Yup, none other than The Devil himself. Fear, shackles, and addiction; or so traditional meanings indicate. I sometimes think of the ol’ Devil as being related to career work, given my Capricorn association to the card; that ol’ black magic brings out that ol’ executive along with it.

I can promise you all that I am not a work addict. (For any sort of work!) That said, I will be moderately pleased to be back to the office today. I still enjoy my relatively new job, and it will be good to see my friends at the office.

I think the Devil sums it up, really: back to work, and back to a more regular daily structure (the illusory shackles of the mage). The day is going to be what I make of it. No more, no less.

Right now, I could use a bit more sleep… but it’s past time to start getting ready for work, so off I go!

A Partridge in a Pear Tree!

This post is brought to you by the number one, and is my final post in the 12 Days series here. Because these last few posts have been published with more than one per day, I’d like to remind you to make sure you didn’t miss any recent numbers.

Today’s entry brings a very simple message: be true to yourself.

The reason I write this blog is to share my thoughts and ideas about cards and cartomancy. They may not be popular or widespread, but they are genuine.

I have a small audience. I used to get frustrated about that. But I realized that I don’t write this blog for the fame — such as it is! — or even the notoriety. I write it because I want to capture and share my visions. Like-minded people will find me; and I do get their comments here.

Cartomancy is a very personal thing in my mind. Personal enough that I’ve considered scrapping this blog more than once, because everybody’s approach is ultimately personal. At the same time, cartomancy thrives with people involved. People to read for, to discuss readings with, and to learn with. This blog isn’t as interactive as a forum, but when I have ideas to put forth, I enjoy knowing they are out there where others will see them. And it’s even better when something has prompted comments, because I know others are thinking about those ideas, and perhaps offering related ideas back to me.

So I would simply like to remind you to be true to yourself. If someone tells you that your approach to the cards is wrong, ask them why. But don’t be afraid to stick to your guns, especially if you have effective readings or regular inspiration. Just because you are different doesn’t automatically make you wrong. Be open to learning new things and new approaches, but remember that just because someone else says their way is better, doesn’t automatically make it true.

Thanks to everyone who reads me, and who has taken the time to comment.

I hope you all have a great new year ahead!

2 Turledoves

This post is inspired by the number two, and brings you a one-on-one session between me and the tarot. Specifically, a dialog between me and The Fool. I really wanted to interview the Magician, but apparently he’s too busy right now so the tarot sent me the Fool instead. (It really does have a mind of its own sometimes!)

Me: Well, er, hello there, Fool. How are you?

Fool: Fine. (Distracted by a wandering butterfly.) Just fine. How about you?

Me: Honestly, I’m tired today. I’ve been dragging all week. Does that every happen for you?

Fool: It’s the weather. (Jumping now.) Try being more active, like me!

Me: Yes, I can see, you are getting around a bit.

Fool: That’s nothing. That hussy in the Lovers, now, she gets around. Always involved with a man of some sort — and look where she ends up! [A possible reference to the woman in The Devil card?]

Me: (Feeling a bit shocked to hear this from the innocent-seeming Fool.) Oh, um….

Fool: I know you were hoping to the get Magician, but he’s a bit pompous and stuffy. Head not quite down from the clouds, if you get my drift — hey, stop that! (A small dog is now nipping at the Fool’s heels.)

Me: Is that your dog?

Fool: No, but he often follows me around. Much better than that crocodile I sometimes end up with. I really have to watch my feet with her!

Me: I’ll bet! So, they say that –

Fool: Who is “they?” I often hear that “they” say this, or “they” swear that, but nobody every seems to know who “they” are!

Me: Well, authorities on the tarot.

Fool: Authorities! You mean those pompous windbags that sell books?

Me: Hey, I respect a lot of those authors, be nice!

Fool: Okay, so I exaggerate a bit. (Picks up the dog and spins in a circle now, both looking very happy.) But the ultimate authority on the tarot is the tarot itself. And after that, any person who uses the tarot is his or her own ultimate authority. It’s a personal thing, after all.

Me: Can you explain that a bit?

Fool: Heck, I can’t even repeat that! I was kind of inspired, you know what I mean?

Me: I think I get it anyway. I think you mean is that tarot is personal. Others may help guide me to understand it, but at the end of the day, it’s my cards and how I use them that matters; so only I have the say.

Fool: That sounds right. Can you imagine if there were tarot police? (Pulls out an old-fashioned English bobby hat and a truncheon club.) Look at me, I’m the tarot police. Stop, I don’t like your spread! (Blows a shrill little whistle.) Stop I say!

Me: I don’t think the dog likes that whistle. He looks annoyed with you.

Fool: You’re right. Sorry, little guy! (Spins around, and all the police garb vanishes.)

Me: One last question for you, Fool. Why do people say that you contain every card?

Fool: Oh, because my number nowadays is zero, people say I have infinite possibility. That is true. But then, you could say the same for any trump. It shouldn’t be about the number, but rather, that all of us contain infinite reflections of the whole. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who is the Fool-est of them all?

Me: Quite. Well, thank you for your time Fool, I hope we will speak again.

Fool: Oh, we will, we will… every time you draw your cards, I’ll be there!

3 French Hens

Oui, oui!

This post is inspired, of course, by number three — and relates to something you might not expect to read about here: breathing! Specifically, breathing to center before a reading.

Many readers have their own rituals before consulting the cards. This may be a formal set of actions, such as lighting a candle and saying a prayer of some sort; or informal, such as laying out a particular spread cloth and shuffling the cards. Some of you like to make a cup of tea (I’m coming over if you serve earl gray!), or lay out a bowl of water. Any action that is repeated consistently over time will become one that queues the right state of mind, due to the constant association. In NLP terminology this is an “anchor.”

I would like to offer a particular anchor that I use to start most of my work that requires going within: three breaths.

To help shift my mind to a state suitable for divination, I take three deep breaths; not intentionally slow but not rushing either. My out breaths tend to be a bit louder than the in breaths; and a little bit longer as well. There are surprisingly many ways to approach intentional breathing.

There are refinements you can add to this as well. For each out breath, imagine yourself letting go. Pretend, if you have to. Give yourself permission to relax, picture yourself relaxed or let your muscles go limp — within reason. You probably don’t want become a rag doll in front of someone! The idea is for the relaxation to be tied to the exhaling breaths. To enhance this effect you can try holding each of the three inhales for a moment, before letting them out. Of course, if you have health issues tied to your breathing, please use common sense for this and any other breathing technique.

A refinement that I use a lot, which I learned from my practice of self-hypnosis and the Silva course, is to add an internal count to the breathing. That is, as you take the three breaths, count down for each one as you exhale: 3… 2… 1. Also picture each number in your mind. You can imagine seeing the number before you, large and perhaps in color. Or you can see something that represents the number, such as three birds on a branch (have one fly away after each count) or a person’s hand emphatically “throwing” the number of fingers for the count. Just mentally count and imagine to the best of your ability. For self-hypnosis and Silva both there is more conditioning that goes into this, but again, I do believe repetition brings results.

That’s a lot of writing about three little breaths! Again: repetition will bring results. If you do these breaths then go into a reading, your subconscious will eventually link the breath work with the reading state of mind. If you want to practice conscious relaxation while using these breaths at other times, that will reinforce the state of mind as well. If you meditate, this is a good lead in to that. And of course, I see no reason this couldn’t preface your other reading rituals. An advantage of the breath is that it is always with you, so it may be helpful in a pinch where you aren’t able to do your normal ritual.

While it’s well known that deep breathing will physically relax the body, I wouldn’t expect the first few times you try this technique to magically produce that relaxation. It’s possible for people with a certain turn of mind (pun intended). Your intent will determine your results. The key is to not try to hard; just breathe and relax.

Whether you are interested in psychic abilities or not, Psychic Development for Beginners by William Hewitt describes how to achieve a 3-count relaxation cycle in more detail than I did, along with some other conditioning methods. Basically he is showing self-hypnosis without calling it that. If you’ve seen his older books, this one is more fluid than Hypnosis or Beyond Hypnosis, with their rigid 30-day programs. At any rate, if you like what I described above and want more information without diving into full self-hypnosis or a Silva course, I think this book is friendly and inexpensive.

4 Calling Birds

This post, being brought to you by the number four, is going to be about reading using the four elements. Specifically, a four-card elemental spread. It’s quick, easy, and has proven quite valid in my experience.

(Because I am posting more than one entry today, please don’t miss my previous post, 5 Gold Rings.)

I have made good use of this spread, which is actually a preliminary step for Opening of the Key. I always use it with tarot, but there is no reason it can’t be used with other decks. What I do is to shuffle the deck and divide in half to the left; then divide each of those piles in half, again to the left. I end up with four piles, created in this order:

4 – 2 – 3 – 1

If that is confusing, don’t worry. You can divide the deck however you like, or just lay out four cards. You can search this blog or the web for Opening of the Key (sometimes OOTK) to find more details if you aren’t familiar.

Each pile represents one of the four elements. For me, and OOTK, they are ordered from right to left:

Earth – Air – Water – Fire

Your own use of the elements and understanding of the meanings may differ, but here is a synopsis of what I read into these piles:

Fire: Inspiration, passion, drive, action. Because it’s action, it can also represent the past that lead to the question for the reading.

Water: Emotion, relationships, nature of interaction with others.

Air: Thoughts, communications, plans.

Earth: Stability, concrete things, material things, and — because it’s things that are solid — the possible final outcome of the question.

If you use cards that have elements and you are familiar with elemental dignities, you can also dignify each pile. So if you had a water card (a playing card heart or a tarot cup, for example) in the Fire pile, then that card is weak, and creates a conflict in the Fire position. If you use Lenormand you could use “natural dignites.” For example, the Sun card would probably be strong — too strong? — in the Fire pile, whereas the watery Fish would be weak in the Fire pile.

This is a sketch of the spread and the process. I have one example of this posted previously, which focuses more on elemental dignities than on the meaning of each individual pile.

Enjoy!

5 Gold Rings!

For five, I wanted to touch on readings that utilize a count from one card to the next, usually referred to as card counting. This post was inspired by the count value of an ace being eleven or five (in the Opening of the Key spread), depending on how one learns.

Card counting is a way of obtaining more information from a spread, by counting a certain number of cards from a card of interest; and then continuing to count. This builds a sequence of cards which can be read in addition to the spread itself. This is not a method restricted to tarot cards.

Modern tarot readers are nowadays more familiar with card counting than used to be the case just a couple of years ago, thanks in part to the work of Paul Hughes-Barlow; and two of his mentored friends, Catherine Chapman and Douglas Gibb. (And hopefully from my blog!) For these readers, cards are all assigned a particular numerical value, and therefore the count varies during the process because the each card itself determines its counted numbers. This comes to us from the Golden Dawn method, Opening of the Key (OOTK). However, it didn’t start here.

OOTK creator Mathers wrote an earlier book, The Tarot, which includes a method that counts every seventh card. He deals every seventh card in the deck, which is effectively card counting, even though the cards aren’t already spread out. (Incidentally, he pairs cards of a horseshoe fan in this book, which OOTK students will recognize). I have seen a variant or two of this elsewhere.

Another number that is popular found counting is five. I have seen this described for use with the Lenormand deck by Treppner and by Juan Ferrer. Every fifth card of a Grand Tableau (full 36-card layout) is read in sequence to provide additional information.

Both Cicely Kent and Sepharial wrote of card counting as a way of reading the 32-playing-card deck.  The full deck would be spread out in a grid — Sepharial referred to this layout as the tablet. A card of interest would be chosen as a significator, and counting would start from there. This could be the querent, or a card like the Ace of Clubs that represented news of interest. The counted cards would build a sequence that tells a story; and each card in the count was also influenced by its neighbors.

Kent’s counting is particularly elegant: an increasing sequence starting one, three, etc.. (I was not able to determine any significance to her sequence.) Every time the sequence was complete, she’d start it again. Any and every direction could be counted; so it was very flexible according to the whim and talent of the reader. Additionally, Kent describes a counting method for use with the full deck. This method used a fixed count of nine cards.

I adapted Ms. Kent’s counting sequence to a Lenormand Grand Tableau and came up with a workable numeric counting sequence. My intent was use this as a singular method for exploring the Grand Tableua, as opposed to the many other techniques available. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough guinea pigs volunteer sitters to get validation that this method would work for me; and I moved away from the Grand Tableau in any case.

The moral of this story is that there are a variety of card counting techniques you can research and make use of. The easiest is to apply counting to a spread you already use. Pick one number and use it. Generally you will count from a card of interest and chain the counted cards into a storyline that further illuminates your question. Popular numbers seem to be five, seven or nine. Tarot readers can use the Golden Dawn numeric assignments, or also stick with a straight count. Card counting is best when there are enough cards to count, although I’ve counted with as few as five cards spread out.

One more tip: a counting sequence generally stops when a previously counted card is about to be counted again.

Do you use card counting? Do you find it helpful or not? Will you try it after reading this? Let us know in the comments!

6 Geese a-Laying

The number six is often a number associated with the Sun; and therefore, health and healing. How does this relate to the cards?

I originally wanted to describe the basis for using your cards to create a healing ceremony, by making an active talisman layout. Then I thought about healing as it relates to cards, and that led me to something else I want to bring to your attention: Why do you practice and study cartomancy? Some possible reasons are:

• For knowledge; and knowledge is power
• Fortune-telling to entertain your friends
• Divination because it is a spiritual calling (whatever that means in practice)
• It’s a sideline for your magic(k)al persuasion
• You like collecting cards for the art, and decided you might as well read them
• They help you to creatively journal your life
• Self-healing through reading, writing or meditation with cards
• They unlock your psychic talents
• They get your conscious mind out of the way for your psychic talents
• You don’t feel intuitive without a physical prop
• Healing others through their use
• You want to carry on a family tradition of card reading

This is a list of reasons that came to my mind; I’m sure there are many more reasons beyond what is here. I started out with the idea that obtaining hidden knowledge would be helpful. A tool to navigate at-times treacherous waters sounded great, and as an added bonus, my cards of choice — the tarot — were an aid for spiritual and philosophical exploration and pursuit of magical practice (originally a la Golden Dawn teachings). Then knowledge became cool in its own right, and the idea of helping people with my knowledge became important. Finally I reached a point where I think that healing is an important goal of reading the cards. Whether it is for me or someone else, a reading can provide unknown information to assist decision making, and shed light on the poorly lit highways of life

This process is a means of healing, in the sense of making whole. If Maria wants to know when her cheatin’ boyfriend will come back to her, that is likely the precise fact she does want to know. But receiving guidance on her life in the process of a reading can help to heal Maria by giving her something to go on: perhaps hope, perhaps courage, perhaps self love. There is likely something that Maria needs to hear, learn or know and hopefully the reading will serve her in that capacity. Whatever the situation really is, we should not judge; but we should provide Maria a message from our tool. Maria has a chance to move towards well-being through this reading.

(I realize that gets into a gray area, because some readers will insist on rephrasing the question to focus on Maria while others think it’s presumptuous to impose our own values on the question. I have discussed this elsewhere on the blog.)

This is how I feel today. I’m sure my feelings on the purpose of working with cards will continue to evolve over time, and I may have a different opinion at this time next year. The point is that it’s important for me to know why I read, so I can direct my energy in that direction when I study, learn and practice the craft of cartomancy. I believe this is important for any card reader.

Do you know why you work with the cards? Feel free to share with us all, in the comments!

7 Swans a-Swimming

First off, a belated Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays — take your pick — to everybody out there. I spent a very happy couple of days with my loved ones, and am now trying to unwind a bit. It is cold and rainy outside and we are on the verge of a big snowfall here, according to the weather predictions.

Incidentally, cartomancy author Cicely Kent wrote that she believes the weather always shows up in a reading. I can’t say I’ve ever looked for this or tested it, but it’s an intriguing assertion.

For today’s post, the theme must be around the number seven; and the seven planets naturally came to mind. Actually, the first thing that came to MY mind was the trials of the number seven but I was having trouble turning that into a topic. Then I remembered Ophiel’s Oracle of Fortuna!

The Oracle of Fortuna is a method of divination intended for use with playing cards, that relies on the state of the game (whether won or not) and the seven planets (for categories) to provide meanings to the “spread” that exists at the end of the game. Additionally, the person versed in the system would be able to translate the game into nuances likely to take place as a questioned scenario plays out in real life.

The method uses a 52-card playing deck with extra planetary and elemental cards for the layout in a Klondike solitaire game. (This is the solitaire game that has shipped with Windows PCs forever.) Seven planets mark each of the seven columns; and the elements mark where the suits are built from ace up. I used a stripped-down Thoth mini deck so that I wouldn’t have to create the extra cards, although Ophiel believed that the planetary symbols were an integral part of the game. The symbols do exist on the Thoth cards, even though they are quite small.

Who was Ophiel? He was an occult author whose real name was Edward Peach; he wrote about occult topics in the 60s and 70s. His books are very user-friendly, and a good but overlooked way for the modern reader to ease into some modern occult practices, particularly with his interpretation of Golden Dawn-based practices. His book on astral projection is often recommended by those who have tried it. You can learn more about Ophiel and his writing, including his old correspondence courses, by visiting the Ophiel_Magick Yahoo! group.

The only downside I’ve found to the Oracle of Fortuna is that it takes time to play the solitaire game — which can be helpful for getting into a divinatory state of mind, but I like to just spread the cards and dive into a reading. So after trying it a few times, I set it aside as it didn’t fit my preferred modus operandi.

(I just remembered I have another book that includes some solitaire methods of divination; but I don’t recall the title and the book is packed away. I will post at a later date when I find the book. It’s a thick hardcover cataloging a large range of divination practices; the dust jacket has a green-tinted picture of a crystal ball. It also describes some older methods of reading playing cards. It pops up at the local used bookstore periodically.)

My previous post on the Oracle of Fortuna game can be found here. If you are newer to my blog, definitely take a look, especially if you enjoy solitaire. The book is out of print and overpriced at the typical online source, but you can join the above Yahoo! group if you’d like to find the rules.

8 Maids a-Milking

I’d better be careful, or I’ll be crying over spilt milk again.

I had a lot of ideas for the number eight. The problem is that a lot of them were too involved to fit into a short post like this, or were ideas I’d like to spend more time with before writing about publicly. What to do, what to do?!

Then it hit me: I could share a lot of my brainstorming ideas with you! I like the idea of sharing this — a snapshot of the way that my mind works, at least in this case. It provides a record of some ideas I may explore later. Finally, it’s a reminder that tarot doesn’t have to be all serious and somber and divinatory; it can be used as inspiration for “mundane” things, like writing and brainstorming. (I put mundane in quotes because creativity is sacred in some parts of the world or our history. Think about the Celtic people or ancient Greek culture!)

Here is my list.  Now with 40% more exclamation points!

Geomancy: I like geomancy and I know at least two people reading my blog do too. Eight is half of the sixteen geomantic figures so it’s an apt topic. The relation of the figures to planets, by day or by night, could fit here. Alas, I really wanted to stick to cards and I didn’t have a particular geomantic link to explore. Although I just remembered my geomantic card deck!

The queens and princesses (pages), the Eight Maids of the tarot: The pages might well be maids in the traditional sense of the word, but the queens certainly aren’t. Yet these eight — provided I treat the pages as females — ladies of the court could provide a topic of interest. But how to explore them? I imagined interviewing them, and giving them names like Ana Cortez does for her courts. But I didn’t like the idea of imposing names on these women. Then I had the idea of writing about what they’d do in a mother-daughter talent competition, which would be a lot of fun. What would the mature queens do alongside their spirited daughters?!

That reminds me of a couple of games played with the tarot deck that I’d like to try. One is a solo game about saving the newborn queen who will one day save the universe; the other is a humorous multi-player game about guiding your drag queen to victory in a pageant, with some slapping along the way!

Eight also brought to mind the eight colors of magic, and the eight spells of the Octavo, from Terry Pratchett’s humorous fantasy Discworld series. Surely some of you are fans! (And if you love Granny Weatherwax and her “headology” then definitely let me know in the comments!) But this is the kind of topic I’d have to spend some time with to write about, beyond making an allusion. I’m also not fresh on the finer details of Discworld as I’ve not read most of the books for ages. (I still like the earlier books best.)

Then there is feng shui and the use of the Eight Mansions to arrange your future for positive qi and success. Which is something I was just reading about, coincidentally, as I don’t know that much about feng shui and am curious. While I could fit the tarot into the ba gua square, I don’t know enough for it to have a purpose beyond the exercise. (But it does bring to mind that Vitruvian Square!)

A compass: four directions of north – south – east – west; and the four directions in-between them. It would be interesting to see what kind of “tarot compass” could be devised as a reading technique. This reminds me of a technique in the seemingly overlooked “Tarot for Life” by Prospero: spread the deck in a circle, look for a card representing a problem you’re stuck on, then using the cards around it to figure out a solution.

Last but not least… I had the idea to write all this up as my post. Here we are!

If you would like to explore tarot brainstorming — using the cards themselves as visual inspiration tools — I suggest books by Mark McElroy. He has one on the workplace (despite the cheesy cover it’s a great book!) and one on relationships. Both give techniques to explore and solve problems in their related subject area, whether it’s approaching an annual performance review, how to strengthen a relationship, or dealing with a break-up.

Addendum: I used the tarot to help me caption the Vermeer picture above. The cards in my RWS deck (Lo Scarabeo pictured) were:

2 of Swords — The Star — The Chariot — 3 of Swords

If any of these ideas resonate with you, feel free to explore them and send me a link. Or if you really would like me to explore them later, let me know that in the comments.

I hope everybody is having a fun, safe and sane holiday season!

It turns out that my pre-holiday prep work has been more involved than expected, as I plan for a dinner I am hosting. (Today will be my last grocery store visit!) So one post a day hasn’t been realistic for me.

As it happens, the titular twelve days are actually the twelve days after Christmas. So I don’t feel too bad that this series will continue to run after Christmas day. I still plan to get through all twelve, and I hope you are enjoying them.