RECOMMENDATIONS
You can print out all the seasonal decks on white stock, but printing-out them out on colored paper relevant to the season makes for a nice visual. In the book, the inquirers approaching the temple wore colors reflective of that season and time of life, so doing likewise with the cards is a nice touch.
Don’t feel bound to just one sex’s questions. If you see a question from the other sex’s set of questions you want an answer to, go for it. As we’ve seen from The Oracles of Astrampsychus and The Dutch Fortune Teller, people in centuries past were more rigid about gender roles, but this doesn’t necessarily reflect our lives now.
You don’t have to ask every question in a season. If you feel inclined to skip a question, do so. See if there’s a question from the other sex’s list for that season that you want to substitute instead.
There is something to be said for following the tradition of consulting these cards on and the day after the appropriate solar holiday, and only people in that age group, but it isn’t a must. You’ll still get an accurate answer. Just don’t jump ahead to the autumn or winter questions when you’re currently in the spring or summer of your life, because the answers could change by the time you get there.
CONCLUSION
This divination tool seemed like it was originally designed to be a rite-of-passage or initiation device, but my yes-and-no stones said no, that wasn’t its Greek creator’s intent. I grew to like Wisdom responding to each of Fortune’s answers, because Her asides added a depth to Fortune’s answers which Fortune’s replies alone would’ve lacked. Wisdom’s presence makes clear this isn’t just a fortune-telling device. The inquirer should think about the answers they receive, and maybe, just maybe, resolve to change and be a better person. Course-correction as you navigate the seas of life seems to be an unspoken intent with this divination tool.
The Temple of Cythnos is designed to be used at each of the four Solar Holidays of the year. If you’re a Pagan, Heathen, Unitarian Universalist, or New Ager who observes the solar holidays, you might want to incorporate its consultation as part of your celebration at those times. But since Imbolc is a Holiday associated with Initiation, this divination tool might be a natural fit as part of your observances then, regardless of what season of life you or your co-celebrants are in.
I don’t know why I did two different versions of the answer-sheet, but on either one of them, you may have to summarize the answers in order to get them to fit in the space provided. Someday, you could have accumulated a set of four recording sheets, with all the answers you selected for each season of life. They will tell a story. I hope your story is a good one.
EXERCISES:
- Consult the oracle decks for the ‘season’ of life you’re in right now, and record the answers you receive, from both Fortune and Wisdom. In your judgment, were the answers accurate or not? Revisit the answers later on, either months or years later. Was your original assessment of its accuracy still true, or has your original assessment changed?
- If you’ve already passed a season or two, consult the oracle decks for those seasons, and record the answers you received. In considering the answers you received, would you say they were accurate or not?
- EXTRA CREDIT: Consult one (or both) of the seasonal oracle decks for someone you know well who is in, or has passed, that season of their life. Record the answers received on one of the answer sheets, and look them over. On the follow-up notes sheet, note whether each answer was, in your judgement, a ‘hit’ or a ‘miss’ for that person. Did this exercise help you understand this person better?
- EXTRA-EXTRA CREDIT: If you are so-inclined, share the answers you received for that person with them. Do they agree or disagree with the answers you drew for them? If they haven’t seen the number for the answers you drew for them, have them draw their own answers. Was there any overlap between the answers they drew for themselves, and the ones you drew?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Temple of Cythnos, or the Oracles of Fortune and Wisdom for the Four Seasons of Life. Translated from the Greek. London, England, U.K.: N. Conant, 1778. Available through internetarchive.org.
Baker, Jim. The Cunning Man’s Handbook. London, England, U.K.: Avalonia Books., 2013. Pp. 117-120. ISBN: 978-1-905297-68-9.