Myth-reading Bibliomancy

One of the things that disturbs some people is my tendency not to take things seriously. For some reason, I consider having fun a necessary part of my life. I also consider it a part of my magical practice. I figure if you are going to be bored to tears with your magical practice, then you are not going to do it for long; but that may just be a bad personal opinion---we will have to check the comments later to be sure about that one.

My mom had a Magic 8-Ball hidden in one of her dresser drawers. I think she kept it because her sister gave it to her. I used to secretly mess around with it. One thing I discovered was to have respect for even the silliest divination methods. It is possible to have respect for a divination system, even when you are being amused by it.

Recently, I have been working with bibliomancy again. Today, it is often felt that the only proper book to use for bibliomancy is the Bible. This is not necessarily true. And if it was, I would be in big trouble because I find readings done with the Bible lack a certain connection for me. I was reminded of this the other day while reading Adam Bede. When Dinah, one of the characters of the novel, opened up the Bible, she may have been sure what God wanted her to do...but I am not sure exactly how she came to that conclusion using the particular passage quoted.

It may be that using the Bible for bibliomancy does not work for me simply because I do not have a really deep connection with the Bible. My connection has deepen over the years, thanks to my involvement in Golden Dawn. But let's be honest, I only know enough to pass my exams (same holds true for the Bible as Literature class I took last semester; I passed the exams, that is all that counts).

I am more prone to going to Robert Asprin's Myth Adventure series for advice and guidance than I am to the Bible. I have read the first book of the series, Another Fine Myth, at least a dozen times.

And recently I have been using a two volume collection of the early novels that was published by Meisha Merlin Publishing (before Meisha Merlin went out of business) for doing bibliomancy readings.

I find some of my results interesting, though I am sure that many will claim that I am myth-using the system. For one thing, I consider the entire paragraph my finger lands on (not just the sentence) to be part of the reading.

Here are three examples of some of the results that I have gotten. I will not tell you how I chose to read these results, for that would just open me up to accusations that I am myth-reading them.

Question: What is an Adept?

Answer (from Sweet Myth-ery of Life):

At this point, I had to admit that I was more confused than ever. It seemed that everyone I talked to had a different view of marriage, which wasn't making my decision any easier. One thing everyone seemed to agree on, though: A bad marriage could be a living Hell.

Question: Did S.D.A. (Fraulein Sprengel) actually exist?

Answer (from Myth-ing Persons):

Of course not. You can always get more gold. What can't be replaced is time. We all know Skeeve here has a long way to go in the magic department. What the rest of you keep forgetting is how short a life span he has to play with...maybe a hundred years if he's lucky. All I'm trying to do is get him the maximum learning time possible...and that means keeping him from using up most of his time on nickel-and-dime adventures. Let the small-time operators do those. My partner shouldn't have to budge away from his studies unless the assignment is something really spectacular. Something that will advance his reputation and his career.

Question: Do angels only tell the truth?

Answer (from Myth-Directions):

"No," the troll declared. "The only acceptable solution is to trounce those blighters soundly at their own game. I trust you'll allow me to fill a position in your team?"

So there you go, probably three of the most strangest bibliomancy answers that anyone will ever admit to recieving. And if they are not, point out my myth-statement in the comment section.