As I sit here, pulling my daily card for my tarot and oracle readings for the week, I start thinking of my childhood. Scrolling through my rolodex of memories, a couple came up that I had totally forgotten about and actually never gave much thought to until now.
When I visited my grandmother on my maternal side, I remember her doing pendulum work. It did not look like today's modern and fancy pendulums, it was just a ring of hers she had put on a chain necklace. Every once in a while I would glance over at her and see her take it off her neck and watch it swing. I have no clue about what she asked it, but I never questioned her. Back then children never questioned our elders. I remember when someone in the family would become pregnant she would have them lay down and swing the necklace over their belly to determine the gender of the baby. Us kids thought this was so cool, so she taught us how to do it. She used our famous house key that hung from our necks with a shoestring. It was so long ago, I know one direction meant a boy and the other direction meant a girl, and a circle was twins of each gender. I wish I was older to learn more about her methods but at such a young age it was just a cool game for all of us.
The other thing I saw in her home was a string of small bells and a feather at the end hanging from the ceiling. She put it in a place where no air/wind would disturb it. I once asked what it was for and she said when you hear the bells ring or see the feather move our angels were present. My grandfather laughed and said "It was for her ghosts.” As a young child this scared the crap out of me and I stayed as far away from it as possible. Today, I hang the same thing over my divination table so I know when my guides are around.
When it comes to my abuela (grandmother) on my biological father’s side, we used to see her read playing cards for family and friends. Everyone would turn to her for answers and to also interpret their dreams. She was very accurate every time. I wished I learned this method too, but sadly I was not in touch with her much after my parents separated.
In conclusion to these stories, I still can't believe that both my grandmothers practiced divination daily throughout their lives. They did not refer to it as divination, but we as witches know exactly what they were doing.
I hope I am able to make them proud as I am able to practice my divination without having to hide it. I am a bit shocked that they were teaching us grandkids the craft and we were entirely unaware. So yes, on my witchy resume I will add that my divination practice started at age 5.