#osteomancy

[wanderingsorcerer]

Bones of the Past: Unearthing the Ancient Art of Osteomancy by W.S.

Osteomancy, an ancient divination art utilizing bones, boasts a rich history spanning millennia and has manifested in various forms across diverse cultures worldwide. In today's Wanderers Tea Time, we'll explore these distinctive variations and even guide you through crafting your own personalized set.

The art of osteomancy goes by many names across many different cultures, but its main purpose is to divine future or present events. This can look like bone throwing, which entails reading the way bones land after asking a question.

Pyro osteomancy in which the bones are heated in fire and the cracks are read by the shaman or fortune teller.

There is no one correct way to practice osteomancy because each cultures take on the practice differ depending on region and era.

Chinese Oracle bones

The practice of shamans reading Oracle bones in China is seen most prominently in the late shang dynasty, the process involved the use of Turtle Shell and or Ox scapula bone.

Emperors, nobles and even peasants were known to frequent these fortune tellers for answers. The process involved carving questions into the bone or shell and then placing them into a fire. The heat from the fire would cause fracture points in the bone and from these cracks the shaman or fortune teller would be able to get insight into the questions asked.

If this sounds familiar to you and you've never heard of osteomancy there is a chance you recognize this scene from Avatar the last Airbender.

This scene, despite its animated nature, adeptly illustrates the profound reliance individuals often placed on fortune tellers, while also delving into the cultural intricacies that underpin this ancient practice in an easy to digest manner.

osteomancy in Ancient Greek culture

In Ancient Mediterranean culture there were many different ways people could divine the future. One such way was the use of Astragaloi, an ancient four sided die usually made from a sheep's knuckle bone.

These dice were usually numbered and correspondence charts were used to see which God would be governing over your question, once completed whoever was doing the readings would be able to divine an answer.

This was a fairly common practice and was a type of game in and of itself. But the Astragaloi were used in other games all around the ancient Mediterranean and it was so common to have a set, that many children who died young were known to be buried with a set of them.

New Age Spiritualism*Derogatory

The rise in new age spirituality has led to a rise in cultural misappropriation, Osteomancy is not as common amongst the new age spiritual movement as say tarot cards are.

It's Folk practitioners I've noticed who are keeping the art form of osteomancy alive, and are doing so respectfully within their cultures parameters.

That being said when it does bleed into New Age Circles What I've unfortunately seen in recent years, especially on tiktok, is the practice of osteomancy being used in the same fashion as hoodoo and African religious practices. (By white people)

And while it is important to learn about other cultures and to grow as a practitioner. It is also important to understand that copying the way a specific culture does their divination is not something you should be doing unless you are a part of that culture or at least are attempting to reconnect to it.

Osteomancy is an open practice and has been practiced for thousands of years, however you shouldn't be playing copyright infringement with our African brothers and sisters.

Osteomancy Sets: The Found

To create your own Osteomancy set it is common to go into the forest or parks and search for animal bones which have already dried and been exposed to sunlight. These sets when created are said to be more valuable than one purchased because each piece of bone holds a story and a different assigned meaning. This allows you to read a more detailed answer to the question asked. The can take years to complete though so people will also add stones and other nicknacks into the mix.

Make sure each bone is cleaned with a degreasing solution and then soaked in a hydrogen peroxide solution for several days to keep rotting from taking place. If done properly the bones should last several years, if you do it incorrectly you may notice bone flies appear. They feed off of bone and are a nuisance they damage the entire set.

You can also make a Vegan version out of Wood, carving answers into them and throwing them as you would a normal Osteomancy set.

Below I will show you how to make your own set of Osteomancy Bones from the Grocery store :)

[Liability Disclaimer]

"Wandering Sorcerer shall not be held liable in the event that you become sick after attempting this project, please do not attempt unless supervised by an adult or are yourself over the age of 18. Follow all safety procedures, both recommended and inferred by the warnings given" W.S. 04/08/2024

{WARNINGS AND SAFETY PROCEDURES}

"This is going to include the handling of fresh animal meat and bone. Please practice food safety and contamination control, I don't want you to get sick. while not found in avians, if you do this project with other animals Bone dust can expose you to prions, which is known to cause brain diseases when inhaled. If and when carving into dry bone wear a mask and have proper ventilation, its best to do most if not all of this outside."

Now that that's out of the way without further adieu here is -

Osteomancy sets: The Formed

As someone who has done a fair amount of taxidermy work and wanted a set of my own Osteomancy bones a few years back I decided it would be cool if I made my own instead of buying one off etsy. This step by step can be converted to suite any animal however at the time I decided on chicken because it was rather inexpensive, and I was craving fried chicken that day :)

Opus Est~

Raw Chicken Drumsticks ( 6 is a good number ) store bought is fine

Dawn Dish Soap

Hydrogen peroxide

Very Sharp Knife

Metal Pot

Gloves (please wear gloves when handling hydrogen peroxide and wash your hands and the area after handling meat to avoid spreading bacteria)

The Burden Of Creation

Start by deboning the chicken, this can be tough but what I did was follow the bone using the back end of the blade. Very important the blade be as sharp as possible.

Then begin pulling away the meat and separate any cartilage from the drumstick. Cook the chicken however you like but DO NO COOK THE BONES

Once the bones are prepped we are going to begin the degreasing stage, using Dawn Dish Soap and water begin cleaning and scrubbing the remaining blood and meat from the bone.

once you're satisfied with the results, get fresh clean water and inside the metal pot add a decent amount of soap, you will allow it to sit for at minimum 24 hours.( 72hrs is best with daily water and soap changes) keep doing this until the water no longer has scum forming from the bones.

After degreasing stage is complete, get a new pot and add in hydrogen peroxide, you can get high proof 12% or higher peroxide from the hair salon, but if not Medical Grade 3% is fine, it just takes a few more days.

Change the peroxide solution daily, you should begin seeing a bleaching effect after 72 hours. Once the bones are white you can leave them out in the sun for a few days to allow them to fully dry.

The Joy Of Creation

Now that the bones have been degreased, bleached and dried we can begin actually designing the Osteomancy Set,

The set we will be creating is the crossing questions Osteomancy set, many people more than likely already know of this set as it is a common form of divination seen amongst many yes no fortune tellers on Live Streams today.

To make a set of your own you will need

Twine

paint

Dried Bones

This is entirely up to you on how you decide to wrap or paint your Bones, the main important aspect is that a specific amount of your Bones are wrapped in twine and the others are painted with varying symbology and answers. If you have the aptitude you can carve into the bones to create permanent symbols (please use proper ventilation)

The most common for a set of six, is three wrapped and three painted.

Allow yourself to get creative, once they've been created bless them however you like and name them as you would any other tool.

So now that you've created your very own set of Osteomancy Bones, you might be asking how you read the answers.

Well look no further:

How to Not Be Dyslexic When Reading Bones

You should have a designated throwing cup in which the set can both be stored and thrown from, think Yahtzee but for divination.

when thrown, the bones will land dependent on their varying weights and your throwing styles.

If they create an X the answer to your question is yes.

If the answer is no they will drastically separate from one another, sometimes subtle other times at cartoonish velocity.

When two stringed ones cross it becomes a definite yes. Meaning the most likely scenario to happen.

If a painted and a strung bone cross it means probably, if two painted cross its a soft maybe.

Depending on your own point of view and the symbology painted on your bones, you can interpret different meanings from your throws. The more personal a design you give your Bones the more you will be

I Feel It in My Bones

Osteomancy is an important aspect of divination, many of the ancient divination practices have unfortunately been lost or made illegal by society(The Vapors) so i think it's nice that we see this ancient art still widely practiced today. I hope I was able to offer some insight into this practice and maybe even inspired you to create your very own.

Thank you for sitting down and having Tea with me on the Other side of the Great Divide

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#occult #occultism #occultist #demons #ars goetia #solomonic magick #magick #witchcraft #folklore #folklorist #magi #magus #grimoire #grimoires #witch #witchblr #witches #witchythings #witchlife #pagan witch #WanderingSorcerer #herbalist #plants and herbs #herbology #herbalism #osteomancy #bone reading #bone #divination #tarot

[maceofpentacles]

please consider: buying a reading from me so i can make rent that’s due on february 5th

the post is linked,, i’m just under $400 short of my $515 rent so please, even just reblogging this helps :) thank you!!

i’ll do multiple readings for a lower price if anyone is interested.

117/515

#personal stuff #witchcraft #witch #witchblr #witch community #witches of tumblr #pagan #paganblr #pagans of tumblr #tarot #tarot reading #oracle #oracle reading #runes #rune reading #cartomancy #cartomancy reading #pendulum #pendulum reading #osteomancy #osteomancy reading #divination #divination reading #signal boost #boost #crowd funding #mutual aid #mutual aid request

[sultry-spiritress]

ayyy! who else throws bones for their divination practice? any cool experiences you’d feel comfy sharing?🦴

#pagan witch #pagan #witchblr #witchcraft #christian witch #witchy #witch tips #baby witch #catholic witch #divination #bone throwing #osteomancy

[serpentandthreads]

I know osteomancy/bone throwing is a growingly popular form of divination these days, but there are two things I want y'all to know while you are picking bones for your sets.

Look up the laws regarding having certain wildlife remains in your possession. Some are fully legal, some require paperwork and some are off limits.

Do not pick bones just because you like them. Consider the spirit of the animal. Consider the folklore and cultural stories from their native lands (especially if the animal is only native to one place). Not all animal bones will be suitable.

#witchblr #witchcraft #divination #bone throwing #osteomancy

[theoddcryptid]

Free tarot / bone and charm / oracle readings, first come first serve.

check out the form for more info and some rules

#tarot #divination #tarot readings #tarot cards #witchblr #witch #pagan #witchy #free tarot #free tarot readings #osteomancy #bone reading

[bonusdragons]

September 10, 2023:

Umber Secondary, Sandsurge, Peacock.

Revenant of Osteomancy's clan!

#Umber Secondary #Sandsurge #Peacock Gene #Revenant #Osteomancy #Exception*

[thehexwitch]

Some animistic bone-reading tips

I've been practicing bone-reading for about five years now, and through that I've picked up on a few things that I don't regularly see people talking about, so I decided to put together a list that I would have personally found helpful at the beginning of my divination practice. Please be advised that I come at bone-reading from a very animistic perspective, so if that's not a viewpoint that you believe in, most of these tips probably won't be helpful to you.

The method of bone-reading I use is to ask a specific question and toss the bones to read. This is a common method, but there are also alternate practices, such as tossing bones in the fire and reading them based on the burns and heat cracking.

Choose your bones carefully. Pick ones that want to be worked with, and ones that you're personally able to resonate with. Bones that don't want to be read can't be used effectively from my experience.

Feed your bones. This is the practice of giving your bones offerings to maintain their willingness to work with you and to build your relationship with them. I find divinatory herbs and blood to be a great offering, though blood should not be used without experience and caution. Food the animal would have eaten while alive can also be effective (for example, if your set is made primarily of fox bones, a small offering of meat might be appreciated).

Listen to your gut. Bone-reading is an incredibly instinctual and personalized form of divination. Don't try too hard to logically assign meanings to your bones - from my experience, they will usually let you know. If you can tell a bone would like to be used for a reading but can't tell what the bone might mean, add it to your set. It will let you know once you start doing readings with it.

Use a mat. This is partially a mundane recommendation; if you throw your bones straight onto the floor, they're eventually going to break. This also makes it easier to tell when a bone breaking is significant to the reading. A mat can also serve as a center of the reading; the bones in the middle may be more significant, whereas the bones that fall off the mat may be irrelevant to the reading. This isn't a format one has to use, but it can be helpful, especially to beginners.

Just start bone-reading. Obviously you should go into it having done research, and with a cautious and respectful attitude. However, at a certain point, doing research and preparation isn't helpful. Because bone-reading is so personalized and instinctual, there is so much you can only learn once you start. During your first few readings, pay close attention to each bone, where they fall next to each other, and what they may be telling you about their meaning.

#bone reading #bone divination #osteomancy #divination #trad witch #traditional witchcraft #witchblr #crooked path #animism #faery faith #folklore #folkloric witchcraft #faery witch #folk devil #folk magic

[vacantwoodsenthusiast]

A foxglove shelf for my bone collection, bones not seen are my deer skull that protects my herbs, my bone earrings, and you can *just* barely see in the corner the bag that holds my osteomancy set

#tw dead animal #animal bones #osteomancy #bone witch #bone collecting #vulture culture #foxglove

[rustandsky]

Finished Witch YCH commission for the sweetest MoonlitCoyote!

#Leucistic coyote #Anthro #Ych #Commission #Osteomancy #Bone casting #Witch #Art nouveau #Skulls #Feathers #Bones

[thegreenwolf]

I've spent part of my day unpacking a new shipment of books--there are more already put away! I have all of my titles on nature-based paganism, Vulture Culture, the Tarot of Bones deck and book, and related topics available. You can get both paperbacks and ebooks at http://www.thegreenwolf.com/books - thank you :)

#pagan #paganism #neopaganism #vulture culture #taxidermy #dead things #divination #osteomancy #tarot #tarot cards #books #pagan books #nonfiction #self published

[wanderingsorcerer]

Osteomancy Post Out Now, For The Gays And The They's, No Straights Allowed

#occult #occultism #occultist #demons #ars goetia #solomonic magick #magick #witchcraft #folklore #folklorist #magi #magus #grimoire #grimoires #witch #witchblr #witches #witchythings #witchlife #pagan witch #WanderingSorcerer #herbalist #plants and herbs #herbology #herbalism #osteomancy #bone reading #bone #divination #tarot

[maceofpentacles]

this is embarrassing enough as it is so please don’t come into my asks and be mean to me, i will not handle it well.

anyway it’s that time again. i have $75 in my bank account and have rent due february 5th. rent is $515 and then there’s utilities on top of that, they vary each month but i can talk to my roommates about paying my portion back to them later. i have $60 in walmart gift cards from my extended family as late christmas presents that will cover groceries i need but i desperately need help covering rent.

i have an internship that will be paying me $2000 but they’re giving me half at the end of march and the other half once i wrap everything up in late april. i’ve applied to 10+ other jobs/internships over the very brief amount of time i’ve been out of college and have heard nothing back. i’m trying. i really am. i just have no consistent form of income at the moment.

i don’t particularly enjoy taking money from people without offering them something in return so here is a link to my post where i list out the different divination readings i offer along with prices. i’m very flexible with my prices so if you want something to be cheaper i’m willing to do it, i can also do multiple readings for a lower price.

i have p*yp*l | v*nmo | c*sh*pp as methods of payment for my readings

75/515

#personal stuff #witchcraft #witch #witchblr #witch community #divination #divination readings #tarot #tarot reading #oracle #oracle reading #cartomancy #cartomancy reading #runes #rune reading #pendulum #pendulum reading #osteomancy #osteomancy reading

[bendiciones444]

set up an altar exclusively for divination, rituals, and spell work ♡

#me #mexican folk magic #folk witch #folk spellcraft #folk witchcraft #folk magic #altar #osteomancy #osteomancy reading #bone throwing #bone magic

[delicatelydeceased]

🦴𝔗𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰🦴

© Delicately Deceased | Instagram • Shop

#odditiesandcuriosities #gothic #oddities #curiosities #vulture culture #witchy #dark decor #taxidermy #witchy decor #bone collector #bone collecting #goblincore #natural curiosities #taxidermy for sale #osteology #osteomancy #dark aesthetic #animal bones #forest witch #goth decor #nature witch #curiosity cabinet #cabinet of curiosities #deadwhenwemet #delicately deceased #vulture community #gothic victorian #antique aesthetic #skeleton key #traditional witchcraft

[igatherthedead]

Dreaming of Spring 💚🌿 . . . . .. . #ethicallysourced #vultureculture #bonecollecting #curiocollection #curiosity #oddities #taxidermy #ferns #fernmagic #forestwitch #foundinthewoods #scavenger #foraging #witchyvibes #osteomancy https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpg6Ui-Oq5u/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#ethicallysourced #vultureculture #bonecollecting #curiocollection #curiosity #oddities #taxidermy #ferns #fernmagic #forestwitch #foundinthewoods #scavenger #foraging #witchyvibes #osteomancy

[isuckmorethanjustblood]

I just made my first osteomancy set / magpie oracle!!!

I spent the last few days researching and collecting items and it’s finally complete (for now)! I’m really happy with how this set turned out and I’m so excited to start using it. If anyone has tips / experience with bone casting as a form of divination, lmk!

#witchcraft #osteomancy #bone throwing #bone casting #divination #witch #divination tools #bones #magpie oracle #crowcore