Throughout history, the uncertainties of life have driven people to seek counsel from prophets, seers, and oracles on everything from love to livelihood: people want to talk to their lost loved ones, heal old family traumas, find out about work, and determine what the future will bring. In The Way of the Oracle, bestselling author, scholar, and priestess Diana L. Paxson offers a broad overview of the traditions of famous oracles in history: from the pythia at Delphi, the son of Beor, the Irish druidess, and the Greenland völva, to today's modern seers who are resurrecting ancient skills to serve their communities. Paxson identifies the core elements of prophetic practice, her belief in probability rather than predestination, and offers exercises and examples to demonstrate how anyone can be trained to do oracle work. Her methods focus on trance skills and improving communication between one's unconscious and conscious mind to encourage self-knowledge and decision making. The Way of the Oracle introduces the practice of oracle work to a wider audience, and shows how exploring the potential of other minds can expand our own.
"Diana Paxson is a pioneer in recovering oracular divination. She has a remarkable ability to draw from ancient sources from around the world to describe what seers did and still make seeing accessible and viable for a modern world. Paxson also presents a vast body of experience exploring this mysterious process. I worked as a seer with Paxson's Nordic seith group, her primary cultural focus. But
Dana Kramer-Rolls, social historian and folklorist, author of The Way of the Cat
