Meaning Where You Make It: A Directional Die as a Divining Tool

directional die.JPG

While I was in San Francisco this past weekend for Immersive Design Week 2020, I wandered into the Pirate Supply Store and purchased this directional die.

It is exactly what you think it is: toss the die, and you’ll get a direction!

I immediately noticed a judgement come up—that the way I design experiences (whether for myself or others) isn’t built on the same framework that a die relies on—luck, chance or randomness.

Once on a car adventure, a friend and I took turns deciding where to go by approaching an intersection and yelling “Left!” or “Straight!” One might call this random, but we were really using our intuition and so many signals in the world around us to tell us how to move.

This kind of extended proprioception is important to me. I am much more likely to design into my experiences a sense of embodied choosing, of the “drop into your body and pick what feels right” kind.

But today, I looked at it as I was buying a cappuccino and realized I could expand my thinking.

The directions can be symbolic. After all, I’ve called in the directions during ritual. Maybe the die could be used as a divining tool for making a decision, and pulling from both chakra and directional wisdom, it could look like:

  • North = use your mental acuity and spirituality more in this situation

  • South = tap into your drive/desire passion to make this decision

  • SW = use a combination of your past perspective and fire/grounding

  • NE = use your logic + think of where you want to be in the future

This method uses a two-dimensional view of the body, west/east as past/future dimensions.

Swipe to see my award-winning stick figure drawing on this. ;) Bottom line: What this reminds me is that symbology typically thought of as luck-based can still be used to add meaning into experiences.

As I zoom out, I realize I do this all the time with Tarot cards, as they are fully integrated into my “divining tool” practice.

Then I wonder—how many other everyday objects can be used for other methods to find meaning and symbolism in our lives?

Answer: All of them.

Amy Segreti