The three families of divination — calculated, chance and form
updated · 6 min read
There is an enormous number of methods. The Four Pillars, Western astrology, tarot, palmistry, name strokes, numerology, Nine Star Ki, the I Ching — listing the names tells you nothing about how they differ.
An old division from the East sorts them into three: what is calculated (meijutsu), what is read from chance (bokujutsu), and what is read from form (soujutsu). With that in hand, the map opens up.
Calculated — reading from the moment of birth
These read from what was fixed at birth: the date and, sometimes, the time. The material does not change, so the same reading comes out however often you take it.
- The Four Pillars — the date and hour turned into stems and branches
- Western astrology — the arrangement of the heavens at birth
- Nine Star Ki — the star of the birth year, with directions
- Numerology — the date reduced by calculation to a single digit
- Name strokes — read from the strokes of a name (settled after birth, and then fixed)
What this family answers is what sort of person you are and what stretch you are entering. What it cannot answer is how tomorrow's meeting will go.
Chance — reading from the moment itself
Draw a card, throw a coin, divide the stalks. These read from what chance produces. The same question gives a different answer each time it is asked.
- Tarot — cards drawn and read by their arrangement
- The I Ching — six lines cast, giving one of sixty-four figures
- Oracle cards — a card drawn and its message taken
- Dice, runes and others
This family looks at how a particular question falls now. It is strong on specific questions with a deadline, and unsuited to large ones such as how a whole life will go.
Drawing repeatedly on the same question is traditionally avoided. Drawing until an answer satisfies you means choosing the result rather than reading it.
Form — reading from the shape in front of you
These read from a shape you can see: the lines of a palm, the features of a face, the plan of a house. Shapes change with time, so the readings change too.
- Palmistry — read from the lines and mounts of the hand
- Face reading — read from features and proportions
- House divination and feng shui — read from the structure of a dwelling and directions
- And others
What marks this family is that it assumes change. Palm lines shift over months, and a face changes with how you live. It reflects how things stand now; it does not announce a fixed fate.
The three side by side
| Calculated | Chance | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Fixed information such as a date of birth | What chance produces | The present shape of body or surroundings |
| Reproducible? | The same every time | Different every draw | Changes over time |
| Question it suits | What sort of person am I | How will this go | What state am I in now |
| Time frame | Long — a life, or years | Short — days to months | The present |
| Examples | Four Pillars, astrology, numerology | Tarot, I Ching | Palmistry, face reading, feng shui |
Why combine them
The three do not compete, because the material each looks at differs. The calculated family says this is the nature you have; the form family says this is the state you are in; the chance family says this is how the matter moves. When all three point the same way, the suggestion is worth taking seriously.
They can also point in three different directions, which is information as well. If what you were born with and where you are now have come apart, that gap is itself the thing to read.
This service produces several methods together in order to see that overlap and that gap. Tarot, the I Ching, oracle cards and Lenormand from the chance family; the Four Pillars, numerology, Nine Star Ki and name strokes from the calculated; palm and face from the form family. All three are covered.
How to keep your distance from a reading
A result is not a notification of a settled future. Taking it as your present situation restated in other words puts you at about the right distance. Being restated makes you notice something, and the noticing changes what you do. That is where a reading is useful, if it is.
For decisions concerning health, law or money, please consult a qualified professional rather than a reading.
Note: the person asking questions in this article is fictional. This is not a record of a real consultation.
Common questions
- Which family does Western astrology belong to?
- The calculated family, since it reads from the arrangement of the heavens at birth. Horary astrology, which reads the sky at the moment a question is asked, is closer in character to the chance family.
- Where does blood-type divination fit?
- The three families are a traditional eastern arrangement, and blood-type divination sits outside it. No statistical basis for it has been established.
- If I were to learn only one, which should it be?
- It depends on the aim. For understanding the nature of yourself or others, the calculated family; for sorting out a decision, the chance family is the easier way in.