Fortune-Telling and Divination at Samhain
Fortune Telling and Divination at Samhain There has always been something about divination that pulls at me — not for the thrill of guessing, but for the mystery of listening. I’ve read tarot for half my life, never as a parlor trick, but as a quiet conversation with symbols that seem to remember more than we do. And perhaps that’s why, of all nights in the year, Samhain has always felt closest to my craft — a night when the veil thins and people once dared to ask the dark for answers. 1. Seeing Beyond the Firelight Long before tarot decks or crystal balls, the people of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales sought visions in simpler ways. They stared into bowls of water or candle flames, hoping to glimpse a face — often that of a future lover or one long gone. Bonfire ashes were cast into the wind to divine omens for the coming year. 1 These were not games to them, but solemn acts of hope and dread. In some Scottish glens, a girl might eat an apple before midnight and then brush ...