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The DruWitch Way: Looking for Signs and Omens

The DruWitch Way: Looking for Signs and Omens

Last updated on: July 2, 2019 at 11:36 pm by Tara Sanchez

The DruWitch Way: Looking for Signs and Omens 2019-07-02T23:36:30+00:00 Tara Sanchez

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I have a disproportionate amount of Davids in my life. My first crush was a David, first friend with benefits, first magickal teacher, the list goes on, my High Priest . . . guess what he’s called? It struck me one day as really odd how many Davids I knew and how they were connected to really quite fundamental changes in my life.

Wait . . . another David? Photo by Andrew Martin via Pixabay.

It’s got to the point that I see meeting with new Davids as a potential sign that I need to pay attention to. What new lesson do I need to learn? Is there a change I need to prepare for just around the corner? It’s become so accurate now that I rarely question it.

Take last week for example, a couple of situations left me questioning if I want to pursue a particular career opportunity; something I had been agonising over for weeks. I’d literally sat down at my computer after a long day when a message popped up with a link. The link was a call to submit a paper for a conference next year, unsurprisingly sent to me from one of my Davids. I knew straight away that I needed to pay attention because it was a paper that I knew would never have the time to write if I took the path I was considering.

It’s not the only thing I pay attention to either, I believe that my dreams are often portentous. So, when I wake from what I call “one of those dreams” I automatically take note. There is something very different about dreams that contain Omens; they are more real, more tangible, they tend to stay with you long after waking. A particular scene or image playing repeatedly over and over until you sit up and pay attention.

One of “those dreams”. Photo by Markus Spiske via Pixabay.

As a teen my father worked away during the week, every Sunday he would drive away, and we would stand and wave him off. It was probably the first time I ever that I realised the connection between dreams and potential futures. I’d felt unsettled all day after a particularly bad dream that I couldn’t shake. Then bizarrely my mother burst into tears and said, “I feel like that is the last time we are going to see him”.

Several hours later we received a phone call to say my father had totalled his car in the process of avoiding a head-on collision with a truck. He was alive thank goodness and the police praised him as if he hadn’t chosen to swerve off the road a multi-car pile-up would have happened. I was very glad he was alive but if I’d had the conviction of my beliefs at that point I may have suggested that he stay later that evening and perhaps the accident could have been avoided altogether.

What is an Omen and What is a Sign?

In my experience most people use both terms quite interchangeably and I think I’ve done so myself on a few occasions, but there is a distinct difference. Simply put a sign is a visible indication. If I were to see the words “Here be Dragons” appear in smoke above a forest path, then it’s a sign. One I would certainly take note of. The email communication I received about the conference paper is a sign; it was a tangible thing.

Sighting a black cat can be a sign or omen. Photo by Dibyendu Joardar via Pixabay.

However, the very non-specific but portentous dream reinforced by my mother’s very out of character behaviour was an Omen. There was no visible indication, just a feeling that something bad was going to happen. There are many ways of reading and interpreting these signs and Omens. Each person has their own thing. And there are some recurring ones to look out for:

Recurring names
Dreams
Clouds (and other weather patterns)
Episodes of Clairalience (I know when my dad is around as he smoked a particular brand of tobacco not so popular today)
Birds (Wrens, Robins, Magpies, Blackbirds all have prophetic folklore associated with them)
Animals (Black cats crossing your path for example)
Affected body parts (burning ears, itchy hands and feet etc.)

Taking time to write down unusual dreams, feelings, images etc. is invaluable when first working out what Signs and Omens are common to you. And remember just because someone else says that something is a sign doesn’t mean it’s a sign for you. Give it a go you will be surprised at what you discover, and it give a whole new layer to your practise and how you inform your life.

About Tara Sanchez

I am a Gardnerian Witch with heavy Druidic tendencies which I think my coven mates mostly tolerate, or at least they humour me when I come up with odd ball rituals based on snippets of folklore or myth. And as a member of the Anglesey Druid Order, I can often be found getting up to mayhem and magick on the wonderful Island of Anglesey, a place where Gin is a sacramental offering. My love of divination is unbridled and I currently own well over a hundred Tarot decks (but please no-one tell my husband! ) and I love to teach and give talks and workshops on Magick, Folklore, Oracular techniques and not surprisingly the Tarot. Previously published works include articles in both The Oracle and White Dragon Magazines in the UK, a contribution to the anthology Hekate: Her Sacred Fires and my first solo venture was The Temple of Hekate: Exploring the Goddess through ritual, meditation and divination. My current work in progress is a practical guide to working with Urban Fae which will be published by Llewellyn Worldwide. In what little free time I have left I work as a teacher in Adult Education specialising in learners with complex needs and I volunteer as a Pagan Chaplain. Sometimes if I am lucky I wave to my very indulgent family in passing. You can find a whole host of articles and hints to my current research in my blog at http://tarasanchez.com/. You can read more about the author here.

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