{"id":8945,"date":"2013-09-01T01:10:14","date_gmt":"2013-09-01T06:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=9251"},"modified":"2017-09-23T13:28:41","modified_gmt":"2017-09-23T18:28:41","slug":"seeing-the-signs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2013\/09\/01\/seeing-the-signs-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing the Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flipping a Coin for a Quick Answer<\/strong><\/p>\n

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When I need a fast answer, an easy answer, I flip a coin.\u00a0 This is not something I do for serious problems or deep, probing issues.\u00a0 This is for more superficial thing such as:\u00a0 should I wear the pink top or the white top?\u00a0 Should I prepare zucchini or broccoli with the chicken for dinner?\u00a0\u00a0 Should I ride my bike along the paved bike path in the park or go along the old railway bed?\u00a0 Every few days, I am digging into my change purse or into the cracked cup in which I keep spare change to flip a coin to help me make a decision.\u00a0 I generally use an American quarter.\u00a0 Its size and weight makes for a good toss in the air, a decent flip as it flies up and over, and randomness of fall.\u00a0 Contrary to common thought, coins do have a 50-50 chance of landing heads or tails.\u00a0 It depends on how they are tossed and whether they are caught mid-air or not.\u00a0 Therefore, someone who is skilled in tossing coins can actually help determine the outcome. \u00a0Bruce Schneier writes about this in his blog, \u201cSchneier on Security: Non-Randomness in Coin Flipping\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tossing coins has a long history.\u00a0 Richard Alleyn writes that in Roman times, it was called \u201cHeads or Ships\u201d, since Roman coins had the head of the current emperor on one side of the coin and a ship on the other side.\u00a0 Often coins would have the head of the god Janus on the coin in place of the emperor.\u00a0 In medieval times, it was called \u201cCross or Piles\u201d.\u00a0 Coins had a cross on one side and the pile was a mark made by a hammer on the other side.\u00a0 When coin tossing became to be called \u201cHeads or Tails\u201d is obscure, but it seems to be around the late eighteenth century.<\/p>\n

Raymond Buckland writes in The Fortune-Telling Book<\/span> that many people use a special coin just for tossing.\u00a0 He writes, \u201cThey will consecrate the coins before use by ritually cleansing them in saltwater and in the smoke of incense.\u00a0 The coins will then be kept wrapped in a cloth or special bag for use only in divination.\u201d\u00a0 (132)<\/p>\n

For Yes\/No answers, generally Heads are Yes & Tails are No.\u00a0 These kind of questions work beautifully with flipping a coin.\u00a0 However, you must stick with the answer you get!\u00a0 No two out of three, three out of five tosses!\u00a0 If you don\u2019t like the answer you received, then do something about your situation!<\/p>\n

Raymond Buckland gets quite involved with using coins for divination, far more than just flipping a coin for a quick answer.\u00a0 He has a system using five coins that utilizes numerology and another one that uses ten coins and the Astrological Houses.\u00a0 Those are very complicated and I am not going into that here today.<\/p>\n

He also mentions that tossing coins is how the Chinese developed the I-Ching.\u00a0 I am not so sure if this is true or if it was by tossing something else \u2013 sticks, for instance, or bones.\u00a0 You can certainly use coins for tossing when consulting the I-Ching.\u00a0 I have done that myself (I always use pennies).<\/p>\n

But generally, when I flip a coin, it\u2019s for a quick answer.\u00a0 The yellow dress or the blue tie-dye?\u00a0\u00a0 Cheese omelet or eggs benedict?\u00a0 Let the coin make my decision for me.<\/p>\n

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References<\/p>\n

Alleyn, Richard. \u201cCoin Tossing Through the Ages.\u201d\u00a0 The Telegraph. December 31, 2009.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/science\/science-news\/6911921\/Coin-tossing-through-the-ages.html<\/p>\n

Buckland, Raymond.\u00a0 The Fortune-Telling Book: The Encyclopedia of divination and Soothsaying<\/span>. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2004
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