Thelemic Waves Tarot Reading Services for You

The End is Nigh! Protect Yourself and Those You Love!

Recently we passed through a very important date for numerologists - the date of November Eleventh. Why is this date so significant, does it have implications on the coming events of 2012, and did you notice?

"The End is Nigh!" is an age old cry. We have written records of claims of it even before the supposed birth of Christ. People in every walk of life see significators and portents in nearly every year of humanity's existence. Archaeology has found a clay tablet dated approximately 2800 years before the common era. This is an Assyrian tablet (Assyria is now called Iran, and parts of Iraq) that states, "Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common." This is our earliest example of a written prophecy concerning the end of the world or the end of times. And ever since then, prophecies have been given again and again that the end is coming.

There have been some very interesting "end time" predictions made throughout the millenia, but obviously none of them has come true (or else we are all dead or spiritually transfigured somewhere and not really reading this). The first time the Jehovah's Witnesses prophesied an end to this world, it was to take place in 1881. Ten years later, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, proclaimed that the Second Coming would occur in 56 years. (It is interesting to note, that's 1947, the year when World War II's end would bring a new structure to world politics and the birth of the Nation State of Israel.)

As the year 1899 approached, urged further perhaps by tabloid presses very popular at the time, more and more groups sprang up proclaiming the end of days! Remember, party like it's 1899?

It seems that every decade of the 20th Century had it's doomsayers. I don't think we tended to take these things lightly either - there was, after all (for the first time in human history), an actual scientific method of destroying all life on Earth with the flip of a single switch. No period in history could have ever seemed closer to the actual potential of Man's immorality and banal selfishness actually causing a total destruction. But the 80s coward before the threat of global nuclear annihilation and walls of division began to crumble for us. And then 1999 came and went just like everyday birthday wishes.

Heck! Undaunted by all the failure of Doomsdayanity, the nigh-sayers found another bug to exploit in an effort to gain notoriety and possibly bilk the coffers of the soon to be doomed - a simple computer glitch called Y2K.  A complete man-made prophecy that had nothing to do with the motions of planets, the urges of Heaven, or even the whimsical will of an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful creature. A simple short-sightedness in early computer programming technology caused such a stir that millions of people literally expected to start their new year bleakly hungover and completely in the dark (it was a bit of hoax really, and all you folk who paid thousands to ensure your company computers were Y2K complaint could have done the trick yourself in about 2 hours).

Now comes 2012, the Mayan calculation of an ending of a cycle in history. And millions are lining up around the blocks to see the prophecy unfold on the silver screen. I know I will be - I love a great special effects movie as much as the next. But I also know that the Mayans didn't write any prophecies or predict the end of the world. They observed the stars in the sky, the motions of the planets in orbit, and their relationships to seasonal tides. The calendar is excellent at predicting eclipses and other astronomical events, but there are nowhere found in any archeological digs or museums the writings of the Mayan peoples which predict world calamities and new spiritual awakenings. You have to remember, the Mayan civilization vanished mysteriously centuries before the Europeans even knew there were these other continents we now live on.

Yes, the Mayan calendar is exceedingly accurate in its details about planetary locations and solar and lunar eclipses. Yes, this indicates to us that the Mayans had to have been able to accurately calculate the size of our planet, the speeds of all the planets in the sky, and the exact rotation rate of our planet (these are all available for calculation simply by looking at the sky at night, by the way). And yes, the calendar ends on the day of the Winter Solstice in the year we now commonly refer to as 2012. But this alone is no evidence of anything other than a well drawn calendar. My calendar, of which I just ordered a replacement, doesn't end on any solstice or equinox (for reasons I haven't exactly agreed with), but it does end and it does so every year - and I have to order a replacement. But what if we still were following the Mayan Calendar with it's short counts and long count wheels of time? What would this mean on the last day? It would mean you should order your new calendar, where you'll find that the wheels within wheels that make up this very interesting calendar start exactly on the spot where it all began at the very first (and several thousand years later, it will again).

Don't throw your money away listening to those who want to sell you fear. Just ask yourself one really basic question: If the world is going to come to an end, or maybe instead simply change into something wherein nothing that is common today will be of the same value, why aren't they just giving you the books and DVDs for free? I mean, on December 22, 2012, being a millionaire in a world of rubble and dust will mean nothing.

Instead, put your money, time, and energy toward something productive such as your own future on this earth. Put the future in your hands by understanding that you are only a victim of "Time's Cruel Claw" if you so allow it.

Oh, and about that 11/11 thing. I waited and waited to respond to a particular "numerologist" who kept sending me emails about this particular date of doom about how evil I felt she was for trying to sell "self-help" kits to get people past this momentous occasion when "everything is going to change," but she vanished from the Internet completely - her website no longer functioning.  Maybe that was the doom she foresaw.

What you see is what you get.

The concept of "world-view" is used often in new age and spiritual discussions. It generally means quite simply what the words themselves might suggest: the way an individual or group views the world they live in. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines world-view as "1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group."

Whatever world-view is held by an individual or group can be interpreted as either the cause of events which impact that individual or group, or it may be interpreted as having been created by the events which impact the individual or group. For instance, if a particular world-view holds that the world or life in general is a hostile environment requiring strength and competition in order survive, this may be viewed as creating a kind of tunnel vision in which everything that is perceived fits within the frame of competition and struggle. Likewise, the world will continue to validate this particular scheme of survival, and perhaps may be interpreted as having created the world-view being described. But actually, if you think about it, both conditions are actually quite true. The world-view (or general opinion) one holds will be validated by experience, and experience will continue to perpetuate the particular world-view that is held.

The criminal mind, for instance, that holds the perception that the world is unfairly stacked against it, offering nothing but obstacles toward success in the way of slanders and derailments in a "rich versus poor man world," will continue finding proof of this. And the proof that is offered by this reality tunnel vision will only strengthen the likelihood that reactions to the world will generate more instances of “punishment and consequences” which the criminal will perceive as unfair. On the other hand, the saintly mind that imagines or perceives that everything In the Universe is beneficial and kind will in turn act kindly toward even events that others may perceive as daunting and wicked.

Some hold the world-view that destiny is created in advance by an unknown or unknowable force called “God” or something similar. Other’s hold the view that the Universe is a random act with no personal forces whatsoever having been involved; most hold a view that fits somewhere in the very broad spectrum between those two. We may believe that the future has an outcome that can be known with reasonable certainty and that in all eventualities there can be no other outcome. Or we may believe that the future is only knowable within certain parameters and can go in many different directions depending on the application of various forces – including our own judgments and decisions based on those judgments. One world-view is called “fatalism” and holds that no matter what we do, the world is heading in a very specific direction in time and such-and-such is going to happen. Other views may be such as “determinism” which states that the future is determined, but not until after certain events begin the chain reactions that lead to such-and-such outcome.

Because the world-views about this particular topic of fate versus determinism are indeed cornerstones of every world-view out there, it is the one I wanted to highlight for you in this article and relate it with your task of finding the right source of psychic guidance. It’s important that you find for yourself the type of advisor who can answer the questions you have in your life in a way that makes sense for you. If you are a fatalist who believes that history was decided even before you were born and that nothing is going to change the course of events from genesis to apocalypse, no matter what you think or do, then you need to seek the kind of counsel who sees things the same way (actually, you aren’t seeking counsel but are instead seeking a sneak peak). If on the other hand you believe that humans have been given the power to create reality or co-create it alongside God or the gods of this Universe, then you will not be served by a reader who tells you that nothing you do is going to change the course of upcoming events. Likewise, if you discover a reader who tells you more than one possible outcome dependent on the choices you make, and you desire to argue with that person that this theory does not make sense, you are not serving yourself with this particular philosophy and should seek your guidance elsewhere.

Discovering if your reader is the type who believes in one future potential or if your reader believes in the human potential to decide the future is maybe not such an easy task unless the reader makes themselves perfectly clear in some way what they believe. Almost every advisor here on Keen will say at some point in their career that “the future is not written in stone” or that things can change from their predicted outcomes “due to free will” or something similar. So naturally we might easily assume that every psychic reader in the world is a believer in the determinism school of thought. But strangely, this isn’t exactly so. It’s like I hinted at above, the opinions about fatalism vs determinism actually fit in a very broad spectrum somewhere between the two absolutes. Yet, in any case, we can indeed make statements that a person leans more so toward one or the other of the extremes.

One thing I have discovered for myself when deciding if I should think a reader is a determinist or a fatalist is the type of reading spread or mechanism they use. Of course, it is only fair at this point to tell you that my experience is mainly limited to tarot readers and astrologers, so let me stick comparatively to the field of tarot and hopefully help you conclude for yourself how to determine the best style of reading or type of reader for yourself.

The most informative clue I can find about a tarot reader’s world-view on this topic is the choice of tarot spread that they select for any given question. Specifically for the sake of this discussion, we are sticking to the type of question that asks for a future forecast of things to come and not on the types of questions that are broader based such as “what is he feeling?” or even the more specific “did he lie to me?” If I meet with a reader and ask something such as, “what is the outcome of this particular direction I see myself currently faced with,” I will learn by the exact spread that is chosen right away whether the reader is a fatalist or if the reader believes in my own self-determination in this matter.  Spreads that discuss only the situation itself with one outcome obviously suggest that the person who believes in using that style of reading believes there is only one outcome or at the very least there is only one outcome that can be viewed at the time of the reading. On the other hand, if you find a reader (such as myself) who will describe to you two or more possible outcomes to come, and various choices that will be available for you along the way and actions you can decide on at those times, then you have found a reader who believes in the power of the person facing the future.

So choose carefully the reader you are looking for. It will not serve you if you believe in the power of your own heart and soul to manifest the future you desire only to discover that the advisor you are giving your hard earned money to doesn’t also believe in that but rather has reached the conclusion that God has or has not already written your name in the book of the happy. Likewise, if you believe that it doesn’t matter what you do from this day forward and your future will be what it will be because it was created for you the second that Adam and Eve touched lips, then it won’t be of much use to discover yourself listening to a spiritual counselor who is trying to teach you how you can become the future you might possibly prefer to earn instead of the one you are on the path to discovering.

I am a reader who believes in your power to make things happen and discover the right choices as you go. I am a reader who believes also that we humans can easily get ourselves confused into believing we know what is best for us when in truth we might actually be shooting ourselves in the foot trying to learn some hard lessons toward a design that is indeed happier for us. Like the fatalists, I do believe that we came to this earth each of us with a plan and a tendency to desire what is best for us and what will fulfill our wildest dreams of being happy, healthy, and wise – but the determinist in me also knows that some times in order to become all these things, “the angels of our better natures” sometimes decide to dish out some tough love. So call me if you think you have a path of importance and you want to know the surest route to its conclusion.

My Availability.

As the colder air flies in from the north, I take less interest in outdoor and crosstown activities. You may not know this, but I do not drive. I haven't driven for years. In fact, I owned a van that served mainly as a storage unit  before I eventually sold it to someone who decided to take it for parts. I love to bicycle, but in this Midwestern climate, some seasons just don't suit the activity. So I have adjusted my service schedule with the acknowledgment that I will far less frequently be leaving the house. Although my schedule looks pretty much like it is 24 hours a day, there is no guarantee that I'll actually be fully available to meet this schedule in truth. The schedule I have posted on my profile is to be available to receive your calls from 4:30 AM to 6:00 PM Central Time Zone (2:30-4:00 Pacific and 5:30-7:00 Eastern). Otherwise my listing will be available "On Alerts" it is called. This means that I am still available for calls but in a tentative way. You are free to call me any hour of the day, but during the hours I am "On Alerts," this means that even though the call button is working, there is a chance I won't be able to take the call and will ask that you reschedule. On some occasions - usually a Saturday night or two in a month - I won't have my listing available. This means that I have had to manually turn off my schedule feature. I do like to have a life, you know. :-) But if my call button is indeed working (whether available or on alerts), chances are I am definitely going to take your call even if conditions warrant I request a later call-back time.

So feel free to call me at any time. You can log onto Keen and use the call me button whether it says I am available or on alerts. My phone will ring! And if I am not making a quick trip to the store, or frustrated with chasing leaks in my ceiling (seriously, but I do laugh), or not quite stumbled out of bed yet because you needed to call me very late - I will look forward to the opportunity to set a call-back time and talk to you very soon. If you see that I am not available, you can of course look forward to seeing me soon. Or if you don't log on to the site, you can reach me at 1-800-275-5336, ext. 01903225 (that's my Keen direct line).

And remember, I'm currently offering 2 free minutes for every full 10 minutes you pay for (on a per call basis). That's like getting almost five dollars or more back on every call!

The Winds of Thor

You can see it out of the corner of your eye. A strangely familiar shape is approaching you but at the same time something seems out of place. You are nearing your destination with every step but something momentarily seems to nag you to a side, you just have to look and you just might decide you have to go deeper and see. There's something over there and it needs your attention. You look.

The Halloween ornaments are in the lawns and hanging from eves and trees of neighboring houses. First one house, then two, three, four and more. It will grow. The neighborhood will become a competition of bigger, better, "more monstrous than last year" displays mixing grotesque horror and cartoonish humor into a menagerie of rubber and plastic mayhem. The Groovy Ghoulies in one yard will serenade the neighbor's truly gross zombie beach with campy bubble gum pop. In another yard, obviously once a family but now only dressed in sheets, there is a picnic next to an overturned jalopy. Perhaps it's also Casper's birthday. I've never asked before. People are particularly frightened by black cats, so they seem to be everywhere, ubiquitous. Real ones and fake wooden ones. It gets hard to tell them apart.

It gets thick in this neck of the woods.

Soon it will turn another corner. The dead and the undead will begin to mix with the ancient and accepted Pilgrim scenes. We'll be talking turkey with our mechanic while the kids repeat their annual visit to the dentist. Cavities tend to grow in the mouths of babes, but the things that seem to separate the adults are appearing to grow smaller as winter crawls in. Meanwhile, the dampness of the cold air is growing and our need for protection tends to expand. Don the pullovers, cardigans, layers of clothing and shield yourself against the growing frosts of winter.

The celebrations that are about to take place in the coming weeks and months have an ancient history. There is more ancestry in this season than any other in the year, and with good psychological and sociological reason: we need each other. In ancient times the community had to draw itself together and bring the harvest in. In ancient times the community would celebrate its gratitude and prepare for the dreaded winter. In ancient times the community would huddle together as tightly as it could and also help support neighbors in outlying territories. And it is from these patterns that our modern traditions arose, traditions that helped guarantee the lasting conditions of our western culture.

Take a look around you and you will see that the world moves in circles. The globe spins around on its axis. The Earth orbits the Sun. The Sun flies through the galaxy with its system of planets in tow, moving around the galaxy within our particular arm of the spiral known as The Milky Way. We are all a part of this ever repeating cycle of returns. And this is something the ancients noticed a long, long time ago.

Psychology has made note of this as well. We all move in cycles in our lives, in our months, weeks and days. Every year we find ourselves in similar places, having relationships with time and space in ways that we are not always conscious of. Like birds and bees who use the position of the Sun to guide them, our mind and our emotions are oftentimes guided by the subliminal condition of the Sun and stars and other lights in the sky. The changing of the colors around us also signals a time to change within us. We may even be unconsciously reminded of events, feelings, and conditions from our history - and we may even unwittingly be reacting to these "ghosts of Christmas Past" without even being aware.

It doesn't have to be the holiday season for our minds to pick up on these external cues. The location of the Sun in the sky in relation to the roads we travel down in our daily routines will unconsciously bring up the feelings of our past. Anniversaries of all kinds, even if we aren't marking them clearly on our wall calendars, can have an effect on how we feel. The day you found out your lover was cheating on you may haunt you for several years, even if you consciously don't remember that date. Beginnings and endings of all kinds, those that have had significant impacts on us at the time they occur, can get ingrained in our souls and aligned with the locations of the Sun and the planets and stars in the sky. Every year the Sun repeats its position. The constellations are equally fixed but the planets will each have their own schedule - so some occurrences will be brought up in strange ghostly shapes in our hearts from time to time because our unconscious observer is indeed aware.

This time of year as the leaves fall, the flowering plants wither and rivers begin to freeze, is the time of year we gather closer together with each other. This is the time of year of sharing our individual bounties with each other as the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer. Tradition has it that we bring fire indoors and our families travel to be closer together, closer to the hearth. Tradition brings us good cheer as we unwrap our mothball lined old clothes and linens, share them with the needy, and involve ourselves with communal merry making in an effort to keep our minds and hearts off the dread winter. These are no accidents of our culture. These are not habits created arbitrarily by a government or single person "just because." No. A community needs these traditions in order to survive, and that is why we find in anthropology that these are indeed universal truths, common roots that all of our ancestors partook in.

What Does it Mean to be an Initiated Practicioner of Tarot?

What does it mean to be an initiated practitioner of the arts of tarot? It means that I have studied the science of the cards, astrology and magick under the guidance of an ancient tradition of teachers and students that goes back into the ages. It means that I do not claim to be a "natural born clairvoyant" or "third generation" anything. No one is born a psychic any more so than the rest of the mammalian population on this planet - some just learn to use it, and come to a place in their mastery where they can learn to trust it. This is done in much the same way one may choose to learn to be a musician or a master craftsman of pottery. First, there is the science.

Some people pick up on things much more quickly in life than others. This is true. But even the greatest guitarists like Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton went to art school to learn the science of aesthetics. Even those guitarists who do not read sheet music and learn by ear have taken to greater masters than them for an education. Great sculptors, painters, and poets all learn in the end that there is a need for the science behind their art. A sonnet is a sonnet unless it is an ode, there are no two ways about it. A sonnet is not an ode, and vice versa.

To be an initiated practitioner means to have received a direct education from others who have had a greater amount of education and experience - and this is wisdom.

You have sought me and found me because tarot is not a game of luck, it is a science of connections. If it weren't, I might as well tear up magazine pages, through them in the air and then read your "fortune" from them. No, instead, you have sought an understanding of the weather patterns around you. You want to forecast the trends that have already begun to take place for you. You want someone with experience and consistent degrees of foresight about the human experience in ways that sometimes only the tarot can provide to you.

Please do not call on me to predict your daydreams for you. Please to do not seek me to discover things that are none of your business. Do come to me if you truly need answers and want to know where the safest and surest way for your success lies. Do call me if you want the truth and are ready for the truth.

MY NEW FREE MINUTE POLICY

For a few months now I've been giving free minutes to various preferred customers. As of today, I will be giving 2 free minutes to all my customers for every full ten minutes spent with me. I will give you 2 free minutes for every call that lasts ten minutes, 4 free minutes if your call lasts 20 minutes, and so on. This is my way of saying Thank You to customers who spend the time to learn some serious depth about their concerns as it often can take ten or more minutes to fully understand what it is you desire to know the truth about.

You will still receive the monthly free minutes I send out to prefered customers, but now you will also receive bonus free minutes at the end of every reading!

*Free minutes spent on a call do not count toward your ten minute length for future free minute gifts.

The holidays are coming

You can see it out of the corner of your eye. A strangely familiar shape is approaching you but at the same time something seems out of place. You are nearing your destination with every step but something momentarily seems to nag you to a side, you just have to look and you just might decide you have to go deeper and see. There's something over there and it needs your attention. You look.

The Halloween ornaments are in the lawns and hanging from eves and trees of neighboring houses. First one house, then two, three, four and more. It will grow. The neighborhood will become a competition of bigger, better, "more monstrous than last year" displays mixing grotesque horror and cartoonish humor into a menagerie of rubber and plastic mayhem. The Groovy Ghoulies in one yard will serenade the neighbor's truly gross zombie beach with campy bubblegum pop. In another yard, obviously once a family but now only dressed in sheets, there is a picnic next to an overturned jalopy. Perhaps it's also Casper's birthday. I've never asked before. People are particularly frightened by black cats, so they seem to be everywhere, ubiquitous. Real ones and fake wooden ones. It gets hard to tell them apart.

It gets thick in this neck of the woods.

Soon it will turn another corner. The dead and the undead will begin to mix with the ancient and accepted Pilgrim scenes.  We'll be talking turkey with our mechanic while the kids repeat their annual visit to the dentist. Cavities tend to grow in the mouths of babes, but the things that seem to separate the adults are appearing to grow smaller as winter crawls in. Meanwhile, the dampness of the cold air is growing and our need for protection tends to expand. Don the pull-overs, cardigans, layers of clothing and shield yourself against the growing frosts of winter.

The celebrations that are about to take place in the coming weeks and months have an ancient history. There is more ancestry in this season than any other in the year, and with good psychological and sociological reason: we need each other. In ancient times the community had to draw itself together and bring the harvest in. In ancient times the community would celebrate its gratitude and prepare for the dreaded winter. In ancient times the community would huddle together as tightly as it could and also help support neighbors in outlying territories. And it is from these patterns that our modern traditions arose.

To Reverse or Not to Reverse? That is the Question.

There is often confusion about reversed cards in a reading. Some readers don't use reversed card meanings, they say, and some of those who say that mean that they aren't looking at the negative concepts that a reversed card often suggests (this is a misconception, by the way - not all reversed card meanings are suggestive of negative indications) while other readers who say they don't use reversed cards do understand that some cards have influences around them that will lead toward what can be found in books under the "keywords for reversed card meanings." Then this leads to the question of why some use reversed cards in their reading (that is, should the card land in an upside down position, it will be read differently than if read while upright) and why some do not. And among those that do not, how can you tell if they are using what are called "dignities" or influences around the card to determine if it reads its generally "positive" upright definition or if it should read its sometimes less positive meaning?

For instance, the Ace of Wands is like a giant match stick. It signals in a reading a sparking of ambition, the initiation of a new direction, optimistic energy and maybe an adventure. And in certain cases it can represent the growing excitement of the sexually active male. But is that all there is to this card? Doesn't it sometimes also mean missing an opportunity? Having a bad start at it? Going limp and needing time to start over another day? Yes, such would be the case if your reading included reversed cards. But if the reader doesn't "use" reversed cards, how would they know which ideas to choose from?

There's always the old standby answer of "I just use my intuition." But if you research the clinical tests that have been done concerning intuition and its development, or ask someone who is certainly very intuitive where the intuition comes from, after the typical cheap answer of "I dunno, it just (yawn) comes to me," they will ramble on about how this showed up and that showed up and they thought this and this shined brighter and that made sense and so suddenly they were able to feel as if they just somehow knew the answer.  That is, according to research, intuitive leaps occur when there is enough variety of data (and sometimes maybe too much to add up all at once) that the picture or complete idea behind everything began to just seem simple to see. Like looking at those pictures where you have to squint your eyes, look far away and then close up again, and then suddenly seemingly random dots and blobs take on the shape of a three dimensional picture of dolphins in the sea at play around a yellow submarine. Intuition doesn't "just happen," it’s a product of a collection of data and the ability to assimilate it all at a glance. Intuition is a gift, but it is a gift that all mammals are born with (except of course those with cerebral handicaps). Trustworthy intuition, on the other hand, like any talent that any human being could learn to increase, is a trained skill.

The amount of data that exists in tarot is incredible. Lay down five, ten, fifteen or more cards on your table and that data has increased exponentially! Add to this that some cards will land upright and some will land reversed (unless, like me, you have certain decks you shuffle in such a way as to insure that they don't mix with reverse cards in them) and your amount of available data has just stacked itself to the ends of time. It's huge!

But as I hinted above, it doesn't matter if you allow reversed cards to be on your table or not, every card has two sides to it. If you, as a reader, do not know that or refuse to accept that, you are falling short of giving the most accurate and detailed reading you can.

There are those who don't read reversed cards in their readings who I've seen in conversation get very vehement about this subject. Sometimes I just get the impression that this topic stirs a great deal of spiritual pride in these people. This troubles me because spiritual pride is, to me, the greatest hallmark of a roadblock to spiritual progress. I would say for certain that spiritual pride is definitely not the hallmark of a worshipful master or teacher. Can a teacher be qualified if he or she has forgotten what it was like to be the pupil? It's for this reason, among others, that I decided I needed to write about this subject. Another motivation behind this article is for the other side of the fence, those who use reversed cards in their readings and how I want to 1) explain to them how not using cards turned upside down as the sole indicator of significance is a viable practice and 2) how they can use the "non-reversed" card systems to enhance their reading depth and accuracy.

Allow me to begin by explaining the basic nature of the tarot cards. Tarot is based on both the Western Qabalah and Astrology. It is a collection of pictorial expressions in numbered fashion designed to suggest to the reader the concepts associated with each card as understood by both the study of Western Qabalah and Ancient Astrology. The suits of the Minor Arcana represent the Four Worlds of the Qabalah as do the numbers represent the Ten Spheres or Sepheroth as understood in the Hebrew based numerology system. On top of the numeric and mystic system of the Qabalah is superimposed the system of Astrology. The Major Arcana contains the 12 signs of the Zodiac, the Seven Sacred Planets of Ancient Astrology, and the Elements. Four of the sixteen cards that are called the court cards also belong to the elements, but not at the same level as the three Majors do. The other twelve members of the court cards belong to signs of the Zodiac also, but again, not in the same way as the Majors (The majors are actually the Signs & Houses they rule whereas the court cards suggest rising signs). The aces are the elements themselves and the remaining 36 small cards fit into each of the 36 decanate of the Zodiac, representing ten degrees of The Wheel each. This alone can make for a very complicated system.

Add to this system, just like you would in using Astrology, that some of the planets can be stationary or retrograde, some of the Houses or Signs can be negatively afflicted or captured (also known  as "hidden"), and some elements or configurations can lead to afflictions of some or all the natures and intelligences found in an astrological chart, and you have the same concepts that would be expressed if we were to say that a card in a reading was afflicted, averse in its influence, or (if used) reversed.

So as you might imagine, if you know your astrology and your tarot well enough, and you have a pretty solid tarot spread you use that allows well for this knowledge of astrology and its techniques, you do not need to use reversed cards to determine if this card or that should read this way or the other. And further, the more you know about this system of using DIGNITIES to determine exactly what a card is meaning, the more information you can glean in the reading. But this is not the only system of dignities readers are using. There's another, much simpler understanding of dignities that merely depends on the four elements of each card and how well they work together as well as the "active" and "passive" (or male and female) nature of each card. This is in conjunction with the astrological method, but pairs it down to a more general sense and (no pun intended) elementary model.

I'm not sure when reversed cards came into fashion. All the older works on Tarot that I have studied do not mention them although they do mention the two tiers of meaning each card can have. These two structures of meaning assigned each card are variously called "card meaning" and "averse meaning," or "ill-dignified," or "inflicted." Those, by the way, are all astrological terms used as far back as writings about astrology have been in existence. On the other hand, it isn't until the 1960s or 1970s when popularized tarot decks become a vogue that we start seeing the words "reversed meaning" in books. But if someone wants to play detective and discover the first time this terminology was used, I would be eternally grateful. So... until I am proved otherwise that this fashion did not exist until Tarot became a toy available to any school girl to buy and play with, I am going to say that using reversed cards in your reading is a lazy way of excusing a lack of knowledge about the astrological method of reading the cards.

That isn't to say that I don't use reversed cards in my readings. In some spreads, only the use of reversed cards can give us enough information to allow for a fuller understanding in the reading. For instance, using the Celtic Cross spread would be incredibly inferior in reading the situation(s) if we didn't use reversed cards. Also, with my "Yes/No Answer" spread, I use reversed cards and with my "Relationship Perspective" readings. For these spreads/readings, I have assigned specific decks to each in which when I shuffle I not only allow for reversals, I encourage them. But with my Thoth decks, which I use for the fifteen card spread and for some three card spread readings, as well as some other more complicated readings I do for personal use, I shuffle them in a so as to avoid reversed cards (but in that deck, on the rare occasion a card comes up reversed I do consider if it might be more significant for some reason).

As a final word, even if one uses the reversed card method of reading this does not mean that they cannot also incorporate the concepts of the elemental dignities or numerological dignities and so forth, nor are they prevented from using the astrological concepts I alluded to before - but as for that, the astrological dignities, I wouldn't encourage mixing it with reversed card spreads. That could lead to confusions.

My Analysis of the Fifteen Card Tarot Spread – Part 1 of 2

The fifteen card spread (mistakenly called by some The Thoth Spread because it appears for the first time in the LWB of Aleister Crowley’s Book of Thoth Tarot Deck, but was really an invention of the cards’ publisher) gets more interesting to me the more I work with it and study it from my perspective.

Here’s an example of the spread with the cards numbered in order of their arrival.

                            
        13                  9                 5                                 4                 8                 12
                                                          
                                               2                  1                 3 
                            
         14               10                 6                                  7                 11                 15

The first card represents the querrent and is the very center of everything, and the two cards surrounding it in addition to itself comprise an explanation of the nature of the question.

I first learned this spread years ago and when I began my professional career as a reader (doing parties and gatherings for trade and donation), I didn’t ask the querrent their question but said, "Don’t tell me your question, shuffle the cards with the focus of the question in your mind and all its myriad possibilities.  Shuffle until you *feel* the cards have heard you."  Then I cut and dealt (silently reciting a minor invocation). 

The next three cards I look at are the section in the lower right, known as "The influences around the situation which you have no control over."  This more often than not tells me the influences of past times on the current situation.  Between describing in detail all the cards in those first six I mentioned, I pick up on the full nature of the question and tell it to them.  More likely than not, not in the words they would have exactly chosen (though... on occasion...yes), but most definitely all the necessary elements of the story to say I know the question’s answer if I continue to fully examine the cards ahead.  Specifically, the two various outcomes I’m showing in the upper right and upper left - which, by this time, I’ve informed the querrent that they exist in the reading and they will be eager to know what is there.

To the lower left in the spread are three cards given the responsibility of describing the influences on the matter which are within or can be within the querrent’s control.  I call this "advice" and it is definitely worth consideration.  Ultimately speaking, this is what the caller seeks - sure, they want to know what the future holds.  We all want to admit responsibility for the outcomes, so we all agree that this isn’t about "fate" and we agree the "future isn’t written in stone" policy that we have the right to work toward a change.  So whether the upcoming news looks good or bad, this information can make all the difference in the world.  And the wise seeker is truly after this pot of gold.

So I will then describe the two outcomes shown.  The querrent will then decide what is most favorable, the path they are on or the other road perhaps not so far afield.  And the "advice" they may wish to consider when choosing which way and how to proceed.

In the sample reading above I have for the center of the spread Four of Cups, Adjustment, and The Chariot.  Right away I’ve noticed the Major Arcana cards seem to rule in this.  And so the nature of those cards is greatly enhanced.  This querrent, signified by the Four of Cups, the card labeled "Blended Pleasure" by The Golden Dawn and labeled "Luxury" by Crowley, tells us of so-so pleasures.  The querrent might even be bored, as things seem okay but "blah" is probably a closer word.  With Adjustment and Chariot flanking him, he seems to be in a state of not certain yet of a pending desire to move forward.  Wow.  That’s seriously feeling the blahs.

The past, or influences past or beyond control, seem a blend of give and take really.  Looks like a "you win some, you lose some" situation.  Definitely with that 10 of Cups, it has been successful and certain.  But apparently not perfect.  Look at the five of disks – that’s definitely poverty and loss.  Perhaps sickness influenced this man’s poverty (the man being read for – who like that Prince of Cups - knows how to manifest desires out of his heart and imagination).  Maybe that’s why he’s so "blah" today.

He knows he can survive the good and the bad; he’s gotten plenty of experience in that.  And right now he has an issue of legal information, a checks and balances situation, driven by (we shall gesture forth the most improbable) a higher purpose.

The bad news so far is that we get to tell the client that this is definitely his own fault.  A sense of overconfidence stands out over these first six cards.  Heck, the first three tell us in good stead exactly how it all got where it is!  The querrent is all feeling blah and bored, with too much of a good thing on his hand but nothing to do with it, like being all gussied up with nowhere to go.  And the past has certainly shown him everything it seems.  He can handle it, he knows that.  So my personal conclusion is, what with the signal of the Higher Power involved with those Majors, it definitely spells "consequences."

At this point, the client tells me "Yes, I was wondering about this upcoming court trial I have!  And I definitely know it is my fault – it’s just the consequences, that are what I don’t yet know about.  And of course, the cards are right; it was my own stupidity that got me here.  I was overconfident, certainly."

By describing the first six cards, I’ve already determined on what the reading is about and that we are all on the same page with it.  From here it is based on instinct which of the next three segments to read out of first.  Usually the way to go is to the Most Likely Outcome position and then to the Advice section – with words from the Alternate Outcome to support.  But in this case I’m startled by the three cards baring the number  5 and the fact that two of them sit side by side in the Advice, next to The Magus – almost like Hermes/Thoth arose just to go "hey, lookey over there!"

"Alright, I’m not a lawyer and you should really seek an attorney’s advice on this – because obviously this is a criminal case and seems to have greater consequences than you seem to be feeling are possible."

"Yeah," says the client, "I could end up doing serious time, but I just don’t feel that it’s likely."

"Neither do I," I add.

"Anyway…," so the querrent goes on, "I’ve got an attorney.  I’m just wondering what is going to happen now."

"Well, with the three 5s showing up, there seems to be a lot to worry about but I’m not sure it’s been on your mind at all to do that."  ["No.  I’m thinking probation and fines".]  "Well, yes, the short story version is that the most likely outcome shows definite success for you.  But this success looks expensive and rather extreme.  But because that ten of swords is in the alternate outcome, although both areas look hard to deal with, it doesn’t appear that ’prison’ is the most likely event.  But don’t forget it can be!  I think that’s why the Four of Cups is showing as you between those two pillars of society, not enough emotional involvement right now.  Those two 5s in the advice suggest you have to come clean and make a full clearing of the air.  Maybe even communicating something not yet openly known?  Giving up for a lesser sacrifice?"

"So, a plea bargain?" asks the querrent.

"Exactly!  Why didn’t I see that?  The Magus is offering you a bargain!  Take it."

Proverbs chapter 23, verse 7

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is."

The above quote has been cited as the source for the New Thought movement, the concepts of Positive Thinking and The Secret (The Law of Attraction) (just to name a few titles).  The concepts made popular today are basically stating that we attract to ourselves those results which most closely align with the nature of our attitudes about life in general (and specifics as well).

By taking this belief system to heart, we would assume that a person who is having difficulties earning enough money to pay bills hasn't learned to attract positive results with positive beliefs.  There may be some truth to this - although, of course, we all know that belief alone isn't the trick.  I would say rather, as a man thinketh, so he will behave - and as he behaves, so he will receive results.

In another place, in another forum, I've read as the writers have been complaining that they haven't been able to make as much money this month as they are normally capable of making.  The person who started that topic was someone who's results I decided to investigate.  And as it turns out, it does appear that her volume of work has declined - and quite interestingly, judging by the feedback (testimonials) left by her clients - so has her quality.

She wants to blame the market for her results this month and not in one way look within herself to see where the cause of her issues might be.

If you feel like it, take a close look at all my marketing efforts for Thelemic Waves Tarot Reading Services.  Or just take my word for it based on the evidence you already have.  I market my services as a method of placing the burden of responsibility in your own hands.  As a means of acquiring the results of your desires by finding the method most likely to generate your happiness.  Or, at times, as an opportunity to learn and accept the truth that you are chasing your tail and would be wiser to give up the ghost on this one.  Never will I say that your destiny entitles you to anything.

I've encountered people with a lot of different belief structures and some of them just baffle me in their contradictory nature.  No offense to any who believe this or that, but quite plainly I wish to state a few things I do and don't believe in myself.

I believe in the law of cause and effect.  In fact, it is hard for me to categorize this as a belief due to the truth of it being more than just evident.  It appears to me as undeniable fact, not belief.  All things that I can make myself aware of exist as a result of some previous cause.  I fell down because of gravity.  Or, we could analyze further and say my shoes weren't appropriate for the weather and I slipped on the ice.  Or maybe with another examination, I wasn't being cautious enough at the time.  Even though I could blame Ronald McDonald for not having cleared the sidewalk - we can probably all agree that I knew I was taking a calculated risk and would be a much happier person in life if I started my response to having fallen with that premise.

I believe in Karma.  This is an esoteric notion of the law of cause and effect.  It takes the physically evident laws of motion and applies them to the mental/spiritual/social spheres of life.  It states that if I cause harm, I'm likely to receive harm as a result.  Some of this seems self-evident and most people would probably call it common sense.  But some people take umbrage with this notion because it would also imply that if I cause good, then I am to receive good results - and many people have some very specific, almost entitled, notions of what the good results they receive aught to be.  And then, well, they start believe that the notion of karma is a lot of hokum.  But you know what?  I'm satisfied when the good results I receive are simply a smile on my face and a release of endocrines into my blood stream.

I believe that thinking leads to feeling, feeling leads to acting, and acting leads to receiving (and then we start thinking about what we've received).  At the core of this (not yet mentioned) is believing.  We form our thought patterns based on the nature of our belief systems.  But beliefs are actually harder to change than you might imagine.  Whereas we can say that thinking is habitual, believing is almost natural.  We've been believing most of what what we believe from day one.  That's why many professionals would agree that it is hard to rehabilitate a life long racist - especially one who's father inducted him into the Ku Klux Klan in the first place.  Such an individual would have a great system of Core Beliefs that might never be capable of being changed.  So that's why I like to start with thinking.  We can, through great practice, learn to change our thinking patterns by starting first with awareness and then moving on to various methods of controlling.

I do not believe that thoughts arrive in us out of the cold blue air from seemingly nowhere.  They come from other thoughts, built up over time in support of some known or unknown belief system.  This the proverb's author would probably call "the heart."  With this knowledge, we can begin to work on ourselves and improve the results of our efforts in life.  This I firmly believe.

I believe that my beliefs are based on evidence.  Some of the evidence may be self-manifested, but I'm okay with that.  I'm working from a core system that states that my life should be self-manifested.  It is true to me that my beliefs lend me the grist for my thinking, that my thinking gives me the inspirations for my behaving, and my behaving generates the results I receive, which then, based on my thinking, supports what I believe.

A perfectly round world in my opinion is one I definitely can tolerate!

I don't believe in ghosts!  I believe in "an after life" but not in the sense of Heaven and Hell for all eternity, it is more like a rest-stop (a truck stop probably, or the Restaurant at the End of the Universe).  I believe in re-incarnation - which I find hard to harmonize with the notion of ghosts.  I don't believe in talking with the dead for this reason also - although I do believe that there is a residual element left over by the dead which we can get information from, and it probably sure looks and feels like talking with the dead.  But the dead should move on, or else my whole notion of re-incarnation falls flat.

I believe that I can choose my thinking patterns and influence my belief system this way.  I also agree that these things take a lot of time and effort.

I also believe that I learned all these things with the aid of the system known as Tarot - where the Major Arcana represent the Soul (symbolised as Zero/Cipher/Fool) and its relationship with the Universe, the minors represent Belief, Thought, Emotion, Physical manifestation  (most systems seem to want to order the minors as Belief/Emotion/Thought/Manifestation but I believe that's another one of those ancient blinds so many authors state exists).

I believe we get what we deserve and the Universe is unduly fair, even if we don't know how to agree with Her results.

Tarot Revealed

I have operated under several different theories of tarot consciousness in my lifetime with the cards. There has been the notion that they are some kind of supernatural force in themselves, maybe each one individually "blessed" or "cursed" with its marks of magickal and occult principles. There has been the idea that they each are pictorials depicting instead the specified angel whose role is to act as guardian and manager of the above mentioned occult principles. There has been the idea that they are just 78 ultimately meaningless pieces of paper and human psychology is insistent upon finding patterns and meanings in all things. There has been the model that the cards are portions themselves of strange praeterhuman forces, and by observing these portions with knowledge of what we've come to expect of the nature of these forces, the tarot has proven useful. Then there's also the theory that everything around us can easily be described as a series of mathematical formulae, broken down and reinvented into summary explanations of everything, of which a spread of cards after a random shuffle should easily fit into our predictive tables and explanations.

For me it has never mattered which approach to tarot I've taken. It has been a sacred book wrapped in silk after silk and placed in a locked box that I hid up high and needed a step ladder to get to when I wanted to read. It has been a set of cards, mysterious and enchanting, that each alone or in combination with some others could unlock hidden treasures within Solomon's Temple for me. I've worked even with a tarot deck I made on my own, using 3x5 index cards & drawing the most rudimentary esoteric scratchings on them (and they worked).

So it has come for me to matter not one iota what the source of the information from the cards really is. Is it an apophenic exercise with random psychological impact on our judgment and decision making process? Is it the voices of angels talking to us? Is it just as mathematical as weather forecasting, using cards as a new means to gather the data? Or even if it becomes all hogwash to the most strict adherent to "science," it matters not to us when we see the results we find in using them for charting our decisions in the future. We say simply, they do something somehow and it works.

I would suppose that in order to have a fully working and believable theory on tarot, we would have to start with a beginning. Every religion begins with creation myth, even the Marvel Comics Universe starts each story with a creation myth. "Origins" has always seemed to be what it is about, so I suppose we should start with a working origin story for our cards.

There are those who will argue that the source of tarot is ancient Atlantis. Closer to the truth yet is that it comes from the ancient Egyptians. The only actual evidence of any truth we do have is that tarot cards simply just popped up one day in the fourteenth century and no one has any idea what or where they were before that. And at that time in history they were quite simply reported as being involved in a card game, the rules of which suggest common ancestry with the game of Bridge. It isn't until some three centuries later that the cards would be written about as having anything to do with divination or "fortune telling."

So I am faced with a question for myself. Do I have to believe in any of the numerous myths associated with the tarot and its origins? No. I don't believe so. I'm even willing to accept that the original tarot deck must have existed at one time and that it had nothing in common with the purpose that tarot is applied to today. I imagine that if we could travel back in time and meet with the first person to ever draw and paint a tarot deck (whatever it was being called at that time) and told that person all of the various tarot theories out there and how the cards are being used as tools of divination and esoteric educations, that artist would probably be profoundly amazed as I seriously doubt there is any validity to the concept of a "sacred origins" myth of tarot. But for the sake of satisfying the masses, I'll say that I am willing to agree that tarot originates out of the head of a human being who wanted to pictorially describe a legacy of ancient knowledge dealing with what generally we will call the Occult Sciences - or if that isn't the origin, the cards most definitely became adopted to that task.

So now we have established at least one thing that we can all agree on: Regardless of the true age of tarot or it's original purpose, tarot now exists as something that at one point in its history became adopted by a school of knowledge (or various schools) and was seen as an excellent device for transmitting ineffable knowledge. These are all the provable facts at our disposal. And based on this creation myth, we now can build the foundation of a working tarot theory.

Having put the earth in its place now, the next stage of any religion is up in the air. The one thing that all communities share in common is the sky. So certainly I feel that any effort to teach a universal truth must certainly be expressed in the universal language of pictures if it is going to be preserved through any apocalyptic event - as some believe is the purpose of such a thing as a tarot tradition - then also most certainly should it be rooted in something that is universal itself. Linguists and astronomers alike will tell you that the most universal Rosetta Stone is, of course, mathematics. This has led to the scientifically accepted opinion that in the event we ever do come across other intelligent life forms in the galaxies of space, we will begin our training in each other's languages through discussions of mathematics. Incidentally, it just so happens that this will include what we today know as astrophysics - our examination of the aeons of lessons learned from the night sky.

Of course, our understanding of the Universe around us has become far more complicated than the ancient astronomy that also mingled with religion and philosophy in humanities past. And since our cards are indeed ancient enough to have come from a people who mingled so with their science and spirituality, we do not look to the cards to help us understand the nature of light near a black hole, but instead to understand our own personal psychologies. And since we do know that the ancient stargazers where as interested in the world within us as they were with the goings on of the cosmos, believing the two events to somehow be related, we begin with the hypothesis that tarot and astrology will tell us the same story of "as above, so below" and "as within, so without."

Previously I wrote a brief mention of Christian Rosenkreutz and "Book T" on my Keen.com blog. And it is from this "Book T" as published in Israel Regardie's "The Complete Golden Dawn" manuals that I begin my exploration of our tarot theory.

Book T, which you can find an online version of here, divides the deck of 78 cards into very smart sections and shows key concepts about each card based on Qabalistic and Astrological lines. The fact is, the Western Qabalah and Astrology appear quite well wedded, so it isn't exactly fair to say it is either one or the other, as naturally they appear always as a pair once you begin to work with the Qabalah. In other words, the Qabalah is described by astrology, or using astrological symbolism in any case, thus suggesting to me of course that the real universal language is indeed that of the planets and the stars - the one experience that each in our own ways we all have to share. So from this study of Book T I have come to the conclusion that who ever designed this system, they did so on the assumption that the esoteric glyphs and visions of the heavens above us is our universal language and the cards are just one way of transmitting this language from the ancient past to the far flung reaches of our distant future. Or maybe it isn't exactly that grand, but you know what I mean.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read "Book T" was that most definitely this is the source material for every Little White Book (LWB) that comes with commercially purchased tarot decks. Whether to believe the legend of Rosenkreutz is not relevant to our knowledge that The Golden Dawn held as one of their secrets the first and only place a written document existed that detailed divination meanings for each and every one of the seventy-eight cards (other occult authors had until then only written on various individual cards). And since it happens that careful study of "Book T" side by side with any LWB will help you see why, for instance, the three of cups might be described as "Celebration, a happy conclusion, discovery, friendship, bonding. Raising energy, mutual agreements, cohesiveness," and so on. It is called The Lord of Abundance in "Book T" and described as " Abundance, plenty, success, pleasure, sensuality, passive success, good luck and fortune; love, gladness, kindness, liberality." These all appear to me to mean the same thing.

For the moment this might become an interesting distraction to our tarot research. We have certainly found the oldest written record of all seventy eight cards and their divination meanings along with associations to astrology and Western Qabalah. Some four hundred years after the first mention of tarot's existence as a game among the wealthy, over a hundred years after the first mention of them in connection with fortune telling, we finally have an intersection in history that reveals to us the very principles behind these divination meanings. For a moment I was distracted by thinking at last we had found the nearest thing to the source we need.

I probably should take a minute to describe to you who the Golden Dawn was and why their word on these topics should be considered valid or why it shouldn't, but I'd rather leave all those questions up to you to discover. Suffice it to say that The Golden Dawn was a large esoteric group (a 'secret society' if you will) founded by three FreeMasons in London, England during the height of spiritual fascination in the Victorian Era. Speculations as to the true source of the so-called secret teachings of the Order abound, but for my concerns I simply remind you of the opening paragraph of this article and my take on the creation myth. It doesn't matter if "Book T" really is what Christian Rosenkruetz held or if McGreggor Mathers wrote the book himself. That point doesn't matter for one simple reason, as a matter of science and as a work of Art, "Book T" in connection with the tarot is sublimely perfect because though it may appear at first to be a study of the Qabalah, it is actually using the one universal language we do actually posses - astrology.

Using Astrology on Tarot - next step

For further meditation on the meanings of each tarot card, using the wheel above I look for the two cards that Trine the card of my study. A Trine in astrology describes 120 degrees of the circle. This forms a triangle of the three cards we will be using in each study. Meditate on the LWB meaning of your chosen card and the meanings of the other two cards. Come to understand how the nature of your card does indeed coincide with containing the natures of the other two cards. See how the tarot appears to build itself, answering for you that perhaps it alone is its true source of "why does a card mean such and not some other?"

Let's use our 3 of Cups again. It Trines the 9 and 6 of Cups. So this joyous 3 of Cups a-plenty is somehow related to the sweet memories of a warm past in the 6 of Cups and the easy satisfaction of an assured future with the 9 of Cups. (You now hardly have to ask why Waite pictures this as three women dancing over a nice harvest from what appears to me to be a voluntary garden.)

I keep experimenting with other angles of astrology - feel free to use this in your own devising and study of astrology and tarot.

Sextile 60 degrees
Square 90 degrees
Trine 120 degrees
Opposition 180 degrees
Semisextile 30 degrees
Semisquare 45 degrees
Quincunx 150 degrees
Novile 40 degrees
Binovile 80 degrees

Puting your future in your hands!

A Tarot deck is a device of 78 cards (any other number, it is not a true Tarot) each with symbolic representations designed on the same mathematical and spiritual principles of the entire Universe as we know it, speaking more superbly to the human mind than any philosophical text, religious scripture, astrological examination, and even more thorough than life itself.  For within those 78 cards is the complete story of every life that ever was, is, or ever will be.  And to be true, not one iota of meaning is missing from those 78 cards, not even the little meanings that some times an individual life passes and might forever miss.

Each pack of Tarot is a story complete from beginning to end.  It is the story of a sou's journey, a soul's journey from the nothing of preexistence to the totality of complete fulfillment.  A story of every possible ambition, desire, and experience.  It is a story of consciousness and unconsciousness, of will and accident, of change and stability, of love and fear, of truth and all truth.  It is the whole story of Life and Death.

Tarot is not about telling the future and what is definitely going to happen.  Tarot is about making the future brighter for you when that time comes.  Nothing is written in stone regarding any situation we find ourselves in.  Great success can turn to massive ruin overnight with the wrong perspective.  Fame and fortune can land on anyone who just happened to see the opportunity right before it passed away from their very eye.

The difference between fortune telling and divination is that fortune telling is reading information and determining what is going to be the outcome.  Divination is reading the information and divining what is needed to be known, what is likely to happen in this case or that case, and why.  Fortune telling is like laying the blame, taking it out of your hands.  Divination is like finding responsibility, and putting it in your hands.  I am here to help you put your future into your own hands.

The Legend of Book T and Christian Rosenkruetz

    It is alleged by the masters of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn that their order directly descends from the more ancient order of the Rosy Cross or Rosicrucian Order. Built upon the legend that one Fratre Christian Rosenkreutz had been initiated into the ancient mysteries and had died with his knowledge. Being as he had founded a small following upon his teachings, his order followers secured his belongings and his body in a specially crafted tomb. Later, upon discovery of this tomb, certain knights had learned his secrets as they were all cryptically retained in various objects and scrolls that were found with his skeleton. Included among these items, said to be on the chest of the skeleton and hugged by his crossed arms - signifying perhaps that this was a most cherished item in the tomb, was a book emblazoned with a golden “T” on it. This is what is known as “Book T” and is one of the many works available in the libraries of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
    It is thus written in the Adeptus Minor Ritual: Thus, then, did Frater N. N. and his companions, having moved aside the Circular Altar, and having raised the brazen plate or lid of the Pastos, discover the body of our Founder, with all the ornaments and insignia as here shown before you. Upon his breast was the Book T, a scroll explaining in full the mystic Tarot; at the end of which was written a brief paragraph concerning Christian Rosenkreutz, beneath which the earlier Fratres had inscribed their names.
    The legend of Rosenkreutz death is said to have taken place in the 13th Century, and thus makes itself as old or even older than any known copy of a tarot card history has ever discovered. Some will believe that in fact, Christian Rosenkreutz is the one source of the ancient tarot out of the circles of the initiated and into the hands of the profane. He kept with him the secrets to their real meanings and traditions, and allowed the vulgar to handle them as they wished, and upon his death - his followers, having not had these traditions fully deciphered to them as yet, abandoned his articles to the grave along with his body. It would be a full century later when Templar Knights, who had traveled the very same Muslim and Jewish lands that had been were Fratre Rosenkreutz had learned his workings, would return to Europe with his legends and discover the location of his tomb and open its secrets. After one hundred twenty years of silence, the tarot was found to be alive again. Book T, as found among the Golden Dawn Manuscripts, is believed to be that very same teaching upon which all the foundations of the Order’s rituals, dress, and magick are based. It is indeed the true meaning of the Tarot.

I will write more on the topic soon, including some wonderful experimentation and discovery I have made regarding the great value of Book T.

You want to be a part of something larger than just your self.

It was 1pm on June Fifth, in Wellington, New Zealand. Over 500 people participated in a freezing action in connection with the World Environment Day. Some call it a prank, some call it a protest or demonstration. It was simply an act of unity. A shared experience that for each participant will remain forever etched as unique - unique to each of them, and somewhat unique as a whole. Over 500 people standing perfectly still, acting as if frozen in time.

This is not the first time that such antics have been used. There have been "freezings" in America, the UK, and Asia as well. Some connected to various campaigns for change, some to promote new entertainments, and some just because a radio station suggested it. But ultimately these things happen, as also do events such as Pantless Subway Morning and large dance numbers "spontaneously" breaking out in train stations, because ultimately, we as human beings are community beings. We long to be a part of something greater than what we alone are.

This is why we vote. This is why we count how many times we stand in line to see the latest gigantic film release. This is why we sign up for the neighborhood club, fall in love, get married and raise families. It's built into us at birth that our greatest joy comes from knowing we are not alone.

The world is breaking out in these events. Some are larger, some are smaller. We rally behind a candidate with great charisma because he speaks to us of our greater need to manifest change and prosperity for the greater whole - not for ourselves. And these are refreshing events for us! Even if they are as meaningless as 1000 men and women and children in Chicago deciding to agree that on a certain day and in a certain place, we will all meet wearing black jackets and Victorian styled bowler hats. They invigorate us with the sense of something grander than ourselves.

And this is the true secret behind the Law of Attraction. It isn't these fantasies that are sold to us for $29.99 a copy about how if we would just think a thing, we could have a thing. It isn't these $99 a night lectures that tell us that if we feel happy, we will get the things that make us happy. The real method of bringing happiness to your world is to find that part of your world that is greater than you and that you know you LOVE - and serve it. For then, that greater portion will be there and guaranteed to serve you.

You find love when you find yourself LOVING that person you are with. Not loving what you get from it, or despising what gratification you don't get. Not from demanding attentions be paid to you or time be set aside for your purposes, but when you admire and watch that other person be who they are and happily. That's real love.

A real love will find out "what can I do, being myself, that can help that person be who they are?" The mother doesn't love the child because of the attention the child brings on the mother, the mother brings attention on the child for the love she has. A real love will bring to the moment the joy of knowing that the other is supported and loved. A real love does not need any so-called signs of love in return, a real love returns back what it is.

Where is your real love? How can you best be a part of the other? Where is your true success manifesting itself right now?

What is the Art and Science of Tarot?

It has been said that Magick is the art and science of causing change to occur in conformity with Will. Adopting this same motto, I have stated that my reading style is the Art and Science of Tarot.

The science of tarot lies in its ancient associations with Astrology, Qabalah, and Alchemy. The cards of a tarot deck are each linked to some aspect of those very ancient sciences. Each card is assigned an attribute or combination of attributes belonging to those schools of discovery and self-exploration.

For instance, in the Qabalah, the number Five belongs to the realm of Severity, the place where the rules are hard and this is also where things begin to crumble (I always remember the Law of Entropy here).

The Suits of the Tarot belong to one of the Four Worlds of the Qabalah - quite simpy, Wands work in the World of Archetypes, the realm of imagination and invention. Cups belong to the World of our Feelings, and Swords to thoughts/words/ideas. Disks themselves are the final product of this development, the real world physical things.

So a Five of Disks is when the physical world begins to crumble apart. It is when the blocks of our buildings begin to decay, when the body gets weary and tired - maybe even sick.

But that is only the beginning.

If you put the Minor Arcana cards (minus the court cards in this case) in a certain order, in the shape of a wheel like an astrology chart, you have 36 cards each corresponding to one of the 10 degree segments of astrology called Decantes. Each Decante (or Deacon) is ruled by a specific planet colored by the qualities of a specific sign, and has given to it in astrology a very specific definition of its nature. So not only does the Five of Disks belong to the sphere of Severity in the Real World (aka Decay), but also to the decan of Mercury in Taurus.

Mercury is a very mental planet and easily movable, but Taurus is slow, sometimes slothful, and sometimes by way of being stubborn. You can possibly see here the similarity of the Qabalistic thought of God's Severity in the physical world as showing us why things decay, and the Astrological idea of Mercury's high rate of vibration in a place governed by a highly physical sign that often refuses to be budged. Crumble indeed! (Just picture a tightly wound spring in a freshly baked piece of clay.)

So there you have a hint of the science applied to tarot. It's a system and a complete system at that of numbers, philosophical concepts, astrological associations and (in cases with the Major Arcana), alchemical structures. A blog is too limited to go into it fully.

But what is the Art of Tarot that I speak of? The Art is the portion that requires talented blending and understanding of the way the cards will work together. It is like a pallet in a portrait painter's hands. The artist mixes the colors together in a way that generates the color that the artist was looking for or needs to understand. And this is something that can only be learned through experience and practice.

Now, in magickal temples and similar socieities, the method of teaching the Art of the tarot is not by way of the written word. Reading a book does not give you the experiences nor will you fully integrate the lessons into your self. No, the way it is done is to enter the Temple of the particular Diety (or Planet or Energy) being explored. Here the student actually meets and greets the experience being explored, including a full spectrum of associated colors, sounds, ideas, scents and every thing else. And the true Tarot Artist isn't reading the cards per se, but reading back into their realm of experiences, including life experiences that have been attached over time to these temple realms, and seeing and being in these ancient realms. Then comes the task of blending these experiences and the asnwers they bring into your life as a seeker, into the question to which you have sought your answer, and drawing forth from a deep well of inspiration all the details that best serve your aims.

Thank you for reading my article, I  hope this helps make things clearer for you and I look forward to performing an enlightening reading for your service.