Canticumancy - Divination by Music

Don't give up, you're too strong.

— DMX, X Gon' Give It to Ya

Canticumancy is an art of Divination that finds truth in music. By listening to song, practitioners glean words that advice, encourage and predict the future. Half-truths are made clear and mental barriers are swept away as Canticumancy help guide the practitioner forward and into their own enlightenment. Canticumancy can be found among all sorts of magi, but it is most common among those who embrace the tenets of Chaos Magic.
No matter what the lyric was meant to tell, Canticumancy speaks directly to the heart of the practitioner.

Whispering Muse

Don't you ever forget your beginnings,
Never let the drive diminish

— The Seige, Rage

Canticumancy works through music with lyrics. It requires only three things; music, mindset, and magic. First, the practitioners gather a random playlist of music with as little attempts of curation as possible. Some Canticumancers prefer the selection to be completely random and to allow themselves to be surprised by music previously unknown or forgotten to them. Once the music has been selected, the practitioner must put themselves in the correct mental space.

Meditation, ritual, or other ceremony can help put the practitioner into the trance where they can let the Canticumancy work. It requires them to open themselves to the creative energies of the music and beyond. Tools like incense or even drugs can help to create the correct mindset but are not required.
Drug use comes with its own risk, not only to the practitioners' health. Heavy drug abuse will draw the attention of the Unbidden, who can twist Canticumancy's messages into nightmarish hauntings.

Song and dance go hand in hand, and so it is with Canticumancy too. Some practitioners use wild revelry and dance to get themselves into the trance needed for the magick to work.

Catching the spark of Magick depends on which Art the practitioner use - Canticumancy works with any of them. Often enough, catching the spark is an extension of the steps to create the necessary atmosphere. Once the Magick has been channeled, the practitioner will put on their playlist and listen.

As they listen, snippets of lyrics will begin to resonate with the practitioner. From individual words to entire parts of the song will speak directly to the practitioner, offering profound answers to difficult questions.
The experience is emotional and charged, and practitioners describe an intuitive feeling of knowing what part of their lives the message is about. Even so, it is sometimes vague.

The lyrics range from advice to encouragement, sometimes verging on predictions. Much of the time, the words are just exactly what the practitioner needed to hear.

Resonating lyrics always offer a helpful and positive message. Even in songs with dark themes, there will be something in there to guide the practitioner forward and help them heal. The closest it comes to anything else when it offers a warning.

Canticumancy typically speaks of the practitioners' current situation and plans, but not always. It will sometimes surprise by digging at deep-seat insecurities or abandoned dreams. It is a personal journey and it is never certain where it will lead.

Magical Theory

Click goes the hammer - run when you hear that sound!

— Skillet, Finish Line

It isn't entirely clear why Canticumancy works, only that it does. There are many theories - almost as many as there are practitioners. Some think that all music carries with it the current of all human creativity. This current is imbued with the hopes, dreams, struggles, and experiences of every human who has ever created. In this well-spring of creative energy, there are answers and encouragement. Others think that the Canticumancy works entirely by psychosomatic means and is entirely internal. The magic comes from within, unlocking mental doors barred through the combination of atmosphere and magic.

The existence of Sparks favors the first theory. Sparks are spirits of Creativity that dwell around the world and in almost every place where humans live. Many believe it is the sparks that speak with practitioners through the music.
They've been known to help in other circumstances and Canticumancy may offer them an easier means of communication with those in need of help and guidance.

More religious types think that the Canticumancy works because gods speak to them through the music, but the imprisoned Demiurge has categorically denied any such communication taking place.

“Hello hurricane / I’ve got doors and windows boarded up / All your dead end fury is not enough.”

— Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane

Benefits

Canticumancy is accessible to all practitioners of magic. As far as Divination goes, it is one of the easiest - it requires no extensive schooling or costly tools, no grisly sacrifices or needs to dig around in cuts. It only involves music and magic.
Predicting the future with any certainty has long since proven impossible, but Canticumancy offers more. It is a tool for growth, for healing and for overcoming trauma, doubt and negative emotions

Drawbacks

Unlike most forms of Divination, Canticumancy is entirely internal and entirely personal. It isn't possible to listen on someone's behalf or get advice for someone else. The only thing Canticumancers can really do is guide people on their own journeys.
Canticumancy can be vague and unreliable. Practitioners can't always be certain they have done it correctly until the first resonant lyric hits.

Music, with or without magic, can inspire.

Modern Magick

Practitioners of magic in the modern age are more diverse and wide-spread than ever before. With the rise of the internet, scientific theory and a hundred other markers of human progress, Magick is everywhere. Subtle, often unseen and almost never lighting from the skies, but everywhere.
Creative magick like Canticumancy have flourished in particular. There have never been more ways for mankind to express themselves, to explore concept and ideas. In this light, the human mind thrives and the darkness is kept at bay.

Listen Again

Once a piece of music has imparted its magick into the practitioner, listening again doesn't work. The emotional connection has been exhausted and it has returned to being just a song.

"Canticumancer" is sometimes used to describe an expert in the art of Canticumancy.

Sparks

Common companions during Canticumancy, Sparks are spirits of positive creativity. They are creatures of words and art, of DIY and passion projects, of joyful creation.
Though invisible, they are always near.

Most practitioners keep a quick notepad, journal or other tool to quickly record the phrases that resonate with them, as they can quickly escape from the mind once the moment ends.

Unbidden

The antithesis of Sparks, the Unbidden are spirits of destructive negativity. Like Sparks, they are drawn to creativity but to corrupt and subvert instead of helping it grow. Sparks and Unbidden seem unable to occupy the same space, but will trade places from time to time as they each try to influence a creative mind.

It's nice to be important, but its more important to be nice.

— Scooter, Move Your Ass

What goes into Canticumancy determines much of what comes out. Practitioners who enter the trance with a negative attitude can sometimes read bad things from good advice.