Bones, Shells, and Curios: A Contemporary Method of Casting the Bones

As a newcomer to ‘throwing the bones’ but certainly not a newcomer to divination in general, I really enjoyed this book and use it as a trusted reference on this topic.The book provides a brief background of the practice, including noting that the method taught in this book is not the traditional hoodoo practice that incorporates only handfuls of chicken or possum bones. This, more contemporary method, incorporates such items as shells, charms, acorns, keys, and small items commonly found in a household junk drawer.The book goes into a lot of detail as to how to put together your own set of ‘bones’ using objects from around your own home; objects that will be meaningful to you when cast. Then, through a series of examples, the book explains how to cast the bones and interpret the meaning of a particular cast.Of course, this work is fairly well steeped in intuition, but there are ways of setting up your bones set in the beginning that can provide assistance during the interpretation phase. I particularly love this aspect!The target demographic for this book is the absolute beginner, and I would recommend this book to any beginning thrower. It answers all the questions an absolute newcomer would have about this practice. I might also suggest that this book not be the caster’s only source, and that they might consider expanding their library on the topic past this book. But as an introductory text, it is outstanding and accomplishes it’s purpose.

Very informative, and easy to understand. Definitely a keeper in my library.

Every witch needs her/his own divination powers. I'm not good at reading tarot cards, but I do have several decks. I decided to try throwing bones and with the help of this book I find this practice to be amazing. I have learned so much

What a GREAT BOOK! I read the book before I received a personal reading from Michele herself. The book is very informative on how to conduct an intuitive reading. She really stresses the importance of connecting with your ancestors and working that base. Also the importance of creating an ancestor altar. She informs you on where to get a set of bones and how to take care of them. I also like the fact that she talks about finding extras pieces for your set because most places that sells bones only sells a very limited amount of pieces and you are probably going to want a large number of pieces. She shows in the book her personal set so you can get an idea of how many pieces a good set should have. She also gives examples of where you can find those pieces. She talks about what items you will need to clean your pieces, introducing your pieces to your ancestors. She gives a list of typical pieces and what they mean. This can save you from wracking your brain from coming up with meaning of pieces yourself if you want to save yourself the headache of doing that. If not, feel free to come up with the meanings of the pieces yourself. One of the best parts of the books is she provides four basic readings that are spectacular. Read these readings again and again because its in these readings that she shows you how the bones are actually being read. hey are wonderful examples. I cant say enough of this book. I gave it five stars because it is truly a magnificent book!!

A beautifully written guide for anyone new to throwing the bones.Michele has a wonderful balance between being succinct and getting to the point, but elaborating just enough on areas where one may have a few more questions. She answers questions that one may not even realize they have.I will say that this isn't really meant to be an intro for divination as a concept, which is not a bad thing at all, but I simply would recommend this for people who already have a grasp on divination and possibly have messed around with some other variants in the past.

Excellent book, shorter than anticipated and a not insignificant portion is dedicated to example readings, which while quite helpful to some still feel a bit like padding given the books length. The good side of this is that the concepts introduced inside are easily understood in the course of maybe an hour - fantastically clear and to the point, the basic concepts are built and expanded upon in very easy to understand terms. having no false pretense of this being an antiquated system also adds the benefit of making the infinite possibilities for customization known - the "bone bag" could just as easily contain anything you might connect with, whether the classic bones, a menagerie of shells and teeth found beachcombing, or every forgotten trinket and coin your dryer spits out in exchange for the left socks its been collecting. The barebones (pun fully intended) nature of the system described gets the creative mind absolutely glowing and for that this book gets my recommendation

The author Michele Jackson has written one of the best if not the best book on bone reading in my humble opinion. Michele takes the mystery out of bone reading and takes you step by step into this ancient art, while Michele's bone reading technique is very complicated resembling the Sangoma bone readers on the continent whom she also learned from , she simplifies and demystifies it. you will not only learn to read the bones but will create your own system. you have everything you could possibly need in this book to learn this very ancient art by far the best book on bone reading.last but not least Michelle always invokes and honor the ancestors before doing a reading, this is a critical component in these type of divination systems as we work with spirit and the ancestors who guide us through the readings, its more than just memorizing the meaning of the pieces, but you have to open yourself up to divine revelations which Michele speak on in her book. I'm impressed.

Excellent clear most informative

I purchased this as a gift for my friend whose ancestry is African/Caribbean. I always joke with her that she should get out her bones and give me a reading. With the various bones I got for her, she can now create her own set with the help of this book. I hope she likes it and finds it useful in interpreting her casts. Will update after the holidays!

LLEGÓ ANTES DE LO ESPERADO, MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!