Divination - Communication with the unconscious?
One thing has always held true for me and tarot/runes :
They help me to realize that the construct of time is only a tool, not a reality to live inside of. I spent a large portion of my past focused outside of the present moment - so physically tense and mentally fearful of the responsibility for the present moment that I gave up my ability to respond to what was actually happening in the present.
When I was younger I was taught that God was outside of the moment, and that He was the only one with the knowledge, experience, and influence to bring me to my destination - My destiny. I had been taught that I was an ant(In a bad way, I have nothing against ants). I was to be the one without access to knowledge, experience, and influence to comfort myself in obscure passageways, and to appropriately take advantage of the times when I experienced illumination. An ant, to us humans, might seem ignorant and out of touch with the broad strokes, the, "bigger picture," and we might even giggle at times about how our 'self-conscious'-ness gives us an advantage over the other species on this planet. In reality, we have great scientists, artists, inventors, and 'thinkers' that come up with good options for the rest of us to choose.
I don't really see proof that we really know what ants are 'thinking,' or 'feeling,' though - we just guess based on external behaviors. They are diligent and obedient to the order of things, just the same as humans are expected to behave for some corporations or businesses.
What divination has done for me is allow me to clear the air of pretense - Who is this character I have been playing? What am I thinking this moment says about me? How has my past clouded my judgement in my current situation? What effects do my beliefs about the future have on my state of mind right now?
These questions clear the room of all the baggage of labels and judgments about my potential. You and me, we both could talk for hours about who we've been, the things we've done, and how we have both been brought to this moment by a deep and meaningful series of events, but what does it really help with when we come to realize the irony of this moment?
It's not to say that what you have been through doesn't also provide irony when you compare it to the present and to what you are about to experience - but time likes to play tricks on us. It isn't a jealous or vengeful God, but we do give it too much power over our lives. We give time our constant attention and love, and miss out on what sits in front of us our whole lives in hopes that time-ing will pay off. It is, in my opinion, a God - if that's how we treat it.
An example - I am 13 years old. I am called to dinner. A casserole, including ingredients like black olives, and corn. My mouth does not like it when black olives and corn are tasted together. Do I eat it anyways? Do I delay coming to dinner, only to eat it still? Do I refuse to eat, and get sent to bed for having an attitude? Do I run away, in hopes of finding loving parents who would never dream of putting black olives and corn in a casserole? Do I pick out the corn? Or the olives?
The biggest problem for me when learning about divination was conviction. Without conviction, choices are meaningless. Without conviction, our lives start to look like everyone else's lives - we eat what's on the menu, we go only where yelp says to go, we don't express how we feel to the people closest to us for fear of disagreeing with them, and we just fall into our chairs after work and watch what everyone else watches.
Where can we find conviction, if we don't know where it is? I believe divination is a tool to help you find conviction again, if you have found yourself drifting in today's 'zombie apocalypse.' The cards, the runes, what have you, are only there to help you to want again. Once you have desires again, you can practice fulfilling them. For those who know what they want, and know how to take significant action to get it, divination tends to be mistaken for 'common sense.' Of course, there are those who believe that divination is actually going to tell them what will happen in the future, and yes, I believe there are some who have a talent for it that cannot be explained, but for you, it may be beside the point. I believe divination tools are best used in private, to speak to yourself, and to draw out the quiet desires of a distracted and noisy mind.
Consider how you feel right now - Do you feel you have taken appropriate action to get what you really want in life? Are you aware of the unexpected things happening around you? Are you free to take advantage of the present moment? Stop worrying about the things you need to accomplish, clear the air of your past and future, and try noticing anything else but the time. If you have responsibilities, set a timer, and if you begin to worry about things you need to do/not do, gently remind yourself that you can accomplish these things later. Give yourself a healthy relationship with yourself outside of time, and you will meet your destiny with conviction.