Can I use the modeling compound play-doh to perform divination? Turns out I can. In this article, we will talk about my experience using play-doh as a tool for divination.
The idea of automatic play-doh comes from the act of automatic writing. This is a supposed psychic act where one composes text unconsciously and automatically. This act is thought to tap into the subconscious and draw out what is thought to be a supernatural message.
Do not get automatic writing confused with free writing. Free writing is a form of pre-writing exercise where one can write freely without regard for general writing conventions.
Automatic writing is said to be an ideomotor response. This response is thought to be a form of hypnosis combined with reflexive motor functions. You will see this type of motor response in dowsing or ouija boards.
Live Play-Doh
My first and only experience with the play-doh as a tool for divination was live on Instagram. I will be recounting my experience from that live stream bellow.
What I can tell you is that the act of using your hands to mold something does help you engage your unconscious thought. During the stream, I made two balls, a square and a long tube-like shape. The play-doh also seemed to stick to the paper to create interesting textures. These shapes and textures formed a face at the end that I named “benevolence of the fool.”
While making these shapes I answered questions in the live chat. One question about a love interest was answered by dropping the ball onto the square to see where it bounced. The question was related to the disposition of their love interest. What does love interest think of me? I had a square in my hand so I went on a train of thought that his feelings are like modules. The square is a very stack-able shape and can create larger shapes by stacking smaller squares. It felt like his love would be growing if the conditions were right.
I picked up the ball and I kept dropping it. The ball seemed to go wherever it wanted. I started to drop the ball onto the square it seemed to either get stuck on the square or bounce anywhere. At least if the ball drops onto the square it has a chance of getting stuck to it. Maybe the ball was querrent and the square was her love interest. They won’t always get stuck to the square. It is a random drop after all. Maybe she has to wait and see what is going to happen with his feelings.
Using the play-doh I could prompt myself with thoughts and ideas. Then with a little bit of improvisation, I could deliver a well-formed divine message.
You can watch the live stream here on Instagram.
Phenomena
There were some interesting phenomena that happened while doing the play-doh reading. Let’s work through it and see what fits.
Psychometry
I am tempted to say that psychometry was at work. The only reasoning for this is that psychometry involves the holding of an object to again paranormal information about the owner of said object. In this case, I owned the play-doh, not someone else. Because I owned the modeling compound, I may have gained insight into myself to use for the reading. But, is this the correct way to think about it? I am not entirely sure.
Psychometry is usually done to obtain information about a person you don’t know. In this case it was my play-doh, and the play-doh was brand new. This may not exactly fit the description of psychometry, but it is worth mentioning.
Automatic Writing
I borrowed the idea of “automatic” for the naming of this article and live event. However, I am not sure we can exactly call this automatic writing. For one, I would need to be writing words, not squishing play-doh together. For me, this was a phenomenon that served to inspire.
I could claim that the design at the end was some form of automatism. This is where someone performed an activity without conscious knowledge of it. I was conscious of what I was doing, I was playing with play-doh.
I can say at some level there was a high level of unconscious motor function happening. I don’t know why I chose to make a ball, a square. Maybe because those are primary shapes, and I would have done that anyway.
Medium
In general, I think the live stream had me acting as a medium. This is someone who is able to produce some kind of mental PSI or psychical phenomena. In the case of my live stream, I was giving readings to people while using the modeling compound play-doh. We could say that the mediumship I displayed was an act of entertainment in some way.
As far as channeling anything it would be hard to say what I had channeled. Also, it would be prudent to ask if I channeled anything at all.
Some definitions of mediumship have the medium channeling discriminate entities, also known as spirits. A discarnate entity is the surviving personality of a person or spirit. Did I channel someone from the past maybe?
Based on my self-learning we could say that anyone who channels a persona for any reason would be channeling a discarnate entity. What do you think?
Here is a related question. Is someone doing an impression of a person who has long been gone channeling a discarnate entity? Let me know in the comments below what you think?
Clean Up
The live stream I would consider a success. It was fun to hang out with people and provide spiritual guidance. It was also enjoyable to be able to have play-doh in my hands. I haven’t felt what play-doh feels like in a very long time. As soon as I touched the play-doh all my memories of it came flooding back. It was if I could re-enter my childhood in some way.
In the end, I think there is something to be said about using tools to occupy some part of your conscious mind. I think that this allows your unconscious mind to take over and become more automatic.
It felt like I was able to deliver the first thing that came to mind because I didn’t have to think about it. The answer or message was just there. I think the play-doh that occupied my motor functions allowed me to go into a more unconscious mode of thought that I could regularly perform. I may have to do this again at some point. Until then…
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