How to Interpret Signs and Omens

ear Miracles,

Is it a sign? What does it mean?

Those two questions come up in our community all the time. Sacred artists are sensitive, thoughtful, highly attuned folks. We know that the cosmos is vast, that there is more to it than meets they eye, and that one of the primary ways to communicate with this great, magical world is through signs and omens. But…when it comes to interpreting those signs and figuring out what they mean for us we often get tripped up.

Behold, a very brief how-to on interpreting signs~

• Ask and ye shall receive. Traditionally an individual would ask for a sign or omen. Your request should specific enough to actually manifest in a particular way but general enough to leave room for flexibility. So if you are looking for an indication on how you did on that final exam you might ask to see a raptor flying as an indication of success but you would not ask to see a red-tailed hawk flying due east at 3pm on a Saturday.

• Look within. As soon as people see a sign or what might be a sign 9 times out of 10 they reach for a book or look to consult with an “expert.” But here is the truth — the only expert on signs and omens you receive is you! You are going to have specific and unique interpretations of the signs you receive, maybe they agree with another person’s opinion and maybe they don’t, but you can know that your interpretation will always be most correct for yourself.

• See what’s there and not what you want to see. Our default position tends to be that signs are affirming us in whatever we desire. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. If for instance you ask for a sign on whether or not a friend is loyal and shortly after a dog crossed your path you might assume that because many people see dogs as loyal it means your friend is loyal. But if you personally had an incident with a dog that turned on you for whatever reason, take that into account, it informs your relationship with this sign and may be indicating that your friend is not as loyal as you think.

• Keep an ongoing list of your personal omens. Tarot readers have long observed that specific cards come up again and again and give them very tailored information — this is not about the card, its about the relationship between the reader and that particular image. So it is with signs. You are the expert on you which means that you are the expert on your signs — keep a running list of what you see and what those things may mean. Then you have your own handy reference on signs and omens.

Here is a handy template to use whenever you are interpreting signs, omens, and symbols:

I asked for the following sign__________to indicate:_______________.

The sign I received was:________________.

The way I feel about that sign is:_______________, leading me to suspect that the outcome indicated is______________.

Go forth in confidence and clarity!