BOTANOMANCY - The Ancient Art And Science of Plant Divination

Plant divination, also called botanomancy, is the art of using plants and trees to predict the future and divine answers to questions. Botanomancy is not as strange as it sounds. Think about how common it is to “read” the signs of nature to forecast the weather and predict the coming conditions for the season ahead. Have you ever made a wish on dandelion before blowing the seeds into the wind? Or held up a buttercup flower under a friend’s chin to see if you like butter? Maybe you played that game of “he loves me, he loves me not” with a daisy to see if your crush returned your affection?  You’ve practiced a form of botanomancy!

For me, botanomancy means deep listening. It means tuning in and listening to my intuition with the help of my botanical allies - those earthen angels with which I have a deep relationship. Because we all need help to hear our intuition, don’t we? With all the noise in our brains - our chattering, tense, logically illogical, disco-ball brains - and all the chaotic, overstimulating influences of culture, media, our own worst habits, in addition to the jumble of everyday life itself…well, it’s downright difficult to find the dial and tune into the still, quiet voice of wisdom inside us. Thankfully, there are the plants. Herbs to the rescue!

Looking back over the years I’ve been practicing herbalism, and especially back to when I first started opening up to the belief in a spiritual or energetic connection with the living, green world, what I was most surprised to discover was that not only could I turn to my botanical allies for advice, help and guidance on our human journey, but also that the guidance I gleaned from the plant world was consistently accurate and profoundly wise.

As a child, I knew instinctually how to dial into the healing magic of nature. I grew up in a crowded, chaotic and often conflict-heavy household. As one of seven children in a small home, I often felt alone and misunderstood. Being highly sensitive meant I needed a place to escape. My saving grace was the forest. I was lucky enough to grow up in a rural area, deep in the woods on many acres of forested land with streams and meadows and lots and lots of trees. I spent much of my free time wandering these wild places, and over the years, it became second nature to seek the solitude of the forest as a way of self-regulating.

I have never outgrown this practice. I am still awed by the way my nervous system is soothed and quieted by a walk in the trees. It’s in these times that I can make my way back to myself - tuning once again into that still, small voice that speaks truth through my heart. Nowadays, when I need to make a decision, or when I am struggling with a problem or need guidance on a situation, I walk to the grand old oak tree and take my shoes off to stand barefoot beside the huge trunk. Then, I ask for a dream. Or I seek out the shelter of the hemlock and birch boughs that hang over the stone walls that boarder the streams and meadows and I sit there, letting the grasses and the leaves rustle their hypnotic whispers until I feel I know the way. Or sometimes, I find the wild rose hips and chew and chew and spit out the seeds and then I look to see what forms appear. I make tea. I listen. Long ago, I didn’t know these ways had a name. Now, I know. Botanomancy.

These practices are rooted in all of our lineages. Ethnobotanical researchers have recorded countless different methods of botanomancy across cultures going back to prehistoric times. Depending on the native ecology and the needs of the tribe, plant divination could look very different. Sometimes a particular part of a plant or tree such as the leaves, roots or branches would be gathered and burned, or tossed onto the ground or into the wind, often with special chants or words. The ashes, scattered leaves, or shape of the plants would then be observed for clues and symbols that, to a trained eye, could reveal answers to important questions. Another common method was to chew the leaves of a plant, such as the Coca plant, beloved to the many tribes of South and Central America, and then spit the juices into the palms, and the manner in which the juice ran could indicate impending fortune or misfortune, or determine guilt or innocence, or provide a yes or no answer to an important question. A similar practice of tea leaf reading, also called Tasseography, is still alive and well today and growing in popularity once again. 

Botanomancy abounds in folk traditions of rural cultures throughout the world. The ancient Chinese text known as the I Ching describes the use of yarrow stalks to read the future probabilities, for example. In parts of Ireland and the British Isles apple peels were thrown over a young girl’s shoulder to reveal the name of the man she would marry. In Scotland, Hazelnuts were so commonly used for divination that Halloween was known as Nutcrack Night - a special night when hazelnuts cracking in a fire could reveal the future. 

But divination was not just popular at Halloween. Every season has its beauty as well as its own power to ‘life the veil’. Learning botanomancy means finding the avenues to wisdom and truth through whatever natural connections are available, no matter the weather or season. In many pre-Christian European tribal traditions, each season’s celebration or rite was associated with particular special plant or several chosen plants. When the trees were in flower and the Beltane fires were lit, many herbs were woven into garlands to adorn lovers’ heads or to grace doorways and homes or placed under pillows for oracular dreams. Hawthorn, rowan and oak trees were especially sacred in springtime, and they were believed to have the power to reveal the coming future while also offering protection, love magic, and a portal into the faerie realms. The weeks leading up to summer solstice were also a time for harvesting mugwort leaves, which were thought to enhance psychic abilities and dreams. These are just a few examples in the traditions of my ancestors. Do you know what plants are sacred to the holidays that your ancestors celebrated?

Nowadays, it's easier than ever to draw on botanical wisdom and divine answers to your questions with the help of your favorite plant ally. You can always use one of the many wonderful botanical oracle decks or Tarot decks out there. Or simply make a cup of your favorite herbal tea, quiet your mind, and journal.  I’m looking forward to sharing more of my favorite botanomancy methods as well as advice on how to deal with common blocks and interpretation problems. in the courses I’ll be launching in the future. Stay tuned! Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter if you haven’t already in order to stay up to date on my offerings.