OMEN WALK
It's like learning a language the Gods teach
This is my 9th year (holy shit) of Omen Walk, the practice I’ve developed based on the historical practice of omen-taking during the intercalary days 1 .
My two favorite things about omen walk are:
- it makes you better at omens.
- it maps the coming year.
In the same way that drawing a daily tarot card makes you good at tarot, omen walk gives you a bank of experience to draw from. You’ll receive 24 omens, and thus you’ll have 24 examples of seeing how they play out, as you learn what they portend in the year that follows.
This is also a great way to pepper a year with moments of awe. I love getting the texts throughout the year- “you will not fucking believe what my omen walk omen from april was about.” Evoke Wonder. This by itself is a great intention for omen walk.
What is it?
Very simple. Each day, for 12 days, you get some omens. You can do one, but I take two- one at noon and one at midnight. Day one’s omens will fortell your january. Day 2 will fortell your february. And so on, and so forth, through the year. Adapt the times if you’re asleep at those hours - or let one be a dream omen.
How do I start?
I start every year around the solstice.
Now is the part where I remind you I made a guide book for this practice. It’s the best place online to get all my omen-thoughts, plus more detailed instructions on the practice - omens, the intercalary days, and some examples. Plus for the craft girlies, there are 12 printable pages to use to log your omens (or to use as a template to help you shape your own notetaking technique).
One of my december omens. ^ It’s literally me, right now, starting two new Walking by Lamplight 1:1 containers with two new mentees, and it’s even, in a smaller way, me writing you this ‘how do we begin’ omen walk blog post.
If you’re asking ‘how will i know if it’s an omen’ I recommend setting a specific time to take your omen each day. I literally set a timer to go off twice. Placing limits on when the omen will be accepted reduces ambiguity. It also induces humility, and allows you let go of the doubting thomas in your mind- ‘was that really an omen?’. When the timing is not up for debate, we can simply open our hands to receive. Whatever happens, happens.
This can be of benefit to beginners, overthinkers, and folks who want to do a little extra submission to the murmurs of the oracle.
I personally am a digital guy and I like to make sure these end up in a note on my phone where I can check them and jot down updates throughout the year.
You don’t really have to do anything fancy to start this practice. Some people get lasso’d by it, and I love getting feedback from people- “whoops I accidentally did omen walk.” I say that not to make you feel excluded if god doesn’t come get you to force you to do it, but to emphasize the fact that you can just start. No fancy shit necessary. Think “i am doing omen walk” set your clock’s timers, and begin.
1. My first exposure to modern intercalary omen days was Camelia Elias’ cartomancer blog. She ties in the tarot and suggests you write a poem about yours later, both cool ideas that I haven’t had the inclination to implement, but might be cool for you!
