A FEW FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE
Sometimes, no matter how much you or your friends try to figure out the answer, what you see over your shoulder, what your eyes fixate on after you ask your question, won’t make sense at first glance. That’s fine. Maybe you weren’t meant to understand it immediately. Make a note of the question you asked and which object(s) met your eyes in response. Re-visit your notes later. In retrospect, it might make perfect sense.
If you’d like, follow-up questions which occur to you in the wake of an earlier question are perfectly okay to ask. Such questions may provide clarity.
Sometimes, the answers we get from divination in response to our life questions can be painful ones. If you’re doing this in a group, be prepared with a box of tissues and a comforting shoulder to cry on if someone discerns they’ve received a painful answer.
Divination can be as much about re-framing the past as foretelling the future. Over-the-shoulder divination can be great at this. This approach to divination can jar loose mental log-jams in the head and get you looking at the world in fresh new ways. May it bring you much enjoyment and useful answers!
EXERCISES
- Create a flat-objects-only tableau on a wall or bulletin board. You can use any of the card decks I’ve devised, or try the Post-It™ Note-approach. Perform an over the shoulder divination with this tableau, noting both your questions and what your eyes landed on.
- Create a 3D-objects tableau on a table. Rocks, stones, figurines, divining bones, dominoes or mah jongg tiles, you name it, just so long as it’s something tactile you can grab. This may be more effective if you have at least one other person to set up the tableau for you while you’re turned away. Ask a question, then, with your eyes closed, turn around and start grabbing items at random from the table. Note both your question and the items you grabbed, and what you think they mean.
- Compare and contrast these two approaches to over-the-shoulder divination. How were they alike? How were they different? What were their strong and weak points? Do you find you prefer one method over the other?
- Extra Credit: Try over-the-shoulder divination in a store, a shop, or on a walk through the park. Compare and contrast it with your experiences with deliberately-created tableaus. How was the experience the same? How was it different?