This divination tool comes from an inscription in Limyra, a city in ancient Lycia, in what is now the southern coast of Turkey. There are essentially two ways of divining with this oracle. The first method of divining with this oracle is as shown in the picture above–all the letters of the Greek Alphabet are painted, engraved or labeled onto glass or ceramic tiles, then one is drawn from whatever bowl, box, or bag you keep them in. It is up to you what kind of receptacle you keep them in, so long as it is large enough to accommodate your hand when you reach in for one tile. I keep mine in a ceramic pot, since it seems to me that’s the way the ancient Greeks would’ve kept them. It is also large enough for me to reach in and stir them up gently with my hand as I recite my invocation.
The second method has an extra step, but appears to be a more traditional way of casting this oracle. You use a set of five dice for this. The letters of the Greek alphabet are assigned numeric values, from 5 to 30. After reciting your invocation, you throw the dice, note the number you’ve thrown, then consult the list of meanings for your answer, looking for the number which corresponds with a letter. The letter that number is associated with is your answer. The benefit of this second method is its portability. You don’t need the actual Greek alphabet letters; so long as you’ve got five dice, and the list of the meanings, you’re good to go.
There is actually a third method of forecasting with the Greek alphabet, but it involves the use of astragali or sheep knuckle bones, and how many of us have those around?