GENERAL RULES OF ORNITHOMANCY

First and foremost, bird divination is best practiced alone. It’s a divination method tailor-made for introverts. It’s best practiced in a park, back-yard, garden, vacant lot, or forest preserve, someplace with trees, bushes, ground and sky. Here are some long-established principles for observing their behaviors and deriving omens thereby:

  • Certain birds are considered favorable to see, certain birds are considered unfavorable to see, and still others are situationally either good or bad (see the Bird Omens Chart and the Bird Meanings Glossary PDFs further on in this lesson). A bird of good omen is generally considered an affirmative answer to a question, a bird of bad omen, a negative one. BUT…
  • Birds seen on the left side of the divining area, especially dark-colored birds, are an omen of ill-luck. To see a bird of good omen on the left greatly-diminishes the good luck it signifies, but still, it’s a little luck. Birds seen on the right are normally considered a good sign, unless they’re an ill-omened bird, but even then, the fact they’re on the right side of the divining field mitigates some of the ill-luck they represent. To see a fortunate bird on the right side of your divining field and an ill-omened bird on the left side of your divining field at the same time can be seen as ‘well, I have some good news, and some bad news.’
  • Birds flying into the divining area from the left to the right, across the field of the observer’s vision, are considered favorable. Birds flying from the right to the left, across the observer’s line of vision, are considered unfavorable.
  • If the birds fly straight toward the observer, they will bring good luck with them. If they are flying away from the observer, they will take good fortune and happiness from him. Unless of course, it’s clearly an ill-omened bird; then, it will either be bringing ill-fortune to you or away from you.
  • The height at which the birds are flying through the divining field is important. A bird of good-omen flying very high is a sign of extremely good luck; the lower it flies, the lesser degree of good luck. A bird of ill-omen flying very high is a sign of very bad luck, which is mitigated the lower the bird of ill-omen flies across the divining area.
  • If a bird or birds suddenly change the direction of their flight in the divining area, the observer should be on guard against the sudden attack of an enemy. Somebody could suddenly throw a spanner in the works.
  • If a bird is hovering while on the wing, gliding in one place, or seemingly riding a thermal without really going anywhere, then treachery is indicated, followed by a sudden and merciless onslaught. This omen is often observed with birds of prey. Of course, if the bird hovers, then flies away from you, it could mean treachery will temporarily threaten you, but then be averted.
  • If a song-bird is singing or uttering a cry as it flies in the divining area, then this is regarded as a good sign. But for a raven, a crow, a rook, or any bird of prey to be heard croaking, calling or screaming as it flies in the divining area is considered an ill-omen, unless it happens to be near its nest at the time, in which case, disregard any sound it makes as a factor in your prognostication.
  • The number of utterances of a bird as it flies can be taken into consideration. One or two calls are positive sign. Three is a negative sign. A great number of cries, as in an on-going sequence of calls from the bird as it flies is a sign the birds aren’t immediately going to answer your question.
  • The number of birds flying in the same path or landing on the same tree during your observation ritual can be taken as an indicator. An even number of birds is a positive sign, an odd number of birds is a negative sign. Four birds flying from the left to the right is considered to be the most auspicious sign. Three birds flying from the left to the right is considered to be an unfavorable sign. Otherwise, if you have an odd number of birds flying in a positive direction, interpret it as best you can. It may be at this moment you need to take into consideration the make and model of the birds; are they fundamentally positive or negative?
  • When you begin to work with the birds in your area, you may find that one or two species of birds seem to give the best results. If this is the case, then feel free to disregard the other birds and rely on just these one or two species of birds.

Pages: 1234567