Divination

**Divination** is an ability of the witches to gain insight on the future, the present and the past. Witches commonly use this power to predict future catastrophic event and reading ones past. This power have been practiced through a variety of mediums such as tarot cards, pendulums, mirrors, crystal balls, tea leaves, palm reading, bones, runes, blood, and some even involve contacting The Ancestors.

## Automatic Writing

Automatic writing or psychography is the psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. The words are claimed to arise from a subconscious, spiritual or supernatural source.

## Foresight

Foresight is a form of divination to get visions through force of will that sometimes allow the eyes of the prophet become white or blue in color. That power, of course, is mastered by Seers, but is accessible to all witches through spells and rituals if they know how to trigger the vision.

## Hydromancy

Hydromancy is a divination skills to gain visions by means of water or other liquids.

The extremely powerful witch, Christopher, has used the blood of his daughter in a stone bowl to spy on his enemies.

## Localization

This type of divination is widespread among witches all over the world and seems to be one of the most used divination spells.

By using a map and a personal item, a witch can locate the exact spot where an object, a person or whatever desired is localized. Sometimes this action calls for a spoken incantation or for the use of candles or other agents that help the concentration of the witch, sometimes they just need a map and sand or blood (from the person or relative they are tracking) to be dropped on the map and that will magically moves to the target's point as the spell is chanted.

However, locator spells can be blocked using equally powerful cloaking spells, preventing the target's location from being found.

## Mediumship

The ability to see, talk and interact with ghosts and spirits. Many witches in both series have shown to have this power even if generally it requires a spell or a ritual known as Séance, where the deceased is summoned inside a circle of salt or chalk, usually by using a personal object of the spirit to be summoned. Some humans, known as Mediums, in particular conditions (i.e. near-death experiences or resurrected) have acquired psychic abilities that allow them to interact with ghosts.

## Osteomancy

Osteomancy is a set of divination skills that uses bones, whether animal or human, to gain prophetic visions of past or future events.

## Pendulum

The pendulum is a jewel or a crystal hanging from a thread or a chain that is oscillated over a surface, a map or a person and the witch draws responses from the pendulum swings.

## Tasseomancy

Tasseomancy, also known as Tasseography or "reading tea leaves" is an ancient practice that originated in the East. This practice consist in the interpretation of the pattern that the tea leaves form inside a cup after sipping tea and draw from them prophetic responses.

## Tarot Cards

There are 78 tarot cards in a tarot deck with two parts to it: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The most popular tarot deck used today is the "Rider-Waite Deck". A simple way to use divination with tarot cards is to shuffle the deck and ask a yes or no question. According to Graysin Blackwell the cards are symbolic but can help a witch to find common clues.

## See Also

*The **Divination** article uses material from the "Divination" article from the Vampire Diaires wiki at FANDOM and is licensed under the Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.*