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.
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
See Also These Posts
Sortilege Practice Guide: Drawing Lots for Discernment – Step-by-step instructions for ethical divination practice.
https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2026/01/divination-in-spirit-tending-sortilege.html
The Reading Before the Reading: Tarot, Presence & the Holy Cup – How Tarot and oracle cards can deepen spiritual companioning through presence and reflection. https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-reading-before-reading-tarot.html
Spiritual Practices: An Overview – Comprehensive guide to contemplative tools for spiritual companions. https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2025/11/spiritual-practices-overview.html
Navigating Cultural Appropriation in Spiritual Direction: A Companion's Guide to Discernment – Essential framework for ethical decision-making in spiritual companionship. https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2025/10/discernment-part-1-on-navigating.html
Deep Listening while you WAIT – On creating spaciousness for the sacred to speak. https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2025/11/deep-listening-while-you-wait.html
The Heart of Spirit Tending – Foundations of presence and sacred listening. https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-heart-of-spiritual-direction.html
Ethical Spiritual Tending: A Foundation of Trust and Integrity – Core principles for ethical spiritual companionship practice. https://abeltaine.blogspot.com/2025/03/ethical-spiritual-companioning.html
This article is ©2026 Amy Beltaine, all rights reserved. You may freely reprint this post with attribution. Simply include: Article ©2026 Amy Beltaine, reprinted with permission. This article and hundreds of others are available at http://www.AmyBeltaine.info
Rev. Amy Katherine Beltaine directs the Cherry Hill Spiritual Direction Certification Program, training ethical spiritual companions for earth-based, Pagan, and multi-religious communities.
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