NEVER hesitate to message one of the other Divination professors or TAs.

Due to divination being open to all years, the class has been split up into four different rooms. Three of the rooms will not  be visible without using a command from the divination bot and people are encouraged to use when there are already active scenes taking place in the primary

2. divination-tower.

The Divination Tower will always be open for RP, even outside of class work, but please try to prioritize people doing their assignments. If

2. divination-tower and all of the

4. parlor-tables are currently in use by people, please either go to a #misc or wait until they are done to do any non-class related RP.

As for how to access the

2. parlor-table rooms, read the t!privacy selection below.

## The Divination Bot

Also known as the Teacher Bot, the bot is critical to participating in much of the classwork and is very easy to use.

Divination Commands

```
t!help divination - Lists all of the commands.

```

```
t!tea - Roll 1-5 sets of tea leaves for.

```

```
t!tarot_5 - Receive five cards and descriptions by DM.

```

```
t!tarot_3 - Receive three cards and descriptions by DM.

```

```
t!tarot - Receive a single tarot card by DM.

```

```
t!swords t!cups t!wands t!pentacles - Gives you information about the specific card suites.

```

```
t!read Name of Card - Allows you to read the description of a card. The command is case sensitive.

```

```
t!privacy - Access the parlor table rooms. *Only works in*
#divination-tower.

```

```
t!done - Removes access to the parlor table rooms.

```

```
t!fried - Summon Professor von Schreiber to help you if he is available. *Only works in*
#divination-tower and the
#parlor-table rooms.

```

### **t!privacy**

A command that only works in

2. divination-tower.

If you are ready to do your work with a partner and there are currently active RPs in the

2. divination-tower room, you can use this command to be granted the Divining! role and given access to three more divination focused rooms.

There you will be able to choose one of the less active or empty rooms to do your assignment in, and if things are quiet, you can even do non-divination related RP there! This is a great way to have fun little private scenes, as none of the

2. parlor-table rooms have a viewable message history, so it gives the illusion of a quiet place to talk or divine.

### **t!done**

Once you've completed your work, you use the t!done command to clear yourself of the Divining! role. This command can be used everywhere, not just the Divination classroom, so if you forget to clear it you can do it at a later time anywhere else.

Using t!done is **completely optional**, and is only necessary for students who wish to avoid 'channel bloat' if you'd like to leave t!divining on indefinitely, you are more than welcome to.

As a note however, since the parlor table rooms do not have a viewable message history, if you need logs from the room after you have removed the Divining! role, you can talk to Professor Burke and he will get you the logs you need.

### **t!fried**

This command is for if you have a question for Professor Lysander Burke. When used, it will summon him to the classroom if he (or rather, his player) is available.

This command can also be used if you need to do your assignment and want to do it with a partner instead of solo, but can't find anyone else available in

2. rp-search or the classroom to do it with. As long as Lysander is available and has the time, he will happily be your character's partner when no one else can be found!

Please do not abuse this function, as it is here to help everyone out.

## Core Lesson: Tasseography (Tea Reading)

Tasseography is the art of reading tea leaves to get an impression of what the drinker's future might bring.

In our lessons, Tasseography will be primarily done with this command:

```
t!tea

```

This will generate a random assortment of tea leaves for you to divine from and piece together your predictions or impressions.

**TIP: If you are having trouble seeing your leaves, you can right click the emoji and "open in new tab" to get a clearer view!** But a reminder: You are not graded on accuracy, and you do not need to correctly guess which shape it is.

### **Assignment Instructions**

**Questioner**: The person who rolls the t!tea and has their future read.

**Diviner**: The person who reads the tea leaves and interprets their meaning.

First open up by talking to your partner, have your character ask them a few questions like how they are feeling, if they have any particular worries or things going on in their life they are comfortable sharing.

As you and your partner talk, you can roleplay through the act of pouring and drinking tea, and once you both have talked enough, you choose who will be the questioner or diviner first.

Following the directions in the lecture (swirl the remaining tea in the cup before draining it off into the saucer), the person whose future is to be divined first will use the t!tea command.

Once their results are visible, it is up to the reader to look at the shapes and try to make sense of them.

### **Reading the Leaves**

The designs and art of the leaves is purposely left vague, and while many of them do have corresponding symbols *(see the diagrams in the Symbols section below)*, quite a few are not based on any of the symbols at all.

**You will not be graded on accuracy for the reading**, and are rather encouraged to try and figure out on your own what the symbols might be. Consider everything you talked about with your partner and try and relate the symbols to their current troubles or life events.

Once you have finished reading their leaves to the best of your ability, you switch positions and the new questioner will use the t!tea command so that the diviner may try and read the leaves that arise.

You can switch back and forth as many times as you like during a reading, rolling a new t!tea each time. You can even do it in larger groups, with multiple people working together to try and find the meaning of the leaves in someone's cup!

### **Tasseography Quick Guide**

1. Talk with your partner about the current issues each character is facing, or see if they have any questions they'd like an answer about. Not necessary but recommended. Don't force your partner to talk about things they don't want to.
2. RP out drinking the tea while you talk. Once ready, swirl the remaining tea in the cup before pouring it in the saucer, leaving just the tea leaves behind.
3. The questioner uses the t!tea command.
4. The diviner tries to read the tea leaves that the questioner rolled.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 as much as you like, switching who is the diviner and who is the questioner each time.
6. When done, fill out the form provided in the lecture. It will be short and easy to fill out, and works as both to note attendance and for grading.

### **Tasseography Expanded**

There are around 29 new tea leaves you can roll from t!tea, and a guide with some of the new symbols has been added in Tasseography: The Symbols.

The expanded method will follow the same guidelines as above, though the interpretation part is now more in depth. **Using the expanded method isn't necessary unless the assignment specifically requests it.**

After you us t!tea to see what you get, use this diagram as a guideline for considering where the tea leaves are.

**Method One:**

You may take the tea leaves that were rolled with t!tea and arrange them anywhere you like, deciding whether they'd be within the present, the past or the future sections of the cup and build your interpretation from there.

**Method Two:**

If you’d like to leave things to chance, you can also use dice to figure out where the symbols fall.

You can use !roll Xd3 with the X being however many tea leaves showed up as a result of your t!tea roll. So for instance if you had **4** tea leaf results, you would type:

```
!roll 4d3

```

The tea leaves will be counted in order, and the results of the three sided dice will be where the leaves are near.

1. Present
2. Past
3. Future

From there you may interpret it how you see fit!

## Tasseography: The Symbols

**Do not prioritize accuracy in identifying symbols**, this sheet is more of a guideline than anything else. As stated in the previous section, this is not a comprehensive guide of the symbols. There are a few included in the bot that are not included on any of these sheets.

## Core Lesson: Cartomancy (Tarot Reading)

Cartomancy is the art of divining using Tarot Cards.

In our lessons, Cartomancy will be primarily done with this command:

```
t!tarot_5

```

```
t!tarot_3

```

This will generate a random assortment of cards and DM them to you so you may fill out the spread for your partner. The person doing the reading will use the command.

### **Assignment Instructions**

**Questioner**: The person who is being divined for.

**Diviner**: The person who uses t!tarot\_5 or t!tarot\_3 to read their partner’s future.

First open up by talking to your partner, have your character ask them a few questions like how they are feeling, if they have any particular worries or things going on in their life they are comfortable sharing.

As you and your partner talk, you can decide which of the available spreads best suit your partner’s question or situation.

Once you have decided, use the command (t!tarot\_3 or t!tarot\_5) that suits the size of the spread. You will receive the cards you draw for the questioner by DM, and may choose to either reveal them one at a time or all at once. Whichever method you choose, you will be performing your reading from there.

### **Reading the Cards**

You will not be graded on accuracy for the reading, and are rather encouraged to do what feels right during the process. If you need more information about a card, you are encouraged to look it up online and get more information as you need it.

Two recommended resources for those who do want to look up more online are:

Labyrinthos ★ Biddy Tarot *(Scroll down to Tarot Card Meanings library.)*

There will be multiple spreads with different intentions to choose from, but for the first lesson we will be starting with one three card spread and one five card spread for while we are starting out..

#### **The Basic Three Card Tarot Spread**

A simple spread that allows the questioner some insight on a specific question or situation.

1. **The Past:** The first card relates to the situation as it was in the questioner’s past.
2. **The Present:** The second relates to the situation as it is in the questioner’s present.
3. **The Future:** The third relates to the situation as it is in the questioner’s future.

#### **The Basic Five Card Tarot Spread**

A more complex spread that allows the questioner to explore more angles of their question or situation.

1. **The Present:** This card represents the present situation of the questioner. It will also set the general theme for the reading.
2. **The Past:** This card reveals past events that are still having an influence on the current situation.
3. **The Future:** This card shows you the future outcome of the situation.
4. **Reasons/Causes:** This card will reveal the reasons/causes that led to the questioner’s current situation. This card may reveal any obstacles that may be standing in the way of achieving their desired results. This card goes with card 2 and can shed some light on those past events affecting the situation.
5. **Potential:** This card will reveal the possible outcome that can occur if the questioner continues on their current path. This card shows what may happen when the questioner takes a certain course of action.

### **Cartomancy Quick Guide**

1. Have a chat with your partner, figure out which of the available spreads (Three Card or Five Card) best fits the situation.
2. When you are ready to read your partner’s cards, use t!tarot\_5 or t!tarot\_3 to draw the required number of cards. They will be DMed to you along with a short overview of each card. You are more than welcome to look up more information on them if you wish.
3. Go through the cards in RP, you can do it one by one or, or reveal all the cards at once and work through the reading following that, The order they are DMed to you will be the order you use them in the spread.
4. When you are done, switch who will be doing the reading!