Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Outside the Circle: Samhain Divination & Throwing the Bones

Outside the Circle: Samhain Divination & Throwing the Bones

Last updated on: November 11, 2016 at 12:03 am by Danette Wilson

Outside the Circle: Samhain Divination & Throwing the Bones 2016-11-11T00:03:02+00:00 Danette Wilson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Samhain was one of the four main festivals of the Gaelic calendar, marking the end of the harvest and beginning of winter. As at Beltane, bonfires were lit on hilltops at Samhain and there were rituals involving them. The bonfires were also used in divination rituals. Seasonal foods such as apples, nuts and seeds were often used in these rituals. Playing pranks at Samhain is recorded in the Scottish Highlands as far back as 1736 and was also common in Ireland, which led to Samhain being nicknamed “Mischief Night”.

Many Pagans consider Samhain the most magical night of the year. It is a night of glowing jack-o-lanterns, tricks or treats, and dressing in costume. It is upon this night that the veil which separates our world from the Otherworld is at its thinnest, making it a Night of Power.

Shuffle your Tarot cards, toss your Rune stones, read your tea leaves, this is the time of year for telling the future, and my favorite form of divination involves bones. Bone divination consists of ritually tossed bones onto a mat or into a circle drawn in the dirt and the resulting patterns interpreted. Throwing the bones is an ancient practice traditional to many regions of the world, including Africa, Asia, and North America.

Many who throw the bones, also use other objects (such as stones or dice) either alongside of or in place of bones. I only use the real bones in my castings.

One only needs to listen to the story Dolly Parton put to music in her wonderful song These Old Bones:

These old bones will tell your story
These old bones will never lie
These old bones will tell you surely
What you can’t see with your eye
Some called her witchy woman
Some said she was insane
Some said she was a prophet
Still everybody came

She paints an eloquent picture of a Granny Magic Tennesee Mountain Hoodoo practitioner. Skulls and bones have an appeal to witches who perform spirit work and are a necessary and simple way to connect with spirits of the dead and of animals. Working with bones is not just for necromancers and magicians. Practitioners who work with bones are a wide range of healers, diviners, shapeshifters.

My style uses chicken bones, and each bone has a special meaning — the wing bone for travel, the breast bone for love, and so forth. The bones are thrown on a table and they are read much as tea-leaves are, by the pattern made and by the directions they point. To preform a reading, the bones are held while a question is asked. They are then thrown lightly onto the map. The answer is found in the way the bones lie, what field they are in, and their relationship to the other bones. Crossed bones or bones pointing in certain directions can provide extra insight into the situation. The cloth, or “map”, is usually a piece of animal hide, fabric or, more traditionally, the bare ground.

A cross or x drawn could simply hold 4 sections, above=future, below=past, the middle the present.

My collection of bones, culled from many a feast, utilizing whatever I was drawn to, have all been washed, all gristle removed, and dried in the sun. You can even empower them with the moon’s cycle.

A wishbone-could symbolise wishes, dreams, hopes desires.

Leg bones-where are you walking, grounded, or going, coming from.

Back bone-where are seated, your soul.

Neck-what you speak, utter, put your power and honor, confrontation, truth.

Arm bones– what are you doing to reach for your goals, the day to day things, what do you hold. A wing taking flight, or what do you nurture, enfold.

Smaller bones-are the smaller things.

Large bones-big issues.

I even blend my bones with cards and see what happens there, too. Allowing different patterns and symbols to emerge. My bone reading is actually always a work in progress, and I have an Oracle I am writing on called “Acromion”, that blends runes, cards and my beloved bones. It’s really intuitive, and meanings will vary from with to witch. I found a pelican skull on the beach years ago, and I’ve been drawn to skulls, and all manner of bones ever since.

Click here to like
Patheos Pagan on Facebook.

Click here to like
the Agora on Facebook

Outside the Circle is published twice monthly on Thursdays on Agora. Subscribe via RSS or e-mail!

Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan channel.

Previous Post

October 27, 2016

Outside the Circle: The Magic Of The Great Pumpkin

Next Post

October 29, 2016 Hills of the Horizon: The First Primal Ally

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which epistle focuses on joy and is addressed to believers in Macedonia?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Colossians Philippians Ephesians Galatians