I haven’t updated in a while but it’s not because nothing has been happening. I have been studying with a bone reader and I have been working with my set almost every day. My style has changed quite a bit since I started this blog and I don’t feel comfortable describing my reading style as Hoodoo or Conjure style bone reading nor Sangoma style reading. My style has been influenced by both traditions and some others as well, but my current style is more influenced by guidance from my ancestors and gnosis than by any tradition. My set has grown enormously and some of my original pieces are no longer in my set. I no longer reach in and take out a handful for a reading. I throw the whole set. I don’t use a special cloth, nor do I envision any particular shape or layout on my reading surface. I just throw them and see if a shape suggests itself. Sometimes I see a wide, clear, straight road in the layout. Other times I see a twisted, winding narrow road with lots of forks. Sometimes I see a river flowing easily, other times I see a circle covering the same ground over and over. Although it was scary at first, not using any preconceived layout has been liberating and what I see by not expecting to see any specific thing has been most enlightening!
My set still has a lot of bones, but I also have a lot of shells and curios. I prefer natural materials that have come from the earth or sea in this set. There is no rule for this – it just feels right. My many years of working with the tarot have had some impact on my style and when I got to 78 pieces in my set I had to do a quick check to make sure that I wasn’t just recreating the tarot deck using bones instead of cards, but I wasn’t. I have nothing to represent the Devil, Judgment, nor the High Priestess, though I do have Queen Elizabeth Root which reminds me of the Empress and a Sea Anemone shell that reminds me of the Hanged Man.
If you came here to read about Bone Reading in the Hoodoo Style or some other traditional style, I am sorry but that’s not where I am headed. Frankly I don’t know where this will lead, but I am enjoying the ride immensely so far.