Casting Lots & Throwing Bones

Bone throwing, bone casting, “throwing the bones”, and even casting lots- all of these are methods of divination called cleromancy, using a collection of objects given meaning by the person doing the reading. Lot casting has been mentioned in the Bible, both old and new testament. It was also performed in ancient Rome, by early Germanic tribes, in various parts of Asia, parts of Africa, and even here in North America by the Mi’kmaq nation in Canada. 

I’m not going to tell you how to do this- I’m going to tell you how I assigned meaning to various pieces, so you can figure out meanings and ways of reading that work for you.

Starter kit

• Old python vertebra

• Raccoon or coyote vertebra

• Scallop shell

• Snail shell or violet clam shell

• Predator tooth (raccoon, bobcat, or coyote tooth)

• Coyote toe bone

• Heat treated citrine

• Quartz shard

• Whole nutmeg

• Agate star

• Cowrie shell

• Caaaaaaaaaaandy (Halloween!)

• Necklace with Perthro and peridot for luck

For me, the python vertebra is old and worn. I’d probably consider that something from the past, someone or something older than myself, maybe even something dark since it’s darker than the other bones. The shells may mean protection, a shield, a home, or water- which leads me to emotion. The tooth might mean conversations that need to be had, or communication. The toe bone may mean travel since it’s part of the foot, or it might signify cunning, since it’s a coyote bone. For me, I don’t really like the traditional correspondences that I haven’t determined myself. In my readings citrine can mean earth since that’s where it comes from, land, or maybe light (thinking about the sunshiney feel of it). I use nutmeg for dreams, magic or witchcraft, or other arcane stuff. The quartz can be anything, I read it, or not, depending on the situation.  I consider the agate star to be fun, maybe youth, but it can also mean the universe, space, or celestial power/interactions. I might also use it to represent the querent if I am doing a reading about someone else. Cowries are generally money for me, and I might look at what it falls next to, or whether it’s right side up, or cut side.

The pendant has the rune Perthro, and a peridot stone. Peridot is just happy good things for me, and the green reminds me of “the luck of the Irish” even though it’s not really kelly green.  Perthro can be interpreted in many ways, and one of those ways is fate, or luck. Some say it looks like a cup on its side, used in casting lots. I asked it to mean luck for us when I stamped the image into the metal. 

Good Samhain to you all- if you celebrate the new year at this time, welcome to the next phase!

Here are 3 mat setups you could try. I like the quarters with the circles, where the center can be the querent, a time (past, present, future), the quarters can mean cardinal directions or elements.

The triangles are another way; you can give different meaning to the things that fall close to you, or left vs right. In one class the teacher used a rabbit pelt, and gave meanings to them as they fell on or near the legs, head, and tail of the pelt.

 The 2 lines can give you time, or if you like Appalachian Andrea’s readings, self/intuition/universe (I can’t remember her exact style).

Now for the actual cast! I like to hold the items in both hands, hold them up to my mouth, and ask my question quietly- but I make sure my breath goes into my hands over the objects. I work with my breath a lot, so that’s often how I communicate with things. You may find a different way that works for you- picking each item up and putting it in one hand, shaking them like dice, or not touching them at all and using a bowl, cup, or bag to mix and cast them to read.  

I hold the items about 12” over the surface I’m throwing onto, and then drop them. I’ve also heard of people sitting in front of a wall and throwing them against it, and reading things as they bounce off. Or you could lightly cast them away from you onto the mat, and assign meanings based on how close or far they are to you and each other, or whatever meaning you assigned to the places on the mat. 

I don’t actually have a mat set up so here’s what I’m using at this moment.For me, the center is the future, the middle is the present, and the parts outside the large circle are past/irrelevant. The violet clam is completely off the paper so it’s out of the running. The bone is past. The nutmeg is iffy. 

The citrine is covered by the toe bone. The python vertebra is under the scallop shell.  The tooth is alone, as are the star, crystal, and cowrie. 

I didn’t ask a question- when I do readings it’s nearly always just “What do I need to know?” Since the scallop is covering the python vertebra- maybe I need to stop letting my emotions keep me small, and “get a backbone” about something. The nutmeg is on the line between past and present. I haven’t been practicing as regularly as I feel I “should”; I used to do it more often, and maybe I need to bring it into the present. The quartz is pointing from the tooth to the cowrie. Put my money where my mouth is! Or maybe use my voice to make money, which is something recommended to me during the Business Breakthrough class. I may need to be smarter about how I “share my light” with the coyote and citrine, or maybe I need to travel more to be happy. I actually followed through with this when I applied to vend a Austin Witchfest next year.

The star is high above the rest, looking over everything on the reading. I can see everything I need to; it’s all in front of me.

If you have a different perception or interpretation of this, I’d love to hear what you think! Jump in over on facebook, or make a Marco about it.