Behind the Scenes: New Moon Ritual, pt. 2
There is no January 2025 New Moon Dream Divination ritual write-up this month. I needed to use the new moon for a different, personal ritual and did not have the bandwidth to double-dip or do anything back-to-back. Instead, I decided to continue the thread from the last time I was unable to deliver a divination summary and talk about the “behind the scenes” stuff. This time, I want to talk about why I think having a standing divinatory practice is incredibly important.
In my experience, most people gravitate towards a divinatory practice in moments of crisis, confusion, or loss. This makes sense, right? When you feel powerless or helpless, when nothing makes sense, anything that can better orient you or give you a sense of direction can be a lifesaver. But there are several dangers in only engaging in divination when you are scared or panicked.
Here are some thoughts on why a regular practice is important:
Confirmation bias is a real thing. Our tendency to read into divinatory readings the outcome we want to receive is a major hazard we need to learn to manage. When we’re in heightened emotional states, especially negative emotions, it can be easier for our us to forget about the blinders we are wearing.
Engaging in a divinatory practice regularly, even when you don’t feel like you “need” it, helps you to better get to know your tools and to establish a baseline for how messages are conveyed through them. Understanding this baseline can help mitigate the above point - not solve it! - and make us more aware when we’re resisting the message. This is often what folks refer to as “discernment” and it is a learned skill that requires practice and upkeep.
Speaking of our divinatory tools, they have their own unique language. The more we engage with them the more fluent we become and the easier it is to translate the message.
Think of a monthly divinatory practice like preventative maintenance. If you only take your car into the shop when its smoking or all the dashboard lights are flashing it’s usually way too late and any solution is going to be very expensive. If you stay up to date on maintaining your car with regular oil changes, tire rotations and balances, etc. you may also be alerted to problems before they even happen. Having a regular divinatory practice can sometimes have the same outcome, bringing something to your attention that you weren’t even aware of.
Our magical skills are like a muscle and lack of use can lead to atrophy. Maintaining a regular practice is just that: practice. That way, if someone in your community is suddenly in need of your services, you’re ready to go. You don’t have to brush off the rust and hope you remember how to translate the message.
Since starting my own monthly* divinatory dream ritual I have become better able to discern what are the messages being conveyed to me and what are my own biases, thoughts, and fears. This has also impacted other parts of my life allowing me to have a better understanding of what my own biases feel like, and account for them.
