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Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 177
find it hard to believe that consultation of the oracle is anything more than
an experiment in the occult. It is indeed difficult to grasp that more is
involved, for the ordinary person today consciously dismisses all divining
techniques as archaic nonsense. Yet they are not nonsense. As Dr. Jung has
shown, they are based on what he calls the ‘principle of synchronicity’ (or,
more simply, meaningful coincidence) . . . . It is based on the assumption of
an inner unconscious knowledge that links a physical event with a psychic
condition, so that a certain event that appears ‘accidental’ or ’coincidental’
can in fact be physically meaningful; and its meaning is often symbolically
indicated through dreams that coincide with the event.” 7
In essence, Ms. Jacobi is saying that the use of a divination system helps people to
look a little more closely at their lives, to notice, maybe, a couple of events which
are unfolding at the moment and which do not appear to be related, and by bringing
these events together in the mind, they are able to plan a course of action which
is in harmony with the rest of the world. The reading of omens functions pretty
much the same way as does the I Ching, the only differences being that there is not
a consistent method for interpretation, and the signs are read directly from nature
as opposed to throwing coins to create “signs.”
There is no clear cut Germanic system for reading or interpreting lucky-signs,
and neither the sagaic or the eddaic literature offers much in the way of what these
signs might be except for a small handful of instances revolving around stumbling
at the threshold before going out which is considered to be unlucky. However, Jacob
Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology has recorded thousands of these that were still in
use during the early to middle 1800’s. Anyone wishing to access knowledge through
the method of reading omens will find this four volume set of books indispensable
both for descriptions of the signs themselves and their interpretation.
It is prudent to keep in mind, however, that the “signs” recorded by Grimm
may be borne out the Germanic mind but it is a “mind” that had evolved after
the conversion to Christianity. On the other hand, many of the “signs” have exact
parallels in neighboring cultures which did not convert until the mid-1400’s with
lingering pockets of heathens remaining until the middle of the last century. Again,
comparative religion can be of some benefit here especially when the cultures themselves
share many beliefs and practices.
From the point of view of the ancient Germanic worldview, because an omen has
“caught one’s attention,” one has already participated in an event which is related
to other events, and as pointed out in Chapter 1, no events occur in isolation. All
events occurring at any given moment are related to all other events occurring at
7 Jacobi, Jolande, ”Symbols in an Individual Analysis” in Man and His Symbols, Carl Jung,
ed. (Dell Publ. Co., New York, NY) 1968 p. 358.