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Types of Pokemancy

Recommended reading before diving into this article:

An argument for Pokemancy & why it makes sense in the modern occult community

Before I begin discussing the different types of Pokemancy, I am going to refresh everybody on a few definitions:  

Pokemancy is a form of divination that is practiced by using Pokemon in ANY form to produce messages, advice, and possible divine future events.

Divination the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. Divination, or “to be inspired by a god”, is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual.

Divination comes in many forms, and as such, so does Pokemancy. Below I am going to offer a list of the different types of Pokemancy that can be used. This is not a complete list; it will continue to grow and develop as different practitioners advance the development of Pokemancy.

TCG Cartomancy: Probably the most widespread type of Pokemancy; it is the use of Pokemon TCG cards in order to divine messages. This is comparable to tarot, oracle and lenormand. Like a tarot reading, the person interprets the cards that are pulled for the reading in order to deliver the message to the querent (person receiving the reading). TCG Cartomancy decks can be put together using any of the thousands of Pokemon cards in circulation, the sky is the limit with what you put into your deck. Energy cards, trainer cards and stadium cards can also be used!

Even the coins used in the TCG can be utillized! If you don’t have time to sit down for a complex reading, or if you just need an answer of ‘yes’ or ‘no’, go ahead and flip one of those coins. Likewise, heads represents ‘yes’ and tails represents ‘no’.

Unown Glyphs: Developed by Ursah Bee, this is comparable to using a bag of runes. Making your own set of runes is a historically well-known system. When making a set of Unown Glyphs, the practitioner takes all of the variation of Unown and carves them into different mediums, such as: bone beads, wooden discs, clay discs, or anything else that is easy to carry around in a bag. 

By following the link provided for Ursah Bee, you can read her correspondence chart for the Unown Glyphs.

Pokedex Bibliomancy is similar to standard bibliomancy, which is the practice of foretelling the future or receiving advice by interpreting a randomly chosen passage from a book, except it is used with the Pokedex! Simple open up the Pokedex in your game, close your eyes, and scroll through the Dex until you feel the urge to stop. Open your eyes, click on the entry given, and read the text associated with the Pokemon that you landed on.

This can also be done with the printed versions of the Pokedex that are published through Scholastic. My recommendation is the Super Deluxe Essential Handbook: The Need-to-Know Stats and Facts on Over 800 Characters. Any handbook works though! I still have my original handbook from the days of Red and Blue, and works just as fine.

Pokemon Augury: Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds.  When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as “taking the auspices”. Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable. -Augury Wikipedia

Likewise, omens can be read the very same way with Pokemon. How, you may ask? By booting up any Pokemon video game and running into the wild to encounter a wild Pokemon! Simply relax and enter a state of mind where you wish to receive messages, and roam around the wild areas, taking note of what Pokemon appear to you. This can be especially magical when doing this in Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon GO, with the presence of Pokemon in the over world. However, this is effective for ANY game. This is a very accessible way for people to practice Pokemancy and divination who are still in the broom closet.

Don’t have a Pokemon game? Have no fear, you can practice this right here on Tumblr! Simply install New xKit and use the Pokes extension! Scroll down your dashboard and take a look at what pops up! 

Pokemon Augury is even seen directly in the Pokemon anime. When Ash saw Ho-Oh in the very first episode, he interpreted the sighting of the legendary Pokemon as hope and encouragement, a blessing for his Pokemon journey.

Are there any forms of Pokemancy that you use, but you don’t see it in this article? Send me an Ask, and share your practice here!

An argument for Pokemancy & why it makes sense in the modern occult community

What is Pokemancy?

Pokemon divination is the practice of using Pokemon in ANY form to produce messages, advice, and possible divine future events. It can be used with TCG cards like tarot and oracle decks, the random Pokemon generator like runes or bone throwing, or you can even boot up one of your Pokemon games and run into wild Pokemon and treat it like Augury or omen spotting.

The practice of Pokemon divination has become widely popular in some occult communities, with many accounts of using it available in articles and blogs. All one has to do is make a quick Google search using ‘Pokemon Divination’, ‘Pokemon Card Oracle’ or ‘Pokemancy’, and a slew of results will pop up! You can even purchase Pokemon divination readings from many Etsy shops.

Here are some examples:

Tarot reading the future through Pokemon Cards

Divination with Pokemon Cards

Pokemancy as a term has been thrown around before, though it appears that Ursah Bee on Medium is the first to utilize it as a solid, proper definition for the practice. I highly recommend that you read their guides, they have provided an amazing correspondence chart for using Unown in the style of a rune chart.

You can find Ursah Bee’s guide right here.

Where did Pokemancy come from?

On February 27th, 1996 the world of video games and pop culture changed forever with the release of Pokemon Red & Green in Japan. Spawning a popular Saturday morning anime that is still in production to this day, trading cards, plushies, collectibles and food and beverage novelties, Pokemon has been a mainstay in the household of millions ever since. 

The main series video games have sold 253.82 million copies, while the countless spin offs have racked in just as impressive numbers. As for the Pokemon TCG, 2.1 billion cards were sold in 2019 alone. 

In 2016, Pokemon GO became the most downloaded app in app stores worldwide, with 1 billion downloads of the app as of July 2019.

As of April 2020, even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, Pokemon has shown no signs of losing steam with its continued influence and shaping of the video game and trading card game market. Why do I bring up these facts, you may ask? It is because this franchise has been a constant in the lives of many people for over 24 years, with many individuals not knowing a life without Pokemon. With so much focus being put onto this franchise and its characters, it is the perfect breeding ground for egregores.

“–A what? What is an egregore?”

To quote the Theosophy Wiki page on egregores:

An egregore (pronounced egg’ gree gore) is a group thought-form. It can be created either intentionally or unintentionally, and becomes an autonomous entity with the power to influence. A group with a common purpose like a family, a club, a political party, a church, or a country can create an egregore, for better or worse depending upon the type of thought that created it.

Other words that have been used to describe an egregore are archetype, group consciousness, and zeitgeist.

For the sake of this essay, I will be focusing on the archetype and group consciousness descriptors. 

Let’s start with the group consciousness.

Group consciousness is formed when a group of people have a shared social norm and moral consciousness. This is witnessed in cultures, political groups, religious sects, and– what many people do not realize– pop culture fan groups. The shared celebration and interaction of a game forms a sense of normalcy and acceptance that the concept exists, therefore, it is given mental strength and validation by the group. (Ex: Ice typing beats Dragon typing.)

Archetypes are recurrent symbols or motifs in literature, art, or mythology. The Hermit, for example, is an archetype in the tarot, whereas the Prometheus archetype of the firebringer is seen in countless cultures across the earth. Archetypes are also found in pop culture. In fact, many characters and concepts are formed around particular archetypes already. (Ex: every Pokemon game has a pseudo-legendary like Dragonite or Metagross, every game has a Pikachu clone.)

So, what does all of this have to do with divination and magic? Well, it explains that the very basis of divination and magic is a willingness to believe in it. And what makes someone willing to believe and accept something as plausible? The group consciousness and education from archetypes. The more this idea is acknowledged and worked on, the more it grows. This is seen throughout history, and it is arguable in some schools of thought that all deities, religions and divination systems are egregores created by group consciousness. And with a global fandom supported by a yearly flow of content from The Pokemon Company, this egregore is being fed daily. As long as people are playing the games, buying cards, gathering for official and fan events, cosplaying, roleplaying and producing fan art, the existence of Pokemon’s egregore will remain. With that in mind, there are enough people participating in this Pokemancy practice for it to become a valid system of work and belief.

In fact, that is why we are able to use tarot as a universal system of divination!

Tarocchi: Tarot’s Forgotten Origin

“But mun, Pokemon is a game! It was made to be played as a game, not to do fortune telling and magic.”

Did you know that tarot began as a game as well?

Tarot cards likely originated in northern Italy during the late 14th or early 15th century. The oldest surviving set, known as the Visconti-Sforza deck, was created for the Duke of Milan’s family around 1440. The cards were used to play a bridge-like game known as tarocchi, popular at the time among nobles and other leisure lovers. According to tarot historian Gertrude Moakley, the cards’ fanciful images—from the Fool to Death—were inspired by the costumed figures who participated in carnival parades.

The game of tarocchi eventually spread to other European countries, including southern France, where it was renamed tarot. The cards were not regarded as mystical until the late 18th century, when the occult came into vogue. A man named Antoine Court de Gébelin wrote a popular book linking the cards to ancient Egyptian lore, arguing that tarot symbols contained the secret wisdom of a god called Thoth. Around the same time, Jean-Baptiste Alliette, writing under the pseudonym Etteilla, published a treatise on using tarot cards as divination tools. -Brendan I. Koerner, Slate

In fact, tarocchi isn’t the only game used with a tarot deck! To this day, tarocchi games are still popular, you can find instructions on how to play these games easily online. You can even purchase the original Visconti-Sforza deck to this day for use.

See: Card Games, Tarot Games

Now, let’s make some comparisons!

Both concepts were created to play a game of cards.

Both games were universally popular among different classes.

The images and characters in both games were based off of figures from real life. (For those who do not know, Pokemon was inspired by Satoshi Tajiri’s love for bug collecting.)

The comparisons continue into the modern day with the conception of Pop Culture Paganism and Magic, which is the incorporation of pop culture into your magical practice and the worship of/reverence of pop culture figures. Pop Culture Paganism and Magic are both very complex concepts to discuss, and if you wish to learn more about these subjects, I recommend further research by reading Taylor Ellwood’s ‘Pop Culture Magick: A How to Guide to Practical Pop Culture Magick.’ He is a reputable occult author whose work is very interesting. Many people do not realize that pop culture (popular culture for the current age) has always had a direct impact on magic and tradition (spells based on old poetry, the relationship between Greek gods and theatre performances, Song of the Witches from Macbeth, and so on), so why dismiss it’s continued influence?

In simpler words: both tarot and Pokemon (specifically the TCG for this example) have evolved past their original purpose in certain communities. While tarot has had centuries to develop into what it is today, pop culture pagans and magicians have come together and validated one another on their spiritual and divinatory use of Pokemon and the TCG.

“Okay, that all makes sense, but why isn’t Pokemancy embraced like tarot was?”

Actually, tarot for divination wasn’t popularly embraced until the 20th century. Yes, small groups and sects of occultists in France dabbled with the mystical meanings behind the symbols, even debating whether or not the cards were an ancient Egyptian creation. However, 1909 was when a specific deck of tarot cards were painted by Pamela Colman Smith and published by A.E. Waite– this the Rider Waite Smith deck was born.

There is also the fact that Pokemon is, at the end of the day, still a media aimed directly at children, despite a large part of the community being 21+ and older. (Some of whom were teenagers when the games debuted 24 years ago!). Many people cringe at the idea of putting playing cards in place of their hallowed Thoth deck. This makes it difficult for practitioners outside of this medium to take it seriously. Unfortunately, elitism and a strong doubt and downright disrespect for pop culture magic is consistent in many pagan and occult circles today.

So… Why Pokemon?

For some, it is comfortable. They grew up with Pokemon and connect with the sense of familiarity in a way that they cannot do with the Rider Waite Smith, Thoth, or Marseilles. Comfort is very important with practicing any divination. I, personally, cannot connect with the Thoth deck for the life of me, so why would I use that to divine messages that people need to hear? It is similar to giving yourself a handicap, putting yourself at a disadvantage.

For others, the concepts in Pokemon can be comparable to other magical correspondences. Elements are present in Pokemon with the typing. Healing objects such as potions and berries can be comparable to the herbs and tinctures that herbal witches use. The concept of Pokemon evolution can be compared to the Fool’s journey in tarot, with transformation through battle and challenges being reflected in the Pokemon’s increase in strength and capability. The legendary Pokemon present in the franchise draw from historical and culture inspiration, and remind us of the gods and goddesses of other large pantheons. (Solgaleo is actually inspired by the alchemical lion that devours the sun. Arceus is compared to the creation God. Those are only few examples of the many that can be seen in the franchise.)

Another reason that I have seen is that it does not appropriate cultures. Pokemon is open to everybody. Utilizing Pokemancy does not step on the toes of cultures that have been violated and used in a disrespectful way. It is designed to be a game for all, therefor, Pokemancy is a practice for all.

Lastly, and most importantly, people find it enjoyable and fun. The notion that spirituality and divination has to be serious and strict at all times is not true, and often perpetuated by the fact that we grow up seeing Christian church services and traditions being treated as a chore and something that we are forced to deal with. The more personal the practice, the more fun you are having, the more likely that that practice will work, which means you will yield results. As mentioned earlier, you’re more likely to find results in something that you believe in– and if you are enjoying yourself and having a good time, then you are on the right path.

Conclusion

Pokemancy is a legitimate system for divination, and branches into an even larger practice of incorporating Pokemon into the occult and magic as a whole. It is still fresh territory and ever changing due to the constant additions to the Pokemon universe, but the nostalgia and love that connects people to this franchise has given many fans spiritual and soulful catharsis that classic mythology and divination has not. 

As a professional tarot reader, one piece of advice that I give to any beginner is: choose a deck that resonates with you and makes you feel connected and happy, not one that people say you HAVE to use. That advice extends to divination as a whole. If using Pokemon for divination is what calls to you, then don’t hold yourself back! Go for it, and live your practice authentically.

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