I dunno, I think there's a-whole-nother realm of physical laws that our predominant scientific leagues currently lack the facilities to study. Either that, or there are already departments of governmental study that have successfully breached the Veil between the living and the dead, and actually they're training/coercing wraiths to serve as spies and other stupid petty this-worldly crap. Who knows. I'm just saying there are more possibilities than those which are readily apparent, and some of those deal with the Afterworld and the Astral Plane.

Why does someone get into divination? Lots of reasons: they're starved for attention so they pick up little psychic parlor tricks, like other love-starved little boys get into stage prestidigitation. It's a form of real-life escapism - if there were a way to construct fantastic monsters and NPCs in this world, believe you me, they'd be all over that too. They get into it for the same reason others get into sci-fi conventions and Renaissance Faires/Festivals.

And then a few people are genuinely called into these world due to their own gifts or otherworldly attention trained upon them. A number of circumstances that occured around me drew me into it (though, to be sure, I've also used it as an attention-getting device, or a means of creating my own elite caste when I was unacceptable by anyone else), but to some degree I have a responsibility to pursue this form of awareness and manipulation. I could live a perfectly happy life without it but I want to see where this path goes.

I was really good at the Tarot for a while. I wouldn't touch any form of tarot deck at all, ever, until one day around '89 when I was at a bookstore and there was one table display in the middle of the room and there was one Tarot of the Cat People sitting in the center of it, and curiosity drew me towards it, and I purchased it and studied it (never memorized the meanings of all the cards, but my interpretation was good). Later I picked up The Londa Tarot, The Vertigo Tarot, The Necromantic Tarot (despite coming in a beautiful box, this deck was a completely crappy, low-budget, slipshod aberration that almost entirely failed to live up to both its name and the atmosphere its name evoked - whoever made this should have been bludgeoned in their sleep by now, if there's any justice; needless to say, I got turned this back in for a refund), The Vertigo Tarot, The Stick Figure Tarot, and I think that's all. Anyway, my two most successful decks, Cat People and Londa, were stolen from me in '98 and I've never been able to find other decks of any sort to replace them or work with. I've pretty much given up this practice though I may take it up again soon.

I'm also proficient with a pendulum, I just currently lack the discipline to focus on one. In my best form I was able to find keys and answer simple questions, but not now. I intend to clean up and focus my meditation to use this again, as it's been extremely helpful to me - however, when my ex-roommate moved her stuff out one of her assistants broke my favorite pendulum and left it lying on the floor for me to find. Regardless of my own personal feelings on the matter, people shouldn't mess with me simply for the kharmic retribution they'll incur.

I've never used runes. I own a perfectly sufficient bag of brick runes but ... it's hard for me to care about studying them long enough. Runes have never spoken to me, I simply picked some up to be open to the opportunity.

Now I've got this beautiful teacup and saucer designed specifically for divination through scrying tea leaves. I'm very much looking forward to using this set, especially since I discovered that amazing tea house just up Lyndale from me.

Other Forms: I've never attempted phrenology, wax in water, lead pellets on a metal sheet, studying the interiors of vegetation or animals, studying the tracks of animals in the wild or in a closed environment, or just about anything else. I'm not good enough at astrology to scry the stars for myself, and there are very few published sources I can take seriously.

I will never touch a witchboard again. (The witchboard is commonly known as a "Ouija" board, but that is a Parker Brothers trademark. That they would mass-produce these damned things as a kind of children's game is irresponsible beyond belief.) I didn't want to in the first place but I really had a crush on the girl who wanted to try it out with me. I've done a lot of stupid things for women; I'm not going to talk about what happened. There is nothing to be gained from the use of a witchboard that may not be attained from other, safer, more effective channels. No one with any degree of intelligence or character will be impressed by you using a witchboard. Go suck an exhaust pipe, if you want to be that kind of self-destructive idiot, and stay the hell away from me.