This is an interesting book. It is informative, and it provides enough detail on the 31 main practices for folks who may want to try a practice. Keep in mind one or two practices may be closed or restricted such as Ifa, which is done by babalawos. I read the book cover to cover for this review, but for most readers this is a book for browsing. Read the introductory chapters, then pick a topic of interest in Chapter Three. I also liked the advice for choosing the right divination tool for you. I am a cartomancer that reads Tarot and oracle cards. I am thinking of expanding the repertoire, so a book like this is helpful to get the basics on other practices and help me decide if I want to go further or not.

(A more detailed review will be published on my blog. Link included)

Complete Book of Divination by Richard Webster

360 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
Release Date: December 8, 2017

Nonfiction (Adult), Religion & Spirituality, Divination, Magic

The book is organized into the following chapters.

Chapter 1: What is Divination?
Chapter 2: The History of Divination
Chapter 3: The Main Systems of Divination
Chapter 4: Unusual Methods of Divination
Chapter 5: How to Choose the Right Oracle for You
Chapter 6: Preparing for Divination

The author gives a thorough description of divination along with its history. I really like his answer to is divination always accurate. He provides information on over thirty types of divination. He gives an overview of each type along with instructions on how to use it. Some forms were new to me while others I have been using for years. Mainly I use the Ogham, Runes and Tarot but have used Astrology, Bibliomancy, IChing, and Scrying. I look forward to learning Tea Leaf Reading, Palmistry, and Sky Stones.

He states you need to have passion for a specific oracle and enjoy working with them to be successful. Don’t pick something just because it sounds good. Choose something because you like it and have the time to study its system. The appendix at the end of the book lists even more types of divination not completely covered in the text. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about divination.

I was super excited to receive this book in exchange for an honest review. This really is a comprehensive book of divination. There were sections on forms of divination I had not previously been exposed to, such as flower divination and geomancy. Others, I was aware of but didn't know the details of how it worked or how to interpret it such as I ching and candle reading. I feel that Mr. Webster does a good job of describing these forms of divination and explaining the meanings behind the results. It's written in easy to understand language and each section has their own chapter. I purchased a paper copy of this book for my personal library to use as a reference for years to come.

If you are looking for introduction material and a book that is excellent for reference, this is definitely worthy of consideration. There are some things that are questionable in it and for that reason, I would encourage you to continue delving a little deeper into other sources instead of taking everything as absolute. Regardless, it's still enough information to overwhelm someone completely new. I do recommend this book.

Thank you to Richard Webster, Llewellyn Worldwide, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and share my honest thoughts and opinions with others.

This is a great book for anyone looking to learn more about how to use spiritual gifts and tools to better there lives. This book covers it all and is well written, easy to understand. I recommend this to anyone looking to develop a stronger understanding of their own life, as well as the tools that are there for our own perception to be increased.

When I read the title, I assumed Webster would probably cover a few of the more well studied topics; however, I was most surprised that he exceeded my expectations and have provided an encyclopedia worth of information related to all arts of Divination. From Astrology, Numerology, to even Dowsing and Bibliomancy, Webster covers it all and even provides a 'How To Do' for every divination practice mentioned. If you've ever had a flight of fancy and wanted to explore the divination world, this is definitely the book you should consult first. Also, I was so delighted to find out that the things I usually notice, like the sound of the wind and the ripples of the water and the flame were in fact types of divining. I definitely plan on adding this book to my permanent book collection as a reference guide.

Richard Webster is a well respected author of metaphysical books, from introductory guides on a wide range of subjects to advanced techniques for experienced practitioners. In this comprehensive treatment, he prefaces the extensive list of divination techniques with a well-researched history. More importantly, he emphasizes the approach of honesty and integrity in divination work, a view not often expressed in the many “how-to” books of this genre. The subjects are alphabetically presented with each explained by typology, history, and process. This is an excellent work for teachers and researchers as well as those seeking new ways of anticipating the future.

Very useful resource. The author covers a wide range of divination tools.

If you don’t already know, and I’m sort of assuming you do, “complete” books are never actually complete, especially on a subject like divination (or science or history or world religions). The author probably knows this as well, but the selling-a-product trend continues throughout the book, mostly by being geared toward pleasing clients. If you can get past this, and the very New-Age-ness (which together creates a definite leaning toward positive answers and an overtly capitalism-influenced spirituality), it’s a decent book. I wouldn’t recommend it to an individual as most of this information can be easily acquired from web searches, but the book organizes it nicely, making it a decent choice for anyone who regularly teaches introductory classes.
I say introductory because I’ve been reading tarot cards for about six years now and I did not learn anything from the tarot section. However, I dabble in I Ching readings and I did learn a few other ways of doing them. I also learned a bit about scrying in a parapsychology course at college, and this made me disappointed that there weren’t more scientific studies cited in this section, but that’s probably just my bias.
Beyond the typical methods of divination, there’s quite a few methods included in this book that I’ve never heard of or at least never learned the details about, such as using dice, dominoes, or flowers. Unfortunately, nearly all of these methods are explained as they relate to numerology. Part of that is – again – a personal bias toward numerology, but the other part of that is that the reader may as well just study numerology and couple it with whatever objects happen to be laying around. With that comes something positive – after reading this book, I feel like I could literally use anything for the purposes of divination. Hand me keys or stones, let me interpret your elbow, I’ll watch the grass for the answers. Really.
The writing itself and the details provided vary quite a bit in this book. The numerology section, as I suspected after reading the sections before it, is incredibly detailed. I have never been able to palm read despite my efforts, but the author’s descriptions were so clear that I could find (nearly) everything he mentions. I spent a lot of time staring at my hands. However, some instructions aren’t so clear. For example, there are instructions on using solitaire (yes, the card game) as a mode of divination, but there’s no instructions on whether to pull three cards from the grab pile and cycle through it three times or to go through every card once. I also couldn’t tell which cards are supposed to be read at the end of the game. This sort of lapse in detail happens a number of times throughout the book, at which point I went straight to Google. As I previously mentioned, most of this information can be found from internet searches.
I’d suggest that if you find this book sitting somewhere for an incredibly low price to go for it. Definitely go for it. No matter what, you’ll learn something new. However, I don’t suggest paying too much unless you’re looking for a New Age guide to applied numerology.

I was recently provided with a review copy of Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Divination. It’s by Richard Webster. Llewellyn has produced quite a few of these complete guides recently. I’ve been quite happy with their quality.

With Webster, I expect an information-dense experience. I had read some of his works before. I’ve got his candle magick book and some others. He is generally a very thorough writer, so I was naturally excited to read his approach to divination.

The topic is, after all, quite near and dear to my heart. Furthermore, general books on divination are actually quite rare. Usually, you can get a book on Tarot, runes, or another topic. It’s harder to find a survey of the entire field. It’s even rarer to find one that’s truly comprehensive. So, does the book live up to it’s title?

Yep. To call this book “complete” is almost an understatement. It’s 362 pages in print. It’s packed with information about almost every form of divination in existence. It describes both traditional practices as well as newer methods.

If there is a flaw here, it’s that Webster pushes across information a mile wide, yet an inch deep. In other words, expect to get the basics of many different divination techniques. You’ll have to look elsewhere for a more in-depth look at them.

Is that really a flaw, though? Nope! Webster serves up a rich palette of divination Webster. This would be a great gift for someone who is starting to explore the concept of divination. It’s good if you’ve yet to discover which practices they prefer. There’s definitely something for everyone!

If you have an established practice of divination, you’re bound to pick up new ideas here, too! I found a lot of what the book has to say about various cartomancy traditions interesting. Cartomancy is such a wide swathe of divination history in the West.

Many traditions of it have fallen away in the mists of time. Some are quite ripe for revival, an there’s plenty to chew on here! I’ll no doubt start incorporating a few of the techniques it mentions into my Tarot practice.

It’s also a useful book if you tend towards eclecticism! I myself actually “invented” a little method! It’s based on what Webster says about flower divination. I’ll post an article about that soon. I could imagine other diviners doing similar things, and there’s a lot to mix and match here!

I award this book four out of five stars. While it is a great survey of divination practices, it doesn’t provide a lot of in-depth information. This isn’t a problem with things like Tarot. Extra info on that is available in large quantities elsewhere. For obscure divination techniques, though, you might find yourself hungry for more!

Webster rarely disappoints. Here is no exception. Again, treat this book as it was (likely) intended. It’s a comprehensive guide, but not too detailed. Expect to load up on more specific reading material later!

Wow, this book has so much information! It's very helpful. I'll definitely recommend it to my friends who are interested in the subject too. Congrats to the author, great work!

Not a book I would normally read since I feel this goes against what the Bible teaches and borders on witchcraft. That being said I read the book  to learn more about those things so I could have a conversation with someone who is into tarot reading and things like candle reading or sand reading which is mention in the book.  If you're into numerology and tarot cards and things like that then this is the book for you.
I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Let me start by says "Wow!! What a book" I have been using tarot, the pendulum, astrology, and runes for years. But I am the type of person who believes you can never know something well enough to not learn more about it. So when I saw this book I jumped at the chance to review it. Thanks NetGalley for giving me the chance.

Not only did I learn a few things about things I know. I learned things about things I had heard of but do not practice like numerology. I also learned new things like Sand Reading. I had never heard of that.

The book is well written, I feel that is more based towards the beginner but the experienced will gain some from this book as well. This book is filled with information, tips, tricks, and so much more. It is well written and easy to understand. This is one of the books that needs to be put on a reference shelf. It is not a read it once and be done with it book. There is simply too much information to grasp it with just one read. You will want to go back to this book time and time again.

A brilliant and informative book. Great for improving your techniques and for learning new ones.

A really fascinating and instructive book. I improved my knowledge of already know divination methods and learned of new ones. Also got some new idea about tarot reading and other divination methods I already knew.
A good and learned guide to the divination world.

There is so much to learn from this book! I honestly just got it because I wanted to read more about tarot, runes, and of my favorite the pendulum. They are my favorite ones to use. That being said, I learned about some ways of divination that I have never even heard of (which isn't that shocking as I've only been learning these things for almost three years so there is lots I don't know), there is candle reading... I didn't even know that was a thing! There is also sand reading... yeah it was so cool to learn about these things. I also got to learn more about the I Ching, which is something that has fascinating but something that never really worked for me. Not to mention there is palmistry which is something else I enjoy. I can't even name everything in this book as there are lots. It covers all the big ones and ones that like I said, didn't even know was a thing.

I love that they start basic for beginners but there is also things that I learned and think it would be good even for an expert as you can learn something new or even refresh your memory. Not to mention it's a good reference guide, that's what I'll be using it as. It even goes a bit into the history of the different ways. Bottom line: get this book. It's so worth it!

Will go live on my blog on 9/25/2017