Understanding The Tarot Court

Book: Understanding The Tarot Court by Mary Greer

Just who are those kings, queens, knights, and pages in the Tarot deck? Generally considered the most difficult part of the Tarot to interpret, they actually represent different characters or personalities that are aspects of ourselves. They also serve as teachers or projections of our own unacknowledged qualities.
Two esteemed Tarot scholars unmask the court cards with details not found in any other book. Discover your significator and your nemesis. Compare the differences among the cards in well-known decks. Match the court cards with the zodiac signs, the Myers-Briggs personality types, and the Jungian archetypes. Learn a variety of spreads that reveal childhood issues, career destiny, and a storytelling spread to spark the creative writing process.

Most Tarot students will tell you that the court cards are their nemeses and that specialized lessons in this particular area of Tarot would be really helpful. This book isn't formula and it won't tell you just one way to look at the Tarot courts... Mary and Tom describe a multitude of different methods leaving you to choose what works best for you. They include exercises that will challenge how you feel about the court cards. I particularly enjoyed the comparison of the Rider and Thoth courts... something that's never been explained to my satisfaction before. Perhaps some readers don't have any trouble at all with the courts and don't need this book. The majority of us WILL benefit from examining the courts more closely and trying out different methods.

This is a "got to have" book! Greer and Little offer exercises to assist in learning and memorization of the court cards. Written in a common sensical way and easy to understand. One of the books that held my attention from the introduction. If you struggle with the court cards, as I did, then you need to read this one!

Mary Greer is an author and teacher specializing in methods of self-exploration and transformation. A Grandmaster of the American Tarot Association, she is a member of numerous Tarot organizations, and is featured at Tarot conferences and symposia in the United States and abroad.

Mary also has a wide following in the women's and pagan communities for her work in women's Spirituality and magic. A Priestess-Hierophant in the Fellowship of Isis, she is the founder of the Iseum of Isis Aurea.

Mary has studied and practiced Tarot and astrology for over 34 years. Her teaching experience includes eleven years at New College of California, as well as at many workshops, conferences, and classes. She is the founder and director of the learning center T.A.R.O.T. (Tools and Rites of Transformation).

Her books include Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation (1984); Tarot Constellations: Patterns of Personal Destiny (1987); Tarot Mirrors: Reflections of Personal Meaning (1988); The Essence of Magic: Tarot, Ritual, and Aromatherapy (1993); Women of the Golden Dawn: Rebels and Priestesses (1995); and Aromatherapy: Healing for the Body and Soul (1998), with Kathi Keville.

Tom Tadfor Little is a health physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He holds a PhD in astronomy from New Mexico State University and has previously worked as a university professor and a technical writer.He has used the tarot as his primary spiritual tool for a number of years, and has a strong interest in tarot history and antique decks. He co-authored and edited the TarotL Tarot History Information sheet. Tom lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his 8-year-old daughter Anne-Marie.

Buy Mary Greer's book: Understanding The Tarot Court

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Swetha Lodha - Your Love Life And The Tarot Cards
Anonymous - Understand The Secret Language Of Trees
Greg Crowfoot - Understanding The Galdrabok Part 3

Third Eye Ritual

THIRD EYE RITUAL


Perform this neo-Pagan ritual to improve psychic powers three days before the
moon is full and preferably when it is in either the astrological sign of
Cancer, Pisces or Scorpio.

Begin by brewing a strong magickal tea made from yarrow or mugwort (herbs that
stimulate the psychic senses) and then light thirteen purple colored votive
candles to help attract psychic influences.

Drink the tea, then gaze fixedly into a magick mirror, crystal ball, or crystal
pyramid as you chant three times the following incantation:

I INVOKE THEE, O ASARIEL
ARCHANGEL OF NEPTUNE
AND RULER OF CLAIRVOYANT POWERS.
I ASK THEE NOW TO OPEN MY THIRD EYE
AND SHOW ME THE HIDDEN LIGHT.
LET ME SEE THE FUTURE.
LET ME SEE THE PAST.
LET ME PERCEIVE THE DIVINE KINGDOMS OF THE UNKNOWN.
LET ME UNDERSTAND THE wisdom OF THE MIGHTY UNIVERSE.
SO MOTE IT BE.


After chanting, relax, breathe slowly and concentrate on opening your "Third
Eye". Do not permit any negative thoughts to contaminate your mind.

The Third Eye, an invisible chakra located in the middle of the forehead above
the space between the eyebrows, is the human body's highest source of power,
supernatural sight and clairvoyant vision.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Aleister Crowley - The Winged Beetle
Anton Szandor Lavey - The Satanic Rituals
Vovim Baghie - The Grand Satanic Ritual
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa - The Third Eye

The Tarot History Symbolism And Divination

Book: The Tarot History Symbolism And Divination by Robert Place

The Tarot is one of the few books that cuts through conventional misperceptions to explore the Tarot deck as it really developed in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Europe-not, as some would suggest, in the far reaches of Egyp-tian antiquity. Mining the Hermetic, alchemical, and Neoplatonic influences behind the evolution of the deck, author Robert M. Place provides a historically grounded and compelling portrait of the Tarot's true origins, without overlooking the deck's mystical dimensions.

This may be the best book ever written on that deck of cards decorated with mysterious images called the tarot. Dozens of books provide sketchy information on the cards' history and evolution before turning more discursive on how to interpret them. Place inverts that formula. Well-researched, entertainingly written chapters begin the book with information on where the tarot comes from and how it gained so much prominence as a tool for divination. Far from developing from deeply magical sources, as many have claimed, the tarot was originally just a deck of cards used for playing games. Even at the start, however, those games included some fortune-telling. Over the course of centuries, the cards' lore was enriched by thoughtful practitioners who added cards, elaborated their meanings, and connected their imagery to mythology and dreams. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, an inspired young artist, Pamela Smith, drew upon her occult training and her own visions to create the now classic Rider-Waite deck. In a comprehensively researched and passionately argued chapter, Place restores Smith to her rightful position as the genius behind the deck. That Place also offers excellent guidance to actually reading the cards makes the book that much more appealing, as a how-to as well as a why-bother.

The real cream of this book comes not from the debunking (after all, Place is not the first author to set the record straight), but in his analysis of what Tarot truly is. This book is the only book available today that explores Tarot as it was intended by its creators, based on the influences and symbolism prevalent at the time of its creation. As someone long steeped in (and quite fond of) occult/Golden Dawn style Tarot practices, these insights are new and exciting approaches to Tarot. I get to be a beginner all over again! For devoted Tarot nerds like me, this is very good news.

Some folks might be put off by Place's style -- he doesn't allow much room for disagreements. Indeed, ordinarily such confidence would get up my nose, too. But his arguments are so convincing, and presented with none of the customary arrogance of many with strong opinions on magical topics, that I'm inclined to overlook that. His sincerity and love of his subject shine through every step of the way.

Place rounds out the book with solid sections on meanings and divination. He examines the Waite-Smith deck for his meanings section, drawing strong Interpretations from the artwork (you might learn an interesting fact or two about the symbolism employed by Waite & Pixie here). His approach to divination is his alone, and is quite liberating in its use of symbols, intuition and card placement rather than strict interpretations of memorized meanings. He provides plenty of examples to make sure that you get the gist of his techniques.

Indeed, Place uncommonly weds reliable historiography with a practical understanding of the intuitive help and divinatory guidance that the cards can bring. He presents techniques that offer new and valuable ways to read and interpret the cards. Based on a simple three-card spread, Place's approach can be used by either the seasoned practitioner or the new inquirer.

All in all, this is a sane, thoughtful, and (most importantly) useful approach to Tarot. It is now firmly on my short list of most recommended Tarot books, for beginners and advanced alike. Not to be missed.

I suppose I sound like I'm gushing, here, but the book really is that good!

Buy Robert Place's book: The Tarot History Symbolism And Divination

Books in PDF format to read:

Diane Purkiss - The Witch In History Early Modern And Twentieth Century Representations
Robert Ambelain - Martinism History And Doctrine
Summers Montague - The History Of Witchcraft And Demonology

Karmic Tarot

Book: Karmic Tarot by William Lammey

This is a book for anyone who wants to understand and read the Tarot, whether just
beginning or continuing a life-long love affair with the cards. For reasons that you will
soon see, I titled this book Karmic Tarot and named the spread around which it revolves the
“Karmic Spread.”
Everything that happens in daily life is part of the unfolding of your divine purpose.
The more you can grasp the essence of that purpose, the more harmonious that unfolding
will be. This book introduces what I have called Karmic Tarot, a way of discerning your life
purpose, at once both chosen and divine. But it is also highly useful in your day-to-day
affairs. You can gather rich Information about specific issues and time factors affecting
your current situation. A Tarot reading with the Karmic Spread is not only diagnostic but
prescriptive. You are getting answers to the questions you are asking in your heart.
To be rich in meaning and valid in its insights, a reading must be both passive and
active; passive in the emotional and spiritual planes in order to listen and receive information,
and active in the physical and mental planes in order to validate and interpret all
messages.
Karmic Tarot explains the underlying principles and patterns at work in Tarot, rather
than having you memorize what numerous others say given cards mean. It kindles knowledge
hidden deep within you. When you discover the essence of the cards and their relationships
in the deck, their pertinent meanings will always be there when you need them.
When you read the cards, their meanings will bubble up from deep inside you with little or
no effort.
The Tarot is both a rational and an intuitive system, a marvelous blend of right- and
left-brain thinking. It is a logical system of archetypal symbols and structured layouts on
which the intuitive right-brain can play its half of the game. This makes it an excellent tool
for exercising and training the whole brain in any field of interest.
The Tarot is also an excellent and friendly Introduction to metaphysics, as it embodies
so many of the underlying mysteries of the universe. Karmic Tarot focuses on your movement
through your own universe, the evolution of your personal consciousness.
The book is organized into two parts. Part One is devoted to Principle and Part Two to
Practice. You may read either part first. The novice may want to begin with Part Two, which
will enable him to begin reading virtually immediately, later returning to Part One for more
in-depth study. This separation makes the book an on-going reference tool for the more
experienced reader as well.

Download William Lammey's eBook: Karmic Tarot

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Robert Wang - The Qabalistic Tarot
Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers - The Tarot
William Lammey - Karmic Tarot

Liber 058 Qabalah Or An Essay Upon Number

Book: Liber 058 Qabalah Or An Essay Upon Number by Aleister Crowley

Also sometimes refered to as "Gematria" or "An Essay on Number". A General discussion of the Method and uses of the Qabalah. This was originally published as The Temple of Solomon the King, Part V in Equinox I v. See also: The Temple of Solomon the King in the Equinox: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX

Download Aleister Crowley's eBook: Liber 058 Qabalah Or An Essay Upon Number

Free e-books (can be downloaded):

Aleister Crowley - Liber 418 The Vision And The Voice
Aleister Crowley - Liber 051 Atlantis The Lost Continent
Aleister Crowley - Liber 031 Qbl Or The Brides Reception
Aleister Crowley - Liber 058 Qabalah Or An Essay Upon Number

The Alchemical Tarot Renewed

Book: The Alchemical Tarot Renewed by Robert Michael Place

Originally published by Thorsons in 1995, when the Alchemical Tarot went out of print, many clamored to buy both the deck and companion book--often at a steep price. In fact, the original edition still fetches hundreds of dollars with the companion book by Rosemary Ellen Guiley going for $75 or more online.

Fortunately for Tarot enthusiasts, Hermes Publications/Robert M. Place have issued an updated version of this deck called The Alchemical Tarot Renewed.

The two main differences between the original and the renewed version is that the cards no longer have the pillars flanking the imagery, making more room for the art to shine. Also, the Alchemical Tarot Renewed contains TWO versions of the Lovers card: the original, which was deemed too sexy for publication, and the cleaned up version which was included in the original deck.

When I first bought this deck, the cards were quite flexible, causing me some concern as to their durability. I'm happy to report that I've been using the Alchemical Tarot Renewed exclusively for my client readings and the card are holding up admirably--even better than decks from large publishers, in fact.

Although I found the austere images intriguing, I admit to being flummoxed with some of the alchemical symbolism in this deck. So I thought I'd put it on the shelf until a companion book became available to unlock its secrets.

The Fool and trumps in The Alchemical Tarot each relate to an alchemical process, which is part of the Great Work of alchemy that leads to the creation of the Philosopher s Stone, a mystical catalyst that transforms what it touches to its highest form. It can cure any illness, turn lead into gold, and turn an ordinary person into an enlightened sage. The Stone is represented symbolically by the World card. The four minor suits are related to the Four Elements of the alchemists: earth, air, fire, and water and in The Alchemical Tarot each of these elements is related to one of the four functions of Consciousness as listed by Jung: sensation, thinking, feeling, and intuition, respectively.

I probably would have kept them if the cardstock quality was better. If your just a collector, this would make an excellent addition. However, for daily use, wait until the price gets lowered, because you are definately going to being getting more copies to replace all the soon-to-be defected cards...

My advice to Mr Place, reissue the deck with the revised companion book, using a better card stock, and perhaps throw in a tarot bag too for the current price - then that would make it a great deal!!!

Robert M. Place is an internationally known visionary artist, author, and illustrator, whose award winning works, in painting, sculpture, and jewelry, have been displayed in galleries and museums in America, Europe, and Japan and graced the covers and pages of numerous books and publications. He is the designer, illustrator, and co-author, of: The Alchemical Tarot and The Angels Tarot. He is the designer, illustrator, and author of The Tarot of the Saints, The Buddha Tarot, and The Vampire Tarot. He is the author of The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, Which Booklist has said;may be the best book ever written on that deck of cards decorated with mysterious images called the tarot. And, he the author of Astrology and Divination and Shamanism which are part of the Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena series published by Facts On File.

Robert is recognized throughout the world as an expert on and gifted teacher of the Western mystical tradition and the history and philosophy of the Tarot. He has conducted lectures and workshops in education centers in the United States and Europe, including the Open Center, Omega Institute, The New York Tarot Festival, and The Reader's Studio in New York, The World Tarot Congress in Chicago, The Southeastern Regional Tarot Festival in Florida, and The Museo Dei Torocchi, in Riola, Italy. He has appeared on the Discovery Channel series Strictly Supernatural and his work has appeared on The Learning Channel and A&E.

Buy Robert Michael Place's book: The Alchemical Tarot Renewed

Books in PDF format to read:

John Dee - The Calls Of Enoch
Aleister Crowley - The Zodiac And The Tarot
Baron Tschoudy - Alchemical Catechism
Christine Payne Towler - The Continental Tarots
Robert Wang - The Qabalistic Tarot

Closing Ritual For Rune Magick

The Closing Ritual For Rune Magic

When a rite has been begun with an opening formula, a closing rite
is in order.

1. Face north or east in the elhaz STADHA and intone:

Now is done the holy work
of word and deed
Helpful to godly children
Hurtful to etin-churls
Hail to (him/her/them) who speak(s) them
Hail to (him/her/them) who grasp(s) them
Needful to (him/her/them) who know(s) them
Hail to (him/her/them) who heed(s) them.

2. At this point the hammer rite (without the rune ring) may be performed,
although this would be optional.

3. If it is not TOTALLY SAFE to allow the brazier to burn itself out,
extinguish it by placing a cover over it with the words:

Fire that glows without
forever be kindled within
by the might of Odhinn-Vili-Ve.

4. If the energy built up by the entire Operation is to be internalized, then
draw the collected energies into your personal center by standing in the cross
position, and while deeply inhaling, draw your arms in so that Your Fingertips
touch your solar plexus. Turn in all four Directions and repeat this action,
each time visualizing the sphere being drawn into your center. If the energy of
the rite has been sent abroad, then you may simply split the sphere with your
hand or knife and step out of the circle.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Eliphas Levi - The Ritual Of Transcendental Magic
Edred Thorsson - Siegfried Adolf Kummer Rune Magic
Anonymous - Galdr Verbal Rune Magic