Comment Spam and Bibliomancy

I’m currently only allowing comments from registered TypeKey accounts. This is not a permanent situation, only temporary, until I can get some other measures in place to help prevent comment spam. The comment spam problem has become very serious, to the point of taking people’s servers offline, or webhosts shutting down blogging applications because of server load. I’d like to avoid either scenario while I’m still building parts of the domain, so for now, it’s TypeKey. It’s a bit like fending off a flood while building the dike.

Yesterday I went out of town. My son had to take his final test to get his driver’s license. Unfortunately, about half the way to our destination, he realized he’d forgotten his backpack at home and we had to turn around and retrieve it. By the time we got to where his test was to take place, we were too late for his appointment, so he’ll have to reschedule that. The good part was, we got to spend the day together, so we went shopping. He found himself a nice new watch, a case for his CDs and some “bling bling” (a chain to wear ’round his neck). We went into Sam Goody’s (a place I should avoid like the plague) and I found an interesting book called “The Oracle Book” by Georgia Routsis Savas. (See the extended entry for the review at Amazon.com.) I also bought my youngest son Book 5 of the Harry Potter series, not knowing he’d already read it, but he was happy to have it anyway because it adds to his book collection and he wanted to read it again.

Synchronicity… less than a week ago I had changed my nickname in IRC (internet relay chat) to “The_Oracle” in response to a couple of things: a) KyrahJade said I was like an Oracle because she thinks I always have good advice to offer, and b) I was in #blogshares answering newbie questions about the game, so in that sense I was also acting as sort of an Oracle. Besides all that, I’m a big fan of the Matrix series of movies, and the Oracle was one of my favorite characters, so I registered that nick on the Wyldryde.org IRC network and will likely be using it interchangeably with my regular Aine nick.

But anyway, the book I found in Sam Goody’s… The book itself is simply pages of answers, it’s purpose is to be used for divination. They call this form of divination “bibliomancy” and most often the Bible was used in this way, but other texts have also been used. The hard cover design resembles an ancient book that looks a bit worn ’round the edges. The binding consists of uneven pages, like a rough cut, or hand-bound book (pre-automation). The answers the book provides are drawn from astrology, tarot cards, tea leaves, playing cards, dice, the crystal ball, palmistry, and psychic wisdom. I like the way the book feels in my hands, and may begin exploring what sorts of personal intuition the use of bibliomancy could reveal.

Have you ever tried bibliomancy?

“The Oracle Book” by Georgia Routsis Savas

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com

Like the reading of Tarot cards, the spreading of the runes, or the touch of a Ouija board, The Oracle Book offers immediate responses to seekers’ questions. Written by In Style magazine’s savvy astrologer Georgia Routsis Savas, this immediate form of divination is called bibliomancy–the art of foretelling the future using books. The idea is for readers to first ask a yes-or-no question (the clearer the question, the clearer the response). Then readers run their thumbs over the edge of the pages of the Oracle Book until they sense their thumb has landed on the right spot. Finally, they open the page. The answer appears in a two-page spread and could come from any number of divination sources, including Tarot, astrology, dice, and even tea leaves. For example, it might read, “Libra, the sign of the scales, or balance, counsels you to consider another’s feelings. Or, “The Crystal ball depicts an empty purse; don’t be greedy.” Or, “The tea leaves are in the shape of a shell: whatever you desire will be yours.” The attractive typeface and illustrations make this an enticing tool to work with. As with all oracles, it’s the reader’s open-mindedness and intuitive skills that will determine how lasting and helpful of a resource this can be. –Gail Hudson