The Makings of a Magpie Oracle - Part 1: A Brief Introduction

I’ve been a practicing witch and pagan since I was 13 years old … that was a long time ago. I used the divination tools that were available to me at the time, being a small-town kid without internet (this was the ‘80s, mind you). I had a Gypsy Oracle Deck, some Tarot cards, and a pendulum. In my 30s, and again in my mid-40s, I started crafting divination tools – runes and pendulums, mainly. My first witchy business was called Airmed’s Attic, named after a Celtic Goddess. Then I created under the moniker The Art of Dreams & Divination. In 2022, all of that experience studying and crafting witchy goodies would lead to the beginning of Skulls & Cauldrons, which combined that love with a love of oddities & curiosities. It was that other love that pushed me into the world of bone throwing – something that, essentially, combined my two passions into one.

There’s not a ton of information online about the origins of bone throwing, but what I did find dates them back to ancient people tossing actual (and only) bones into a fire and then reading the cracks in the bones or people painting bones and reading them how they land. Dice were originally made of bone and have been used for centuries as a divination and numerology tool. I don’t know which came first, and I don’t know who did it first. I was able to tie some forms of bone divination to the Ancient Egyptians, Native Americans, Voodoo, and the Romani people.

When I started making these starter kits to sell, I called them Bone Throwing Kits. I later discovered people calling it Magpie or Crow Oracle. And this year I see the term Junk Drawer Oracle all over the place. When I started my studies of this divination style I didn’t find other people doing these readings – of course, now that I do this professionally and have dived deeper into our own local divination scene, I’ve found multiple people who do Bone & Trinket readings and have for as many years as I have or more. It’s amazing the doors that open up when you fall into a rabbit hole. When I was selling starter kits, before I switched to doing readings, people were constantly asking what it was and were baffled by this form of divination they never heard of. Now, I have people seeking me out because I do bone throwing, and, while I do still get a lot of “I never heard of that” responses, there are nearly just as many who say they have.

I think every person doing this form of divination does things a little differently, at least when it comes to the bones and trinkets they use and the meanings they give to each of them. I’ve yet to haul my oracle bones and trinkets to an event and find any other readers using this technique, even though I have seen others talk about it online.

I’m, obviously, not opposed to having more intuitive readers out there grabbing at the reins of this wonderful form of divination, or I wouldn’t be sharing this book with you. What I want to share is how I got started with Bone Throwing (and how you can too), how to create your Magpie Oracle set (and keep it changing, as I find it likes to do from time to time), how to use it to tell people about themselves and what their future may hold, and how to determine what each of those pieces in your kit means in a way that those meanings will always stick with you – making readings a breeze. It’s not always easy to learn a new divination tool, and like all of them, you’ll need practice. It is helpful that you get to personalize your kit in many ways, from what “pieces” go into it to what meanings you attribute to each of them.

This ability to fully create your own kit and give each piece attributions you come up with makes this divination style something much more personal than using a deck of cards created by someone else. This is one of the reasons why I think Magpie Oracle is a fantastic means of fortune telling. In its openness and uniqueness, it allows you to be the creator and offer something completely unique to your clients that comes from your own mind. Even if you use the meanings I offer for pieces here in the book, your trinkets and bones won’t look exactly like mine.

As someone who spends every day honing their intuition and diving into divinatory practices, I love the idea of more people opening up this side of their minds, diving into the third eye, and being more aware of and open to their own innate psychic abilities. The more you work with divination and intuition, the more you open yourself up to these gifts.

I want to really strike home with you the importance of honing your intuition, whether or not you decide to move forward with working with Magpie Oracle. Intuition can help you in all aspects of your life, not just your divinatory practices. Here are a few things to work on to help increase your intuitive skills.

Begin with meditation. Meditation is relaxing, it allows you time to ground yourself, and it is amazing for assisting in intuition development. You don't have to always set aside a bunch of time for a deep meditation, although you should make this a regular practice, you can also work on your mindfulness meditation – which means being aware of the things that are going on around you. Spend less time focusing on the jumbled thoughts in your head and more time in that white space that clears your mind. Longer meditations can be done in silence or you can use a guided meditation that helps you hone intuition.

Even more important than that time in the recesses of your mind is to always go with your gut feeling. Stop second-guessing yourself. Even if your instinct turns out wrong from time to time, you still want to trust in it and know that it is warning you and pushing you in certain directions. You can even keep track of gut feelings and how they work out. And, one way you can do that is to journal about them. Journaling is also another form of meditation, but it also allows you to keep track of intuitive experiences you have and look back at how your skills are working and developing over time.

There are some fantastic other ways to open yourself up to your intuitive abilities, including spending time in the great outdoors, keeping track of your dreams, diving into your creative side, and learning to be more empathetic.

Paying attention to your dreams is a great place to start. Dreams are used as another form of divination and they have been used that way as far back as the ancient Egyptians. Your dreams have messages for you. Keep a journal by your bed so you can write down your dreams the moment you wake up each morning. Then you can go back through and look for keywords that speak to you. Use what you learn from your dreams to help you intuit what the universe wants you to know.

Get outside, take your shoes off, and ground yourself. Listen to nature – the sounds of the outdoors can do so much for our souls. Just taking a walk, whether it's long or short, can clear your mind – yet again, another form of meditation. Plus, for me, a nice walk is the perfect time to come up with fresh ideas – I get some of my most creative thoughts during this time.

Use those creative ideas that come to you on your walks to start tapping into your imagination. The greater your imagination, the bigger your inspiration. The thing is, when we're born, we all have intuitive and psychic abilities. As we grow and the world jades us, those abilities begin to fade. By embracing your inner child, you can begin to let those abilities flourish in adulthood. Write (poetry is a great place to start), draw and paint – whatever form of art you prefer, dive headfirst into it.

Lastly, learn empathy. The more you can tap into other people's emotions, the more you'll feel those emotions regularly. With practice, you can even work to feel residual emotion from objects and in places.

Don't just do these things once – the more you practice all of these tips, the more your intuition will develop.

**I do readings on the third Wednesday of every month at Twisted Rivers Winery in Marshall, MI**