CHAPTER 1
How to Read the Dominos
The procedure for reading the domino oracle is simplicity itself. There are only a fewconsiderations that must be learned. The basic readings may be read to the querentdirectly from this text until you have memorized them. This is why the dominos are such avaluable system to use to teach the art of divination.
The Four Rules of Domino Reading
1. A male reader can read the dominos on any day except Mondays and Fridays. Thus, aman can read for others only on the "male" days of the week.
2. A female reader can read the dominos only on Mondays and Fridays, or on the "female"days of the week.
3. No person may read the dominos for him- or herself. A reading must always be done foranother person.
4. A querent (or client) can not approach a reader to obtain a reading of the dominos morethan once in each calendar month.
The domino reading itself is accomplished in the following way:
1. The dominos are arranged with their spots face down on a table. They are thenthoroughly shuffled by the reader. The reader should then pray to God for assistance andguidance in the reading. At this point the person seeking the reading, the querent, entersthe reading room, if not already present. Incense should be burned, and a candle is lit tothe glory of the Creator, while the reader makes a prayer to Orula, the Deity who is theLord of Divination, that the person consulting the oracle have a good reading. A personnot connected to the Yoruba pantheon might pray to his or her own divination deity, or, ifChristian, could pray to St. Francis of Assisi. The prayer to Orula is in addition to theprayer asking for assistance and guidance for the reader. It is done for the querent, askingthat the querent have a good reading.
2. The reader now shuffles the dominos again, arranging a row of dominos (with the spotsstill down) immediately in front of the querent. From this row the querent selects the firstdomino. The reader makes note of it, and then replaces the domino with the others andshuffles them again. The querent selects the second domino, and the reader makes noteof it, replaces it, and shuffles the dominos again. The querent selects the third domino,and the reader makes note of it. The reader may now either put all the other dominos backin their box, or may push them off to one side of the table on which the reading is takingplace. This is done only to keep the dominos out of the way while the reading proceeds.
3. The reader then tells, or reads, the querent the story of the first domino. The seconddomino is then explained to the querent. Last, the story of the third domino is revealed tothe querent.
4. Now the reader proceeds to discuss the three dominos as if they make a completestory, covering all possible details of the reading with the querent. In this last part of thereading, the remedies, including any prayers to be said, are given to the querent. Anyother remedy information that may be required is also discussed with the querent at thistime.
5. If there are strong indications of one thing or another in the reading, these indicationsmust be stressed to the querent. If there are moderators, things that weaken bad signs, orthat reduce the benefit of good signs, these must also be discussed with the querentduring this final part of the reading. If the querent has chosen the same domino more thanonce, the importance of this particular part of the reading must be stressed to the querent.If it calls for any prayers or offerings, their importance must be stressed as well.
It is important that readers are able to give clients a remedy for any difficulty that thereading has revealed. Giving a reading that predicts difficulties for querents, when noremedy can be provided, is actually a great cruelty. In the various systems of Africandivination there are always remedies that may be provided for people who come askingfor assistance. In the various European-based divination systems, such as astrology andthe tarot, it seems that remedies are not offered to assist people who ask for readings,which is why a domino reading can be so helpful.
Making prayers, giving offerings, lighting candles, receiving spiritual cleansings, andmaking petitions to the deities are all remedies that must be discussed in detail withquerents. It is important that the querents do what they are told to do in the reading. Thismust be stressed by the reader. Once a remedy is made available, querents will only harmthemselves if they do not use the remedy that has been offered them. When the remedy isnot used, the difficulty that the reading has proposed may be even more difficult. In otherwords, people should not come to the domino oracle for fun. They are talking to the gods,and talking to the gods is serious business.
Once the reading has been completed with a prayer of thanks, querents must be told thatthey may not have another reading for thirty days. This is always a strict rule of the oracle.In most cases, querents should be told to return after thirty days for another reading. If thereader is not working within an African tradition, and has no ability to contact a Santero orother priest for a more detailed reading, the querent may ignore the advice to do so whenthis is given. Alternatively, the querent may have a tarot or astrological reading, to providemore information about the situation that is presenting itself. Additionally, the querentshould pay particular attention to the way in which the advice of the domino readingmanifests during the coming month. The querent should also be sure to carry out anyremedies that the readings may suggest as promptly as possible.
If a reading indicates that a coconut or cowry reading should be done in addition to thedomino reading, then the reader does not set up an appointment for another dominoreading in thirty days. The querents will be told by the priest of the tradition if anotherdomino reading is necessary.
It is always better if the novice reader is someone who is studying with a Father of theDeity, a Pi de Santo (see glossary). A Pi de Santo is a person who has given his or herhead to a deity and has become a priest of the deity. If you have no contact with a Pi deSanto, or want to study the oracle on your own, and you come from a Christianbackground, it is better to use the Catholic saints and religious remedies mentioned laterin this book. Unless you have a Pi de Santo or Father of the Deity who is willing to workwith you, the Christian saints of the Catholic religion, who are very much the same as theYoruba deities, are the best means that you can use to assist others.
Those who come from other polytheistic religious backgrounds, such as Buddhist, Hindu,or modern pagan, may find suitable correspondences between the Yoruba deities andthose of their own pantheon. Jewish people who wish to use the domino system may usecabalistic correspondences if they wish. Those who follow Islam might use thecorresponding "Names of God" as remedies in this work.
If you are fortunate enough to have a Pi de Santo as a guide, you must always have yourPi de Santo ready to discuss the results of your reading with you and your querent. Oncethe reading has been completed with a prayer of thanks, if an overwhelming difficulty haspresented itself, you should bring the querent to your Pi de Santo to review the readingand discuss any remedy that you are suggesting. The remedy given in the dominodivination may be approved, or modified, by the greater wisdom and experience of the Pide Santo. Usually this doesn't happen. I have found that students draw to them peoplethat they can help and the gods don't send you problems that are too big to handle.
If you are working with a Santero or a Pi de Santo, you should consult them for remedieswhen you first begin to do readings for people. This procedure should be followed for thefirst ten or twenty readings you do as a novice reader. When you are ready to give theremedies on your own, your teacher or Pi de Santo will tell you. If you are studying for, orhoping to become, initiated in one of the African derived traditions, this is an importantconsideration.
The remedies in this book are simple enough that they may be used without any problemby people who have no contact with the African derived traditions. However, the YorubaAfrican derived traditions have many more remedies for different conditions than it wouldbe possible to put into a book of this kind, so the remedies given here are only the easiestand most fundamental ones. You can safely use these remedies if you sincerely wish toremedy any potential difficulties in your life, and you can communicate this to the peoplethat come to have a reading with you.
The most common remedies in the domino reading corpus are those that deal withEleggua, the Mercury or Hermes of the Yoruba pantheon. He should always be thankedfor a reading, and his symbols must always be a part of the household of any novicereaders working in an African tradition. In almost all cases, readers who are students of aPi de Santo should be wearing the elekes of Eleggua (see glossary) before they begin thestudy of domino reading. For those who are not dealing with the Yoruba pantheon, St.Michael, the Archangel, or St. Christopher may be used as the messenger deity instead ofEleggua. In many cases the querent may be given the remedy of having to light a candleto either Eleggua or to St. Michael, the Archangel, on Monday mornings. The lighting of aweekly candle on Mondays should usually be continued for at least three months. If thispractice is followed, it will usually happen that Eleggua, or St. Michael, will becomeinterested in the person in a positive way. This will always be helpful in assisting thepositive progress of the querent's life.
Oshun, often referred to as the Yoruba Venus, also plays a part in many of the remediesfound in the domino readings. Oshun may be propitiated with oranges, cut either inquarters or in half, and covered with honey. She may be given sweet cakes drenched inhoney; she may be given yellow flowers (she especially likes yellow roses). Masculine-typewomen may be told that they should begin to wear skirts or to use perfume, as oneexample of harmonizing themselves with Oshun. In most cases, the remedy for Oshun, inaddition to any others that may be mentioned in the reading, is apparent and obvious.Those who do not have familiarity with the Yoruba pantheon may use any of the milderaspects of the Virgin Mary, or the deities Venus or Aphrodite in place of Oshun.
The use of Christian prayers instead of the prayers normally used in the religious practicesthat follow the Yoruba or other African traditions, and the "Catholicization" of the processof domino reading will bring new people to the practice of divination. This Catholicizationof the domino oracle can only ultimately benefit both the novice reader and his or herhouse. It should not be discouraged by those few who are so rigidly involved with theYoruba pantheon as to see it as an impropriety.
It is always necessary to expand the circle of people who are benefiting from the guidanceof the deities. One may come for an initial domino reading, and after a period of time, maydecide to give his or her head to the Orisha, to perfect the guidance of his or her life, andto assist others. People who come to a reader for a reading, even for the sake of curiosity,may end up as a Yawo in the house of the reader, or of his or her Pi de Santo. We mustnever prejudge what the Orisha ultimately intend for anyone who asks for a reading withsincerity and a good heart.
Reading Pairs
When there are two dominos with the same thought that come up in a reading, theimportance of the subject of these dominos is greatly increased. If there are three dominoswith the same thought in a single reading, they indicate the most important considerationin the life of the querent. Along with the readings of some of the single dominos, I haveindicated the more common readings of the most important pairs. This will assist readersin developing their abilities as readers as well as gaining the more important informationthat the querent will require in the month ahead.
I have also added comments concerning the important pairs that come up with regard tothe Double Blank and the Double One. These are the two strongest single readings in thedomino oracle. While their modifications are legion, there are certain things that must beindicated by their connection with other dominos.
A Few Hints on Readings
The dominos you use should be wooden ones, and they should be kept in a wooden box.Dominos used for reading must be reserved for reading the oracle. If you either make, orfinish, the box in which the dominos are to be kept, so much the better. In this case, youhave penetrated the box with your energy, and the dominos will have better empathy foryou. In no event should the dominos be ones that have been previously used in games.The dominos used for readings should be new dominos, and they should be held apart asspecial for the oracle. They are to be reserved to serve only as the voice of the oracle. Bytreating the dominos respectfully in this way, it is believed that they will develop withinthemselves a sense of their own worth, and thus become a more accurate representationof the oracle that they actually are.
As with all real divination, a fee should be charged querents for the reading they are given.It is my opinion that by having querents place the fee on the altar, or on the reading table,if you have no altar, there is a more serious cast of mind given to the reading on the partof the querents. Querents may initially treat a reading as an affair of levity, or as one ofsimple curiosity. If querents place the fee for a reading on an altar, or even on the readingtable, this light attitude toward the reading often changes. The querents then see, andbelieve, that this matter of reading is a serious business. They will usually take the readingmore seriously. The size of the fee charged for a domino reading should always be small,say $5. 00 initially, increasing after the student has mastered the art of reading throughgiving many readings, to $10. 00, or possibly even more. The fee must be kept small, as itmust allow anyone who desires guidance to come to the oracle for a reading.
Once the fee is collected, and after the querent has left the room, the fee is frequently splitbetween you and your Pi de Santo if you have one. One-third, or $2. 00 or $3. 00, shouldbe given to the Pi de Santo. This acts partly to repay the Pi de Santo for his or her effort intraining you. It also reminds you that your ability to provide the remedy to the querentultimately comes from your Pi de Santo.
It is hoped that this brief discussion of reading the domino oracle will interest you indeveloping your ability to read for others, and to perfect yourself by learning this veryworthwhile art.
CHAPTER 2
What Each Domino Means
Double Blank
This is one of the worst of the domino readings. It announces the presence of deceit andtreachery in the querent's life. If he or she has gained, received, or acquired anythingthrough the use of fraud, deceit, or treachery, he or she will keep it. However he or she willpay for these acts of fraud, deceit, and treachery with tears and suffering. This readingannounces to the querent that there will be losses in business, upsets in the love life, andthe possible loss of a job, or a position in life. These upsetting experiences are theultimate result for the person who receives this domino in a reading. This is a strongadmonition that the querent must heed this warning or suffer the consequences.
If this reading does not seem to apply to the querent, the reading becomes a warning ofthe possibility of an impending accident. The querent should pray to the deities Oya andChango (St. Barbara) immediately, asking them in prayer to moderate, or divert, theimpending accident. See glossary for details.
Double Blank is always a very negative reading, announcing that the person who isconsulting the oracle must turn away from deceit and treachery immediately. The personis being warned to change his or her ways. The person is in danger of divine justice andretribution falling on him or her unless a change in lifestyle takes place immediately.Whatever the deed—the time has come to make amends for these actions. Thisespecially applies to anything gained through fraud, deceit, or treachery. Unless theperson is willing to make amends, and has a sincere desire for repentance andforgiveness, there are grave difficulties ahead.
