Posts tagged "workshop"

Bone Divination Classes – What happens when you sign up for a bone reading class with me?

Bone Divination Classes with Michele Jackson

I offer bone reading classes. In order to take a class long distance you must have Skype, Google Hangouts, or some other video enhanced communication method. I have to see what you are doing and I want you to be able to see what I am doing as well. You will get much more out of the class if you already have a set of bones. That way we can work with your set, enhancing your familiarity with your set, and your retention of meanings if you are just starting out. While I can teach you using my set, or a starter set, I think you will get a lot more out of it using your own.

The class begins with me asking you about your level of bone reading expertise. This can range from “I haven’t done anything with them,” to “I am already reading professionally and want to sharpen my skills.” When I first started teaching most of the people I taught fell into the former category. As bone reading is starting to gain popularity I find that most of the people who take a class with me now are already reading – some even professionally. There may be a particular area that gives them difficulty or they just want some additional pointers. No matter what your level, I am sure you will get something worthwhile out of the class. My goal is for you to leave the class confident in your ability to read the bones. If you are a beginner this means you will have started to assign meanings to your pieces and have a plan and means of completing that task. You may have some new ideas for pieces that you want to add to your set. Beginners should also leave with an understanding of how to interpret pieces in groups, and how to interpret the reading as a whole. If you are already doing readings my goal is for you to leave with the means to strengthen any problem or weak areas you may have.

I am very flexible on time – if a new reader needs more than an hour to feel comfortable that is not a problem. When I book a class I block off additional time in my schedule as well so as to have enough time to ensure we have covered everything and that the student has a basic level of comfort and confidence in their ability to do a basic reading. I do not charge extra if we run over time. You will not need to take a series of classes – one should do it. Again, my goal is to have you leave the class confident in your ability to do a basic reading. Practice will sharpen your skills further, but you don’t need me for that. If at some future date you would like to take another class to further enhance your skills, or to work on problems you might be having I will still be available.

If you are already doing bone readings and just want to sharpen your skills, it would be helpful if you were to take a few moments to write down any specific questions or problem areas before we meet so that you don’t get caught up in the moment and forget to ask before the class is over.

I also send anyone who takes a class with me a gift of a piece that you can add to your bone set. Of course you can choose not to add it as well. I won’t be offended – each set is a personal reflection of that reader’s needs, understanding, and aesthetics, so I understand completely if what I send doesn’t fit your vision. Maybe you can pass it on to someone you know who is just starting out or keep it as a memento of the class.

To sign up for a class just go to my bookeo.

Happy Bone Reading!

The Sweet Spot

I gave a presentation on bone reading last weekend at the San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium in San Jose California. It was my first time giving a presentation about bone reading via PowerPoint. I had a great group of people in the room and I enjoyed myself immensely. One of the techniques I made a few slides for was how to do a throw so that you do not end up with a distribution of pieces that is difficult or impossible to read.

There are several ways that you can cast your set. The easiest is to put them in your hands and drop them onto the reading surface or cloth. If they will fit in one hand, you can use one hand – if you need two hands, use two hands. If you use this method you have to find what I call your “sweet spot.” The sweet spot is the height you need to drop your bones from. If you drop them too close to the cloth you will end up,with a clump of bones that is difficult to read. If you drop them too far from the cloth they will spread out too much, with some leaving the cloth, and no discernible pattern or groupings. You have to keep trying – dropping your bones from different heights until you find the one that gives you the best results. Then you have to practice it till you can consistently get a good distribution and can cast at the right height without having to give it a lot of thought.

Too close together. This come from dropping the bones too close to the cloth, or not moving your hand as you thrown them from an implement.

Too far. Pieces dropped from too far from the cloth or spread out too vigorously from an implement.

A good distribution of pieces. You have several groupings here.

If you have a lot of bones like I do, you will not be able to fit them all in your hands so you will have to use some other casting method. I sprinkle them out from the lid of the basket that they are stored in. I use a shaking motion and move my hand around over the surface of my reading cloth. Again, practice was required before I could get consistent results with this method. I let spirit guide me as to where I move my hand as I shake the basket lid. In the past I kept my bones in a wooden bowl. I would sprinkle the bones out of the bowl in a similar manner to how I sprinkle them from the basket lid now. With my practice set I use a similar casting method, only I throw them from the small basket itself. I shake them onto the cloth like I would a basket full of seasoning into a large pot. I have seen readers cast their bone sets from shells and other rigid objects. One reader I know fills a small, flat wooden bowl with her bones and then gives a little toss straight up and quickly pulls the bowl out of the way. It is visually attractive and it looks professional. Although she makes it look effortless, I am willing to bet it took her quite a bit of practice to perfect that throwing style.

Possible Bone Throwing Implements

If despite spending time practicing you find that you are still having difficulty getting a good spread when you cast your bones, try a different casting method. If you toss from your hands, try using an implement such as a shell or bowl to cast from. It doesn’t have to be the storage container you use – it can be something you use just for casting. Likewise, if you cast from an object now and are still having difficulty, try using your hands, or try using another implement. The important thing is to be able to get a good cast consistently. No matter how much you practice you will occasionally have a throw that is too clumped together or too spread out for your tastes. When this happens to me I make the best of it unless I made some error in throwing, like dropping the basket lid, in which case I will throw again. Practice, practice, and more practice is the way to ensure you get good throws that are easy to read. Do several practice throws every day and you will find your sweet spot and perfect your method before you know it.

Happy Bone Reading!

Last Weekend

I did not do a blog entry last weekend because I was out of town visiting friends and working at the Mystic Dream’s Wisdom Festival. I had wonderful hosts, who fed me well, took me where I wanted to go, and did everything they could to make my stay stress free and fun. Of course, you are not interested in hearing about my vacation – you want to hear about bones. Rest assured, my weekend was full of bones and bone reading.

Thursday I went to The Bone Room. I believe that I could spend several days there. If time were not an issue I would start by the door and work my way around the store opening every drawer and examining every item on every shelf and in every display case. Unfortunately I have less time than I would like so I spend most of it in the section that has little drawers full of loose animal bones. I always find at least a few pieces that strike my fancy and this trip was no exception.

I found the shape of these turtle bones quite attractive and I am considering replacing the carved turtles in my sets with these. Instead of having just two sides like my carved turtles, these have three easily recognizable presentations – up, down or side. A fourth can be had by making a simple mark on one of the sides. I haven’t decided what meanings to assign to the different presentations and so far I have not swapped the turtles out. But once I have decided upon how I want to interpret these bones, and when the time is right, I will be probably be making a switch.

I also found these fused snake vertebrae interesting. I use the vertebra to represent a strong backbone, and flexibility. The fact that these bones are no longer flexible having fused together is interesting to me. It suggests a rigidity and inability to bend or give. I think it is a nice counterpoint to my current vertebrae, but I haven’t decided whether I want to include them or not.

This lion bone caught my eye and while I have one in each of my sets already, this one may replace one of them in the future. I liked its size and brightness.

I also got these bone hair sticks. I think they might make good reading pointers.

On Friday one of my hosts and I made the visited the Lucky Mojo Curio Company. Here I bought some oils I needed but I also bought a wolf bone. I think wolves are beautiful animals, but I have never felt any particular bond with them. I have several friends who do have a strong affinity for wolves. I have a dog bone in each of my sets, and I think the wolf shares some canine traits, but it is also quite different. While we train our dogs, and therefore think of them as disciplined, watching any nature show about wolves hunting will show you what discipline and teamwork is. Each wolf has its job and does it well. Failure results in real hunger, unlike our domesticated dogs whose failures result in not getting the liver treat. I think it is different enough from the dog bone to make it useful and not redundant, but I need to do some more research before I decide to add this bone to my set.

Saturday and Sunday I was fortunate to be a guest at The Mystic Dream’s Wisdom Weekend. I got to sit in on some excellent free lectures and do a lot of readings. The readings were short – only 10 minutes, but I enjoyed them and got to meet a lot of new people in a short span of time. I also gave a talk on bone reading – my favorite subject! Sunday night my hosts made me a dinner to die for. The entire weekend was great and I look forward to working at the Mystic Dream’s Wisdom Festival again next year if they will have me back.

Introduction to Bone Reading Workshop

Me and the owners of The Mystic Dream

Happy Bone Reading!

Photographs of me and of the owners of the Mystic Dream were taken by Coastside Conjure and are used with permission.

Junk Oracle

While not a bone set, the Junk Oracle is a great example of the types of things that can be added to a bone set for little or no money. Each set comes with 21 small items and a set of collage playing cards that have instructions and the meanings. The pieces are the type of things you find in a junk box or drawer – a robot eraser, a screw, charms, a magnifying glass, a button and a fuzzy chick are some of the items included in my set. There is also a bag to store and carry them, a small piece of cloth that can be used as a reading surface, and an instruction sheet. Each set is different.

Junk Oracle Pieces and instruction sheet

Bag and cards with piece meanings

Cloth and meaning card front and back

I hope it sparks your imagination and gives you some ideas for your own bone set. You can order the Junk Oracle here.

On another note, the Hoodoo Heritage Festival is over. I had a blast throughout and I learned some cool new meanings for some of my bones during my workshop. The folks who attended were sharp, and came up with some wonderful meanings that I never would have thought of in a million years.

“To teach is to learn twice.” Joseph Joubert

Showing the Junk Oracle at the Hoodoo Heritage Festival 2014

Happy Bone Reading!

I wrote a book!

I have been writing all of my life – whether papers for school, reports for work, reviews for my web site, or writing in a journal. I have always written. I wrote my first book in the fourth grade. I wrote it and my mom typed the pages for me. I also illustrated it. I actually wrote two books that year, but I can only find one right now. The other book was about ghosts (I was a strange fourth grader).

My first book.

It was also lavishly illustrated.

So it is a bit surprising to me that it took me so long to write an adult book. I always thought I would write a tarot book. But there are literally hundreds of books on tarot and most of them already cover the things that I would have written, so I never wrote one. Instead I wrote a book on bone reading. I wasn’t especially thinking about writing a book. I had written a 16 page booklet as a take home for my bone reading students. The idea was that by having the booklet with all of the key points written down, the student could give their full attention to the hands on portion of the class. Of course they were free to write notes in the booklet if they wanted to – I even left blank pages at the back for them to do so. But they didn’t have to.

Long story short I used that booklet as a starting point for my book. I asked myself what “I” would want in a book on bone reading and that is what I wrote. I have been the fortunate recipient of knowledge from several excellent bone readers who graciously shared their knowledge and experience with me. But my reading style is not exactly like any of theirs. My set is different from theirs, my assigned meanings are mostly different and my interpretations are influenced by my life experiences. Because bone reading is such an personal and intimate form of divination there are likewise some limitations as to what I can teach my reader. There is no “standard” set of bones that I can teach to. I have no idea what the people who purchase this book are going to have in their bone sets. Even if they order a set from one of the vendors selling them like Lucky Mojo, Dr. E’s Conjure Doctor site, or The Mystic Dream, they will be getting a set that consists of the pieces that were available to the vendor at the time. Availability changes constantly. Most people then add several pieces of their own to the set they bought. For the same reason I cannot teach my reader what the pieces in their set mean. I came to the conclusion that all I could do is show how I read the bones using one of my bone sets with the meanings that I use. That way the reader can get some ideas that they can use to develop their own bone reading technique. That is the way that I was taught as well.

The first half of the book gives some basic information – what bone reading is, where to get a set, what to do with the set to get it ready to read, etc. The second half of the book provides illustrations of and explanations of how I interpreted actual readings. With the permission of the clients that I read for I photographed their reading, turned the photos into illustrations so that they would be easier to see, and explained how I interpreted the bones in each reading. The interpretations in the book are not necessarily the interpretations that the client heard. When reading I let myself be guided by spirit and I am interacting with the client. Since I did not record the readings I can not convey what I said during the actual reading. But I can explain what the various configurations of pieces “could” mean looking at them after the fact. Here is an example:

This is the full throw:

And here is an illustration of a section of the reading. This particular section was closely clumped together with some pieces covering others so the pieces are numbered and described for ease of identification. The next page gives the interpretations. However, most of the illustrations contain far fewer pieces so they are not numbered – a few pieces are shown followed immediately by the interpretation.

The interpretations given are based on the suggested meanings given earlier in the book. Now you may look at that same section and come up with an interpretation that is totally different and that is OK. My goal is not to have you adopt my meanings and interpret the way I interpret. My goal is to show you one possible interpretation in order to show you the mechanics of the way I read. I am hopeful that once you see and understand the mechanics you will be able to adapt them to develop your own personal style of reading. Likewise the meanings. My meanings are not the “correct” meanings. They are just the meanings that I use, and even I change them dependent on the situation. But to show you the mechanics we have to have a common language. If you like the meanings in the book please feel free to use them. If you don’t please feel free to reject them. It’s all good.

There are four readings in the book. There are also descriptions of how to do specialized readings of various types. You can see the whole Table of Contents here.

My wish for you if you purchase the book is that you will find it helpful in developing or enhancing your bone reading technique. Learning to read the bones can be frustrating at times. But I hope that you will stick it out because it is one of the best divination systems available in my opinion.

The book will be available on May 4th, 2014 from Lucky Mojo. Sunday attendees at the Hoodoo Heritage Festival will get a free copy and a goody bag from me, as well as swag from all of the workshops they attend that day. It will also be available from Amazon at some future date. if you are attending the festival and want a reading please sign up here. Spaces are filling fast!

Happy Bone Reading!

Hoodoo Heritage Festival – May 3rd and 4th, 2014

The Hoodoo Heritage Festival 2014 is happening the first weekend in May (May 3rd and 4th). This year is really going to be special because you will be able to attend all of the workshops on a given day for one price for the entire day. If you attend both days you get a discount. The workshops are always excellent. Many are “hands on” and all of them have free goodies. There will be 5 new books — 4 complete 96-page books, plus a special 96-page advance preview edition of a much longer book to released later in the year. Those who get the preview edition will be mailed the full version of the book when it is released in June for the same low price – free! Attendees will get the books released for the day they attend. Attend both days and get all 5! I am still using last year’s one free book – The Black Folder.

The festival starts on Saturday with a Quimbanda Opening Ceremony for Exu by Conjureman Ali, an initiated TaTa (priest) from The House of Quimbanda. Wildcrafting for Herbal Magic is next and it will be a don’t miss event. Miss Cat is an acknowledged expert on the subject and the grounds around the church have many different herbs and plants useful for Hoodoo. This will be a hands-on, walk around the grounds event, not just a lecture. I can assure you that this workshop will enhance your knowledge of herbs.

Bathing and Cleansing Spells will expand your knowledge of this fundamental subject and the free book by Aura LaForest looks likely become one of my “go to” books on Hoodoo. The three presenters for this workshop come from varied backgrounds so you will be getting a well-rounded presentation on the subject with demonstrations. There will be a Panel Discussion on Favorite Money Spells, and let’s face it, who is not interested in learning ways to bring in more money? Six experienced workers will be on this panel bringing a wide breadth of knowledge.

As a long time Tarot fan I am especially looking forward to Using Tarot, Lenormand, and Playing Cards in Rootwork by Madame Nadia. Many readers use cards of some type as their primary divination tool. This workshop will not be about reading in general, instead it will focus on and demonstrate how to use cartomancy as a diagnostic tool in working for your client. Saturday’s last workshop will be Dr. Johannes’ Introduction to Swedish Trolldom. Swedish Folkmagic is a fascinating subject, but little information has been available outside of academia. Dr. Johannes’ new book contains a wealth of information on this topic from an actual practitioner and all attendees will receive a preview copy of the book at the festival followed by a full copy of the finished book when it is published in June. The full book will have more than 600 spells to ease childbirth, restore destroyed conditions, break curses, remove the evil eye, staunch blood, awaken love, enhance sex, reunite lovers, ensure fidelity, bring about marriage, break up a couple, kill love, bind sexuality, grant protection from love spells, create friendship, invoke helpful spirits, get hunting and fishing luck, attract and draw money, protect money, bring gambling luck, get money or goods back from thieves, protect against theft, ward off physical injury, turn back hostile trolldom, guard against evil eyes and evil tongues, shield from hag riding, set boundaries against hostile spirits, travel safely, prevail in court, win debates, excel in competitions, steal another’s courage, curse enemies, get revenge, put disease on people and livestock, and kill those who deserve it. The book will be mailed to everyone who attends this day.

Sunday starts with a Spiritual Candle Service by Apollo Dark to open your roads and clear obstacles from your path. The service will be followed by a workshop on Conjuring Love, Passion and Glamour by Madame Nadia and Madame Parmita. This workshop will talk about how to use Hoodoo to find love, and how to keep it once you do. My workshop is next. You will be getting a free copy of my book Bones, Shells, and Curios: A Contemporary Method of Casting the Bones, some goodies for your bone set and a demonstration of my reading method. Bible Magic: Blessing and Cursing with Holy Scripture is next with Miss Michaele and Dr. Charles Porterfield. Both are well versed in scripture and this promises to be a great workshop covering everything from blessings and using the Bible for divination, to curses. Their new book will debut here as well and attendees of this workshop will all be getting a free copy.

Conjureman Ali will be presenting a workshop on Defending Yourself from the Dark Arts. He has subtitled this workshop “Hoodoo Kung-Fu,” or “Conjure Kick-assery!” If you have ever listened to him on the weekly radio show you know it will full of hard-core information. This is information that every spiritual worker needs to know and I am sure that I will get some powerful new tools for my toolbox in this workshop. This will be followed by The Vacant Chair: Remembering Dr. E. and Rev. Rukiah Shamon. Both of these outstanding workers have joined the ancestors since the last festival. Attendees who wish to do so will be able to write memories into memory books for their families.

Of course there will be a free buffet lunch each day for all attendees and the food is always excellent and plentiful. There will be 20 minute reading slots available in between the workshops and many readers will be scheduling longer readings after the workshops end for the day. Here is your chance to get a reading from some of the best readers out there, some of whom have a long waiting list to get a reading through their websites.

I look forward to this festival even when I am not presenting because I get to hang out with old friends, as well as meet in person people whom I have only heard or read about. This is all in addition to greatly expanding my knowledge of Hoodoo, Rootwork and Divination. I love being able to exchange tips and techniques with other workers. There are a lot of books available on Hoodoo, and the festival will be the occasion for releasing several new books on the topic. But no matter how good the book is, seeing things demonstrated hands on and being able to ask questions is irreplaceable. I can think of any number of things that I have read that I did not really “get” until I actually saw them being done. This is your chance to see actual practices demonstrated by real workers, to ask questions, and to exchange information with other workers. No matter what your experience level, whether you are new to Hoodoo or an experienced professional, you will learn techniques that you can apply to your professional practice if you have one, or to your personal life. This is not to be missed. I hope to see you there! Get more information here: http://missionaryindependent.org/hoodoo-heritage-festival-workshops.html

Happy Bone Reading!

Missionary Independent Spiritualist Church Hoodoo Workshop Weekend

I just got back from Forestville, where I did a workshop on How to Create Your Own Tarot Deck. I also did some bone readings and I got to see and talk to several other bone readers. I was not able to attend every workshop but I learned so much from those that I did attend, and I got to see many old and dear friends.

I also picked up some new things from Lucky Mojo that I will be sharing here. I had been on the lookout for a nice bag to carry things that I use in some bone readings that I don’t keep in my bone box. Mostly extra pieces like the abalone shell pieces that I sometimes use to represent people. I got the idea from cat yronwode, who mentions using Magnetic Scottie Dogs to represent couples. I started out using the Scottie Dogs for relationship readings, but I noticed that they were the only pieces in my set that were not made from natural materials so I replaced them with abalone shell pieces. If the reading concerns a relationship of some type I pick one piece to represent each party. They look different enough to be easily distinguishable in the throw. I still carry the Scottie Dogs in the bag too.

Cat Yronwode’s Bone-Reading Workshop

I attended a bone-reading workshop with cat yronwode on 29 December at Parmita’s Parlour of Wonders in Santa Monica. Cat started by giving some history of bone reading in various cultures. This conversation followed her book somewhat, but also went into more detail in some subjects. She discussed what is considered bones—shells, for example—and reading with dice, dominos, and shells. For people who did not already have the book, this was all new, but it was more of a review for those of us who had already read the book. The book was provided to all attendees as part of the attendance fee.

After she provided background information, bone sets were distributed to all attendees who wanted them, again as part of the attendance fee. Some preferred credit toward new pieces because they already had bone sets. Cat talked about meanings for various pieces and then demonstrated various ways to do readings. This was the most valuable part of the workshop in my opinion. She demonstrated everything from basics such as how to toss the bones onto the reading surface, to professional readers’ tips. Two other readers had brought their sets, which allowed attendees to see how the basic sets can be personalized. Cat then had everyone try a throw of their own new sets and went around helping each person interpret what they had.

As she went around helping students, those who were finished were able to buy additional bones for their sets, as were those who chose credit because they already had a set. I bought a few new pieces, though I haven’t added them to my reading set yet.

If cat gives a workshop within a reasonable distance from you, I strongly recommend that you attend. While her book is a great starting point, there is nothing like hands-on, in-person training. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and while two hours is not much time, I think that everyone left the workshop with a good foundation for starting to work with the bones.