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Everything You Need to Know About Magic (but Were Afraid to Ask) [Week 2, Period 1]

As the students came into the actives area, Aggie was putting the finishing up taking a few last items from her leather case. Of course, it might not have been made of leather, and it might have legs, but Aggie would feign complete innocence and ignorance should anyone ask about it. She shut the bag and gave it a pat.

On the tables set out where several decks of cards, some with elaborate pictures and some with just the usual club, spades, diamonds and hearts; a pile of apples (with an apple peeler attached firmly to end of one table); a large bouquet of dandielion clocks; sets of two sticks tied together with very long strings; hand mirrors that shone black instead of silver; and hand sized cauldrons with a bottle of water set next to each.

Aggie looked up once all the students had found a seat, she smiled brightly, "Hello children! I hope the week since we last met has been invigorating and exciting for you! Today, we will be taking a look at different means of divination. First, let's discuss divination and the tools there of. Then, I'll open the floor to your questions, and lastly, you'll try some hands on experience with those tools you feel most drawn to, save for those items I indicate are off limits."

"Divination is the art and science, depending on whom you speak with, of seeking the truth through extraordinary means, often magical means. Sometimes the goal of engaging in divination is to foretell the future, to see that which may not be seen easily in other ways. At other times, it is used to reach into a past that feels untouchable. Then there are those moments when it is used to clarify the present."

"The important things I want you to remember, children, are that most of these methods do not require any special ability or skills. Also, time and the future are very mailable things. Any choice you make can change the out come of a divined answer. None of this is set in stone. And most importantly, I hope you have fun! Learning doesn't have to be stuffy and boring!"

[ooc: Up early cause of work tomorrow. On for a few hours tonight, possibly one or two in the morning, then after 8pm Thursday evening till however late I can keep my brain going. Pick one or several of the divination methods and Aggie will explain how those tools are used and/or walk you through their use/your use of said tool. OCD is up! Have at it!]

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"Playing cards are similar to Tarot but they are more widely available, though less used for divination and more often used in games of chance. I have seen them used in ways similar to the Tarot cards, and in styles uniquely their own."

Picking up a pack of cards, Turtle idly shuffled through them. "So, anyone up for a game of gin rummy?" she smirked, totally joking, of course. Unless anyone actually wanted to play. But she was really intrigued about how regular old cards can be used for future telling or whatever.

"Oh dear! I haven't played a game of gin in quiet a long time." Aggie smiled. "But if you like, I can show you how to use these to divine. First, think of a question which can be answered with a Yes or No. Have one in mind, dear?"

The first thing that popped into Turtle's mind just so happened to be something about a boy, and she opened her mouth, about ready to ask if she had to say it outloud, when a little lightbulb went off above her head and her initial question changed entirely.

Still, just in case using divination to help pick your stocks was a little...frowned on, she still ventured, "Do I have to tell the question to everyone, or can I keep it to myself?"

"That depends on you, dear." Aggie smiled. "If you are comfortable saying it out loud, you are welcome to do so. If not, then there is no rule saying that you must."

Turtle nodded a little. "Okay, well, I think I'll go the path of wishes and play it safe by not saying it." She closed her eyes, drawing in a deep, totally relaxing breath, and focused on her question: Should I invest in ~~handwavey stock~~?. "Okay. Question in head, cards in hand; now what?"

"That should work just fine, Turtle, dear." Aggie said. "Shuffle them up good then set them out in four stacks, face down, without looking at them."

Turtle did so, quickly and expertly. She'd watched her father at his poker games realllllly closely, and wanted to be as impressive as he was one day.

"Well done, dear." Aggie praised. "Now, flip each pile over so that it is face up. Work your way through each pile until you come to an ace. Discard everything you found laying on top of it in the pile to the side and keep everything below it. Once you've found all four aces, take them and the remaining cards and shuffle again."

Turtle nodded, quickly sorting through the cards and following the instructions diligently (you could tell she was being diligent because her tongue was poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration), until a thought struck her. "Do I...um, what if I have two aces or even three aces in one pile?"

"That's common and perfectly okay." Aggie grinned. Watching Turtle at work with the cards was like watching her grandson Dylan working on a science project. "Just discard what was above the first ace in the pile and keep going till you find the fourth ace. If you find all four before you've gone through all the piles, discard the piles that have not yet been gone through."

Turtle had to run that over in her head a few times before she got it, and she nodded firmly. "Okay," she said, and returned to the cards until she'd accomplished surfacing all four aces, and started to collect what remained for reshuffling. "now what?"

"Shuffle them and then sort them into three piles, face down." Aggie said. "Then flip those piles over and do the same as before with looking for the aces, discarding what you find before them and keeping what comes after."

Turtle hummed a little idly, tunelessly, as she worked on this round. "Doo~one," she said once she got it. "And now?"

"Do the same thing once more, this time sorting them into two piles." Aggie said. "The difference is, when you go to look for the aces, You discard everything before the ace, keep anything between aces, and discard everything after the aces. Then lay out the aces and the cards between in a row, in the order which you found them."

Re: About Magic [Week 2, Period 1] - Playing Cards!

stocksgrrl.livejournal.com - 2007-05-24 04:49 (UTC) - Expand

Re: About Magic [Week 2, Period 1] - Playing Cards!

splendid-aggie.livejournal.com - 2007-05-24 04:58 (UTC) - Expand

Re: About Magic [Week 2, Period 1] - Playing Cards!

stocksgrrl.livejournal.com - 2007-05-24 05:02 (UTC) - Expand

Re: About Magic [Week 2, Period 1] - Playing Cards!

splendid-aggie.livejournal.com - 2007-05-24 05:08 (UTC) - Expand

Re: About Magic [Week 2, Period 1] - Playing Cards!

stocksgrrl.livejournal.com - 2007-05-24 05:15 (UTC) - Expand

Sam wasn't as familiar with using playing cards for divination as he was with the other items, so that's what he went for first.

"Would you like to have a try with a deck, dear?" Aggie asked.

"Sure. I'm not sure how to work with these though. I'm more used to tarot," he said.

"There are two basic ways to use these, let's start with the easiest, eh?" Aggie said. "Think of a question that can be answered with a Yes or a No as you shuffle a deck."

Well he was already familiar with Tarot cards, so Bridge went for the deck of regular playing cards instead.

"Have you something in mind that you would like to look at today, Bridge, dear?" Aggie asked.

"To be honest, I'm more used to letting predictions of the future come to me than going looking for them," Bridge admits.

"Divination isn't all about the future. It is also about the here and now, and the yesterday." Aggie said.

Bridge frowns thoughtfully at that. "You have a point," he admits. He then blushes slightly. "Which, uh. You probably knew since you're the teacher and all."

"That's quiet alright dear!" Aggie grinned widely. "Why not go ahead and pick a deck while you're considering what you'd like to look at?"

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