“All other things being equal, consult divination.”

—Stefanos Elafeos

Pagans take divination seriously.

Some people's gods speak to them through the medium of holy books, but we are not a people of the book. For us, divination is one of the important ways in which the gods speak to us. Therefore it behooves us to think long and hard about the ethics of divining.

In our day, no one has done this as well or as thoroughly as Elisheva Nesher (1949-2023), late shofet (chieftain) of AMHA, the Primitive Hebrew Assembly. If you practice any form of divination, the discussion of ethics in her 2015 book Lot Casting: Divination of the Hebrew Tribes will richly repay your study.

Here follows a bare-bones selection of some of the points that she makes, in much abbreviated form. (I leave out some points specific to AMHA.) For a fuller discussion, please refer to the original.

Always remember that divination is by nature interpretative rather than predictive. For the ancestors, the purpose of divination was never to know what will happen, but rather to know the will of the god consulted pertaining to any given issue.

The Ethics of Divination

• Discourage questions the answers to which lie elsewhere: in the phone book, on the internet, or in, say, a doctor's, lawyer's, or psychotherapist's office.
• Be sure your querent knows not to follow blindly the answers provided by divination. If a major decision is involved, always have them get a second opinion.

• Do not divine if you yourself are unwell, impaired, or intoxicated.
• Do not divine for a querent who is unwell, impaired, or intoxicated.
• Do not divine for someone seeking sanction for violent action.
• Act ethically at all times in your life, even when not divining.
• Never abuse a querent's trust. To abuse such trust offends the gods.
• Divine only when free from anger, whether toward yourself or the querent.

• Always remain as objective as possible. Where objectivity is not possible—for yourself, or for someone that you're close to—do not divine concerning anything major.
• As a diviner, it is your responsibility to convey the answer that you receive.
• Never sweeten the message or soften its content. Use your best social skills to convey difficult answers, if need be. If you lack the necessary social skills, acquire them.
• If the question is a momentous one, ask before divining if the querent is sure they want an answer. If they say yes, it is no longer your place to judge whether or not they should hear it.
• In rare instances, it will be your moral obligation to refrain from answering. In this case, keep silent. Say simply: “I am not given to offer you an answer.”

• Do not divine for a minor without parental consent.
• Feel free to reject an inappropriate question.
• Do not ask a question the answer to which you yourself are afraid to hear.
• Do not answer a question which may encourage violent behavior.
• Speak clearly; if necessary, reframe your words in such a way that they can be understood. Be respectful at all times.

• Beware of over-interpreting. Stick with the simplest, most concrete meaning.
• Do not re-ask a question just because either you or the querent does not like the answer received.
• If repeated inquiries yield no answer, or an unclear answer, refer the querent to another diviner.
• Make sure that you understand the querent's question: not just the words, but the meaning and intent behind them.
• Remember that, while you may be communicating on a god's behalf, you yourself are only the means of communication. Don't get above yourself.
• Take care of yourself. As a diviner, you are a tool, but tools need to be well-maintained.

Thank you, Elisheva Nesher, for your wisdom, and for your generosity in sharing that wisdom.

Reborn to the People.