Skull Scrying: Animal Skulls in Divinatory Trance Work

This small POD book is an unusual addition to the lore on divination methods. Lupa discusses the ancient history of scrying with animal remains and specifically with skulls and the respectful sensibilities underlying the choice of working with skulls in this fashion.

Before the author discusses scrying techniques, she presents a list of international and national laws on the trade in animal parts. The legalities and ethics of this are presented in an open, transparent manner. The reader is presented with a number of thought-provoking questions about the known of unknown origins of any animal bones one might acquire. Then a number of potential sources for skulls are offered along with advice regarding legal and more dicey avenues for this. The author responsibly encourages readers to check on local laws before collecting remains from various locations.

Once these ethical, legal, and resource subjects are treated, the topic shifts into methods of using skulls for divination. Species is an individual consideration, especially if the practitioner works with specific animal totems or familiars. Advice for preparing the skull and repairing holes is given. Lupa shares her experiences in relating to skulls and the types of locations they prefer like a shrine, shelf or altar spot (ask your skull!) and possible decorations that might be added to one. A skull’s treatment, location, and willingness to be scryed hinge on asking and getting permission. There’s advice on how to do this by contacting the animal’s spirit directly or with divination tools.

Chapter 3 gets to the nitty-gritty of skull scrying and interpreting results. Preparations for scrying are described along with two scrying methods – the “quick and simple” or “longer and more elaborate” versions. There are a number of sections that discuss interpreting the results of a skull-scrying session. Lupa covers a number of different and possibly vague results that will need some time for consideration after the session. All suggestions are quite sensible, but the scryer must be patient and thoughtful. A short section is devoted to “saying goodbye” when a skull spirit relationship ends, for whatever reason. The book’s Afterword provides a list of recommended suppliers.

This small but valuable book shows the enormous value of print-on-demand publishing outfits like CreateSpace, Lulu, and others. Skull Scrying is too brief for a traditional publisher but it’s excellent information that will be quite valuable to people interested in learning more about this topic. The book is nicely formatted and the cover is quite attractive. Lupa is a fine writer who covers all the bases and is very clear with advice culled from her own experiences. Great job!

~review by Elizabeth Hazel

Author: Lupa
Lupa, 2015
32 pages, $6.50 paperback.
A pdf of the book is available from Lupa’s site for $3.00. More info at: http://www.thegreenwolf.com/books/skull-scrying/