History of Divination - Pyromancy

Ready for a little divination? Here at Magick Users University, we want to be able to instill a little learning one article at a time. History of Divination is a great class, and maybe with it you will find the divination technique for you! Good to see you've joined us! So what's on the agenda for today? Lets find out!

Pyromancy

“Honey, I predict the flames in the kitchen say... we're not going to have a kitchen in ten minutes.”

+ A Little History

So what is pyromancy? Pyromancy is as it sounds: it is the art of divination using fire and flames. Technically, the diviner uses signs they see within the flames in order to predict the future or outcome of events, or see back into past events for answers or revelations.

There are some publications that denote that this mystic art originally used a sacred flame. What could possibly make the flame sacred? The flames used while burning human and animal sacrifices were a good start. However, fire is known for ritual cleansing and purification. Perhaps the mere power of fire made it a candidate for use in divination. A second alternative was to use the flames that were ignited in torches.

+ Pyromancy Today

With the usage of flame, and the ability to make fire with literally anything, pyromancy can be easy to do, albeit dangerous. Pyromancy in bonfires during a Sabbat is probably the most common, as it is a large enough flame to divine and see signs within. Also, if you have a fireplace, during the winter it could be something fun to do while huddling around to fight off the cold.

+ How to Pyromance

So how does one read the flames? It is up to the diviners discretion as to what the signs tell them, however, here are a few things to take into account.

The color of the flame. Colors already have presence in magick, with red for power, and blue for calming... such colors are also within fire, so keeping in mind the colors you primarily see is important.

How high the flames are. Sometimes you can get an intense spiking flame, other times is low to the ground.

The way it burns, of course. Is it slow burning? Is it eating away quickly at the articles used to keep it aflame? Its it tilting? Did it suddenly go out? While the latter was considered a bad omen, all of them are taken into account. When you do your own divination, write down what you feel the flames mean to you! It can help you complie your own resource as to what you see within the flames, and soon, you'll be telling your relatives what you see at the Yule Log burning.

+ Magick Users University Approved Resources

The Occult Sciences (1855), by Edward Smedley

The Complete Manuel of Occult Divination: Volume One (1912), by A.E. Waite

We here at Magick User's University hope this lesson has broadened your horizons! Make sure to follow us on Twitter or check us out on Tumblr!

Witch's Guide to Surviving Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Its time to strap in for the holiday season. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for our American readers, and then the day after is the dreaded Black (magick?) Friday! In order to assure complete and total nirvana, we are putting up a small list of tips for these upcoming two days! So, what can one as a witch do to assure greatness? Well... University Witch offers up just one thing!

1. Don't cast spells.

You might be surprised to see that this is the first on the list, but allow me to enlighten you. This of everything happening around you. You might have family over. You could be taking a break from getting that turkey ready, or putting together your purse for Black Magick Friday. You might be rushing about, or maybe the other members of your house are as they prepare for the festivities. With all of this spare energy being strewn about, this is probably the worst time for doing any sort of spell casting. Casting spells take energy, concentration, and most of all, a calm spirit. By doing this, you are just asking for things to go awry.

2. Do take the time to thank your patrons.

In a time of family, health, and wealth, thanking your patron deities for all they have done for you so care is always a good step in deepening your bond with them (or buttering them up for that prosperity spell you're going to cast). Before digging into your food, just thank them that you're still a witch before digging in. There's no harm in that.

3. Don't eat too much.

This is basic knowledge. While you want to pray to your patrons, you don't want to have to bow down and offer tribute to the one that lives in the bathroom, right?

4. Do wear an amulet on Black Magick Friday.

While spellcasting may not be in your best interest, passive magick and “ready made” magick are always handy, especially on Black Magick Friday. You can always read stories of people being trampled and getting hurt because of the “amazing sales” going on. If you are one of the people who partake in this shopping bonanza, please do yourself a favor and wear an amulet before you head out. It is of course, great for your protection, and all you have to do is wear it. It does the work for you.

5. Don't forget... to have fun.

While this holiday may be stressful, make sure you are always enjoying yourself. If you're not, there's no reason to do it!

Have a great Thanksgiving, and may the God and Goddess be with you!

Love,

Soull Soothslayer

18th Spell - The Power of Magick

There are times as a witch, in which magick is so close, and yet so far.

Yesterday, I was in pain.

Like this only fifty-billion-trillion times worse.

I was having... you know. Those kinds of pains. Cramps. And thus, I awoke a little before 6am, to the pounding of my stomach... and the next door neighbor playing obnoxiously loud music.

Lore was asleep beside me. I lay in bed for a little, hoping to get back to sleep, before the irresistible urge of having to go and use the bathroom hit me, and I was forced to get up. I heard Lore move beside me, waking up. Honestly, the next hour or so was a blur of me using the bathroom, me groaning in pain, and Lore bringing me a heat pad she conjured up out of heated dry rice and a washcloth.

Rice never felt so good.

Its like, once I feel better I also have the means to make breakfast.

After Lore called the police on the neighbors playing their music (this has happened a few times before), and I watched her move around and swear all over the kitchen, she finally managed to head back to bed to get some sleep. During that time, I took an Excedrin in efforts to fight off the pain.

Normally, I can take half the dosage, because I just don't take any kind of medication that often. But, as I went to sit in the living room so I didn't disturb Lore by tossing around, the hours passed.

Eight rolled around.

Then nine.

The Excedrin didn't work.

I was still in agony. So I just took another, now up to the normal dosage. That was around 9:30am. I made coffee for Lore, since she was getting up to head off to work.

But the pain didn't cease.

Lore made a cup of lavender tea for me, holding it under my nose for me to sniff it as I hunched over one of the chairs in the living room.

"Lavender tea relaxes the muscles," Said the Kitchen Witch, giving me a pitying look. "...I'm sorry I can't do anything else for you."

And off to work she went.

It was as I was laying on the couch, waiting for my friend Kieran to come over with a stronger pain medication, that a thought struck me:

Why didn't I use magick to help me?

Wow, yeah. Duh, self.

But it was as those thoughts came to me, that I realized a flaw in my logic. I wanted to count on magick to heal me, but I was in so much pain, I didn't really believe it could help me. Normally, I relied on magick first, then turned to drugs (kind of like most rappers before they appear in court), but this time, I had done it the other way around and relied on painkillers first.

If I didn't believe in my own magick, surely... it wouldn't work. Admittedly, I also couldn't muster up the strength to even get off the couch to get my wand.

...And I had also started shouting out expletives and taking the patron's name in vain. Magick probably wasn't going to do much for me today.

"WHY HAS GOD FORSAKEN ME?!" <-- Actual quote