Casting the Bones
When casting the bones, stones, and seeds, sit quietly at first and hold them in your hands. Let them absorb your energy, while you clear your mind of all other thoughts and worries, in order to concentrate on the matter at hand. Then toss the items gently in your open hand or hands while you focus on your question, letting the bones, stones and seeds intermingle in your hand. After tossing them like this several times, drop them onto the chart in front of you. Precisely how you drop them is up to you, but however you drop them will be the correct way, so long as you are focused on your question. The actual casting of the bones is a no-brainer, but recognizing the various patterns they form, and drawing interpretations from the way they fall, takes time and experience to master.
After you’ve cast the bones, note where each bone, stone, and seed landed. In which section did each casting item land? Were any of them touching each other? Did any of them land on top of another casting item? Did any of the bones land in such a way as to point to any other item, or section, in the cast? Did a bone lands on two sections, with the pointing end in one section and the other end in another section? That needs to be taken into consideration in your reading. (With Thola, Cohado and Imbay, the pointing end is the domed end. With Scita, the unbroken end is the pointing end). This is one of those divination methods that demands the diviner use their intuition to determine what’s being said. One book which I’ve found a great help in this is:
O’Neill, Claire. The Oracle of the Bones. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 1994. In addition to providing more information on the art of bone-casting, Claire O’Neill includes a ‘Bone Text’ which can help you identify the various possible casting configurations and what they mean.