A Quest for the Sketch

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Jenny Tyson, author of Spiritual Alchemy and the new Art of Scrying & Dowsing.

About eight years ago, I went on a quest. There were two basic objectives to this quest. The first was to find a way to do scrying with a high level of accuracy. I wanted that accuracy to be there regardless of what the objective or target was for the scrying session. The second goal I had, was to create a scrying system that was easy for people to learn regardless of their inherent ability. I achieved both goals. I was able to devise a scrying system that was easy to learn and could be used with a high degree of accuracy.

I would like to talk about one of the tools that was born during this quest. It is the use of sketching. It seems like such a silly little thing, to make doodles and stick drawings while scrying. Even so, I found through trial and error that sketching is the best way to record scrying perceptions. I discovered it to be more accurate as a rule than written verbal descriptions.

I should say that when I scry, the target I am scrying is unknown to me. I choose it randomly out of a pool of hidden targets, and only reveal it to myself after the scrying is finished. This is done to prevent my conscious mind from projecting various kinds of biases onto the scrying, which destroys its accuracy. Pre-existing expectations and beliefs are always more powerful than the quiet inner voice that arises during scrying.

So how did I develop sketching as a tool for scrying? For one thing, I experimented strictly with physical targets. I never work with occult targets when making new scrying tools, because physical targets are easier to validate with real-world data, and give a clearer picture about the accuracy of my scrying. A physical target is a person, place, or thing that actually exists, or has existed, in the material world. It is possible through research to find information about physical targets that can verify scrying accuracy. An occult target is a being, location, or object not of our physical reality. When scrying occult targets, it is often impossible to get concrete data about the target that can either validate or invalidate the scrying.

After conducting a scrying session, I would reveal the physical target to myself and examine the available factual information about it, comparing this real-world information with my impressions from the scrying session. What I found over time was that the sketches made during a scrying session contained information not only regarding what the target looked like, but also symbolic and conceptual information. The sketches were like a compressed .zip file of data. As I studied them, I realized that the information contained within a sketch not only related to the target’s location, and the activity or presence of living beings associated with the target, but contained information of a deeper, more abstract nature as well.

I also experimented with sketching during tarot card divination sessions, and found that with sketching I was able to scry the tarot for physical time-space-event targets, as well as using it in the more conventional way for traditional divination and predictions. The sketches contained information regarding both physical and esoteric aspects of the target. The techniques for using the tarot as a scrying tool are detailed in my new book, The Art of Scrying & Dowsing.

Here are some guidelines I rely on when using sketching as a means of recording intuitive perceptions:

1. Always sketch the first thing that comes to you.
2. Sketch quickly. Do not sit and think about it.
3. Don’t judge the artistic value of your work—the sketches will be crude and scattered, like doodles made during a tedious meeting.
4. Sketching will include actions, shapes, sometimes colors, and movements of energy, as well as occult properties and symbols.
5. Over time you develop internal symbols for emotional and spiritual atmospheres and occult properties. These are called ideograms. An example of an ideogram is a question mark. A question mark says quite a bit but it does not directly represent a specific word or sound. It is symbolic of the intention to ask a question. The symbols used in esoteric systems such as alchemy and Western magick can be useful for recording esoteric properties that you perceive during a scrying session.

Sketching Technique
Start your divination or scrying session. Relax and allow images to come to you as you perceive information by scrying, or from such things as tarot cards or runes Do not stop sketching, or try to be neat. It is best not to judge your sketches while you are working. At a convenient place you may want to pause and write a few words about each sketch to help you remember what it was about or what perception it was related to. The technique is a bit awkward at first, but as you become comfortable with it, you will find that the sketches are more accurate and contain a great deal of information.

Our thanks to Jenny for her guest post! For more from Jenny Tyson, read her article, “The Art of Focus: Tips to Improve Your Scrying and Dowsing.”