Divining is a process of doing something random, and looking at the results to interrupt answers and possibly the future. The process of divining seems absurd on the surface, and is steeped in superstition. But there is the possibility that it might work. In fact, there's even some proof.

One of the best examples of divining is divining for water. Experiments have shown that certain people have a relatively high success rate, well over random odds when it comes to finding water. This might be because nothing is more central to human life then water. Water is something that we need right down to our base level, life is impossible without it. So if any form of divining was to be successful, you'd have to assume water would be the first and foremost.

But how could something as simple as a stick find water? Or how could a set of bones tell give you answers? And what is that blue goo in a Magic 8-Ball? I don't know about the 8-Ball, but divining could work because of something central to intelligence itself, the effect human mind on the flow of time.

As I have suggested in other entries, the human mind seems to have a small ability to predict the future. It's rarely clear, probably because the fluctuations caused by seeing the future. The observer effect dictates that when you see something, you cause change to it. To see you're future is to change it, and there in, cause it never to be. This makes clear observation of the future pretty much impossible. But that doesn't mean small "feelings" might not get through without causing harm to future events.

You might have felt it yourself, during those moments when you knew something was going to happen. Or when feel your "lucky" and have success gambling. During these moments, you can feel the joy of your success before it happens. Likewise, you might have experienced a "bad" feeling, because you can feel the approach of negative emotions in your future. Simple feelings seem to have the easiest time slipping through the net of causality. Observing something directly causes it to change, but indirectly it seems, can avoid changing the event you're seeing well still providing forewarning of it.

Divining might take advantage of this simple feeling more directly. Instead of waiting for vague feelings, divining attempts to get people to do simple actions that they can subconsciously influence. The tiny changes in movement of the action open up a spectrum of possibly results, which the human mind might be guiding it's way through to give an answer covertly. It's as though you're aware of the answer on some level, and you're changing the results of the random event to give away the answer, without presenting it the answer completely. There in, the impact of predicting the event can be lessened, allowing some knowledge to get through without causing the future to also be changed.

In addition, there's the interpretation of the divining act to consider. If there is subconscious knowledge within people of future events, giving them something random to look at might help coax that knowledge out. And all without violating the integrity of the future by directly observing it.

Of course, this all hangs on something I've previously wrote about; what time is to the human mind. This theory ties into the concept that time is only a factor to our conscious mind. We experience what we believe is the present only because our conscious mind processes things in slices. It can't move forward in thought if the past isn't fixed. So our perception of the past is fixed. And it can't act directly on the future because of the observer principal. To observe something is to change it. If the future was always seen, it would be in a constant state of chaos. The flow of time would implode and our reality would dissolve. So to retain continuity, the future can't be seen directly. So our minds are stuck in the present on a conscious level. But really, within the dimension of time, we have already seen every moment of our birth to our death.

Side note:

This idea, on the surface, does seem to lean towards the idea of fixed destiny. But I would like to put forward the idea that it actually does not. The dimension of time should be thought of as any other dimension. Objects within it have inertia. They have weight within the flow of time, and head towards certain fates based on what pushed them. The "X" factor here is human will. I believe that people can change fate, and the movement of objects within time, by pushing against the enviable. As living beings expend the precious moments of their life, they can change the future of themselves and those around them. And the more people stand united to change something, the more time can be shifted onto another track. But to do so requires constant physical and mental effort. And like all things with inertia, time will attempt to retain it's fixed route, pushing and pulling back towards the original fate at a constant rate.

For an example, a man decides that he's going to change his life, switch jobs, and move to another place. But in doing so, he has to sacrifice his old life. He needs money to change, which he won't have without a job. And "things" start to crop up. The weight of his attempts to change causes fluctuation in the events around him. Maybe he meets a new girlfriend and find he'd lose her if he left. Or a family member gets ill and needs his help. Barriers will appear as he pushes against fate. The fall-out could effect many, and those effects will weigh back on him to stop his actions. Ultimately, he might give up, or break all bonds and move forward. But the people and objects tied to him all have their own weight in time, and have to likewise try to remain fixed. So an event that seems to effect just one life, actually effects many, and this man has to push all of those people, and the mass of objects, all in order to make a change happen.

So a simple choice comes with many consequences. But free will still exists, and fate is not really fixed.