Tehron Gillis is a Westchester based slam poet and writer, a voodoo initiate and rootworker. Practicing magic and tarot for over a decade, Tehron works towards exploring LGBTQ and ethnic themes in the craft. We are honored to feature his thoughts on divination.
When did you start divining? With what method?
I started doing divination when I was 14 years old; it was with the Vampire Tarot deck my sister Amanda got me.
What method do you use most often now?
I use the New Orleans Voodoo Tarotdeck now. By combining tarot with numerology spreads I do my best to arrive at accurate answer to my clients question. So if someone asks me a question I would draw as many cards that correspond to the nature of the question as based on the Lwa/Orisha that rule that domain or place on Quabbalist tree of life. I’ll then listen out for any ancestral spirits that want to communicate to their descendants.
How important is the choice/phrasing of the question?
I think the question is very important. If there is a reason that you come to a diviner its probably front of mind and urgent to you. Its highly unlikely that a client will be able to fully use any other information I have to give you. I also do not assume to know what is best for you. If you think your love life is the most important thing, I would find it condescending to tell you about your finances. Inevitably these things will come to light if they are dire… but first things first: What do you want to know?
Do you have a yes/no method of divining you recommend?
I use I ching coins for yes/no with yang being yes and yin being know. I also use Crowley’s tarot yes/no, and a pendulum.
Native American Tarot Queen photo by Lilith Dorsey
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
Keep the little white booklet! I know, I hear readers screaming all over the blogosphere but hear me out. We would like to believe that interpreting tarot, runes, and other oracles is a purely intuitive process. There is an idea that this little booklet is counter conducive to reading because it offers preconceived, prepackaged meanings to our oracles and makes it somehow less authentic. But we cannot divorce our intuition from our intellect no more than we can live without either brain or heart. The images and symbols we interpret are filtered through a lifetime of socio-psychological experiences that influence everything that we do. We are little white booklets and our mediums, our oracles are a way to communicate to others. By reading the little white booklet you don’t only gain knowledge on the oracle but also how other people, namely the creator and sometimes artist, view it. This is especially useful in developing your oracle as universal tool for understanding other ways of life. It would behoove the novice to ingest as much literature on their oracle, learn its history, see where its been. Just don’t stop there, sleep with your oracle(for at least three nights) and individual cards or runes or whatever, record your dreams, meditate with them. Become familiar with them and most importantly have fun!
May is quickly turning into divination month here at Voodoo Universe, and I foresee really good things. There have been quite a few Divination Space Station stops and today I am honored to profile author Taylor Ellwood. We recently reviewed his Manifesting Wealth: Magic for Prosperity, Love and Health here on the blog and now we are pleased to offer his insight about divination.
When did you start divining? With what Method?
When I was 16 and first got into Magic, I picked up a set of Tarot cards and started.
What method do you use most often now?
I use a method which involves using two decks of tarot cards, a dual deck system as it were. I use one deck to represent people, places, things, and events and one deck to represent actions linking those things together. I’ve found to be very useful for analyzing situational factors and helping explore what it is they really want to know or change about the situation. I also create my own spreads for readings, which is helpful because no spread is exactly alike. Instead they are customized to fit the needs of the person getting the reading.
How important is the choice/phrasing of the question?
Not very important. As we do the reading, further conversation occurs and I facilitate the person discovering the answers, so its a process of conversation and reading.
Do you have a yes/no method of divining you use?
I use a pendulum for that kind of reading and orient it to the energy of the person. The direction it swings determines the answer.
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
Throw away the little booklets that come with whatever divinatory tool you are using and get to know the tool. Work with it. Do meditations with each of the cards, runes, etc and get to know them through experience. The experience of working with them will guide your readings for yourself and others.
To learn more about Taylor Ellwood please visit his website Magical Experiments.
May is already shaping up to be Divination month here on the Voodoo Universe blog, and let me say I see good things. Divination it’s in the cards, the stones, the bones, the future. Today we feature a dear friend of mine,a very wise practitioner, and accomplished reader, Vinnie Russo.
Vinnie Russo has been reading Tarot for over 25 years and is the owner of “Arsenic & Old Lace”. He is an elder is several Traditions of modern Witchcraft and is active in several local and national Pagan organizations through which he holds legal clergy credentials. Vinnie lives in the Boston area where he runs two magical groups – the Sheaves of Demeter which is a coven in the Chthonioi-Alexandrian Tradition of Witchcraft and Congrega Rosa d’Oro which is focused on Italic/Sicilian-American Craft. He is personally interested in the development of nature contacts, such as those forces typified by the spirits and minor divinities of Greek and Italian mythology – specifically, Lare, Lasa, and Manes/Ancestors.
When did you start divining?
1984. That’s when I started to study divination systems in earnest. Before that, I trusted my intuition and often had dreams but I had not tried to develop a specific divination skill until that point.
With what method?
The three main methods of divination that I use are scrying, dream techniques, and Tarot. The first is scrying which is the conscious and unconscious recognition of patterns and determining their mundane meaning as applies to the question or situation – such as gazing into fire, pool of water, or clouds. The second what the ancient Greeks called Dream Incubation – which is a type of dreaming trance that uses a collection of techniques. The aim is to dream about issues or topic of personal importance. This allowing my subconscious to work on an issue or topic and reveal them in vivid dreams when appropriate. Oracular or prophetic dreaming, if you will. The third method of divination that I use is the Tarot and that is the one that I use most often with my clients. I prefer the Tarot as a form of divination when I work with clients because it can be such a versatile tool. The Tarot can help clarify situations as well as get a look into the currents that are in motion and what can be done to influence them.
What method do you use most often now?
I most often use Tarot. It’s quick and although the Tarot speaks in symbols, it can get directly to the point.
How important is the question?
I’ve found that “the better thought-out the question, the more accurate the answer”. When I have a client, I spend a bit of time with them helping them to craft a question that truly reflects what they want or need to know. Often, a client will initially think that they want to know one thing but after careful reflection they realize that they really need to know something else. Sometimes when doing a reading for a client, I will get an answer to the question that they “should have” asked rather than the question that they did ask.
Do you have a yes/no method of divining you recommend?
When working with the Tarot, a Yes/No question can often be overly simplistic. The question, “Will I get the job?” is a good example. The candidate that is going to be chosen is most likely going to be the one that was best prepared and was best presented. A better question might be, “What can I do to swing the odds in my favor to become the selected candidate?” However, when a Yes/No answer is needed and/or appropriate I do have a system that I use. After asking on the question and focusing on as definitive an outcome as possible, I simply throw 3 card. Depending on the positive/negative association of the 3 cards, it indicates the Yes or No: Yes = 3 positive; No = 3 negative. If you want to take it a tad further when the cards are mixed positive and negative, then: Yes-but = 2 positive and 1 negative; No-but = 2 negative and 1 positive.
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
First, although it is important to trust your intuition, make sure that you are starting from a solid basis. In other words, find out what system of divination works best with your personality and skills. Then, research it. Learn at least one, or two, or three ways to use the system and learn them well. Once you know the basics of a divination system, then you can modify it to be more personalized. When I started learning the tarot, I was lucky enough to have 2 very skilled teachers. The advice that they gave me was to choose several recommended authors with differing systems and experiment to see which one(s) resonated with my skills and outlook. I studied the traditional meaning of the card as well as the symbolic meanings on specific decks that I use when doing readings. From there, I developed my own system that is part way between traditional Tarot and a type of scrying into the pictures of the cards.
The second piece of advice is that when learning a new system, it is incredibly valuable to keep a record of your progress. Review your hits as well as your misses. Both can be helpful in building your confidence in how a system traditionally works and how you can work with the system.
Finally, don’t get discouraged. Practice, practice, practice. Very few people are an expert right away when they pick up any new skill.
Bernadette Montana. Copyright 2014 all rights reserved.
Women’s History month is still upon us, so I figured I would take this opportunity to spotlight a great woman and a great friend. Bernadette Montana has over 25 years in teaching and practicing Wicca, the Tarot and Native American practices. She considers herself a progressive witch under Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone. She is a 3rd degree High priestess in the Alexandrian tradition, an ordained Interfaith minister, a tribal member and pipe carrier of the Sun Bear tribe (an all nations tribe) , and a tribal member of the Baramaya tribe (Taino bloodline).Bernadette Montana is also the proprietor of Brid’s Closet, located at 296 Main St., Cornwall, NY 12528
When did you start divining?
I started in the late 80’s. My own Grandmother read the Spanish cards and would read for my mom!
With what method?
I started with the Rider Waite tarot deck.
What method do you use most often now?
My preferred method has always been with the tarot. It really resonates with me. I sometimes think of the tarot as a doorway. Once that doorway has opened all sorts of information comes in! I have also branched out into mediumship, pendulum (love this method), Lenormand oracle decks and tea leaves (Which the author Judika Illes taught me)
How important is the question?
Extremely! I work with the tarot in 2 ways. I ask the client if they would like a “cold” reading or if they would like to ask the question beforehand. It’s up to them. The cards can have many different meanings! It all depends upon your intuition or the question being asked.
Do you have a yes/no method of divining you recommend?
For Yes or No questions? I use my pendulum.
Lilith Dorsey and Bernadette Montana at NY Pagan Pride 2013.
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
Give yourself plenty of time to learn “your” deck. Make sure that you pick a deck that really resonates with you! The artwork is important. I guess that takes care of the fallacy in which a deck must be given to you. That you should never purchase a deck! If the artwork does not call to you-then how can you come to understand what the symbols mean?
I would also take the time to understand the symbols on your deck. For instance-The Rider Waite-Smith deck has a lot of Judeo Christian symbols in it. It would help to do some research into it. Keeping a journal is another great and helpful way to keep track of your experiences with the tarot and of course, the readings that you have completed.
For more information about Brid’s Closet and their upcoming amazing 7th Annual Beltane/Spring Festival- I’ll be there offering a Voodoo workshop, please Check out their website
To explore more from the Voodoo Universe’s Divination Space Station See the following Stops Below:
Voodoo Universe is very honored and proud to present the current installment of Divination Space Station with Orion Foxwood. Orion has been a friend for many years and is famous for being an author, witch , conjure-man, and faery seer. Orion Foxwood is the author of “ The Faery Teachings”(RJ Stewart Books), “ The Tree of Enchantments” , and “ The Candle and the Crossroads’(Wiser Books), a DVD set (Pendraig Publications) called “Intro to Faery Seership” and a DVD called “An Introduction to Southern Conjure” (Pendraig Publications). He was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where he was first exposed to faith-healing, root-doctoring, and second sight practices of southern and Appalachian culture and has continued learning and teaching southern conjure and spirit-doctoring practices. He is the founder of House of Brigh Faery Seership Institute, a co-founder of Conjure Crossroads which hosts the annual Folk Magic Festival in New Orleans, and the founding Elder of Foxwood Temple, a coven dedicated to passing on the traditional witchcraft of his Elders. He lectures throughout the USA and Locations in the U.K. teaching southern conjure and Faery Seership with his spirit-wife Brigh. His website is Orionfoxwood.com and he can be reached on Facebook at Orion Foxwood.
When did you start divining?
In 1985.
With what method?
My first divinatory tool was the Norse runes, which I read for nearly 10 years. I wanted to read the Tarot, but they were just too busy for the way my inner spirit works. Though I loved their beauty. I have been considering picking them up and trying now.
What method do you use most often now?
I use a method that I developed in partnership with my spirit wife in the Faery Seership tradition. They are called the “Vision Keys”. They are nine symbols carved on deer antler (because the deer is the Faery stag, and thus a messenger), which, after specific prayers are stated, I cast onto a reading cloth with three circles representing the under/ inner world, surface/ physical world and the upper/ transcendent world. I am the “human” originator of this system but will be teaching it to my Seership students in the near future.
How important is the question?
It is secondary to the throw. I usually recommend that we let the Vision Keys and the Spirit/ Spirits speak about what they want the person you are reading to know first. Then, after I have read, I ask them their questions. Usually, the throw answers their questions…or at least the ones they “should have asked”.
Do you have a yes/no method of divining you recommend?
Yes, I have two methods. I use a pendulum that belonged to my sister, who is an ancestor now and the person who introduced me to witchcraft. I also use four mercury head dimes (which is used in my conjure practices)
which were made in 1934, which is the birth date of my mother. My mother is significant in this read because she passed on the veil to me which gave me the second sight. I throw the coins after I have used a specific charm and then read the head/ tail patterns.
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
Yes, work with your tool until it becomes like a dance partner. You begin to know its subtle moves and it works through yours. Always cleanse the tools and space before and after each reading and be sure to bless them through the spirit of some higher power (angelic, deific, ancestral, faery, orisa, loa or other). When you read, it is not only your psychic and intuitive gifts being employed, it is your ability to hear the subtle whisper of your helpful spirits, the spirits of the person you are reading, and the spiritual pattern of what is being read.
Welcome to the latest stop on Divination Space Station. This week we are blessed to have an interview with Jenn Ficentise, proprietress of Raven Moon’s Oracle. As Head Gypsy in charge she specializes in the metaphysical: Tarot Card Readings, Intent Candles, Mojo bags, good luck charms, crystal programing, Soy candles, and the list goes on. She has an amazing psychic talent and is one of the few people I recommend to read when I am unavailable. I am so pleased to have her insightful answers here on Divination Space Station. If you like what you read here or want to know more please check out and like her facebook page.
When did you start divining?
When I was 14 years old I bought a poster with Norse Runes on it and every day I would ask a question. I believe that was my first pull towards divination. It stemmed from my spiritual journey that I was just embarking on. And many forms of divining were being shown to me. Everything from Runes, crystal scrying, water divination , pendulum dowsing, palm reading, and Tarot Cards. I was on a new journey to evolve myself and working with divination just seemed a great addition to it all to find the insight and guidance I was seeking at the time.
With what method ?
I think working with tarot cards seemed to resonate with me early on. I started reading with the Rider Waite deck, which I think most newcomers to tarot tend to pick those up first. In my opinion, one of the best known for the novice reader. Through the last twenty years of reading and learning, I’ve probably work with around four different tarot decks. From the very traditional , like the Waite deck, to the very non- traditional, like the deck I use now, The Faeries’ Oracle. They really do speak to me and each card has an individual voice of their own.
What method do you use most often now?
The method I use most often now is Tarot. In the last ten years of working with The Faeries’ Oracle they have become an incredible extension of myself. Both physically and spiritually. They not only give me assistance when I’m searching for my own guidance, but they are the perfect way for me to help my clients. They become the link for me to help others. It’s a beautiful and insightful connection I can have with my clients and this deck really helps them open up, feel at ease and find the answers they are seeking. And sometimes it gives them answers that they had no idea they were searching for.
How important is the question?
I find a question can be important, but a well phrased question is more important that a less than well thought out muddled one. I find confusing questions on the client’s part will confuse the cards and thus the reader, leading to a reading with no clarity and no sense of direction. So yes, I do feel questions are important, but a well thought out question. I also tell my clients that if you don’t have a question, that’s fine. The cards will tell you what you need to know, not necessarily what you want to know. The quicker we realize the difference in want and need the clearer a reading will be.
Raven Moon’s Oracle, wonderful wares !
Do you have a yes/no method you recommend?
If you have a deck that will enable yes/no questions to be asked, then go for it. Shuffle the cards while you are asking your question and pull one card and go ahead and ponder away. I can use my tarot cards for this method, sometimes. However, I find a more simplistic approach to yes/no inquiries can yield better results. I find using Runes can be helpful in the yes/no method. A pendulum works well once you get the feel for it or using stones or crystals that represent yes and no. Shuffling them in your hands, and then without looking, picking the stone to find your answer. It really comes down to what works for you. I know a person who use a candle flame to ask yes/no questions. I personally find too much outside influence with that method ; a breeze, etc. I would recommend exploring different methods of divination to see what best suits you and your skill.
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
Knowledge is power. Read, practice, read, practice. And after that read and practice some more. Also remember to explore and check out the multiple methods of divining. There is so much out there to learn and experiment with. Find what form of divination resonates personally with you. We all have our individual gifts and skills, so you may want to find a method that personally fits you. If you have a connection to water, maybe water and wax divination would best suit you. If you are a Fire sign, check out scrying into a fire flame. Never think you have to limit or box yourself into any one way of divining. Just because Bobby down the street reads cards, doesn’t mean that you have to use that same method. Go get a bag of Runes and work with them. The best way to find yourself and to excel within divination is with your own personal tools of divination.
When learning any new tool or evolving a skill, it’s about learning the right and the wrong. Trial and error. What works for you and what doesn’t. And learning from it. Taking the novice knowledge and nurturing it. Making sure you know the ins and outs, the upside down of what you are doing, especially before you offer it to others. There is a level of responsibility when you are using divination on yourself. Making sure you are putting in the work, learning your lessons and mastering it as much as possible to help yourself gain the guidance you seek.
If you start to extend your service to others, whether they be just friends and family or you taking the big step of being a professional reader to the public, you have to make sure you have a good amount of mastery with your skill. Practicing on yourself, going through trial and error by yourself is one thing; but offering this help to the public takes on a whole new level of responsibility. You are being let in to a most personal and vulnerable part of this person. A lot of personal information can come up during a reading and what you may be able to handle by yourself, you have to know how to work with another individual that you are reading for. You are taking this person into your hands, telling them information that can get emotional. There is more on your plate now than just reading cards, you have to know how to handle another person. Their questions and their changes in emotions can be very heavy and it can be an intense situation to read for another. You not only need to know your cards and know your tools well, you need to know how to deliver it to the person you are reading for, with care and understanding. Sometimes readings aren’t just black and white. You may need to be counsel for people, you may even find studying up on sociology or psychology would be helpful. I know I did!Because reading cards is one thing, but dealing with the human condition is something else. You also have to know how you , yourself,will handle the reading. How will it take a physical toll on you?Reading for others can be exhausting. If you aren’t prepared, you can lose a lot of your energy during a reading. You need to make sure that you are also caring for yourself, as well as the person across from you.
Other than that, I wish those new to this path good luck and to have fun!!! Be open and enjoy the ride!
Welcome to this week’s stop at Divination Space Station with Voodoo Universe’s creatrix Lilith Dorsey. I realized after the really adept and informative guest blog interviews with Dorothy Morrison and Awo Robert Ogbe Di, I should probably submit my own experience as well. I’ve been reading cards professionally for over twenty-five years, and have done psychic readings everywhere from the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show to Snake and Jakes Christmas Club Lounge in New Orleans to a corporate wellness event for Bloomberg. I can honestly say, “ What a long strange trip it’s been.”
When did you start divining? With what method of divination?
I started divining when I was 13. I got my first Ryder Waite Tarot Deck then, and was also studying numerology and astrology.
What method do you use most often now?
I use different methods for different purposes. I still consult the tarot, cocos, divining rods, astrological influences almost daily. I feel that’s it’s similar to checking the weather, although I realize this may sound reductionist. I am not diminishing the power of divination, I am just making an analogy about taking one’s spiritual umbrella when needed. In my personal experience it seems that tarot is able to give a more specific answer, and direct guidance on the matter at hand.
Most often I use the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot, but I have been known to also read with Tarot of the Boroughs ( which features me as the High Priestess card) and also the deck I developed myself based on
Tarot of Cruelty, The Andrognye Card by Lilith Dorsey.
the work of Antonin Artaud, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Rimbaud, called the Tarot of Cruelty.
How important is the choice of question?
I believe the question and it’s phrasing are crucial to receiving an accurate answer. The response I get when I ask about outcome or influences can often be very different. Influence either visible or invisible does not always shape outcome, nor does intent or feeling.
Do you have a yes/no method of divining you recommend?
Dowsing rods are my preferred choice, but I know people who have success with pendulums, coins, cocos, and other methods. Ask each time you use them ask for what a specific yes outcome will look like, what a specific no outcome will look like, and if a reading with this method is possible right now.
Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?
My advice is to know your cards. I don’t necessarily advocate throwing away the book like my friend Dorothy Morrision does, but develop your own relationship with them. Test out their messages on simple quantifiable things like: the weather, messages, time, etc. Sleep with your cards or your pendulum under your pillow. Record your dreams afterwards.
Is a reading’s outcome set in stone?
In my experience most thing can be gently nudged or turned to a different direction. If we look specifically at something like palm reading, people’s palm continually changes throughout their lives. Things are constantly changing and twisting, sometimes on the edge of a butterfly effect’s wings. Open yourself up the the joy and possibility of the universe and more will be revealed.
Lilith Dorsey photo by Frances Denny. All rights reserved.
The Personal Journey of Lilith Dorsey
Lilith Dorsey’s personal spiritual journey includes numerous initiations in Haitian Vodou, New Orleans Voodoo, and Santeria. In 1995 she became editor and publisher of the Oshun newsletter, providing accurate and respectful information about Afro-Diasporan Pagan religions. She holds an undergraduate degree in anthropology and her graduate degree comes from a inter-disciplinary program in cinema/television studies and anthropology. Training is vital in any discipline, but takes on special significance in a spiritual context. Voodoo, Vodou, Santeria, Candomble, Ifa, Obeah, Hoodoo, and for that matter any other African based religion survives on it’s lineage, history, and training of it’s devotees.
Lilith Dorsey had her first initiation from Mambo Bonnie Devlin, more widely known for her phenomenal drumming and musicianship. Her music is available on iTunes, and she highly recommends it to anyone interested in connecting with spirit. She then went on to join Priestess Miriam Chamani at the Voodoo Spiritual Temple in New Orleans. The temple does an immense amount of good works and is located at 1428 N. Rampart Street across from Congo Square, both locales a must see for anyone visiting New Orleans. While her Santeria house was led by Ochun Olukari Al’aye and based in Florida. She is continually amazed and inspired by her spiritual family there, who most recently gave her the opportunity to watch a ritual drum being crafted with a chainsaw.
Lilith Dorsey’s academic career focused most specifically on ritual dance and possession on film. Informed by phenomenal women like Maya Deren and Zora Neale Hurston who were filmmakers, ritualists and anthropologists, she went on to create an experimental documentary Bodies of Water, focusing on Voodoo identity and “tranceformation.” It has been shown everywhere from Harvard University to the living room of the Royal Street Courtyard bed and breakfast. Her favorite compliment on the work, which was designed to be a synestetic foray into cinematic experience, came from a devoutly Catholic friend who said “Your film scares me; I feel like I am changing.”
Since 1991, Lilith Dorsey has been doing successful magick for patrons of her business. She is editor/publisher of Oshun-African Magickal Quarterly, and filmmaker of the experimental documentary Bodies of Water:Voodoo Identity and Tranceformation. Lilith Dorsey is also author of Voodoo and Afro-Caribbean PaganismandThe African-American Ritual Cookbook, and choreographer for jazz legend Dr. John’s “Night Tripper” Voodoo Show. In July 2013, she led her first ever Voodoo Zombie Silent Rave, complete with very confused Thriller flash mob. Please contact her at voodoouniverse@yahoo.com for information about psychic readings and services. Lastly, don’t forget to check out her brand new book Love Magic . Many Blessings!
As always if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to share, share, share ! And if you would like to book a reading or learn more about my classes, publications and events, see my website lilithdorsey.com
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