March 30 celebrates a humble tool that is often overlooked in favor of fancy pens and markers—the wondrous pencil. If you’re into coloring books, you might have already discovered the joys of colored pencils. The quality ones are very smooth to draw with, which makes them a great choice for the mediumistic practice of automatic writing or drawing. This is a relaxing exercise that can yield some amazing results.

All you need is some paper and a dependable pencil. Set yourself in a quiet, comfortable place with a reliable surface to draw on. If you have a specific question for a guide, spirit, ancestor, or deity, ask it now. Otherwise you can just see what comes. Put the pencil point to paper, close your eyes, take some slow, deep breaths, and relax. Let your hand move as it wants across the page for as long as it needs. Once it becomes still, look at the paper and see what shapes or words have formed there to divine your answer.