Seeing the Signs

A Wonderful Book About divination

For the past few months, I have been busy transcribing my diaries. I have the years 1978 to 1989 completely typed and saved electronically, and I am currently working on 1990. I also have 1996 and 1999 done, as well as parts of 1993. I plan to change the names and some of the pertinent details and make it into a novel, while keeping it in a diary form.
The years 1987 and 1988 were the start of a spiritual journey. Being of a bookish nature, I searched through libraries and book stores to find all the books I could on women’s spirituality, astrology, the tarot, numerology, goddess religion and feminist thealogy. I recorded my findings in my diary, along with pages of notes, drawings, tarot readings and reviews. These sections of the diary would become the core of my Book of Shadows.
In 1989, at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, I came upon a book called The Fortune-Teller’s Workbook, by Sasha Fenton. I wasn’t so interested in fortune-telling as I was in spirituality but I borrowed the book because it had chapters on numerology and the tarot, of which I had a deep and abiding interest. I was also interested in the chapter on how to tell fortune using playing cards – how did one figure out what the card was about without a picture to tell you, as with tarot cards? I wrote that I wasn’t interested in foretelling the future – “well, not other people’s futures – I wouldn’t mind a peek into my own. I’m really into these methods as poetic aids – the language of poetry – the language of symbolism – I long to become learned in the arts of magic – earth magic – faery-faith – witch-craft.” Twenty-five years later, I am not so sure how learned I have become, but it has been a marvelous journey.
I recently bought The Fortune-Teller’s Workbook from Amazon.com. It was originally published in 1988 and it is still in print. It came the other day – used but in good shape. My copy was published by Aquarian Press. It’s a fabulous book. It covers nineteen forms of divination – ones that everyone has heard of, such as Numerology, The I-Ching, Tarot Cards, Palmistry, and Tea Leaves – as well as obscure ones such as The Oracle of Napoleon and Flower Reading. I will certainly be referring to this book in future columns when I talk about various divining systems.
Sasha Fenton is a prolific writer. She has written eleven books about fortune telling alone, and many more on the subject of the Tarot, Astrology, Palmistry, Chinese Astrology, Business, and even fiction. Her website is here http://www.sashafenton.com/ & there are links to her blogs and how to contact her.
I have some health issues – tomorrow I have blood work in the morning and then a Gastroscopy in the afternoon – so tonight I am going to perform a small ritual and try to see what my health future might be. Should I use the Oracle of Napoleon? Or throw the I-Ching? Perhaps I will try a simple deck of cards. Sasha Fenton’s The Fortune-Teller’s Workbook is a convenient and resourceful way of checking on the future. Perhaps your library has a copy – if not, Amazon.com and other book-sellers has it both new and used.