Blog Moved

I noticed that this space has picked up a few new followers. I posted a bit back that I've moved this blog to a more appropriate name. Please add over at QabalisticTarot.

Thank you. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Oops, We Moved!

I hate to do this all. However, I made an error setting up the blog. As I typed last night, I realized that I misnamed the blog. I write almost exclusively about the tarot in terms of the Holy Qabala. Therefore, in order to more precisely define what I'm doing, I created a new blog. Please move over there. I apologize for the inconvenience but this is just a better way of letting those who do searches to find blogs find us.

The new blog is called Qabalistic Tarot and can be found at this cleverly named link Qabalistic Tarot.

First Time Spread

The other day I was doing a professional spread. By that I mean one for which I was being paid, and quite well thank you. This person asked me the most unusual questions. Some were just out of left field. Others made me feel like I should have pushed Jason Miller to share his practical tarot exercises. He claims to do very practical readings. Mine, often tend to range from the spiritual to one's own ability to create one's own life. In this case, I simply made up a couple of spreads on the fly. The results were spot on.

I've been wrestling with a question. The answer sought is a common one among magicians. What would be the result of this act of magick? I decided to do a spread I've never done before, probably the result the reading just mentioned. I've come across it in some books but glazed over it. The spread involves laying the cards out in the pattern of the The Tree of Life. If you're not familiar with that, simply refer to the picture.

I changed the question to, "How will this magic unfold?" Then, I dropped the cards.

Kether (1) - Prince of Disks - This position represents the primal energy. In this case, this is myself, taking a huge step by, in a practical matter, diving in with magick and justified confidence.

Chokmah/Wisdom (2) - Queen of Wands - (please see end note) Chockmah is "God's" reflection of Itself. What It uses to understand Itself. In this spread it reflects the Prince of Disks in a different form but serves to clarify the Prince of Disks. I've withheld power. I haven't acted, not yet and this is very positive and powerful position to be in. Some magick is about timing.

Binah/Understanding (3) - Knight of Disks - This position indicates the highest form of the magick. Manifested Creativity.

Given the cards of the three supernal sephiroth so far, this act of magick will have a huge impact.

Chesed/Mercy (4) - Six of Wands, the Lord of Victory. The mercy I am extending involves a great many other people. None of which would even know I did any magick. In this case, at least for the majority. It is a very good thing indeed.

Gebuarh/Severity (5) - five of wands Defeat. A five in the fifth sephira denotes extra emphasis should be put in this card. In fact, that makes this card so strong that I'm going to pull more cards to understand the full nature of the meaning. There is a person I will be servere with if I do this magick. That person will suffer the intended impact.

This is the sort of thing that always gives me pause. Power means making hard choices sometimes. If you impact a life the way I am contemplating, you damn well better know it is the right thing for you to be doing. You damn well better accept full responsibility for your actions. Anything else is disrespectful to the person your acting upon, the magick itself and the operator. Never should one do magick that cheapens oneself.

Tipereth/Beauty (6) - This is a place of the balance. This is living in accordance with your Holy Guardian Angel's guidance. This position is one of personal unfolding. If I was cheapening myself, it would be revealed here. Knight of Wands, this is the Universe providing an opportunity for me to create. This is important. The check here is one of arrogance. It still may blow up in my face. Just because I have the opportinity to create, just because the universe is providing me a perfect venue for magick, doesn't mean I should take advantage. See preceeding paragraph.

Netzach/Victory (7)  - This is a position that reveals my human desire. A seven here would indicate I am way off base. Eight of Pentacles. Sometimes, I can throw out all my personal meanings and just look at the card itself. The card's name is the Lord of Prudence. My desire is to protect myself and others.

Hod/Splendor (8) - This position relates to magick, thought and emotion. Knight of Swords. I want to create by separating something out. Thus, I make a new whole.  On a football team, one player change can change the entire dynamic of the offense. No news for me there but it bugs me, I will pull more cards for this.

Yesod/foundation (9)  - Yesod is the place of our fight/flight instincts. Seven of Wands, Lord of Valour. I'm trying to protect myself. There likely is no need for that. This need for my own protection is an illusion. False. However, the six of wands in the Mercy slot says my other aim is right on target.

Malkuth/Kingdom (10) - This is the final manifestation. Nine of Disks, Lord of Gain. Overall, this will be a success.

Does this answer my question? Will I make a decision based on this? No, this is one data set. I will do magick to let the universe answer the same question in other ways. Readers of DoingMagick will likely see that work posted in the future.

The point of posts like this isn't to take you through every card. It is my hope that folks will begin to see the underlying technique and attitude being employed. I don't know if a card by card post will be common on here or not. I'm still fleshing out the form this blog will take. Feel free to leave constructive feedback in the comments section. 

End Note: I have very open and generic meanings for the cards in my system. The apply to myself and those I read for. I also have some very personal meanings for the cards. When they jump out, I use them. In the case of the Queen of Wands, my meaning is this: Fire made patient. Not smoldering but power contained. When fire is not fire, power is not power, but the full potential for both making it more power/fire than even the ace. It is pre-ace but manifested.

So, Let's Talk about the Devil

The Devil what is not to love about this horny bastard?

This post, like many I anticipate in the future, stems from work done using the tarot to walk a path on the qabalistic Tree of Life. That work can be found by following the link, Walking The Path of the Devil. The first half is filled with ceremonial magick procedure and revelations that may or may not hold interest for someone primarily focused on the tarot. The second half of that post speaks directly to the card.

One of the things that struck me as a magician and a tarot reader was the perception of multiple levels of this trump. The bottom most level was fear and muck. Unfortunately, most people people live here in one form or another. This is having a one night boink to feel better about being lonely only to feel worse when you have to admit who you slept with. Worse, you do it over and over. This is walking down your own emotional dark alleys thinking it is the only way home for no other reason than this is the route you've always taken.

I used the sexual analogy because in the Thoth deck this is really the card of Pan. We tend to think of Pan as nothing but a horny guy, trying to get laid and masturbating when he can't. He is that but a larger aspect of exists as well. Pan helps to create all life. Let me move back to the Rider-Waite card before I complete the circle on Pan.

The Rider-Waite card shows a man and woman naked (GO PAN!) chained to the Devil (KINKY) but, as unimaginative authors keep pointing out, they are only loosely chained. They could step out of those chains as easily as you could take an alternate route to the nearest movie theater. These same authors will then wax poetic about how easy it is to step out of your own muck. My response to this sort of thinking is uncivilized.

Changing your path, your emotional self, your mental self and/or engrained habits of mind, heart and soul is tough. Yes, the final release is easy but that is like saying an Olympic sprinter had an easy time against a field of competitors. That fellow worked his ass to get there! In the case of this card, the querent may need, therapy, spiritual guidance, your tarot skills, maturity or some other form of personal alchemy. Walking away from those chains easy but you have to have burned away some pretty bad habits in order to do so and that is hard!

So how does our rascally Pan work into this? As I discovered in that pathworking, there is a place represented by this card that is above the muck. Getting there means releasing all that garbage that accumulates in our psyche over the course of life. This is a place where you can create your own life because you see it as it is, not as your muck deludes you into thinking it is. This is very cool indeed.

In a reading, this card may show up in a position that represents the future. This may be a warning not to sink into the muck. It may also be map pointing the way to rising above the existing garbage s/he is holding on to.

As I write about the tarot, it is unlikely I will ever delve into huge lists of meanings about the cards. Instead, I will aim to focus on some meanings in a manner that I hope makes the card more robust for you, the reader, and myself.

First Post

Greetings,

I am a working ceremonial magician and heavy blogger. My main blog is DoingMagick. That space really isn't conducive to discussions on the tarot because it focuses on magickal ritual and like discoveries. This space will stay focused on techniques and discoveries of the tarot and perhaps other forms of divination. That said, I will post links here that connect to doingmagick when anything tarot related is discussed.

Robert