2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop: Divination and Myth

Welcome to the 2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop. This time around I'm the wrangler. That means I got to set the topic. If you want to see the reasons behind the topic you can visit the Master List. There you will also see a full list of our participants and the links to their blogs.
The Tarot Blog Hop is an amazing exercise in global tarot community and creativity. I am so honored to be a part of it.

Perhaps you are joining me from Olivia Destrades' First Earth Tarot Blog.

When you finish here please continue on to Chloe McCracken's Celtic Lenormand Blog.

If you find a break in the chain refer to the Master List.

Some myths are ancient. Some myths are stories we make up. Here is a story a friend of mine made up. Or maybe he intuited it. Like all myths, it’s hard to know for sure if it’s true or not. And, like all myths, it has enough truth in it to make you think.

This myth answers the question “How did Random Token Divination begin?”

First, let me explain “random token divination.” Tthis is a term my friend and I coined. It describes any divination method that draws from a group of tokens (cards, stones, etc.) at random.

Tarot, of course, is random token divination. We know that tarot originated as a trump-taking card game. Eventually Tarot Appropriati, a game of telling poetic stories that compared people and events to individual tarot cards, led to random token divination with tarot.

I have always believed  random is a divine energy. When we shuffle the deck we are giving the Universe the opportunity to have a hand in the outcome. To me, random is a source of spiritual power in divination.

And now it is time to tell our story.

Let’s go back to a very early time in the history of our species – perhaps even before we had a written language.

Perhaps one day a man walks to the river and catches a fish. It’s a big fish that will make a wonderful meal for his family. After he catches the fish he sees an unusual shell at the river’s edge. He picks the shell up and takes it with him. Later when he looks at the shell it reminds him of the large fish he caught and the wonderful meal it made.

Another day he is out in the woods and a large animal chases him. For a moment he thinks his life is over. Finally he climbs a tree and the animal loses interest.  When he climbs down the tree he picks up a stick that appears to have fallen from the tree that saved his life. He brings the stick home. He shows his family the stick and tells them the story of his close call.

A bit later he goes out to hunt and it rains. He is cold and wet, and finds nothing to bring home. He knows his family will be hungry. He is frustrated and disappointed. On his way home he finds a stone on the path. He picks it up. Later, that stone reminds him of his disappointment.

Over time these objects grow into a collection. He knows which one reminds him of victory and which reminds him of defeat. Before taking a journey he chooses one at random to see what he might encounter on his journey.

Perhaps this collection of sticks, shells and stones is the first oracle of random token divination. Or perhaps this is just a made up story to explain something we don’t quite understand.  

That is the power of myth. In a simple story we find truth; something that makes sense. That is the power of divination, too.

Blessed Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox and Second Harvest Festival!

Now it’s time to continue your journey through the Tarot Blog Hop. Your next stop is Chloe's Celtic Lenormand Blog. If you are working in the other direction you can visit the blog before mine, Olivia's First Earth Tarot Blog.

If you find a break in the chain visit the Master List.