I have always been drawn to the ocean. Going to the ocean was something I longed for as a child. Most of the time I settle for going to the lake or pond on a summer day. Still I would beg to go to the ocean. Once a year we would take a drive to Cape Cod or to the North or South Shore so I could go to the ocean.
Most of my life, I have made due with lakes, rivers, ponds and streams as my source of my love of the water. Yet I longed for the ocean. As a young adult, I would go on cruises as I loved being on the ocean. Most of those cruises went to islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean where when I got off the ship, I went directly to the beach!
The ocean fascinates me as much as the beach. And everything in and connected with the ocean too! Including the mystical mermaids. Dolphins, Sea Turtles and Sea Shells are a part of that ocean and beach life that I love. They are magical connections.
Finally after years of longing and making due with the opportunities I was able to have, I moved to the beach at the ocean. I watch for signs of dolphins playing in the waves. Each time it sends excitement through me, exhilarating It still does. It always does.
Conchomancy, he practice of performing divination through seashells, is an idea that has been showing up in my spiritual practice lately. I use oracle cards in my spiritual practice and the idea of conchomancy is a card in Lucy Cavendish’s Oracle of the Mermaid Cards.
When I walk the beach, I look for sea shells that speak to me. I find mostly broken or pieces of sea shells most of the time but even these broken pieces have stories to tell. I have used this idea with friends and clients as a personal growth tool, for connection with our own intuition and inner wisdom. It is kind of a ‘reading of our soul messages’, I have been calling it, ‘Soul Walking’. I have never really thought that reading sea shells was an actual thing. My Oracle of the Mermaid Cards was my first introduction to the fact that sea shell divination is actually a real concept.
I decided to research this idea. I found people who did it Similar to how I have been doing it. I found it in ancient occult practices. Still it didn’t seem like a real concept. Then I discovered Michelle Hanson, who has spent her whole life studying sea shells both scientifically and as a divination tool. Now, I finally was intrigued. I read everything on her website and saw a video interview with her and read a couple of articles about her. I decided to download one of her books as an Ebook before I totally invested in the books and ocean oracle kit.
Then an email conversation with her about her materials and my interest in her books and programs developed. I now have both her books and her Ocean Oracle cards/kit. It is a lot if material and information. Michelle Hanson has developed scientific and intuitive meanings for 200 sea shells. She also has an online certification program.
I am now about to begin a journey of learning about sea shells and sea shell divination. If I manage to get through all the information and learn at least enough to feel confident in giving sea shell readings I maybe offering it this summer on the beach. I know that it will provide me with more knowledge to improve my own intuitive use of sea shells and beach finds with clients in their spiritual and personal growth journey.
