Bone Throwing

Bone Throwing

Bone throwing is probably the most ancient of divination systems using specific items. A collection of natural and/or zoological items are gathered, the most important of which are animal bones. These are the foundation of the set. Other natural items, such as stones, woods, roots, shells, teeth, etc. enhance the reading of the throw. There is no set number of objects to have. You may add more, or even remove some as you feel the need. Another interesting aspect of Bone Throwing is that you don’t have to ask a question first, unless you want to. The object is to let the throw tell you what to expect or to look for. 

These items are consecrated and stored away from the touch of others. Absolutely NO ONE is to ever touch these items, except you! Some Bone Throwers store their set in a bowl; others (myself included) store them in a fur pouch.

 

The surface for throwing the set is a personal choice made by the Bone Thrower. Some use the ground, possibly with a circle drawn in the soil. Others use a fur pelt as a mat, and others nothing in particular. I have a very old and beautiful, engraved sterling silver tray with defined circular sections within its surface. I use these areas to define the level of importance to the objects within its defined area. 

To give you an idea of the diversity of the items you can place in your set, here is mine: 

Chicken bones

Turtle bones & a turtle foot

Dog’s toenail

Horse tooth

Deer bones & teeth

Rat skull

Hag stone

A “found” item (milkglass shard)

Acorn cap

Crystals

White stone

Small key

Heart shaped stones

Roots: Dandelion & Dock

Fossils

Penny 

Sparkly earring

Coins

Each item has correspondences and aspects which influence the throw.  While I have these aspects & definitions written out for a general idea of their meanings, I also follow my own intuition once I fully study the throw itself. These will be defined further by the other objects nearest or within an identifiable range. The throw may have obvious clusters of objects which will make up their own readings, which will then be combined with the whole. The first reading below is relatively, one big throw, while the second has very definite clusters or “zones”.

This is the fastest divination method to learn. Tarot you're learning forever, with each Tarot set being different, with different nuances brought to the interpretations by the artist's pictures. Runes are pretty well a set thing, so they're fairly easy. But nothing like this! 

Bone Throwing sets are probably the only truly personal divination set someone can ever have. The diviner chooses their items, each having a meaning unto itself, but in conjunction with other items the meaning expands. Reading, almost like sentences, the groupings individually that occur. Then combining each of those sentences brings it all together into a cohesive reading. 

I've found that what works the best for me is to throw them, take a picture of them, then bring up the picture on the computer. This allows me to see them more clearly (the dogs ate my fucking tri-focal glasses, so I can’t see worth a shit!), and I'm also able to interpret them much easier. It's kind of funny, when they're laying out in front of me, I get an overall feeling, but nothing solid. I'm also feeling "scattered", with no solid purpose seen in the throw. Then, when I pull the picture up on the computer it all just falls into place. It's almost like the picture is allowing me to step back and see the trees in the forest, rather than the forest for the trees. The reading comes quicker to me too. I write everything down then when I'm finished I look over it all and read everything again as a whole. Sometimes, seeing more and so adding more to the notes.