What Your Toaster Can Teach You

We're all born psychic, with a keen sensing system. Watch a one-year-old seeing something new and it's like she's seeing with every fiber of her being; it’s more like beholding. As we get older, though, we're taught to ignore and even reject this ability, often becoming like the kids in the e.e. cummings poem: “down they forgot as up they grew.” Fear and doubt creep in, erasing our knowing of our knowing.

But psychic-ness is an intrinsic part of us—almost every indigenous culture has a tradition of psychic perception, from Greek fingernail divination to the Labradorean Naskapi puddle scrying, from the African Azande termite divination to Navajo star reading. They teach us that we don’t need tea leaves or crystal balls to divine soul-revealing metaphors: Humans have used everything from llama dung to rocks to bird sounds to crackling fire to see beyond their everyday minds. The world around us is a vehicle for divination, with billions of “texts” on new ways of reading the world.

Let me be clear, though: Psychic abilities don't allow you to know the future. If they could, I would have been a lottery winner many times over. But they can offer insight, clarity, and fun. Especially because when we exercise our intuition, we engage the imagination in such a full and wonderful way. When playing with the divining activities below, don't worry whether you made something up or if it's "true."

Divination Preparation

First, it's a good idea to relax before any kind of intuiting. Before I do readings for other people or myself, I like to close my eyes to tune out distractions. Then I take a few deep breaths—slowly in through the nose and out the mouth. It’s all about altering our routine to see the world in a non-routine way. Now we can help our senses get a little more acute while activating that all-important imagination. Close your eyes and breathe. Then imagine that you're you, but an ear. An organ with curves and crevices designed specifically to hear. Take in all the sounds around you—the hum of the fridge, the sound of birds, a TV in another room, whatever. After a few moments, come back into you, leaving the ear-body behind.

Reading Your Life

Using a Frith Sense
The Tool: Your eyes and whatever's around you.

The Practice: The ancients Celts practiced a self-divination game called Frith. Pronounced “free,” it was a practice among the Celts, and in Scotland until very recently. The “frithir” would fast on the first Monday of every quarter and stand before sunrise, bareheaded, barefoot, and blindfolded on a doorstep. She would put hand on either side of doorposts and make invocation. On removing blindfold, she would do a reading based on first thing that she saw.

How to Do it: Find a spot indoors or out. Stand still with your eyes closed, and ask a question about your life, silently or aloud. Keeping your eyes shut, slowly spin a few times in a circle. Open your eyes and focus on the first object you see. What is it? What is its essential use or meaning? Your eyes landing on a chair, for example, might indicate that you need a break. A window could mean that something is opening for you. What feelings arise in you when you look at this object? What associations do you have with it? Let it speak, let it answer. There are no rules for how to see an object. It’s up to you to decide what things mean. Use your imagination. It’s much better than having someone tell you.

Continued on page 2: Blown tire? Could be a message... »