The Book of Destiny: Answers from the Oracle, by Barbara Meiklejohn-Free and Flavia Kate Peters
Moon Books, 978-1-782799-45-0, 235 pp., 2015
I was skeptical during my first divinatory reading with The Book of Destiny: Answers from the Oracle by Barbara Meiklejohn-Free and Flavia Kate Peters. It seemed strange and optimistic. “A bolt from the blue” that suggested sudden inspiration.1 It promised that I’d very soon receive an idea I’d been waiting for, one that must not go ignored: “An unexpected situation will arise — be ready to embrace it. See the good in all things and you shall receive abundantly.”2
I had only just finished looking at it when I remembered an illustration of a tea cup I had just seen in the book. I felt permission to think about what that meant to me, and bam! Inspiration for a creative project I wanted fleshed out. Perhaps what I needed was encouragement to make connections.
Making connections, beginning with the willingness to find them, is key in using this book. The Book of Destiny is a unique tool for signs and synchronicity. The divinatory messages in these pages begin with a common phrase, like “What you see is what you get”3 or “Lady Luck is smiling on you,”4 from there they incorporate an image, a focus word, and specific advice.
Mine is a digital copy. To use the book, I heeded the authors’ advice to reflect and ask for help and guidance. Then I scrolled, eyes closed, until ready for a message. You could also direct the digital version with a word search. For example, the word “life” appears 130 times. You can search for a word, like “life,” and click “next” until you arrive at a random number, or use the day of the month, your age, or a favourite number. Finding the “life” reading that corresponds to a seeker’s age is one way to share the messages in this book.
The entry for my “life” search based on my age (message 36) reminded me of the importance of how we see ourselves. Meiklejohn-Free and Peters wrote of mindfulness in how we appear “in the huge mirror of all things,” because we are on the receiving end of its reflection.5 The advice for the entry, which was inspired by the phrase “What you see is what you get,” included a strategy for psychics and sensitive people, which I have begun to use: “Imagine a mirrored ball surrounding you and protecting you from lower energies.”6
Writers and other creative types could make good use of this book. Each page of text can provide a starting point for a journal entry or blog post. It might resonate in an unexpected way with your own recent experiences.
Inspired by the phrase “Better late than never” is the mantra “I am healed and whole” — an affirmation that ignites creativity.7 The image associated is the Earth. Below it is the word “Affirmation.”
The idea of affirmation nicely connected to subjects I had learned about the day before I began to use The Book of Destiny. It reinforced ideas fresh in my head after a trip to Cincinnati, where I’d been to several seminars; one about using the medicine wheel for becoming whole, one about animal guides for healing and affirmation, and another on how we can cultivate stories about ourselves to help shape who we are. These all connected with the idea of Earth and affirmation.
Turning to these pages as you experience different emotions can prove insightful. While familiarizing myself with this tool, I had a lot of anxiety surrounding car repair. I feared the worst about the Toyota Corolla my husband brought to our marriage, which had recently become our only car. How would everything go when I took it into a mechanic? I decided to look at page 92, for the year of the vehicle.
A wave of relief rushed over me. “Lady Luck is smiling on you,” was the common saying on the page. The advice at the bottom claims: “The odds are stacked in your favour. A happy outcome is assured. Regain your confidence.”8 The key word on the following page was the word “beneficial.”
If an answer from the text does not make sense, or you would like more clarification, the authors recommend closing the book and trying again.9 While “Lady Luck is smiling on you” couldn’t be a better answer, before I had sat down for the reading, I’d promised to also read message 92, not just the page numbered 92. “Seek Wise Counsel” was the common saying associated with message 92.10 Perfect fit, I thought. I am going to have the car looked at — wise counsel.
The concept of seeking counsel made sense. I couldn’t wait any longer to have the car looked at. But the rest didn’t resonate initially. The message was about surrendering, admitting defeat, and a life lesson. When I tried to summarize what the main reading on the page wanted me to understand, particularly about pride, I paused. I should have taken more responsibility for the vehicle earlier, and had it looked at before I took it on the trip to Cincinnati from Lexington, Kentucky. It may take less than two hours, but every mile can count when a check engine light is on.
Feelings of foolishness heightened when the mechanic looked up the vehicle and read the year it was made: 2001, not 1992. It was just as well. Message 01 relates to clarity and crystal balls. It states a need for full awareness before making decisions, and clear communication.11 The car repairs still hurt the pocketbook, but, with regular maintenance, we are hopeful we will get another five years out of it, and with minimal work along the way.
The Book of Destiny easily addresses images and life themes you may want clarified. If you have the benefit of a digital copy and the Ctrl+F function, the book can be especially helpful. You can search the text based on images recurring in your dreams or waking life, or a phrase recently used or heard. For instance, you may search “Make a Wish,” where you will read about shooting stars, and Asteria, the Titan who is the goddess of shooting stars, oracles, and prophetic dreams.12 Whether such trivia appears on a game show or at a trivia night or not, it makes one appreciate our surroundings more, and might introduce you to a new figure or symbol you can bring to your magical or creative practice.
Looking at messages that coincide with year numbers held my attention. I decided to read the message for the first two digits of a year — in the case of reading for this year, 20 — paired with the last two, 16, for 2016.
Message 20 resonates well with the concept of the beginning of the 2000s: a new century and a new millennium. Inspired by the phrase “When one door closes…” the entry looks at the idea of opportunity.13 A reminder that this book has depth enough to not entirely consist of optimism, flying horses, and four leaf clovers, the message also advises against playing the victim.
Message 16 shares the importance of listening, and the significance of the human ear. Listening to others when they offer help is a form of having prayers answered, the text reminds us.14 The human ear is a symbol of birth in Hindu traditions, and the message it brings in The Book of Destiny is “attention.”15
This year, then, we all have the opportunity to pay attention. Next year, message 17 foretells “completion,” represented by the compass. In 2017 we are advised to take the trip of a lifetime, and to seek the career we’ve always dreamed of.16
The Book of Destiny: Answers from the Oracle by Barbara Meiklejohn-Free and Flavia Kate Peters deserves reverence and may encourage you to view your world with new eyes. Further your understanding of a common phrase simply by seeing the authors’ interpretations of it, or begin your day with a random entry. You will feel richer for it.
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