Sortilege Practice Guide: Drawing Lots for Discernment

A step-by-step contemplative exercise for spiritual companions and seekers

What This Practice Is

Sortilege, also called cleromancy (Greek) or sortes (Roman), is the practice of casting or drawing lots to support discernment. It appears across religious traditions: from Greek oracles to Indigenous practices worldwide.

This isn't fortune-telling. It's structured randomness that creates spaciousness for the sacred to speak.

You hold a question. You draw a prompt at random. You notice what arises.

The power isn't in the papers. It's in the pause, the openness, and your willingness to be surprised by what you already know.

This practice comes from my work training spiritual companions in the Cherry Hill Certification Program. I’ve seen seekers use sortilege to break through analysis paralysis, access embodied wisdom, and invite the sacred into threshold moments. It’s simple, powerful, and culturally accessible.

Casting Lots game available

When to Use This Practice

Sortilege works well when:

You're circling the same question repeatedly without clarity
Your rational mind has analyzed a decision to exhaustion
You're at a threshold or transition
You need to access wisdom beneath conscious thought
You want to invite the sacred into a discernment process

It's particularly useful for spiritual companions because it models the kind of spaciousness we create in direction sessions—asking unexpected questions that help seekers discover their own knowing.

What You'll Need

Materials:

Paper (any kind)
Pen or pencil
A bowl, basket, hat, bag, or container
10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time
A question or concern you're holding

Setting:

A quiet space where you won't be disturbed
You may want to light a candle or create sacred space in your usual way
Have your journal, or a spiritual companion, nearby for reflection afterward

The Practice: Step by Step

Step 1: Prepare Your Prompts (5 minutes)

On separate pieces of paper, write 5-10 discernment questions. These are NOT questions about your specific situation. They're doorways into reflection.

Starter prompts (use these or create your own):

What am I afraid of?
What brings me life?
What do I already know?
What am I avoiding?
What wants my attention?
What gift am I already carrying?
Where is the sacred already at work?
What wants to be released?
What am I being invited to trust?
What would love do here?
What does my body know?
What am I pretending not to notice?

Customize for your tradition:

If you're Christian, you might add:

Where is grace moving?
What is the Spirit saying?
How is God already present?

If you're Pagan, you might add:

What does the land want me to know?
Which ancestor is speaking?
What season am I in?

If you're Buddhist, you might add:

What attachment is present?
Where is compassion needed?
What is the middle way here?

If you're secular/humanist, you might add:

What's my unconscious telling me?
What aligns with my values?
What would my wisest self say?

The key: Write prompts that invite reflection, not answers. Questions that open rather than close.

Step 2: Prepare Your Lots (2 minutes)

Cut or tear the papers into pieces.

Fold or crumple each piece so you can't tell which is which when you look at them.

Place the papers into your container.

Step 3: Ground and Center (2 minutes)

Before drawing, take a few moments to arrive. You might take that time to gently mix the papers in the container.

Suggested grounding:

Close your eyes.

Notice your breath. Feel your body in the chair, your feet on the ground.

Bring your awareness to the question or concern you're holding. You don't need to have it perfectly articulated. Just notice what's present.

Notice where you feel this question in your body. Is there tightness? Heaviness? A sense of waiting? Just notice.

Take three deep breaths.

When you feel ready, open your eyes.

Step 4: Hold Your Question (1 minute)

Bring your question or concern to mind. Hold it gently. You might even speak it aloud:

"I'm holding this question about [whether to take the new job / my readiness to see seekers / how to respond to this conflict / what my next step is]."

Or simply:

"I'm here. I'm listening. I'm open to what wants to emerge."

Step 5: Draw One Lot

Without looking, reach into the container and draw one folded paper.

Some traditions say to draw with your non-dominant hand. Others say it doesn't matter. Do what feels right.

Hold the folded paper for a moment before opening it.

Notice: Is there anticipation? Curiosity? Resistance? Just notice.

When you're ready, unfold the paper and read the prompt.

Step 6: Sit With What Arose (5-10 minutes)

Read the prompt you drew.

Notice your immediate response. Your body might react before your mind does. What sensation is present?

Then reflect on these questions:

What does this prompt reveal about my situation?

Not "Does this apply?" but "If this prompt is speaking to me, what's it saying?"
What connection do you notice between this question and your concern?

What wants my attention?

What thought, feeling, memory, or knowing is surfacing?
What am I noticing that I wasn't letting myself notice before?

What's my resistance?

If your first response is "This doesn't apply" or "I drew the wrong one," notice that.
Resistance is information. What are you resisting?

What clarity is emerging?

You may not have a complete answer. That's fine.
What's shifted? What's becoming clearer? What wants to be explored further?

Write in your journal, talk with a spiritual companion.

Step 7: Close the Practice (1 minute)

When you feel complete (or when your time is up), take a moment to acknowledge what emerged.

You might say:

"Thank you for what I've received."
"I trust this unfolding."
"I'll stay open to what continues to reveal itself."

Blow out your candle if you lit one. Return to your day.

Variations on the Practice

For Ongoing Discernment

Create a set of prompts and keep them in a special bowl or box. Draw one each morning for a week or month as part of your spiritual practice. Journal on what accumulates.

With a Friend

Each person creates their own set of prompts. Take turns being the focus person who draws and reflects while the other holds witnessing presence. Don't interpret for each other, just hold space.

In Group Spiritual Direction

Create a shared set of prompts. Each person draws one at the start of the session. The prompts become doorways into shared reflection.

Offering this practice to Seekers in Spiritual Direction

“If a seeker is circling a question repeatedly, you might offer: ‘Would you be open to a contemplative practice that invites surprise?’ If yes, guide them through creating prompts and drawing one. Hold space while they reflect, asking curious questions about what they’re noticing.

For Transition Moments

Create prompts specific to the threshold you're crossing:

Graduating from a program
Starting a spiritual direction practice
Entering a new role
Leaving something behind
Facing illness or loss

What If the Prompt "Doesn't Fit"?

Sometimes you draw a prompt and think: "This has nothing to do with my question."

That reaction itself is information.

Try this: Assume the randomness brought you exactly what you needed, even if you don't see the connection yet. Ask:

"If this prompt IS relevant, how?" "What am I not letting myself see?" "What would it mean if this were true?" "What's my resistance telling me?"

Sometimes the "irrelevant" prompt cracks open the question from an angle you hadn't considered.

Sometimes it shows you that you're asking the wrong question.

Sometimes it reveals what you're avoiding.

Trust the practice. Stay curious.

What If I Want to Draw Again?

You might be tempted to draw multiple prompts or keep drawing until you get one you like.

Resist this.

The practice works through constraint. You draw one. You sit with what came. You trust the process.

Drawing again is like trying to control the outcome. It defeats the purpose.

If you're genuinely unsure after sitting with your first prompt, you can:

Set the practice aside and return tomorrow with fresh eyes
Journal more deeply on why you want to draw again
Bring your prompts to spiritual direction and reflect on them with your companion

But don't keep drawing in the same session. That's not discernment. That's seeking a specific answer.

A Note on Interpretation

You are the interpreter of what you drew.

No one else can tell you what your prompt means. Not your spiritual companion, not a book, not an expert.

The practice works because YOU bring your question, your history, your knowing, your body, your sacred relationship to the moment. The prompt is just a doorway. You walk through it.

Trust yourself.

If you're working with a spiritual companion, their role is to ask curious questions about what YOU'RE noticing, not to tell you what they think it means.

For Spiritual Companions: Teaching This Practice

When you offer sortilege to a seeker:

Frame it clearly: "This is a contemplative tool, not fortune-telling. The randomness creates space for your own wisdom to emerge."

Invite, don't prescribe: "Would you be open to a practice that invites surprise?" Not "You should try this."

Let them create their own prompts if possible. This makes it theirs, not yours.

Hold witnessing presence while they reflect. Your job is spaciousness, not interpretation.

Ask curious questions:

"What are you noticing?"
"How does this prompt connect to your question?"
"What's your resistance?"
"What clarity is emerging?"

Trust the process. Don't rush. Don't fix. Don't explain. Just be present.

Why This Works

Sortilege works not because the papers have power, but because:

It interrupts the loop. Your rational mind stops circling and has to respond to something unexpected.

It accesses unconscious knowing. Your body and deeper mind often know things your conscious mind hasn't caught up to yet.

It creates genuine openness. When you don't know what you'll draw, you can't prepare a response. You have to be present to what actually arises.

It invites the sacred in. The pause, the question, the randomness, the reflection—it's all a form of prayer. You're saying: "I don't have this figured out. I'm listening."

It models the spiritual direction relationship. Unexpected questions. Spaciousness. Trust in the seeker's own knowing. This is what we do with seekers.

Begin

You have paper. You have a pen. You have a question.

That's all you need.

Create your prompts. Fold your papers. Draw one lot.

Notice what arises.

Trust the unfolding.

MoonForestBone

Sunday, January 11, 2026

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