Charm casting uses everyday charms to help you gain insight into yourself, a situation or the future.
If you have a few charms ready, you can practice a charm casting session right now!
But not so quick—there’s actually a lot to learn about this form of divination. And learning the symbolism is a never-ending process.
Ready to see how fun and mysterious charm casting can be?
Keep reading and we’ll cover all you need to now to get started.
Table of Contents
What is Charm Casting? Charm Casting Meaning
What’s the charm casting meaning? It’s a lesser known practice, so you may be wondering what it’s about as it grows in popularity.
Charm casting is a form of divination. Like tarot or oracle cards, charm casting is a way to gain insight into the future or into ourselves. Similar to how people interpret tarot cards, people also interpret symbolism of charms.
When someone casts charms, they randomly choose charms from a bag or box. “Casting” charms means laying them out, similar to how you’d lay out tarot cards. Next, the person reads or interprets the charms. They pay attention to what each charm means and its layout.
Charm casting can be done using layouts, similar to how tarot uses layouts to indicate each card’s placement. However, they can also be cast at random, with the reader interpreting the meaning behind where they fall.
What You’ll Need for Charm Casting
You can build your charm casting kit over a day, week, month or a lifetime. Here’s the basics of what you’ll need:
- A collection of charms—as many or as few as you’d like. Anywhere from 10-100 is good.
- A place to store your charms—like a drawstring bag, special box or cup
- Charm casting layout in mind (optional)—When placing your charms, you can place them with a layout in mind (ex. a simple 3-charm present, future layout). Some people use charm casting sheets that have circles of where to place each charm. However, you don’t need a sheet if you know what each placement means. Alternatively, some readers don’t use a placement at all and instead interpret the pattern charms fall in.
- A surface on which to cast charms—This can be a table, a special box, on top of a special altar cloth, mat, shallow bowl, etc.
Charms for Charm Casting
How many charms are in your charm casting kit depend on your preferences. If you’re a beginner, you might choose to start off with a small collection first. Learning the meanings of 10 charms can be less overwhelming than learning the meaning of 50. As you start practicing, you can allow your collection to grow, introducing new charms as you find them.
Of course, if you choose to start off with a large collection for charm casting, that’s okay too. You’ll just need to be more patient with yourself as you get familiar with their meanings.
What can you use as charms for your charm casting kit? You can collect:
- Old charms off of jewelry
- Dice
- Coins
- Broaches
- Beads
- Small findings
- Tiny trinkets
- Interesting buttons
- Interesting bottlecaps
Spend time building your charm casting it and let it grow as you practice. Take charms off of old jewelry. Check your junk drawer. Search garage sales. Ask family members for old button collections. Scour jewelry stores for specific charms you’re looking for. When you have your eye open for new charms, you’ll be surprised what you’ll find!
Charm Casting Symbolism
The biggest part of charm casting is interpreting what each charm means. This comes more naturally to some people than it does others.
To get good at charm casting, you need to get good at symbolism. Also consider that the charm may mean something different to you than someone else. To understand your charms’ meanings, here’s some questions to ask yourself:
- What does the charm/item mean literally? What does the thing do in real life?
- What may the item represent figuratively?
- What does the item mean to me personally?
- What colors are in the charm and what do they mean?
Example:
Let’s go through the above questions using a charm of dice.
- Literally, dice are used to play games of chance
- Figuratively, dice could mean taking chances, making decisions, moving forward or backward in a game
- Personally, dice might represent fun to me if I like playing games
- Color-wise, dice are usually black and white, perhaps representing black-and-white thinking among the endless choices on dice
Now, I can take all these points and create my own meaning for the dice charm in my charm casting kit. While a charm of dice might mean opportunity and chance, actual dice are a bit different.
When reading real dice, pay attention to which side the dice lands on. The number could indicate something important in the reading. For example, it might mean the number of months until you’re offered a job promotion.
Keep in mind that your meaning for a charm might not match the traditional meaning—and that’s okay! If you’re stuck on the symbolism for a certain charm, try Googling “the symbolism of [item/shape].”
You can also refer to online symbolism sources. Here are two great sources:
- Symbols.com—Browse symbols by category and find the one you’re searching for
- A Dictionary of Symbols by J.E. Cirlot—PDF. Use Command F/Cntrl F to search for the word/symbol you’re looking for
It’s a good idea to keep a small journal of your charm’s meanings. This way, you can study and memorize them. It will also help create consistency amongst your charm casting readings.
Some charms may be easier to interpret than others. For example, a heart charm obviously means love of some type. But a dog? That could be more ambiguous. Does it mean the person will get a pet? Or does it mean they’re showing dog-like qualities, like friendship and loyalty? These are the questions you’ll need to ask yourself and how they apply to the reading.
9 Steps: How to for Charm Casting
Charm casting is fun whether you’re a beginner or advanced caster. If you’re just starting out, get used to the charm casting kit you’ve built by doing readings on yourself first. Get used to reading the charms and where they fall or where they’re placed. After that, move onto doing charm castings for a few close friends. To continuously improve, ask them honestly if the reading seemed accurate or if they charms/symbols meant something different to them.
#1 Make Sure Charms are Energetically Cleansed
As with any divination tool, it should be cleansed regularly to free it of energetic debris. You don’t want to carry on energy from one reading to the next. For example, some tarot readers knock the deck before doing a reading to “knock out” any leftover energy.
For charm casting, you can cleanse your charms before each reading by:
- Shake your charm bag or box a few times to “shake out” energy
- Place the energy-clearing crystal selenite in your charm bag or box
- Using smoke cleansing
#2 Set an Intention or Prayer
Before you start your charm casting session, say a prayer or intention. This is the similar for any type of divination you’re using. You can simply say inside your head a prayer for protection and accuracy. For example, “spirit guides, please provide protection, clarity and love during this charm reading.”
You could also set an intention inside your head. For example, “I intend to pass on the wisdom of the charms during this reading using divine clarity and protection.”
#3 Select Charm Casting Layout (Optional)
Just like tarot card layouts, charm casting also has layouts. Each position of the charm indicates a different meaning in the reading. A simple linear 3-charm reading can take many forms. Here are some popular ones to try out:
- Past, Present, Future
- Situation, Challenge, Solution
- Me, My Partner, Our Relationship
- Mind, Body, Spirit
- Where You Are, Your Goal, How to Get There
- Internal Influences, External Influences, Most Likely Outcome
Another option is to cast/place your charms at random, not following any layout. If you choose to do charm casting like this, you’ll have more to interpret. With charm casting layout, you know what each charm position means. But casting at random requires you to use your intuition to determine what the random layout means. You can also purchase charm casting mats or boards.
#4 Pull Charms
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Whether you store your charms in a drawstring bag or a box, you’re ready to start pulling them at this point. Most commonly, people stick their hand into their bag or box of charms and hand mix them to “shuffle” them. You can also give the bag or box a shake.
Now, stick your hand inside and randomly pick the number of required charms for your reading. If you’re doing a 3-charm layout, choose 3 random charms in your hand.
Next, set each charm down individually. Place the first charm down, the second charm beside it and the third cham at the end. Which charm you place down first should happen naturally. Don’t think about it. Simply pick the charms out of the bag and lay them down individually at random.
If you’re casting charms randomly, simply open your palm and let the charms fall where they wish.
#5 Consider Each Charm Individually
Before looking at the charms as a whole, consider what each charm means individual. Refer back to your charm casting symbolism journal, if you’ve made one. What does each charm represent by itself? Refer to the section above on “Charm Casting Symbolism.”
#6 Consider The “Charm Story”
What does each charm mean in relation to each other? If your charm casting is linear, like a 3 charm spread, what comes first and last?
If you’ve casted charms at random, does the way they’re cast create a pattern or shape? Are some charms closer together while others are more singled out? Charms on the left side of your surface could indicate the begging, charms in the middle could indicate the present, and charms on the right could indicate the future (similar to how you read a book from left to right).
#7 Look to Other Charms for Clues
If you’re confused by the meaning of a charm, look at the charms surrounding it for clues. For example, let’s say dice charms mean “taking a chance” to you. But what is the reading showing the person should take a chance on? Let’s say beside the dice there’s a book charm, representing education. In that case, the charm casting may indicate the person should take a chance on upgrading their education.
If you’ve casted charms at random without following a layout, have any charms fallen on top of each other? Are any charms “pointing” to another charm (ex. a pointing gun, finger or arrow)?
#8 Use Your Intuition to Read Charms
Consider your own intuition while doing a charm casting reading. What thoughts are coming to you that may be relevant? Share them during the reading. Intuition may also cause you to slightly alter the meaning of a charm. For example, you might take a charm of a dog to mean trustworthiness and friendliness. However, if the person you’re reading for exclaims, “I’m terrified of dogs!” then the charm, in this case, might actually represent fear of someone trustworthy.
#9 Make Your Own Charm Casting Rules
Remember that this charm casting guide is meant to give you helpful tips to begin to progress your journey. But there’s no “official” guide for charm casting. If something doesn’t feel right to you, trust your gut. If you make your own rules that feel right, follow them. Use your intuition as a guide in your choose of charms, how you cast them and how you read them. You’re the charm caster—so it’s up to you!
How to Cast Charms: Video Tutorial
Watch our TikTok below to learn the basics of charm casting. In this method, you’ll need:
- Charm collection
- A dish to keep your charms
- Charm sheets
Remember that the most difficult part of charm casting is interpretation. This is where most of your learning as a charm caster will happen. As you go along your years of study, you may consider different interpretations of symbols and charms. Long story short: how you read your charms will transform over time as your wisdom grows. If you’re a beginner, study the basic meanings and allow yourself to learn more as time goes on.
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Charm Casting Sheets: Charmancy
Here’s a few charm casting sheets and layouts to get you started.
Summary: Charm Casting for Beginners
Charm casting is growing in popularity and is a fun divination tool. It can help us unlock answers about the future, hidden factors in a situation or simply guide us to learn more about ourselves. The idea of charm casting is simple: Gather charms, choose some them at random and interpret them. Of course, the hardest part comes in the last past: interpreting each charm. Learning the symbolism behind charm casting is never-ending. You understanding grows with your practice. And that’s the exciting thing about this form of divination—there’s always more to learn!
