Little Druid on the Prairie

8.    Discuss the relative importance and effect of divination within your personal spiritual practice. (minimum 100 words)

In my personal spiritual practice I use divination on a fairly regular basis. I try to do weekly readings when I make offerings, out of a desire to see what elements of my life or work I should be focused on (or perhaps warned about). I also do divination for my study group when we do rituals, to determine the blessings we receive in return for our offerings. As well, I do divination before I attempt any magical working, to determine the probable outcome. While it was not a runic divination, I have called off magical workings in the past if a tarot reading was decidedly unfavorable to the work I was intending to do. For me, divination is a way to check in with my gods and spirits to see what they think is important for me to pay attention to, so I try to do it whenever I am doing anything of religious significance.

9.    Discuss your view and understanding of the function of the Seer. (minimum 100 words)

The function of a seer is to take omens and – most crucially – to interpret them, using a combination of knowledge, experience, and intuition. Divination rarely gives a clear-cut answer (unless you’re flipping coins for a yes/no question), and it is the function of the seer to take the symbols as drawn and turn them from esoteric symbols into something of meaning for the audience of the divination, whether that’s in a private consultation or a public ritual. A seer can be called upon whenever a querent has a difficult question on which they would like the spirits and Kindreds to weigh in, and as such they take on a consultory role within the community.

10.    Discuss the importance and value of divination as it relates to ADF. (minimum 100 words)

Divination within ADF is critical to the practice of our basic order of ritual, as it provides a method by which the Kindreds can express their pleasure (or displeasure) with our offerings. It lets us know whether we have done right by the spirits we set out to make offerings to, and it gives us feedback in the form of the omen to know what the spirits will offer us in return. Within a ritual, the seer’s job is extremely valuable, as their knowledge, experience, and intuition determine whether a ritual has been done properly or not (which may include signs or symbols other than just the omens that are drawn) and whether additional offerings need to be made or the ritual format changed before the next ritual takes place. Divination gives us the response we need from our Kindreds to know the specifics of the exchange of gifts that we are partaking in. A skilled seer takes an invaluable place in the ADF community as it is their job to interpret the omens given by the Kindreds in ritual, to determine if offerings have been accepted and what blessings have been given in return – and not just what the blessings are, but if any actions need to be taken as a result of those blessings.