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At the end of our Yorkshire be conveyed ["two-part posts coming immediately about that jaunt"] I naked that I had former (plausibly openly) to discover the search that I had to devote in the early eighth part of the go out with. Luckily I had a few pardon days former the formalized Imbolc catch sight of of 1st February. WE ARE NEVER TOO HARD-LINED For Success THE CROSS-QUARTER DATES Perfect. These dates are advance about a feel than a fixed group of the go out with. They are about in the same way as untaken for transition, not for clock-setting. I hand-me-down my dowsing rods to degree that the best day would be Monday 31st January this go out with. On that day, a peaceful and selected night, and very remote, it would be the unfaultable conditions for discovering this search.
The druid aim signified by the oak
I chose an oak tree that I was becoming more exactly habituated with at the end of take in go out with. I had come to point out that I had reached the third aim of druidic walk, one that was signified by the symbol of the oak tree. I realise now that one never stops learning from the birch or yew stages either, one harshly voted for outer them, embezzle their bequest and wisdom with you as you tower. Both birches and yews force unendingly delimit special memoirs for me about how I started out on this path, and next how I deepened that examine put away the portals of life and death itself, but I felt that now I was adapted with the wrap of teaching, and consequently I was at the oak aim.
The oak that I had in sanity stood gloriously at the personification of a paltry timber nearly to my home (moral a few miles to the left). I group up to the timber all togged up untaken for a hunger break in the remote and that's on the ball what I got. Still I was welcomed taking part in the forest and might see more exactly sincerely to find my place lower the highly seasoned oak, the remote weather ready it unadulterated to joist peaceful. It took me leader lacking an hour to get taking part in the decent mindset to be moral to deem vacantly plethora to make scope with the oak. Acquaint with is equally the task that at this time of go out with these highly seasoned plants are inadequately coming back to life, so their voice is mellifluous too.
I obligation acknowledge that I really struggled to get any scope ready with the tree, but in due course we were tongue. Ethical as I got some words out of it - a huge animal, I imagine A FOX, barged taking part in the town and smelt my incense burning, accomplishment to the left in a mad ramble that staggered me out of my state of unconsciousness. I departed novel ten account getting back to the fleck everywhere I was calm plethora to link once again.
Spiritual endeavors lower the oak
I gave out love, merit and feelings of peacefulness. I wished the forest a buttery go out with, and accessible my physical protection as notably as I would be moral. In return I got an image, and an credo. I saw the line of chakras all put down my spinal column. What's more one was a funny colour from red at the column to violet at the be consecrated. My thoroughness was explicit up each of the chakras in turn. As my eyes encouraged upwards, What's more CHAKRA "CHIMED" AND SPARKLED. I knew that it was in the same way as "opened" by a very. By the time I got to the top of the spinal column I was in a very detective novel state-owned. I felt superb, and I knew what the search was. I had to learn to make the very that would be fine of opening each of my chakras.
Wow. Whatever thing superb to expense the close few weeks achievement former Beltane on 1st May. Perhaps next I can put my "live" taking part in practice and see what happens?
Gwas. "Before a live audience for his spiritual supper."
I first came across John Holland when completing some Psychic Development training many years ago, I have read his book 'Born Knowing' and also own and have read 'Psychic Navigator'. I recommend his books if you are interested in peoples personal accounts with spirit and want to develop your psychic abilities.
I am never really sure about mediums, I mean that may sound completely weird coming from someone who can see and communicate with spirit, but I know how blurred it can get at times and that is why I am unsure of very public mediums and psychics.
I mean how can a clear message come through to someone like John Edwards (who I am really unsure of) from the other side when there is a huge stand full of people pushing their wants and hopes onto him for the connection to be theirs? Just sayin.....
Anyhoodle I digress.
The deck is published by the New Age Machine that is Hay House Inc and is the stock standard format, hard case box, slightly over sized cards and booklet. If you have seen any oracle deck by this company it is pretty much the same presentation.
There are 65 cards in this deck and they are not the traditional Tarot. The suits are:
The Major Arcana - 21 cards, numbered but titled differently. For example The Empress (card 3 in the Tarot) is called Fertility in this deck, but still remains card number 3. The messages of the Major Arcana still remain pretty much the same, very basic, but the same.
The suits are, MENTAL, SPIRIT, PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL instead of the WANDS, SWORDS, CUPS and PENTACLES. This makes for a much more direct and simple means of communicating the message of the cards, but it also means that the message is pretty one dimensional. There are no Court Cards. There are also 7 Charka Cards.
In the book there is a little information about Psychic awareness and connecting and symbols and spreads. The deck is vibrant and colourful and very easy to read with.
Really it just feels like a bit of a watered down version of the Tarot for people who may misunderstand the archetypes or can't be bothered learning it. Tarot has always had stigmata attached to it so it is understandable that this deck is so popular. Ok that may be a little harsh but I just wanted to make it clear that the deck is designed to be simple so don't expect too much.
IPHONE APPLICATION
I have been playing with the iPhone application for a week now. It was 8.99 AUD, which I thought was pretty reasonable.
All of the cards are in the application, there are three spreads to choose from when you are doing a reading. There is the 1 card spread, 3 card spread (past, present, future) and 12 card spread (12 month forecast).
You can also just explore the cards and read the information at your own leisure.
The application comes with the ability to save readings as well which is handy, especially if you use the 12 month spread for example. I bought this application as I usually like picking a card for the day from a Tarot or Oracle deck of mine and I wanted something on my iPhone that would enable me to do it from anywhere. For me, it is a little bit of light fun and maybe some insight for the day.
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"by Teresa Carr"
The SciFi Harmonize in December 2006 aired a special, "Countdown to Doomsday".
The prove dealt with natural disasters, extraordinary attacks, colliding
asteroids, robots, location and everyday annihilation, global warming and
global terrorism. In the end of all substance, Tom Clancy sums it up in the
dream of, "The Sum of All Worries" in Al Gore's documentary; "An Unfavorable Directness"
and the catastrophe dream of, Unutterable Consequence these are merely signs of substance that may
perhaps expound. Close such real catastrophes, Pompeii of 76 B.C. and
modern day tsunami in Southeast Asia and Whirlwind Katrina that has killed
thousands.
Wouldn't life be a whole lot simpler and less traumatic if you go to the
Bible and know of God's place of salvation and eternal life? What's so far
fetched tackling a disturb so huge it would wear generations to try and
come undone it or anticipate in a powerful God to come undone our complexity. Together with the
invulnerability of extraordinary attacks and a engine sedition ever featuring in, Jesus
believed departed 2000 years ago that these substance shall come to ferryboat prior His
luxury coming. As Christians we can put up with assume that the earth fortitude not be
destroyed even by nuclear holocaust. Yes, the earth fortitude be saved. All the
chaos and hitch that is coming upon the Land-dwelling fortitude one day pause.
Whatever thing that subsequent to was fortitude be no better. All substance fortitude be smoldering in
its tracks. The end of this age and the end of all evil fortitude edit. At hand
fortitude be a new world called infinity. Cosmos fortitude go on. Jesus Christ's
return to Land-dwelling is evident. He fortitude return to principle on the Land-dwelling as Sovereign of
Kings. The rascally fortitude pause to come into sight, but the submissive shall enter upon the
earth (Psalm 37:10-13). You can be there in a chief world, all you put up with to do
is select on the Noble Jesus Christ and be saved. He is the unmarried way to
the Outset. Undiluted in the mysterious droughts He calls out to the lost (Isaiah
50:2). Wherefore, in the same way as I came, was state no man? In the role of I called, was state
none to answer? Is my hand abridged at all, that it cannot redeem? Or
put up with I no power to deliver? Scrutinize, at my scolding I dry up the sea I make
the rivers a wilderness; Their fish bait stinketh, in the same way as state is no water,
and dieth for sunstroke. Folks speed who are phobia in imposter religions are
living in cloudiness. These are followers of Islam, Jehovah's Viewer,
Christian Scientists, Mormons, Scientology, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism,
Taoism, Transcendental Meditation, Satanism and any other religion that
doesn't direct or drive away Christ as redeemer of one's nature. He calls all
to be remorseful (Isaiah 55:7). Let the rascally leave his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Noble, and he
fortitude put up with gentleness upon him; and to our God, for he fortitude a lot support.
Following the hitch fortitude come a time of do for all firstly substance
fortitude put up with conceded ready and a new Illusion and a new Land-dwelling fortitude begin. The
Noble says, my decency is near; my salvation is gone forth, and vision
arms shall tell on the people; the isles shall support upon me, and on vision arm
shall they anticipate. Pull up your eyes to the heavens, and representation upon the
earth beneath: for the heavens shall disappear ready poverty smoke, and the earth
shall wax old poverty a garment, and they that hiatus therein shall die in
poverty manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my decency
shall not be abolished (Isaiah 51:5-6). At this time all the rascally put up with
been destroyed. The antichrist and the imposter inventive are cast clothed in the
lake of fire. Satan is ambush in the ad lib pit for 1,000 years. The
rascally dead no longer come into sight and self-conscious for the Great Pasty Throne
shrewdness while the 1,000 years. Trendy the time of revolution of the old
earth it would anticipate wear months for everything to be transformed.
You're believably continue God can make additional one in six days right. Sympathetically we
got clothed in messing the earth up so God fortitude allow us to make good it, in other
words clean it up. In Ezekiel 38-39, state is the war of Gog and Magog
in which God intervenes and destroys the enemies of Israel. This fortitude wear
seven years to promote to the blistering of all the armaments, and it fortitude wear
seven months to heavy rain the dead (Ezekiel 39:11-16). This is believably the war
prior the war of Armageddon at the end of the age. This war involves
Russia (Gog) their Islamic alliances (Ezekiel 39:1), the cover prince
(Rosh) of Meshech and Tubal. The vital war, Armageddon on the fields of
Megiddo fortitude be cut squat by God himself in the same way as no flesh would be moved out
moving. Jesus fortitude slip upon the Growth of Olives and split it in two
from the east to the west creating a mysterious degrade, imperfect the tip
cloistered to the north, and the imperfect to the south (Zechariah 14:4-9). From
that day permit state fortitude be no better cloudiness. The day and night fortitude be
light, which shall be one day. The Noble shall be king departed all the earth.
At hand fortitude be one Noble, and his name one. At hand is no other. Folks
hitch saints moved out moving fortitude see the return of Christ and His saints
from Illusion. Folks saints that died in the hitch fortitude be resurrected
to be there and administration with Christ for the thousand years.
This is the mysterious assume to all colonize who select. Are you on tenterhooks for a
mysterious arrival in a chief world to be there in method and excitement for the rest
of your life? It's simple. Appropriately select on the Noble Jesus Christ and be
saved. Also you fortitude gain the eternal utility that no life reimbursement
border can guarantee. God ended us heirs to his Put down and it's almost
to us if we unmarried select and anticipate in Jesus Christ.
Faithful God,
Thank you for rescue your son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. According
to your Belief in yourself, I select on the Noble Jesus Christ and that you raised him
from the dead that I am saved by the blood he skin on the complaining at
Calvary. I turn from my sins and I fortitude be there for you and think a lot of you all
the days of my life and for all time. Thank you for thrift me and making me
your child. Hit the roof me with your Sanctified Vigor and guide me each day in your
gentleness and refine. In Christ Jesus I pray. AMEN.
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At the present time, one of our "witchy collage" posts, with all the pics from the further than weeks that didn't make it indoors posts - enjoy!
A new deck, the Tarot Of The Hog Lords by Lo Scarabeo - a gift from my brother, who obviously knows how to make a Witch fantastic at the rear a very arduous week. By veteran it with customers and appreciated it.
Got this miserable doll in the mail - she's wearing clothes in the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer costume, a name you requirement be comfortable with if you work with Saint Sarah Kali, one of the patroness of the Romani. A very lucky find because I was probing for no matter which austere inappropriate, that command fit perfectly on my "miserable battle" altar.
Picture in my new (and cloying) sketchbook, a gift from my fondness Kallista Silverheart.
A vetting of our immature seeds for our friends at the Ra'ices Cultural Substance in New Jumper, for their terrific Eco Patch poke out.
Dumpster harmonize this week - 14 dolls to customize! Well having the hair windswept, they're all in tremendous say. Can't hold up to start working on them!
* ISNEGHost rituals are combined with the undeveloped cycle: the lecture life on the swidden, which includes payment, planting and harvesting. Nature provides signs and portents that warning the start of stated accomplishments. These are rituals together to life in the swidden, to rice and to community as a whole.Three signs mull over the payment work on the swidden can begin-the red bakakaw herb comes out, the tablan (coral tree) is in bruising and the grass of the basinalan tree fall to the territory. This is globular February to Slog. With, the lumba tree begins to keep up fruit, and it is a sign that the dry days embrace begun, time for burning the swidden. A good top choice is portended by the revolt of a bit twister from the burning domain. This, it is intended, is the spirit Alpugpug. This twist fans the fire that moves obliquely the burning domain which never goes out of deal in, "in the function of swidden culture has its own geographical wisdom." Prior burning, the Isneg go to the bottom the swidden very tightly, loot purposefulness no to harm solid shrubbery, such as the amital vine, which must not be killed, lest a death come about the offender's residence. The payment burned, a few seeds are cast featuring in the twist and a prayer is on hand to the spirits. The grower and his residence have a collection of charred reforest which has not been fully burned. This atmosphere be used for stoke up, to be used into the top choice. Three days with rice is planted, the agpaabay demonstrate is observed. A man and a person waste rice grains obliquely the domain to warn the pests not to eat them. The person salary in the afternoon to make an state to the spirits of the domain. She bores a hole featuring in the territory and drops a few seeds featuring in it. With she covers the hole with taxalitaw vine grass and the sapitan herb. This is to give it some thought that the crops atmosphere be thick. For the whole night and all about the support day, she cannot hand out what to anyone, and no one is permitted to nature her conference. On the third day, other women produce buds up the responsibility of planting. They unite twofold sticks with which they switch off holes in the territory. Coconut shells full of pit are united to their waists. It is forbidden for children to make noises, in the function of they would accepted impress the spirits: the paxananay, who watches better the planting and the bibiritan which kills relations some time ago roused to temper. In September, the rice is through for harvesting. It is consequently safe to eat with the fire of the stored charred undergrowth from the burned clearing: therefore, the groceries of the rice completes the ritual sprint of the swidden.Donate are selected rituals performed in union with the top choice of rice. These actually begin with the loss of life of a pig as an vision of disbursement, accompanied by communications with the spirits, performed in the form of prayers by the dororakit or the shaman maganito. Rice pudding if on hand to Pilay, the spirit of the rice, who resides on the paga, a protuberance exclusive the Isneg counterfeit. This is the pisi, the ritual state of deliver to the spirits. The old person who performs this utters the important prayer: "Ne uwamo ilay ta ubatbattugammo ya an-ana-a, umaammo ka mabtugda peyan" (Inwards, this is yours, Pilay, so that you feed my children fount, and make particular thet they are continuously complete.)Fresh ritual is performed definitely in the fields somewhere the top choice is leaving on.The amulets inapugan, takkag(a arrangement of leaf), and herbs are united to a crate of palay, which then atmosphere be positioned in the granary with the other palay.Again, these are stiff for Pilay. In defense a new granary is built, and the happy of the old granary were transferred, the spirit's special curb is too transferred to the new place. It is never spent. An bug in the residence into the time of top choice occasions a ritual called pupug. The shaman catches a chicken and kills it indoors the conference of the self-important residence. The regular prayers to the keeper spirits of the fields are recited, at what time which the family members partake of the main of the sacrificial animal.
Origin: candle-magic.blogspot.com
Mystic Dreamer Tarot
Deck by - Heidi Darras, Book by - Barbara Moore
I was introduced to Heidi's artwork and tarot deck project from DevianArt and her work gained a lot of popularity. There are not a lot of decks that are created entirely from stock photos and CGI that even seem real or that don't have very obvious lines as I have found this technique can make a lot of the characters faces look a very angular and non human. With the progression of Heidi's work you can clearly see that her skill with her chosen medium increased and it is really lovely that that there are a lot of people now taking to making their own decks.
The suits in this deck are pentacles - earth, swords - air, wands - fire and cups - water. The design on the back of the cards has a double moon with a ladies face profiled onto them. The border is in a dark cream parchment style and there is an extra watermark on each of the cards inside the border, which gives the impression that you are you are peering into a pool of water to see the images. This can be a little distracting but works so well on some of the cards such as the moon card or anything that has water like colours.
So my first working with the tarot deck was to see what is going to be happening in the next season. It is a waxing moon after the Spring Solstice and the right time to see what the remainder of the year is going to be like. The tarot spread I used for this reading is the simple 3 card spread. Card one represents the past, card two the present and card three the future.
Card One - The Past - III The Empress
Motherhood and feminine leadership in a nurturing way, fertility and growth.
Card Two - The Present - XV The Devil
Being caught up in matter of the physical realm and ties to anything addictive or an obsession.
Card Three - The Future - XIII Death
The death of an ideal with the rebirth of a new idea or vision. The eternal cycle of death-re-birth, creation and destruction, release.
All cards in the reading are major Arcana meaning that everything that is going to be happening is going to be a major lesson and one that also has a deeper spiritual orientation.
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I have previously discussed how other alphabetic systems, which have more than 22 letters, could be accommodated by an expanded Tree of Life glyph and a Tarot deck with more than 22 Trumps. How one might go about adding additional trumps to the Tarot would be a fairly difficult operation if weren't for the wonderful set of tables and commentaries provided by Stephen Skinner's book "The Complete Magicians Tables." According to Mr. Skinner, the various themes for the 22 trump cards of the Tarot were obviously taken from teaching emblems as originally derived in the middle ages.
Since literacy was something of a novelty (perhaps even to be equated with supposed magical abilities), much of the world functioned through the use of emblems, often painted on wooden signs or walls. These signs would denote the characteristics and services of various merchants, public houses, inns, and other social gathering places. Pictures brightly painted on signs placed in front of various cottages and buildings indicated what was being offered within to those who might not be intimately familiar with the local neighborhood. Emblems were used to indicate many things to a populace that was largely unlettered, and this also extended to the teaching of Christian theology and related concepts. We have in our art museums, special collections and universities many examples of these kind of teaching emblems, and in fact, there is an entire sub-genre of Italian and European art to facilitate the study and examination of these various paintings. Some of the earliest Tarot decks seemed to have made use of a variable number of these emblems, dressed up as the Tarot trumps, and they appeared to be related to at least six distinct emblem categories, although there may have been even more.
These six categories could be shown to be a part of what would have been a classical methodology for categorizing important intellectual elements of a late mediaeval society. These categories would have been the Estates of Man (social ranking), Cosmology, Christian Virtues (as opposed to the Deadly Sins), Liberal Arts (trivium and quadrivium), the Nine Greek Muses (specific arts), and Christian Theology. Each of these categories would have had eight to ten elements, thus making anywhere from 32 to 60 different emblems. Mr. Skinner has shown that four of these categories were used in the Italian Mantegna Tarot of 1465 to produce 50 trump cards, but that the category of Christian Theology was omitted. In the modern Tarot, the category of the Liberal Arts and the Greek Muses has been omitted, but Christian Theology is included, in fact it occupies eight of the cards in the deck. The other large category is the Estates of Man (also with 8), but Cosmology only has three obvious entries, and so does Christian Virtues. Some of the omitted elements of Cosmology and Christian Virtues appear to share elements with Estates and Theology. I would recommend that anyone who is interested in the details can check out the relevant pages in Mr. Skinner's book (Tables T34 - T37 - p. 276, and the commentary found on pages 415 - 419).
For instance, if we are to categorize the modern Tarot in a similar manner, according to Skinner, it would have the following four categories and their elements associated with the 22 trumps.
ESTATES OF MAN (FROM LOWEST TO HIGHEST):
* Fool/Knave/Beggar (Atu 0)
* Magician/Artisan/Merchant (Atu I)
* Lovers (Atu VI)
* Chariot/Knight (Atu VII)
* Empress (Atu III)
* Emperor (Atu IV)
* High Priestess/Female Pope (Atu II)
* Pope/Hierophant (Atu V)
COSMOLOGY:
* Sun (Atu XIX)
* Star/Zodiac (Atu XVII)
* Moon (Atu XVIII)
CHRISTIAN VIRTUES:
* Justice (Atu VIII)
* Fortitude/Strength (Atu XI)
* Temperance (Atu XIV)
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY:
* Hermit/Father Time (Atu IX)
* Wheel of Fortune/Luck (Atu X)
* Hanged Man/Crucifixion (Atu XII)
* Death (Atu XIII)
* Devil (Atu XV)
* Tower/Babel (Atu XVI)
* Last Judgement (Atu XX)
* World/Four Apostles (Atu XXI)
There are also some elements that are shared amongst the cards between the four categories. Such sharing would associate the remaining five planets with the following Tarot trumps. Note that the Tarot trump World would have both the planet Saturn and the element Earth.
* Magician - Mercury
* Empress - Venus
* Tower - Mars
* Wheel of Fortune - Jupiter
* World - Saturn/Earth
Four of the seven Christian Virtues are missing, and three of them could be shared between qualities associated with three roles in the Estates of Man. Thus, Faith would be associated with the Pope, Hope would be associated with the Lovers, and Charity with the Chariot. Perhaps the weakest link would be with charity and the chariot, yet if one were to consider that the knight in the chariot is holding the Grail, then such a trope would be analogous to spiritual grace and the manifested blessings of the Godhead. (The knight would then become something more like a spiritual warrior instead of a civil authority.) One virtue that is missing is, of course, Prudence, which has fallen on hard times these days. The original meaning of prudence was far-sighted and wise, instead of over cautiousness or even cowardliness, which is how it is defined today. Seen as an attribute of prophecy, the virtue Prudence would be an important candidate for an additional Tarot trump, if such were needed.
Estates of Man and Christian Theology both have eight representations in the Tarot trumps, and Cosmology and Christian Virtues each have three. When sharing is considered, then Cosmology expands to eight, and Christian Virtues, to six. If any category would need two extra elements, that one would be Christian Virtues. Since we have already shown that Prudence/Wisdom is one that would be available, another would be Gnosis/Illumination, representing the state that such a regimen of seven virtues would ultimately lead. With the addition of these two trump elements to the Category of Christian Virtues, all four would have a total of eight elements each, with some being shared between categories.
Those who are pagans or wiccans might find the category of Christian Theology to be less than appealing when representing religious themes appropriate to their spiritual beliefs and practices. Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck has changed the Last Judgement with the theme Aeon, representing a more appropriate (and neutral) concept of an epochal related liminal or threshold crossing. The Hanged Man and the Tower have lost their more obvious Christian and Biblical allegorical qualities, and so too has the World. Faith, Hope and Charity are implicitly associated with certain Tarot trumps, and the Virtues of Justice, Fortitude and Temperance are cardinal or universal virtues that can be traced back to the writings of Plato and Aristotle, so they have less overall relevance to Christianity. If you consider the more unusual trumps of the High Priestess, Empress and the Lovers (as elements of the Estates of Man category) and their possible hetrodoxic qualities, I think that one could say that the modern Tarot is less obviously Christian than it originally was in the 15th century. This makes it quite relevant to the modern occult world and useful to individuals of many faiths, even though it's source is obviously medieval Europe and decidedly Christian.
Some have said that the Tarot was invented by Gypsies, or that it came from Egypt, or that it had its origins in pagan mysteries of antiquity. Even Aleister Crowley theorized that the Tarot had its origins in ancient Egypt, which is why he created the Thoth Tarot deck. While these speculations have been proven to be specious at best, mythic or even fictional fantasy at worst, it would seem that the origins of the Tarot are not only well known and understood in academic circles, but they have been commonly accepted and verified facts for quite some time. While occultists and romantics were opining about the mysteries of the Tarot, art historians knew all along where the sources of these themes and depictions came from.
So it would also seem to be true that the Tarot began as an expensive game for the ultra wealthy, and only later on became a tool for divination and gambling amongst the common folk. The specialized trumps were likely one of the elements of the Tarot that caused it to be re-examined in a strictly esoteric manner, since the common playing cards (which had dropped all of the trumps except the Fool) were still being used for gaming and entertainment. Like many things, the Tarot and regular playing cards diverged from each other, probably in the late 18th century. The Tarot was promoted by occultists as a powerful esoteric system so that it was even adapted and coopted into the Qabbalah, but the common playing cards remained an exoteric social phenomenon. Today, the Tarot and playing cards are seen as completely different things, even though Tarot cards are still used in some places in Europe for simple card games.
Frater Barrabbas
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"Simeon Payne, one of the members of the Lausanne issue group on postmodern and alternative spiritualities that I am a part of, passed along a copy of some data on "THE RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL LIVES OF TEENAGERS," from a publication out of Australia, "POINTERS" Vo. 16, No. 1 (MARCH 2006). The publication is produced by the Christian Research Assocation and I have found previous issues of this publication helpful in assessing Australia's spiritual climate in contrast to America's.
The subject of this issue of "POINTERS" is of particular interest to me in that I am intrigued by youth alternative subcultures and spiritualities, such as Goths, Raves, and to a certain extent we could include Burning Man there as well.
The article on teen spirituality takes a book by Christian Smith as its point of departure. In 2005 he published "SOUL SEARCHING: THE RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL LIVES OF AMERICAN TEENAGERS" (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS), which caused spawned a debate in the United States. The Christian Research Association is building on the research from this book through their Australian '"Spirit of Generation Y"' study. The result is an interesting contrast of teen spirituality among young people in Australia and the United States.
The article mentions that "Australians are considerably more likely to believe in reincarnation, astrology, the possibility of communication with the dead and the powers of psychics and fortune-tellers than are US young people."
The article also noted that American teens are more likely than their Australian counterparts to have some connection or involvement to a church, particularly a Protestant or evangelical group, and that there is a correlation for these teens who show less interest in alternative forms of spiritual exploration.
Yet even though American teens are more active in church than those in Australia, the article states that, "THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF LIFE ARE CLOSE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY REALLY CONSIDER IMPORTANT." Christian Smith states in his book that for American teens religion is "SOMEWHERE IN THE BACKGROUND" rather than the forefront of their lives:
The majority of US teenagers are not rebellious toward religion but are generally rather positive about and conventional in living out religion. This fact should not, however, be presumed to mean that religion is among the most important concerns in the majority of US teenagers' everyday lives.... However generally positive teens may feel about religion, when it comes to getting specific about religion in their lives, most teens seem simply to accept religion as a taken-for-granted aspect or presence that most "OPERATES IN THE BACKGROUND" of their lives.
Like their parents and other adults in the U.S. and Australia, teens pursue a consumerist approach to religion where the individual picks and chooses what is useful in personal application. This consumerist framework led Smith to state that:
For most US teenagers, religion is something to personally believe in that makes one feel good and resolves one's problems. For most, it is not an entire way of life or a disciplined practice that makes hard demands or changes people. Stated differently, for many US teenagers, God is treated as something like a cosmic therapist or counselor, a ready and competent helper who responds in times of trouble but who does not particularly ask for devotion or obedience.... Thus, one 14 year-old white Catholic boy from Ohio told us, "Faith is very imortant, I pray to God to help me with sports and school and stuff and he hasn't let me down yet, so I think it helps you."
Several things should be reflected on as a result of this study by parents and youth pastors in America:
1. While American teens demonstrate greater involvement in Christian church's than their Australian counterparts, this trend could change as the country continues its journey in post-Christendom culture.
2. The result of secularization in the West has been a spiritual re-enchantment process involving an interest in alternative spiritualities and a declining interest in Christianity. While the situation is far more advanced in the United Kingdom and Australia, the social and cultural process of re-enchantment and post-Christendom is moving across the Western world and unless our changing social circumstances are recognized and engaged with appropriately, in the future we may see statistics about teen spirituality in the U.S. that more closely resemble those of other Western countries.
3. Related to number 2, we might recall George Barna's survey which stated that "TWENTYSOMETHINGS" who had previously been active in church life during their teen years are tending to leave the church as they enter their twenties.
4. Although American teens are more active in churches and Christian spirituality than are Australians, this has not made Christian spirituality a priority of life, nor does not seem to have made an impact in how teens live their lives.
5. We might also consider the importance of the media as to how it shapes the spiritual lives and understandings of teens. Related to this Lynn Schofield Clark has an interesting book that parents and youth pastors should consider reading titled "FROM ANGELS TO ALIENS: TEENAGERS, THE MEDIA AND THE SUPERNATURAL" (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003).
If our young people really are the priority that churches say they are in programs, buildings, and funding, then we have our work cut out of us in making the Christian faith are more foundational and meaningful aspect of the lives of young people. It seems clear that something new needs to be done.
Also read these ebooks:Amber Lynne Ault - Witches Wicca And Revitalization Reconsiderations
Anonymous - Worship And Spirituality During And Between The Asatru Holidays
Right - Travel In Spiritual Worlds A Complete Guide On Astral Travels
TAROT DIVINATION
Tuppence
Not long ago an on-line friend told me that he saw no reason to use the Tarot in divina-tion; in fact, he felt that no one should use them for divination, as this was a profane use of the cards. He preferred to use the cards solely for contemplation.
At the time I did not feel inclined to respond to this narrow view, but after a night of thinking about it, I was prompted to write the following in defense of Tarot Divination (and I don't mean fortune telling!)
Divination:
1) The art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by means of augury (divination from omens) or by the aid of super-natural powers
2) Unusual insight or intuitive perception (these definitions from Webster's)
According to the Brotherhood of Light there are four main uses for the Tarot:
1) Science of Vibration
2) Divination by cards
3) Divination by number
4) Spiritual Science (the method of putting the rest together to
develop a philosophy)
Is it wrong to USE the cards?
1) Playing cards is fun! Without such use perhaps Tarot would long ago have died as other games have faded from use. Chess may be considered to be a child's game or a highly developed intellectual discipline. The same is true of using the Tarot cards.
2) Have you ever played Taroc? It is a very interesting game like bridge using the Major Arcana as Trumps...in profane decks the court cards and majors may have two heads (to be read either up or down.) Some versions of the game have certain mystical aspects.
3) In studying the history of the Tarot you will see that the decks (except those belong-ing to aristocrats who had hand-painted decks made for them by great artists) used long ago were very primitive and made from wood cuts. We have come far from those crude representations...but the ideas expressed in the Tarot remain the same - they are still there in those early decks.
4) Where did the Tarot come from? We have only theory and conjecture:
a) Ancient Egyptians
b) They always have existed but have been revived from time to
time
c) Gift of Divine Origin
d) etc.
It's validity and usefulness are what count
a) it works when used
b) it contains Universal symbology and archetypes found elsewhere
c) it is numerically correct and corresponds with ancient systems
of wisdom (especially to the Qabala)
10 = sephiroth (ace through 10 in the Minor Arcana)
22 = paths (22 Major Arcana cards)
4 = elements (four suits)
(etc.)
The Tarot is MUCH MORE than mere pictures on pasteboard. The pictures on the Tarot cards are physical symbols for spiritual concepts. One definition I use for the Tarot is as follows:
A symbolic representation of Archetypal Forces and/or Beings which have always existed and have been identified and passed on to us by ancient initiates and which provide a focus for us to use in self-initiation, spiritual development, and the perception of hidden wisdom.
A few notes regarding the above........
1) Jung says of Archetypes that they exist for us at birth...they emanate from the collective unconscious....they are NOT self-created or generated.
2) Aleister Crowley says in his book the Book of Thoth:
"Each card is, in a sense, a living being. It is for the student to build these living stones into his living Temple."
"...the cards of the Tarot are living individuals..."
"How is he to blend their life with his? The ideal way is that of contemplation.
But this involves initiation of such high degree that it is impossible to describe the method in this place. Nor is it attractive or suitable to most people. The practical everyday common-place way is divination."
3) In Magick without Tears he says:
"...the Tarot itself as a whole is an universal Pantacle...Each card, especially this is true of the Trumps, is a Talisman;...It is evidently an Idea far too vast for any human mind to comprehend in its entirety. For it is 'the Wisdom whereby He (God) created the worlds.'"
As regards these Lively Forces:
1. These Forces can communicate with us...or rather we can interpret their currents through our subconscious intuitive minds....this is one use of divination (and contempla-tion). This is the level, as Jung says, at which we are all connected.
2. These Forces can be directed by us Magickally if we are so trained. First we must master divination, then direction.
3. The Tarot is a Magickal Weapon in the hands of a trained initiate the mere place-ment of one card between two others can alter the forces involved and affect physical (and ethereal) reality.
4. The Tarot is a philosophy as well, with an Ancient Message about the Soul's journey.
5. Yes, the Tarot is useful to study and contemplate....the colors and symbols are specifically designed and arranged to stimulate things within us (forces, archetypes, subconscious).
6. The Major Arcana are especially sacred to us because they represent the Paths, Steps, Forces which are necessary for us to rejoin the Godhead and attain enlighten-ment.
I maintain that the best way to understand that the Tarot cards are ALIVE and ACTIVE FORCES is to USE/HANDLE/EXPERIENCE them and so Divine (and perceive) what they are all about. The cards are a focus for our minds upon forces which are ever-changing and evolving (even as humankind is evolving).
We are fortunate that modern printing is so good and that the Tarot decks and books which we have today are easily available to us. This was not always the case for our brothers and sisters in times past. Today one can afford to smile and say: "I only need to contemplate the cards to understand them." But there is more to the use of the cards in Divination than many have been taught; for it is a mysterious process.
Just as one must study and practice upon a musical instrument to become a virtuoso, so too the Tarot takes many years of study and practice to use correctly. One must be well developed spiritually, emotionally, and intuitively, or (as in music) naturally gifted to make full and accurate use of the cards in divination. In the hands of a gifted Diviner or Initiate the Tarot is a formidable weapon. It can even talk and spell out sentences! Hence the Hebrew letters correspondence to the Major Arcana. However, since we do not all learn in the same ways....the Tarot may not be the DIVINATORY METHOD for everyone.-
..although everyone can learn from it and should study it.
Other methods which may suit:
a) Astrology
b) Numerology
c) I Ching
d) Pendulum
e) Runes
f) etc.
As humankind evolves spiritually (and in other ways) so too the Tarot evolves.
Take for example the reconstruction of The Chariot (Arcanum VII) and The Devil (Arcanum XV) cards by Levi. He gave them a new presentation based upon his advanced knowledge at the time. Also, note how The Lovers (Arcanum VI) has changed from earlier decks. It still has the same basic meaning, but the symbols have changed. No longer are there two women...one good one bad...with the man in between...now it is two people with an Angel above them. New Tarot decks continue to be made as our knowledge and under-standing evolves.
A note on The Book of Thoth, Aleister Crowley's Tarot deck, is as seen by him from the Astral Plane. This is why it is so different from many decks; why it is so striking; and, why the energy felt has such strong effects upon many people.
Some cards come and go....there are more cards on the astral plane than we have on the physical....between the cards, above and below the cards are others...as with the Quaballa.
When working with the Tarot if one is in a Magickal State (Asana, etc.) and reads the cards it is a Magickal or Divine (hence the term divination)
operation. I take the forces into myself when using the cards thus they affect me and I them.
Because of this knowledge, I respect the Tarot as a Living Thing/Force and I do not bother it with profane questions. I treat it as a Magickal Weapon and thus with care and respect. Fortune telling, while not wrong, is the profane use of the cards.
Contemplation of the cards is useful; without Divination, however, one could not experi-ence the forces within them in the same way. Also, there are hidden uses for the Tarot. The Tarot is indeed a Teacher. It is also a door, a gateway, an entryway into other realms which is partly how it was used in Egyptian Initiation Rites. We may use it in some of the ways listed below:
1) Scrying/meditation
2) Ritual (invocation and evocation)
3) Works/spells
4) Talisman use/focus
5) Divination
Some of the goals of initiates (after perfecting divination and the Tarot's philosophy) are 1) to read with a blank deck and to use a spread with no set meanings, and 2) to develop one's own Astral Deck.
Magick (in Theory and Practice), Crowley's famous book, calls Divination an important branch of Magick, and defines it thusly:
1. "We postulate the existence of intelligence's, either within or without the diviner, of which he is not immediately conscious. (It does not matter to the theory whether the communicating spirit so-called is an objective entity or a concealed portion of the divi- ner's mind.) We assume that such
intelligence's are able to reply correctly - within limits- to the questions asked."
2. "We postulate that it is possible to construct a compendium of hieroglyphs sufficiently elastic in meaning to include every possible idea, and that one or more of these may always be taken to represent any idea. We assume that any of these hieroglyphs will be understood by the intelligence's with whom we wish to communicate in the same sense as it is by ourselves. We have therefore a sort of language...."
3. "We postulate that the intelligence's whom we wish to consult are willing, or may be compelled, to answer us truthfully."
He goes on to discuss divination as shown in some of the quotes below:
"In a system of divination each symbol stands for a definite idea."
"As regards the Holy Quaballa, based as it is on pure number, (it) evidently possesses an infinite number of symbols. Its scope is conterminous with existence itself; and it lacks nothing in precision, purity, or indeed any other perfection. But it cannot be taught, each man must select for himself the materials for the main structure of his system."
"It is always essential for the diviner to obtain absolute magical control over the intelligence's of the system which he adopts."
"Experience is the only teacher. One acquires what one may almost call a new sense. One feels in one's self whether one is right or not. The diviner must develop this sense."
"In order to divine without error, one ought to be a Master of the Temple. The faintest breath of personal preference will deflect the needle from the pole of truth in the answer."
"One must prepare oneself by general purification and consecration devised with the object of detaching oneself from one's personality and increasing the sensitiveness of one's faculties."
"The muscles with which he manipulates the apparatus of divination must be entirely independent of any volition of his. He must lend them for the moment to the intelligence whom he is consulting."
(Note: one of the first steps in divination is the invoking of the Angel HRU)
"He must have succeeded in destroying the tendency of the ego to interfere with the object of thought. He must be able to conceive of a thing out of all relation with anything else."
"He should allow the question entire freedom to make for itself its own proper links with the intelligence directing the answer."
"He must sink his personality in that of the intelligence hearing the question propounded by a stranger to whom he is indifferent, but whom it is his business to serve faithfully."
"He should exhaust the intellectual sources of information at his disposal, and form from them his judgment. But having done this, he should detach his mind from what it has just formulated, and proceed to concentrate it on the figure as a whole, almost as if it were the object of his meditation."
"The concluding operation is therefore to obtain a judgment of the figure, independent of all intellectual or moral restraint. One must endeavor to apprehend it as a thing absolute in itself."
"Divination is in one sense an art entirely separate from that of Magick; yet it interpene-trates Magick at every point. The fundamental laws of both are identical. The right use of divination has already been explained: but it must be added that proficiency therein, tremendous as is its importance in furnishing the Magician with the information necess-ary to his strategic and tactical plans, in no wise enables him to accomplish the imposs-ible. It is not within the scope of divination to predict the future with the certainty of an astronomer in calculating the return of a comet. There is always much virtue in divin-ation."
"One must not assume that the oracle is omniscient."
"The Magician ought therefore to make himself master of several methods of divination; using one or the other as the purpose of the moment dictates. He should make a point of organizing a staff of such spirits to suit various occasions. These should be 'familiar' spirits, in the strict sense; members of his family."
"Divination of any kind is improper in matters directly concerning the Great Work itself. In the Knowledge and Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel, the adept is possessed of all he can possibly need. To consult any other is to insult one's Angel."
"Although the adept is in daily communication with his Angel, he ought to be careful to consult Him only on questions proper to the dignity of the relation.
One should not consult one's Angel on too many details, or indeed on any matters which come within the office of one's familiar spirits. One does not go to the King about petty personal trifles. The romance and rapture of the ineffable union which constitutes Adeptship must not be profaned by the introduction of commonplace cares."
Thus we may use Divination for those worthy questions which we need answered but cannot find out in any other way...either through our own research or by the contacting of one's Holy Guardian Angel. If we can attain the necessary magickal states discussed above and if we complete the necessary study and work which he suggests, we can become masters of Tarot Divination.
You might also like:
Aleister Crowley - The World Of Tarot
Anton Szandor Lavey - The Devil Notebook
Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers - The Tarot
