Book Review: Llewellyn's Complete Book of Divination

Richard Webster, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Divination. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2017.

Genre: Reference, divination

Subgenre: esoterica 

Format: e-book galley

Source: Netgalley

 

The word "complete" may be a little ambitious, but this book does cover a good amount of divination practices. If you are curious, odds are you will find a divination practice of interest in the book and get some good information about it. The author has written extensively on various divination and psychic practices, so he is a good guide for this journey. 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Introduction.
• Chapter One: What is Divination? Terms are defined in this chapter. 
• Chapter Two: The History of Divination. You get a brief history plus short biographical sketches of famous divination practitioners. 
• Chapter Three: The Main Systems of Divination. This is the core of the book. It features entries for 31 systems, some more popular than others. 
• Chapter Four: Unusual Methods of Divination. This is a list of additional methods with a brief description. 
• Chapter 5: How to Choose the Right Oracle for You. 
• Chapter : Preparing for Divination.
• Conclusion.
• Appendix: Different Types of Divination. This is an additional list. 
• Bibliography.

  

This book can be useful for casual readers as well as folks interested in taking up a divination practice. The author takes us from basic definitions to the history to a look at the major practices. 

Chapter Three is the core. It covers 31 systems that the author felt should be presented. The entries overall are informative and define the practice. The author often tells of his personal experience with a divination practice and/or experiences of other people he has encountered in his work. He then provides basic steps on how to do the practice or at least try it out. At the end of each entry, the author provides a small list of suggested readings if you wish to learn more. Additionally, the book features some illustrations for various practices. Type and quality of illustrations can vary. For the Tarot entry, for example, they used illustrations from the Llewellyn Classic Tarot deck (you can find my review of that deck here).  

The unusual methods chapter includes some of the less common practices that the author considered still interesting enough to include in the book such as banana reading, which is worth reading. 

In addition, the author provides some advice to help readers choose a practice if so moved and how to prepare for doing divination. 

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. 

For me, this may be a book to borrow. I do, however, strongly recommend it for libraries, especially libraries that already collect pagan and other esoteric materials. For libraries just starting to collect esoterica, pagan topics, and related themes, this would be a good addition. In the end, I really liked it and am glad to have read it. 

4 out of 5 stars.

Qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenges: