Why do you think divination works?

[Terrywoodenpic]

it is very easy to explain.

http://www.randi.org/library/dowsing/

Our farm in Wales had a water problem when our spring was contaminated by a dead sheep.
We called in a local dowser to find a new source of water.
within half an hour of starting he told us where to have a pipe bore put in .
with in the week we had a crew in to bore a hole and at less than twenty feet struck water.

One time one hit... I am convinced.

He did not say we might hit water he said we would.

 

[d.]

Our farm in Wales had a water problem when our spring was contaminated by a dead sheep.
We called in a local dowser to find a new source of water.
within half an hour of starting he told us where to have a pipe bore put in .
with in the week we had a crew in to bore a hole and at less than twenty feet struck water.

One time one hit... I am convinced.

He did not say we might hit water he said we would.

tell him about the JREF challenge then - it's his opportunity to make a million dollars!

it would also do us doubters the favor of supplying some non-anectodal evidence of this phenomenon.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

tell him about the JREF challenge then - it's his opportunity to make a million dollars!

it would also do us doubters the favor of supplying some non-anectodal evidence of this phenomenon.

I expect he is dead by now that was all in the 50's

The government employs dowsers to this day. I don't think they would if there was not a much better than even chance of it working.

 

[d.]

The government employs dowsers to this day. I don't think they would if there was not a much better than even chance of it working.

the US government also employed spoon-bender Uri Geller to track down serial killers.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

the US government also employed spoon-bender Uri Geller to track down serial killers.

A blood hound would be cheaper.

 

[d.]

A blood hound would be cheaper.

and undoubtedly more entertaining.

 

[Willamena]

the US government also employed spoon-bender Uri Geller to track down serial killers.

What did he do? Spoon bends --"Yes, yes... they went that way."

 

[BFD_Zayl]

oh, its quite simple. I conjure (ask) a specific spirit to come forth, it does so of its own free will, but offerings and such are made to give it more of a reason to come. and I ask questions, and they are usually answered. interpretation is usually easy, i'm just having a chat with someone, granted, a dead someone. its the ones who communicate through empathy, visions, scents, etc. that are a little tougher to find out. how it specifically works..we will never know for sure, but the way i see it, I focus enough death essence into a specific area, had offerings or blood sacrifices, certain incantations so the spirit can hear me, etc. the concentrated death essence allows it to appear much more easily, and focus more energy on effectively communicating, rather than just trying to be heard.

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

Ok, read what follows with the caveat that my experience with the I Ching differs from the tarot and I'm not considered to be all that great a tarot reader

Just tried a little experiment. Using tarot cards I asked for a card that would concisely represent an event in my life I was thinking of. If the card wasn't a very likely card to represent what I was thinking of compared to other cards in the deck I'd reject it and try again. After 4 tries I had rejected every card that had come up.

I do something similar to the above before reading to check if I'm "in the zone" enough and therefore capable of doing a worthwhile reading. It didn't seem like I was tonight.

Anyway, next I tried asking for a card that would represent something significant about an event but not necessarily be a concise summary. I found 3 out of 4 cards seemed to represent some meaningful aspect of the event in my mind.

It got me thinking. If my tarot readings were immensely accurate in describing how I'd find things to be or how things were they would be quite different. I would likely use them all the time for almost any decision which included unknowns that I could benefit from by eliminating. What will going for a drink tonight be like? How would telling so-and-so their girlfriend is cheating effect them? Which approach should I take with my new job?

So, even though I tend to believe my tarot readings can be accurate I've naturally come to treat what they say as functionally unreliable, more useful as an additional aid to reflection than a dependable authority. I still believe that when I pass my "in the zone" test I'm going to get a better reading but I wonder if that will stand up to scrutiny in the future.

For now it leaves me with an interesting question: If I discover that the cards that come up in my readings are pretty much random and that my willingness to find relevant meaning in them is the main or sole factor in determining them to have such meaning, will I still have the impetus to use them?

Would you?

 

[Willamena]

Just tried a little experiment. Using tarot cards I asked for a card that would concisely represent an event in my life I was thinking of. If the card wasn't a very likely card to represent what I was thinking of compared to other cards in the deck I'd reject it and try again. After 4 tries I had rejected every card that had come up.

You can't tug on Superman's cape. No offense, but it's not any wonder that 4 out of 4 cards failed to describe your 'event', when the event that you were really drawing cards for was to see if a card would match.

"...tried a little experiment" --that was what your actual reading was about. What was the first card you drew? Do you remember?

For now it leaves me with an interesting question: If I discover that the cards that come up in my readings are pretty much random and that my willingness to find relevant meaning in them is the main or sole factor in determining them to have such meaning, will I still have the impetus to use them?

Would you?

What other impetus would you want?

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

You can't tug on Superman's cape. No offense, but it's not any wonder that 4 out of 4 cards failed to describe your 'event', when the event that you were really drawing cards for was to see if a card would match.

"...tried a little experiment" --that was what your actual reading was about. What was the first card you drew? Do you remember?

The circumstances in which I read them are bound to influence the outcome. I feel that I sort of factored that in, but nevermind.

The card was the 3 of cups. I wrote it down.

What other impetus would you want?

I guess I'd like to believe that there is something more than randomness to which actual cards come out. If they were entirely random and their relevance was down to how well I'm prepared to stretch their interpretation to fit the question, that would be disappointing to me. The impetus to use them in that case would come down to the chance that, being random, they could help me see things from a perspective that I would otherwise not consider.

 

[Reverend Rick]

oh, its quite simple. I conjure (ask) a specific spirit to come forth, it does so of its own free will, but offerings and such are made to give it more of a reason to come. and I ask questions, and they are usually answered.

What you are doing is invoking. If you really want to see some awesome stuff, Have a protective circle while your inside a triangle outside the circle and evoke goetic spirits. There is no coaxing or asking. You command them and sometimes it is not pretty.

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

What you are doing is invoking. If you really want to see some awesome stuff, Have a protective circle while your inside a triangle outside the circle and evoke goetic spirits. There is no coaxing or asking. You command them and sometimes it is not pretty.

You've used the Lesser Key of Solomon RR?

 

[Willamena]

Wow! my answer was good.

 

[Metempsychosis]

Divination is considered Satan ,because some religions consider karma and reincarnation to be satanic.Eastern religions allow and explain divinations.

 

[TheBotanicalDolly]

I believe it is your subconcious mind that knows the answer and it reflects that in divination. Such as if you read tea leaves, your mind see the shapes that fit with your answer which your brain already knows.