Secrets of Lithomancy (stone or crystal divination)

Chronata

hi Gwynne! Yeah...I think that lithomancy is a great and very personal divination thing! You can add or subtract as many stones as you want, use whatever charms or crystals appeal to you, and get a great exercise for your intuition!

Once you have a basic set...like the one I posted ...which covers a lot of ground...you can easily adapt it. And yeah, I think it appeals to kids too!

A small friend of mine...she's 7...developed her own set. She took out some things (she didn't really understand the elements) and added some things...
Like dog and cat stones, and a stone for magic.

As long as the set covers a lot of basic meanings. I even tried a dropstone version of the major arcana of the tarot, but it didn't add anything special that the cards didn't already cover.

While I am thinking about it...there are a few different sets I have....

One covers the traditional planets,
Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and a Light and Dark stone. I love making talismans and amulets based on planetary influences, so this one was a natural.

I also did a set, which I gave away, that had the twelve western Zodiac signs mixed with the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals. It was great for personality, carreer/bliss readings! (the pattern I used was the traditional astrological wheel with all the houses in it.)

Another stone set I made...by painting numbers on each stone, is based on the crow counting rhyme.
This one appeals to children as well...as all they have to do is memorize the poem.
I have used this with the dropstone method(although the thread doesn't mention it)...using a pattern cloth that has a past present & future on it.
It is mainly for fortune telling...and doesn't get as serious or deep as the other methods can....
The thread for it is here:

http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=22851&highlight=Crowstones


I also have a set I call the Dreamstones.
There are only 12 stones in this set...but they cover a lot of meanings.
They are hand sculpted, and actually have a book that I wrote for them.
This probably sounds like a shameless plug....but if anyone is interested in a set...please drop me a PM! I don't sell them...yet. but I do make sets for trade. :)
 

Imagemaker

anything that falls into the center pattern will land in one of more spaces, and these are the houses.

I love the idea of lithomancy and am already thinking of stones for each "meaning."

But I'm confused about the houses--do you define the spaces as a particular house, or (for example) where the Sun stone falls becomes the Sun house?

And therefore can any stone become a house? Or do we define the houses as we choose--for example, is there a male house or so you use only seasons and emotions as houses?

Does this question make sense? I understand that I can define my system, but I'm confused ias to whether a stone and a house (space) has the same label.

Thanks!
 

Chronata

Hi Imagemaker!

The stones and thier houses have the same meanings....

But to further define it...the stone is what is dropped...and the house is the space in the pattern that the particular stone 'lives.'

On my pattern cloth, the houses are all the spaces in the pentacle....both the points of the pentacle and the spaces between points in the circle.

Before every reading, I arrange the stones into thier own spaces...thier own houses within the design.

Because not every stone fits in a space...some like the seasons, and Love, do not have houses.

I hope that answers it? It's not where the stone falls that defines the house....but where the stone normally sits in the pattern...that is the house.

And you can change what each space...or house on the pattern means, depending on the spread.

Now to further confuse things....you don't need houses at all.

You can have a pattern spread cloth that has other shapes or symbols on it.
For instance....you can put astrological symbols, or pictures....or even words like....Strength, Wisdom, Remember....in small circles on the cloth....and call those houses when the stones land on them or nearby.
 

Imagemaker

Got it, thanks! I can think of some interesting patterns to try--like diagrams of circular knots that make a mandala shape. Hmmmm . . .
 

Satori

I am thinking up a fabulous little cloth for my set.
I already have the objects, started way back when you did this for me.

Let me tell you all that Chronata did this for me and it was entrancing!
I mean here I am this old Tarot addict and along comes Chronata with her little pentacle thing and allows me to pick a few stones/shells/crystals.

It was very magical and fun.

I think I will quilt a little cloth with batiks and put little hearts with some blank hearts and some with words like Chronata said and see how that works.
I'll applique the hearts, but will also sew together strips of different fabrics and have little blocks that can count as a "space" too.

I'm not an astrology person, but I think if the spaces are labeled I can figure it out! Plus, with the fabric and paint pens I can add runes and rune names and bind runes. That ought to make a cool cloth, eh?
 

Eco74

This has so many possibilities.. Especially (again) if I would be able to use the same "charts" with my pendulum.
I will definately be spending some time with this in the coming weekend. (Not getting any new stones since the little shop is usually closed in the weekend, but other stuff, and looking at the stones I have already.)

Seriously, this is opening up a brand new way of thinking for me, and so much more portable and easy to take along than a tarotdeck. Stones can be cleaned with soap and water if they get sticky and fabric can be washed while a soaked tarotdeck is and will remain a soaked tarotdeck...
This is nothing less than a chunk of freedom.
Thankyou again for sharing Chronata. :)
 

Emeraldgirl

Thanks so much for all the info Chronata. I have a box I made for my runes that I am going to use these for. I got a tray (like the rectangular tea serving trays) made out of craftwood and divided it into 8 square on these I painted the following:

A Heart - For Love
A $ sign - For money
A breifcase - for careers
A house - For Family
A Pill - For Health
A ? - For the Unexpected
A Candle - For a wish
A Boat - For Travel

I have just been geeting people to grab a handful of Runes from the bag and letting them drop on the board and reading them from there but I think the crystals will work much better with this :D
 

deva

Oh I am so looking forward to trying this out! Thanks so much Chronata for sharing. :) I've got quite a little crystal collection that I've picked over the years, I use some with Reiki but others just sit there looking pretty - I love the idea of actually working with them like this. :)

I've been a bit worried about what to do for the cloth - I am soooooo not good with sewing or material! lol But I love Emeraldgirls description of what she's done...

Emeraldgirl said:
I got a tray (like the rectangular tea serving trays) made out of craftwood and divided it into 8 square on these I painted the following:

A Heart - For Love
A $ sign - For money
A breifcase - for careers
A house - For Family
A Pill - For Health
A ? - For the Unexpected
A Candle - For a wish
A Boat - For Travel

and I think even my scrawlings will be recognisable - who can mess up a heart, right? :)

So, if you don't mind Emeraldgirl, I'll be having a play around with your idea as well and see what I can devise between the two, and my own imagination. I think that's partly what's so great about this, we ourselves can have so much input so it truly is personal! I know now what I'll be doing over the upcoming bank holiday weekend now! :D
 

Chronata

Yay! I am excited that everyone likes the ideas....and is making it a personal divination journey!

Elf...your quilted cloth sounds wonderful! And I am glad you liked the little "reading" I did for you! Those little personality readings really are great to warm up the client before the tarot!

I'll get to those meanings...and those kind of readings soon!


Emeraldgirl said:
A Heart - For Love
A $ sign - For money
A breifcase - for careers
A house - For Family
A Pill - For Health
A ? - For the Unexpected
A Candle - For a wish
A Boat - For Travel
I love this, Emeraldgirl! What a great pattern! Very cool "houses"!

It covers most of the things that people want to know about in a general reading!
I have a small medicine bag full of charms, that I used once to tell fortunes with because I had nothing else with me at the time. I did something like that....rose was love and relationships, dream stone was goals, star was wishes...etc...

But I really love the idea of making a spread cloth like that! It could be used for any kind of set of stones.

Imagemaker....something you said in your question...sparked another idea for a spread cloth.....Using a piece of paper to drop the stones on.
Then, where they land...drawing a circle around them and writing the name of the stone in the circle...than taking up all the stones and dropping them again....using the random house placement from the last drop.
That might be a cool way to do a reading that is concerned with the moment, and current state of mind.
 

Chronata

HOW TO READ...without a net!

So....if you don't have a pattern on the cloth...and you want to look like a real cool "old school" Lithomancer!....you can try the method of reading without a pattern.

This is how my teacher did it...and she was amazingly accurate!

But it 'aint easy....and takes a lot of trust in your intuition, and a lot of practice...

So...after you drop the stones, you breathe deep, and sort of let your mind wander(this is how it works for me, anyway! ) and you look at the patterns of where they have fallen.

And then you just tell what you see!
That's it!

Yeah...I know...not easy....but there are some tricks to it.
This is where the back/front & top/bottom of the stone comes in handy.

If you see your bits or crystals or stones as having litle personalities, it's easier...because you can just tell a story as you go....

"the Male...he's not feeling too good today...bit of a depression....with his backside resting on top of Earth, and his eyes firmly fixated on that Winter stone...."

Here are some other tips....

Looking at the drop as a whole....you can see some patterns and shapes emerge.
Again...you can look at your cloth in sections...near the top is the future, near the bottom is the past...left of the cloth is what is influencing the querant...Right is what the querant is likely influencing.

Clusters....mean that there's a lot of introspection...or things are all very closely related. It can mean that someone is bogged down by details, and isn't seeing the whole picture. It can also represent many outside influences trying to be heard.

Stones Touching other Stones....can mean help, or hinderance...but certainly it refers to two influences that come together as a unit. Could also be something nagging that you can't shake. If a stone covers another...that influence is the domminant one...the other may be a secret.

Circles or Rings...often represent good things...good fortune, and can also represent aid, spiritual matters and relationship issues.

Squares...represent a foundation...something solid not moving, and the physical realm. These four stones in the square represent influences that can be relied upon.

Triangles...can be problems. Often three stones that form a triangle represent control issues, struggles, or difficulties between three things.

Crosses....can mean a crossroads in life...decisions to be made...it can also represent religion.

As you do this, you start to learn your own tricks. And sometimes you can just look at the pattern of stones, and stuff will come into your mind.

You can see why I adapted my teacher's methods, and made a pattern to make it easier to interpret!

But there are times...when I am just in the right frame of mind....when I can find a smooth patch of ground, gather some rocks, acorn caps, sticks and leaves...drop them and read amazingly detailed accounts!

It can really impress the hell out of people!

Doesn't happen all the time, though....as you have to have good energy from the person you are reading for....and be really open to what's in you.


Okay! Next up....I will delve into personality readings...and give the meanings of each stone from a slightly different perspective!

Happy Lithomancing!