Bones, Shells, and Curios: A Contemporary Method of Casting the Bones

As a newcomer to ‘throwing the bones’ but certainly not a newcomer to divination in general, I really enjoyed this book and use it as a trusted reference on this topic. The book provides a brief background of the practice, including noting that the method taught in this book is not the traditional hoodoo practice that incorporates only handfuls of chicken or possum bones. This, more contemporary method, incorporates such items as shells, charms, acorns, keys, and small items commonly found in a household junk drawer. The book goes into a lot of detail as to how to put together your own set of ‘bones’ using objects from around your own home; objects that will be meaningful to you when cast. Then, through a series of examples, the book explains how to cast the bones and interpret the meaning of a particular cast. Of course, this work is fairly well steeped in intuition, but there are ways of setting up your bones set in the beginning that can provide assistance during the interpretation phase. I particularly love this aspect! The target demographic for this book is the absolute beginner, and I would recommend this book to any beginning thrower. It answers all the questions an absolute newcomer would have about this practice. I might also suggest that this book not be the caster’s only source, and that they might consider expanding their library on the topic past this book. But as an introductory text, it is outstanding and accomplishes it’s purpose.

What a GREAT BOOK! I read the book before I received a personal reading from Michele herself. The book is very informative on how to conduct an intuitive reading. She really stresses the importance of connecting with your ancestors and working that base. Also the importance of creating an ancestor altar. She informs you on where to get a set of bones and how to take care of them. I also like the fact that she talks about finding extras pieces for your set because most places that sells bones only sells a very limited amount of pieces and you are probably going to want a large number of pieces. She shows in the book her personal set so you can get an idea of how many pieces a good set should have. She also gives examples of where you can find those pieces. She talks about what items you will need to clean your pieces, introducing your pieces to your ancestors. She gives a list of typical pieces and what they mean. This can save you from wracking your brain from coming up with meaning of pieces yourself if you want to save yourself the headache of doing that. If not, feel free to come up with the meanings of the pieces yourself. One of the best parts of the books is she provides four basic readings that are spectacular. Read these readings again and again because its in these readings that she shows you how the bones are actually being read. hey are wonderful examples. I cant say enough of this book. I gave it five stars because it is truly a magnificent book!!

Excellent book, shorter than anticipated and a not insignificant portion is dedicated to example readings, which while quite helpful to some still feel a bit like padding given the books length. The good side of this is that the concepts introduced inside are easily understood in the course of maybe an hour - fantastically clear and to the point, the basic concepts are built and expanded upon in very easy to understand terms. having no false pretense of this being an antiquated system also adds the benefit of making the infinite possibilities for customization known - the "bone bag" could just as easily contain anything you might connect with, whether the classic bones, a menagerie of shells and teeth found beachcombing, or every forgotten trinket and coin your dryer spits out in exchange for the left socks its been collecting. The barebones (pun fully intended) nature of the system described gets the creative mind absolutely glowing and for that this book gets my recommendation

It's got a fairly good overview, but don't expect this book to take you by the hand and interpret every little thing for you. As it says right in the book, bone divination is intuitive, not strictly limited to a pre-written list of signs. It does, however, give decent advice on creating your own bone set and learning how to read them. So, do not buy this book if you're expecting a guided manual.

A beautifully written guide for anyone new to throwing the bones. Michele has a wonderful balance between being succinct and getting to the point, but elaborating just enough on areas where one may have a few more questions. She answers questions that one may not even realize they have. I will say that this isn't really meant to be an intro for divination as a concept, which is not a bad thing at all, but I simply would recommend this for people who already have a grasp on divination and possibly have messed around with some other variants in the past.

Ive been a bone reader for years and it is surprising how similar the author's method comes to mine without our having never met in person. She says its contemporary, but it is the way I learned from my ancestors and then trained formally from an Akan priest so the method is valid... and obviously a ancestral legacy. It is a comprehensive method with descriptions of bones and specific example readings that help the reader to grasp the method. She gives insight in to performing relationship and money readings as well as ancestor readings. Also provides methods of cleansing and preparing them for use. I have read books on bone reading for years and i highly recommend this one to get one started.

This book is informative and tells you how to get started in divination with bones and shells. The instructions are clear and I am already collecting the pieces I need to get started. However, Ms. Jackson is clear that this is only a "beginner" book and there are other books out there that can provide more information. I liked that, that she didn't try to fool the reader into thinking that this book is the only book you need.

I purchased this as a gift for my friend whose ancestry is African/Caribbean. I always joke with her that she should get out her bones and give me a reading. With the various bones I got for her, she can now create her own set with the help of this book. I hope she likes it and finds it useful in interpreting her casts. Will update after the holidays!

Excellent clear most informative

LLEGÓ ANTES DE LO ESPERADO, MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!