Divination in Spirit Tending: A Sortilege Practice Guide

 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:

1. Set the practice aside and return tomorrow with fresh eyes
2. Journal more deeply on why you want to draw again
3. 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.

Divination in Spirit Tending: Choose the Tool

Divination as Contemplative Practice: Navigating the Ethics

A reflection on choosing divination tools that honor cultural lineages

The Question on the Table

January is discernment month in my Spiritual Direction training program. So we wrestle with which divination practices work well and are ethically available to us. [SpiDir Program Information]

The short answer: It depends on which practices, and whether you have an authentic relationship with them.

The longer answer requires us to look honestly at appropriation, lineage, and what we're actually doing when we use divination in spiritual direction work.

What Divination Is

Let's start by stripping away the mystification. Divination isn't fortune-telling. It's not about predicting the future or accessing secret knowledge.

Divination, at its contemplative best, is structured randomness that creates spaciousness for the sacred to speak.

Think of it this way: You're holding a question. Your rational mind has been circling it, analyzing it, worrying it like a dog with a bone. Divination interrupts that loop. It introduces something unexpected, a card, a symbol, a question you didn't ask yourself, and in that interruption, space opens. The unconscious speaks. The sacred moves. You discover what you already knew but couldn't access.

This is useful work for spiritual companions. We hold space for that kind of discovery with seekers all the time. Sometimes a contemplative tool can help.

But like most of life, it can be complicated.

The Appropriation Landscape

Many of the most popular divination tools are either culturally appropriated or carry other ethical problems. As ethical people we have a mandate to do discernment. That means we may discover we need to grieve, and then take solace in seeking the next right thing.

Tarot

Tarot has a complex European history, but much of its modern use is built on false narratives about Romani and Egyptian origins. The New Age movement extracted symbols and practices from multiple cultures, stripped them of context, and sold them as universal spiritual technology. Using tarot without reckoning with that history can perpetuate harm.

Could someone use tarot ethically? Certainly, if they've done deep study of both the European cartomancy tradition AND the oppression history, and if they can teach their seekers that context. A spiritual leader needs to err on the side of caution because what you do implies permission for seekers.

Runes

Runes come from Norse and Germanic traditions. The problem isn't just cultural appropriation (though that's present in New Age usage). It's also that runes have been co-opted by white supremacist movements. Using runes in spiritual direction work without wrestling with both issues, cultural context AND racist co-option, could perpetuate harm.

I Ching

The I Ching is a profound Chinese philosophical and divinatory text. It requires years of study within its cultural context to use well. Western practitioners who extract the hexagrams and casting method without that study, lineage, or relationship are engaging in appropriation.

Could someone use I Ching ethically? Yes, if they have legitimate training within the tradition, can teach the Taoist and Confucian philosophical context, and approach it with proper humility and cultural competency.

Street fortune teller consults with client in Taichung, Taiwan CC0

The Pattern

Notice the pattern? Popular divination tools often involve:

• Extraction of technique from cultural context
• False or incomplete origin stories
• Commercialization disconnected from tradition
• White/Western practitioners claiming authority without lineage

This matters. Cultural appropriation isn't just "borrowing." It's taking sacred practices from marginalized communities, stripping away meaning and accountability, and profiting from them while those communities continue to face discrimination. If there isn't exchange, respect, and relationship, it's time to ask questions.

Better Options: Practices With Wider Access

So what can spiritual companions use without worrying about causing harm?

Here are practices that either have legitimate cross-cultural presence or can be created anew without appropriation:

1. Bibliomancy

Opening your sacred text to a random passage and reflecting on what you find.

Why it works:

• Uses texts from YOUR tradition (Bible, poetry, mythology, dharma talks)
• Clear lineage, you're working within your own religious/spiritual framework
• No cultural extraction involved
• Can be taught to seekers from any tradition

How to use it: Hold your question, open the book with eyes closed, read what you find. Notice what arises.

2. Sortilege/Cleromancy (Casting Lots)

Writing questions or prompts on paper, folding them, and drawing one at random.

Why it works:

• Appears across many traditions (Biblical, Greek, Roman, others)
• So widespread it's more universal human practice than owned cultural technology
• Anyone can create their own version immediately
• No special training, purchase, or cultural knowledge required
• Explicitly sanctioned in Christian scripture (for seekers with that background)

How to use it: Write 5-10 discernment questions on slips of paper. Fold them so you can't tell which is which. Place in a bowl. Hold your question, draw one slip, reflect on what it reveals.

(I’ve created a full step-by-step guide to this practice - see https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2026/01/divination-in-spirit-tending-sortilege.html)

3. Pendulum Dowsing

Using a weighted string to answer yes/no questions through subtle body movements.

Why it works:

• Appears across multiple cultures as a technique
• More of a tool than a sacred practice with ownership
• Can be made by anyone (string + weight)
• Frame as "accessing body wisdom"

How to use it: Hold a question that can be answered yes/no. Hold the pendulum still. Notice which way it swings (your micro-movements reveal unconscious knowing).

4. Body Divination

Noticing how your body responds to a question or possibility.

Why it works:

• No tools needed
• No cultural ownership issues
• Directly connects to somatic wisdom
• Pairs well with consolation/desolation discernment

How to use it: Hold your question. Notice: Does your body expand or contract? Where do you feel sensation? What's the quality of your breath?

Photo by Dagmara , from Pexels CC0

For Practitioners

If you're drawn to divination in your spiritual direction practice:

Start with practices you have authentic relationship with. What's in your own tradition's toolkit? What did your spiritual ancestors use?

Be honest about what you're doing. You're using structured randomness to create contemplative space. You're not accessing secret knowledge or predicting pre-ordained futures. Frame it accurately.

Teach your seekers the context. If you offer a practice, help them understand where it comes from and why you're using it.

Stay accountable. Talk with your supervisor or peer group about your use of contemplative tools. Get feedback. Be willing to hear when you've crossed a line.

Remember the goal. Divination is never the point. The seeker's relationship with the sacred is the point. The tool serves that relationship. If the tool becomes the focus, something's gone sideways.

If you’re a spiritual companion reading this and thinking, ‘I want to learn more about ethical contemplative practices’m this is the kind of work we do in the Cherry Hill Spiritual Direction Certification Program. We don’t just teach techniques. We teach you to hold the ethical complexity, to stay in relationship with cultural humility, and to develop practices that serve seekers without causing harm.

The Spaciousness Matters More Than the Method

At the end of the day, what matters isn't which divination tool you use.

What matters is: Can you create spaciousness for the sacred to speak? Can you hold open, curious presence? Can you help your seeker access their own deep knowing?

You can do that with sortilege. You can do that with bibliomancy. You can do that with body awareness. You can do that with no tools at all, just your presence and your questions.

The method is less important than the spaciousness.

But how we choose our methods, with cultural humility, with respect for lineages not our own, with honesty about appropriation, that matters too.

Because spiritual companionship is about integrity. All the way down.

Beloved, you are whole, holy, and worthy,

Amy