Living at the intersection of occultism, fiction and philosophy, I travel the planes at a moderately quick pace. I read, I do magic, I cook for hubby. Confused by the number of things I talk about? Good, confusion is a nice thing ;)
When one sets out on their magical journey, they are bound to come across views of magic based on the concept of Will. This is largely due to Aleister Crowley’s famous definition of magic as change according to the Will. But Crowley didn’t happen in a vacuum,1 and premonitions of his views are found in the cultural and philosophical atmosphere that preceded him. On the other hand, one would be hard pressed to find any mention, implicit or explicit, of the relevance of Will in pre-modern magic.
Let us keep in mind that every age’s view of magic is intimately bound to the philosophical paradigm of that age. Premodern magic is the efflorescence of a worldview where the universe is ruled by coherent forces that go beyond human control, and partly beyond human comprehension. These forces do not require human understanding or cooperation. It is inevitable, therefore, that most premodern views about magic require humans to simply conform to those outside forces.
Primacy is given to the universal source of power, which is seen as external to the individual, at least in our everyday understanding of individual life. Modern (and even more postmodern) magic, on the other hand, is magician-centric. This is because, in the old view of the cosmos, humans are nothing but an epiphenomenon of the interplay of objective and binding cosmic forces to which they must learn to conform. On the other hand, the modern (and postmodern) worldview is founded on the primacy of the individual’s subjective interpretation of the world and their ability to conform the world to this interpretation.
This shift mirrors the shift from ancient and medieval philosophy, where humans are largely tasked with apprehending reality as it is, without creative input, to modern philosophy (starting slowly with the Renaissance and Humanism), where humans project themselves onto the outside world as they come into contact with it, and finally to postmodern philosophy, where objective reality plays no role anymore, and the individual’s own inner world becomes the only one that matters.
Philosophy
Orientation
Humans
Ancient Philosophy
Objectivist
Humans as witnesses of a preexistent order wherein they must find their place. Intellect is exhalted as the tool to understand this order. The Will of the magus means little, acting merely as an instrument in motivating him or her.
Modern Philosophy
Subjectivist
Humans become increasingly aware of the difference between the objective qualities of the outside world and those qualities they project onto reality; become aware of their role in creating certain aspects of reality. Intellect and Will are at odds.
Postmodern Philosophy
Nihilist
Humans dismiss all notions of a preexistent order to which to conform. Everything is the result of a creative act of the subject. The Will is exhalted, while Intellect is relegated to an instrumental role in forming strategies to reach the aims of one will.
This tripartite distinction is rather rough (and, if taken too seriously, imprecise), but it will do for the purposes of this article.
The question is if the postmodern view of magic can seriously be the last possible view, or if there is something beyond it. My belief is that postmodernism must necessarily be overcome, together with its magical appendix, not because it is desirable to overcome it, but because it has within itself the seed of its own overcoming, just like every age and worldview before.
It is within the premises of postmodernism to to deny the existence of a self-consistent, objective reality. This is why it is usually accompanied by the deconstruction of all certainties, all values, all meaning, all views.
Obviously, this view is itself self-contradictory: in order to seriously assert itself, it has to deny itself as one of the certainties or views to be denied. This implies that the only way for postmodernism to realize its promise of suppressing all meaning is for it to even suppress itself in the end, in order to avoid becoming the meaning of reality. If this argument holds, then it is inevitable that postmodernism, together with its magical appendix, be overcome.
Far harder it is to imagine what will take its place.
One route that cannot be travelled is that of directly going back to the past. It is impossible to simply ignore hundreds of years of historical development to retreat into the safe haven of a glorified past. History, despite its ups and downs, has only one direction, and that is forward.
And yet, if we take the postmodern approach of denying all self-consistent realities beyond the magician’s will and take it to the extreme of even denying postmodernism itself, what we are left with does look very much like the old view of the cosmos, where the Will once again has little relevance. It is a form of going back by moving forward.
Magic, in this new and old sense, has nothing to do with having power to exert in conformity with the Will, and becomes the art of staying out of power’s way as it works itself. Intrinsic in this view is the notion (which all great occultists generally agree with) that the Magus does not have power, as in so many egoistic views of magic, but merely recognizes its currents in order to best position himself with respect to them.
MQS
Furthermore, to be fair, Crowley’s notion of Will does not strictly correspond to that of individual volition, although it does encompass it. His idea of “pure Will, unassuaged of purpose” is very close to that of a transcendental Will sitting at the bottom of all individual acts of volition. Ultimately, though, it is merely Crowley’s way of incorporating the blind vitalism typical of his age into his system of magic ↩︎
Usually I’m not a huge fan of readings done on someone else without them knowing, not for ethical reasons but because I always feel there is more wiggle room for error if the person is not present. This is just my experience, but that’s how it works for me. Still, when a friend of mine started getting paranoid that his job contract might not get renewed I decided to ask, even though he didn’t feel like getting a reading (especially since we don’t live in the same country)
I used the Bolognese tarot, since this is the deck I’m currently studying, and the thirteen card spread, which is the most common spread with this deck.
Will the contract be renewed?
I believe the line that gives us a positive answer is the third, with the Hermit, the Angel and the Devil. Angel and Devil is one of those rare traditional combos that cannot be reduced to the basic meaning of the cards: it represents great news or great satisfaction. In general, when they fall together, they can be a hint at a yes.
Since the Hermit opens the line though, this is going to take some time (and it did: he was waiting for an answer any day from the date of the reading, instead it took two months). And the answer WAS positive, so the Hermit only influenced the time element, but it didn’t block the good news.
What about the other cards? Well, I believe the first two lines are simply describing the situation: in the first line we have the querent, my friend (the King of Wands) together with the little money card and the Ace of Wands. This can be interpreted as him having actually little (Ten of Coins) interest (Ace) for the job aside from needing it or, more positively, that the job brings him success (Ace) in little amounts (Ten of Coins). Both interpretations are actually true.
The second line has Justice and the Ace of Swords, which together can talk about a legally binding (Justice) contract (Ace of Swords). Then comes the letter card (the Page of Swords) which is followed in the next line by the Hermit, the blockage. This is where the delay was created.
What about the last line? Here I’m not sure. The cards talk about a woman, the Queen of Wands, possibly belonging to the family (she sits right on top of the Ace of Cups). She is surrounded by confusion (Fool) and betrayal (the Hanged Man). My only thought was that a woman close to him wasn’t at all expecting the contract to be renewed, was taken by surprise. I wasn’t able to confirm this detail, but there you go.
He’d almost chewed off the edge of his lip. I could see the blood from my armchair.
Mr. Depersonalization, I’d jotted down on my notebook to amuse myself as he sluggishly droned on about how he felt life was unreal, that he was merely going through motions dictated by someone else. As the session limped toward the end, he started talking more and more slowly. Then, finally, it was over.
“Thank… you… doc… energy… low… must… recharge…” he said, trudging stiffly toward the door. And I saw it. Not blood. But paint melting off heated metal. Underneath, a cold gray.
(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)
The Ten of Pentacles from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The time period is the third decanate of Virgo, under the rulership of Venus, September 13 to September 22. Meanings: Well-Dignified: money through servants or subordinates; gain in matters connected with medicine, drugs, food, nursing, farming or gardening; completion in material gain and fortune, but nothing beyond. Ill-Dignified: material success, but heaviness and dullness of mind; sometimes loss through the matters listed above; slothfulness. Keyword: Wealth. (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A man and woman beneath an archway which gives entrance to a house and domain. They are accompanied by a child, who looks curiously at two dogs accosting an ancient personage seated in the foreground. The child’s hand is on one of them. Divinatory Meanings: Gain, riches; family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family. Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
The Ten of Pentacles from the Rider Waite Smith tarot
Aleister Crowley
The Ten of Disks is called Wealth. Here again is written this constantly recurring doctrine, that as soon as one gets to the bottom one finds oneself at the top; and Wealth is given to Mercury in Virgo. When wealth accumulates beyond a certain point, it must either become completely inert and cease to be wealth, or call in the aid of intelligence to use it rightly. This must necessarily happen in spheres which have nothing whatever to do with material possessions, as such. In this way, Carnegie establishes a Library, Rockefeller endows Research, simply because there is nothing else to do.
But all this doctrine lies behind the card; it is the inner meaning of the card. There is another view to consider, that this is the last of all the cards, and therefore represents the sum total of all the work that has been done from the beginning. Therefore, in it is drawn the very figure of the Tree of Life itself. This card, to the other thirty-five small cards, is what the twenty-first Trump, The Universe, is to the rest of the Trumps.
[…]
The number Ten, Malkuth, as always, represents the final issue of the Energy. Here is great and final solidification. The force is completely expended and results in death. Mercury rules this card in Virgo; and this may imply that the acquired wealth, being inert, will be dissipated unless put to further use by devoting its power to objects other than mere accumulation.
The disks, or (as they have now become) coins, are arranged on the Tree of Life, but the Tenth coin is much larger than the rest; the image indicates the futility of material gain.
These disks are inscribed with various symbols of mercurial character except that the coin in the place of Hod (Mercury) on the Tree is marked with the cipher of the Sun. This indicates the only possibility of issue from the impasse produced by the exhaustion of all the elemental forces. At the end of matter must be complete stagnation, were it not that in it is always inherent the Will of the Father, the Great Architect, the Great Arithmetician, the Great Geometer. In this case, then, Mercury will represent the Logos, the Word, the Will, the Wisdom, the Eternal Son, and Virgo the Virgin, in every implication of that symbol. This card is in fact a hieroglyph of the cycle of regeneration.
Among the Geomantic figures, Mercury in Virgo is Conjunctio. The meaning, conjunction, is shown plainly by the attraction of the descending (female) Triangle, the cipher of the Yoni, to the ascending (male) Triangle, that of the Lingam. This union completed, they appear interlaced, forming the figure of Capricornus, the Sign in which the Sun finds his rebirth. It is the holy Hexagram, the symbol of the uniting of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, the accomplishment of the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness. Sic sit vobis! (From the Book of Thoth)
The Ten of Disks from the Thoth Tarot deck
Golden Dawn’s Book T
AN Angelic Hand, holding by the lower extremity a branch whose roses touch all the Pentacles. No buds, however, are shewn. The symbols of Mercury and Virgo are above and below. The Pentacles are thus arranged:
* * * * * * * * * * Completion of material gain and fortune; but nothing beyond: as it were, at the very pinnacle of success. Old age, slothfulness; great wealth, yet sometimes loss in part; heaviness; dullness of mind, yet clever and prosperous in money transactions. Malkuth of HB:H (Riches and wealth). Herein are HB:LAVYH and HB:HHa’aYH set over this Decan as Angel Rulers
Etteilla
The house Upright. In terms of spiritual medicine, this card, in its natural position, signifies: Home, Household management, Economy, Savings. – Dwelling, Domicile, Residence, Manor, Lodging, Regiment, Ship, Vessel, Vase. – Archive, Castle, Hut. – Family, Origin, Race, Posterity. – Cave, Cavern, Refuge. Reversed. Lottery, Luck, Gambling, Chance, Accident, Ignorance, Fate, Destiny, Predestination, Fatality. – Fortunate or unfortunate opportunity.
Fludd describes the meaning of the Judge, based on the figures (Witnesses) it comes from.
Of the Witnesses, that is, the thirteenth and fourtheenth figures of a Geomantic Shield, out of which the Judge or fifteenth figure comes; as the whole judgement of the figure consists in these figures.1
Populus as Judge means, when derived from:2 Minor and Minor: Congregation of armies, kings, princes or powerful lords, or great congregation of women. Major and Major: the property of a king or a great lord or knight, and also a person operating in the law or justice, men of science, a congregation of great women. Tristitia and Tristitia: congregation of melancholic people, things that are dark, black and heavy, property of the dead, sadness of heart. Laetitia and Laetitia: congregation of prelates or (people of the) church, of men of great prosperity, knowledge or sainthood, who have joy in the world; men of great perfection.
Acquisitio and Acquisitio: gain of people who love reason, completion of a transaction, a truthful and honorable judgment. Amissio and Amissio: change of place and house, a place in a strange land Cauda and Cauda: multitude or congregation of evil men, thieves, assassins, interruption of journey. Caput and Caput: It signifies the correction3 and gathering of a secret council, hidden matters, prayers and religious gatherings in one place, marriage, the joining of members.
Puer and Puer: congregation of infants or small men or women for love, congregation due to lust; feasts for the solace and joy of men and women, instruments of song and music, a gathering of slaves, for weddings and the like Puella and Puella: slaves, a multitude of vain, lustful speeches, the guilt of men, women and prostitutes, treason in the family, dishonesty, lying men and women, drunkards in luxury, fornicators, sodomites. Rubeus and Rubeus: blood spilled and in battle, if it comes from bad figures, if from good ones that shedding of blood is taken for the better4 Albus and Albus: white things, written books, silver letters, profit and the agreement of multitudes.
Via and Via: canals, rain, multitude of poor people, the way and journey of small animals, a light, unstable and insignificant thing Conjunctio and Conjunctio: a thing of different colors, writing, weddings, ointments, or fatty things, complaints, death, graves, falsehood and changeable words Carcer and Carcer: a gathering of ships, pregnant women, prisons, deep ditches, words over graves, dark and hidden things
Via as Judge means, when it comes from: Populus and Via: marriages, accidents, but good for journeys, sudden journeys, rains, waters, joy and consolation, bad for the promise of lords, and of firm and stable things, bad marriages, ambassadors and sudden messengers Amissio and Acquisitio: to go and return often and especially in trade without profit or loss, and it is a light judgment, and denotes peace in all things, but it is bad for changing place. Cauda and Tristitia: poverty, loss, bad for journeys and for the acquisition of the desired thing, good for him who must come from his country, a great outcome in trade, small ways to profit; good winds at sea, bad for receiving debts Major and Minor: good for the return of the absent, finding of the lost man, good for large beasts, dangerous for marriage, freedom from prison, a sign of confusion and loss for those making a journey.
Albus and Puella: journeys by land, good for the return of the absent, ambassadors. Caput and Laetitia: dignities, honors, stable journey, sudden and good fortune before judges, fulfillment of promises of kings and lords, fulfillment of one’s desire Conjunctio and Carcer: good marriage, good fortune, good company, bad for journey and change, prison after freedom, illness after health, sadness after triumph5 Acquisitio and Amissio: a good journey, expenses, profit in trade, good company, good marriage, good honors.
Carcer and Conjunctio: herbs, plants, opposition against enemies, but the request will come according to the wish of the querent. Via and Populus: journeys, marriages to be made, good for obtaining the promise of a king or lord Tristitia and Cauda: a good exit from misery and poverty, a sudden path to honor, the firmness of a thing experienced, good for one who hopes for something, but nevertheless the desired thing will come slowly, melancholy and anger Minor and Major: a good journey and marriage, the destruction of the royal court,6 good for ascending to honor, height, a thing that will be the loss of another [person]
Puella and Albus: good for starting any thing, a change from better to better, and especially in the thing sought, and it will be better for a woman than for any other,7 acquisition, but a delay in the journey Laetitia and Caput: beasts, an obstacle to the journey, good for the power of a king, or judge, or wise man, a secret thing, good for enemies, after victory tribulation and opposition Rubeus and Puer: good fortifications, good dignities, consolation, security, victory and a gathering of beasts.
Carcer as judge signifies, coming from: Conjunctio and Via: Good marriages, security, good fortune, anxiety of labor, but a good end, pain of the sick, danger of death, good for acquisition. Caput and Cauda: fear in everything, for it is a corrupt and dangerous sign for all things, and in no way useful, denoting disputes, anxieties, dangers, and interruptions of every good intention. Acquisitio and Minor: discussion, long and lasting labor, but the end will be good Minor and Acquisitio: books, letters, great buildings, such as castles, and regalia, false solidarity, consolation, and treasures, a great gathering of men. Carcer and Populus: all feminine things, labors, business, contrary to making marriages, imprisonment and disease.
Acquisitio and Minor: marriages of girls and great labors in these, married women, but in the end a good outcome and security of all things. Puella and Rubeus: good for society, ditches and ovens in the land, acquisition on the way, but delays the absent. Laetitia and Tristitia: pain and sadness, difficulty in women’s affairs and in receiving servants, contrary to marriage, a sign of small people, bad for infants and generation, imprisonment, delay of the absent, and adversity on the journey Via and Conjunctio: good for the traveler, a good road, good for marriage, for illnesses, for the imprisoned, and, if only the querent is joined to the thing requested, it will be useful in trade.
Cauda and Caput: good fortune in all things, joy and happiness, sudden completion of the request. Populus and Carcer: books, letters, the color green, danger in earthly things, for example, in mines, prisoners and fields, land. Major and Amissio: profitable and secure acquisition, good marriage and security among them. Rubeus and Puella: marriage of children or young people, people from whom profit comes, long journey, earthly things, good for change and movement
Amissio and Major: gluttony, good marriage and acquisition in every good thing, but marriage is with great difficulty and work; this figure is unfavorable to those imprisoned and denotes that a lost thing will be easily found. Tristitia and Laetitia: great work on the journey, and hard work in marriage and society, prevents the acquisition of a thing and brings harm to the imprisoned Albus and Puer: a thing against the will of the querent, a dispute, disturbance on the way but a good end
Amissio as judge signifies, when coming from: Amissio and Populus: a loss that will never be repaired, contrary to society and marriage, but good for imprisonment and diseases, bloodshed. Caput and Puella: femininity, recovery of lost things Via and Acquisitio: he who is outside the country will be returning, great expenses in merchandise, fugitive slaves, who will nevertheless return. Carcer and Major: mines and caves, the color red, much diversity, loss and injuries for women, a loss for travelers, good for land near the house.
Cauda and Rubeus: much evil, a bad man, little talk, anxiety about one’s master, complaints and lawsuits, or wounds and bloodshed, it is also contrary to imprisonment and disease. Minor and Conjunctio: security caused by the hand of the king or judge, damages from small beasts, which will nevertheless be recovered in some way. Tristitia and Albus: white clothes, health in illness, return of the absent, good for the road, good recovery of lost property, loss of goods. Tristitia and Puer: Loss, treason, fear, a vile person representing the law, robbers who change colors8
Populus and Amissio: a vile person, loss and later benefit, good for marriage Acquisitio and Via: road, expenses on merchandise and all things without profit, and runaway slaves. Major and Carcer: the acquisition of land, good for a journey, good for marriage and useful in merchandise, and partnership between a man and a woman Puella and Caput: good fortune in all things, anticipation of loss and good fortune, benefit and lightness, it will come suddenly when it should come
Rubeus and Cauda: fear, sadness, anguish and all that a man should fear, lest he incur some disgrace through a woman and his goods, but still a good end. Conjunctio and Minor: security, honor and glory, recovery of a lost thing, good profit and gain, good fortune and fulfillment of desire Albus and Laetitia: great profit, victory, strength and fulfillment of will, health to the sick, good for the departed, letters, news Puer and Tristitia: old age, poverty, impediment of affairs, poor men, bad brothers, the end will nevertheless be good, sometimes it is also a sign of peace
Acquisitio as judge signifies, coming from: Amissio and Via: loss and defect of the thing to be acquired, which however will later be changed into gain, return of the absent to gain and safety, obstacle on the journey, gain. Via and Amissio: safety of making a journey and gain, good fortune, riches and reception of letters and messages. Carcer and Minor: fame and honor of a great man, good for a petitioner to a king or lord, increase of all profit and reception of debts. Acquisitio and Populus: profit and gain, good for journey and travelers, good for weddings and merchandise, peace, joy, has its judgment over family and beasts.9
Major and Conjunctio: fulfillment of promise, helps reception of merchandise, denotes good company, profit, acquisition, joy. Minor and Carcer: in man, firmness, healthy love, faithfulness to promises, acquisition of land, and is a sign of a powerful man, and good firmness in marriage. Puella and Laetitia: acquisition in merchandise, profit in wheat and beasts, loss to those who are in remote places, but the end will be good. Puer and Cauda: recovery of a lost thing, obtaining a promise, profit and gain, earthly and mineral things, silver and riches, but it seriously affects the seeker, for it is a sign of labor, pain and fear or terror, but the end always comes to salvation.
Caput and Albus: honor and security, having goods, victory over enemies, and profit and joy in every matter. Tristitia and Rubeus: many firm things, pregnant women, liberation and labor of the sick from hot10 diseases, or blood, or enchantment, good for merchandise, but it is a very unfortunate figure for those in prison. Populus and Acquisitio: good for merchandise, a good end, and is a sign of salvation, good for beasts and useful in every matter Conjunctio and Major: stability of things, but much labor in acquisition, good for those making a journey and recovery of debts.
Acquisitio and Puella: good profit and especially in trade, acquisition in all things, and safety and peace, good for imprisonments and for the acquisition of honor and exaltation from the king. Cauda and Puer:it is bad to have a promise, for it prolongs things promised, and yet fulfills them in the end, and is a sign of slowness and fear, but all things have a good end Caput and Albus: great joy and power in trade, good for victory, honor and glory, acquisition, joy, exaltation of what is sought. Rubeus and Tristitia: obstruction of secrets, secret things, great or difficult thoughts, also hard things and things of great moment or weighty things and sometimes a good outcome or end of things, sometimes signifies liberality and is a good figure for a pregnant woman and her fruit.
Minor as judge signifies, coming from: Via and Major: acquisition by the hand of a king or some other powerful, wise and great man, and this figure is useful and good for acquisition Minor and Populus: sudden acquisition, good conversation among nobles, black beasts, profit and gain in the teaching or profession of the querent, a beautiful, good and honest woman. Amissio and Conjunctio: a wise man, as a judge, official, or lord, bad at keeping a promise, bad for infants and prisoners, in sodalities there is corruption, loss, conjunction with a woman. Carcer and Acquisitio: acquisition by a king or cardinal, fulfillment of hope and desire, good accident of fortune, good for marriage
Puer and Caput: acquisition and profit, but the querent should defend himself and avoid vile men, such as slaves, and such as change their colors. Puella and Tristitia: the destruction of one’s king, who has great power over nations, a promise that will not be kept, bad letters and false ones Laetitia and Rubeus: the thing sought is real, fear in the querent, who nevertheless will be safe and free, and will acquire honor, and great profit Albus and Cauda: profit, and honor from a king or a notable man, who has gold, silver and an abundance of other metals and books and clothing
Major and Via: journeys to kings or lords, great men, goodness and peace, and joy, and great beasts Populus and Minor: trade and much profit, a gathering of great men, great things, a good woman, but it is not good for the king, and signifies something opposite to him, a gathering of armed men. Conjunctio and Amissio: a ruler or person showing signs of generosity, happiness, fortune, goodness for making marriages, journeys, keeping a promise, good hope for the imprisoned Laetitia and the Puella: division among princes, kings and nobles, happiness and good fortune for marriages, company on a journey, keeping a promise, a gift for the imprisoned, letters and victory over the infidels
Acquisitio and Carcer: acquisition of animals by the hand of the king or judge, judgment and completion of the matter in question, good for the release of the imprisoned, good for society and marriage, burial of the sick. Caput and Puella: bad conversation between kings, people of bad condition, good for the acquisition of wealth, people of the lowest condition, good and virtuous. Rubeus and Laetitia: acquisition of the thing sought after despair, fear and sadness, good end of the matter. The figure is suitable for security, and a good outcome or end. Cauda and Albus: exaltation, acquisition of victory over enemies and is a sign of joy, consolation, and good profit from the hand of the king
Major as judge signifies, coming from: Populus and Major: messengers and ambassadors of good things, good for the return of the absent and the reward and profit of animals, fortune in marriage Via and Minor: messengers carrying letters or couriers, the return of the absent, power, victory, honor and glory, the fulfillment of a promise Albus and Tristitia: the return of the absent, green cloths, some obstacles in secret matters, but a good end Caput and Rubeus: red heat, a virgin woman, the familiarity of pregnant women, the recovery of a lost thing and after despair the fulfillment of a promise after the due time. Carcer and Amissio: horses and women’s things, good except for the one who is the querent, for for him it is not good unless he inquires about his question,11 it denies the return of the absent outside the country.
Cauda and Puella: justice and truth, return of the absent, good for marriage and company, profit through horses. Amissio and Carcer: beasts, return of the absent, recovery of a lost and desperate thing, it hinders [the querent’s] intention, yet it is a good and secure thing Acquisitio and Conjunctio: conjunction of the thing sought, acquisition and profitable return of the absent, health to the sick, delay of all things, but a good end Minor and Via: arrival of letters with labor, the petitioner will quickly obtain his petition Major and Populus: journey, small animals, pestilence, firmness, location near water, delay of marriage, and it is a happy sign denoting indeed labors, but so that all things may reach salvation.
Tristitia and Albus: return of the absent, good fortune, profit in beasts and feminine matters Rubeus and Caput: a menstruating and red woman [sic], joy and goodness in absence; for it promises all that it asks for, yet hinders the seeker in his person, and also signifies that goods and clothes will be sold Puella and Cauda: firmness of journey, restoration of good, good for marriage, but delay through evil speech Conjunctio and Acquisitio: gain and profit for the seeker, and for the thing sought, return of the absent, good for a pregnant woman, delay, but a good end, health for the sick, receipt of reward for work, foreign affairs. Laetitia and Puer: love, joy good for one absent from home, profit, etc.
Conjunctio as judge signifies, coming from: Populus and Conjunctio: love of food and hunger, lawsuit and fear, loss of treasures, good for marriage. Carcer and Via: journey, much goodness and safety, letters, multitude of people, and security and friendship of women, and good deliberation over pregnant women. Conjunctio and Via: marriage, good for tournaments, and for journeys, and good for many things Major and Acquisitio: acquisition of beasts and profits, gain, firmness in many things, recovery of a lost thing, and fulfillment of a promise after despair Carcer and Tristitia: fear in every thing, destruction with one’s friends, is a sign of receiving gold, silver and similar things.
Puella and Puer: gathering and marriage, friendship, loss, except in animals. Via and Carcer: a long journey, the conjunction of women’s affairs, treasures, horses, good for a pregnant woman, and for gathering Acquisitio and Major: a journey for women’s affairs, a sign of treasures, the gathering of good horses, joy for pregnant women, a long journey, and sometimes delay and pain Amissio and Minor: presumption, security, victory, virtue, dominion and honor from the hand of the king, peace, good for marriage
Puer and Puella: hope and love between brothers and sisters, good for illness and for receiving gold, silver and other such things Tristitia and Caput: completion of news, a beautiful woman, good for the return of the absent, but with obstacles and fear, which will nevertheless have a good end
Cauda and Laetitia: fortune, a happy and great man, victory, utility and grace, virtue, promise and sometimes poverty Major and Acquisitio: marriage, joy, good fortune in every matter, return of the absent Albus and Rubeus: return of the absent and profitable, different colors, profit, good for every ambiguous matter, or about which someone has doubts Laetitia and Cauda: a great man, good fortune and love but heartache, so that it hurts the one who is healthy
MQS
Footnotes
This is a rather standard section for Geomantic handbooks of the time. Keep in mind that it contains some mistakes in its geomantic calculations, though it is unclear whether this is on purpose or casual. ↩︎
Generally, in Fludd’s view, Populus represents congregations or it strengthens the meaning of the figures it comes from. ↩︎
This is probably due do Albus, as it was considered more feminine than Puella ↩︎
Probably meaning that they don’t present as robbers at the beginning ↩︎
Unclear, possibly meaning the figure rules these things. ↩︎
This refers to traditional medicine, where diseases were categorized in a different way than today ↩︎
As I translated it, this sentence is almost comical, as it amounts to “it is good unless it is bad, which is when it isn’t good.” Still I wouldn’t be able to translate it otherwise. ↩︎
The literary landscape in Italy is rather dismal, as far as the occult arts are concerned, even though in recent years something seems to be changing. But Il Tarocchino di Bologna (the Little Tarot of Bologna) by Andrea Vitali and Terry Zanetti is not a very recent book, and this makes its outstanding quality even more of a surprise.
The book is divided into several sections, some authored by Vitali and some by Zanetti. Andrea Vitali is possibly the greatest living tarot historian (and a damn good diviner too), the one who has shed the most light on the history and origins of the tarot, bursting a lot of bubbles in the process. His section is, as usual, well documented and written, and generally aims at showing that the tarot probably originated not in Milan but in Bologna.
But, as undisputed as Vitali’s expertise in the field, our focus in this review is Zanetti’s section on cartomancy. This is well organized and competently written. Aside from a brief preamble, the largest part of her section of the book is dedicated to the meanings of the cards, which she has researched in various ways, including by looking for old decks with the meanings written on them.
Zanetti, like Celi (and currently like me), uses a 45-card deck. The deck, however, differs: instead of one Stranger, she uses two, one of them taking the place of the Ten of Coins. As I mentioned elsewhere, these discrepancies are to be expected from a tool of popular divination that was invented in a non-globalized world of isolated villages and streets. Even some of the meanings differ, as I explained in this post, where I talked about the fact that she interprets the Page of Swords not as a letter but as a young man.
Each card is presented with their Italian and Bolognese dialect name, a brief iconographic rundown, the list of meanings, an example reading with a three-card method, a saying from the Bolognese popular tradition that illustrates the meaning of the card, and a combination. Some combinations are exceedingly curious and stray far way from the original meanings of the cards.
The spreads covered by Zanetti are also interesting and worth studying. One is a variation of the great staircase spread I talked about, but Zanetti gives very specific and somewhat rigid rules for interpreting it. She then covers a pyramid spread and a variation of the cross spread, the thirteen card spread and, finally an oracle made up of only three cards.
The only small concern is the rigidity with which Zanetti treats combinations of two cards. My experience is that cards must be first and foremost combined logically based on the context of the question and the other cards, but she asserts that when two specific cards come together they always have a specific meaning regardless of everything.
This, I have found, may be true when many cards come together. For instance, even if you ask about love, if someone in your life is about to drop dead, lots of cards will amass in that regard, not just two. Yet Zanetti treats two-card combos as if they were powerful enough to transcend the question (and yes, she does give a combination about death). Again, this is a question of method and personal experience. It does not detract from the validity of her experience, but it does highlight one of its peculiar traits.
So is this book worth having? To this my answer is a big fat yes!
I don’t remember talking about it here, but I was asked to teach evening Italian classes at the local school, mostly for adults (in that most students are adult, not because I teach NSFW vocabulary).
I have been having fun using the cards to predict how the classes would go. They are mostly accurate, although obviously their meanings must be toned down a bit to apply to the situation. One glaring example of the cards predicting something major is this spread on yesterday’s class.
How will the class go?
I’ll tell you what happened, and then we’ll get into the spread, especially since I didn’t predict anything ahead of time, so this is more of an exercise.
What happened was that one of the students, a man who sould have reached the age of reason some years ago, decided that I wasn’t paying enough attention to him. So when I asked him a question he reacted angrily, throwing a hissy fit and questioning me and my method. I reacted more maturely, yelling back at him that he can either get on with my method or be gone, at which point I invited him to leave.
Now let’s look at the cards I drew that evening before class. The cards are quite clear in this case, probably because what happened was relatively major compared to a boring day reading.
The King of Diamonds is ‘some dude’. He doesn’t come up as a Spade, so he’s not a sworn enemy or anything. The K♦️ dominates the spread from the center, so the situation revolves around him. The Two of Spades can be anger, while the Four of Spades can be an obstacle, but with negative cards it becomes a clean break.
So upheaval is to be expected in the relationship to this man. Since the Five of Spades ends the spread, this upheaval is unlikely to be reconciled. Especially since the Six of Hearts, the card of conciliation, is surrounded by all these spades, so it is as if the cards were saying “the conciliation is not” or, in English, there won’t be conciliation. Paradoxically, therefore, the 6♥️ worsens the spread by its presence.
When someone teaches someone else the traditional meanings of the cards, they often don’t waste too much time giving them a rundown of all the applications of the one or two keywords they give them, especially at the beginning. Keep in mind that in many traditions, at least in Italy, the initial instructions for card reading are passed down on Christmas Eve, so the explanations must be quick enough to fit into one evening where you have plenty of other stuff to do.
Usually, the initial instruction is followed up by a more thorough explanation later, but the new reader is also expected to “lavorare le carte”, literally to “work the cards“. This means that while they are being given a vocabulary (the keywords) and some grammar and syntax (the various spreads and combinations) they are supposed to develop their own language.
Think about it: we all speak English on this blog, yet each of us speaks a different version of it, not only because some of us are native speakers while some aren’t, and not just because some come from the US, some from GB, some from Australia, etc. but also, and especially, because each speaker of a language has their own slightly different version of it, owing to their character, personal history, experiences, education, talents and many other factors.
This may sound like an admission that language is random and infinitely pliable at will, but it isn’t. Your own language is an emanation of you as a person, but who you are as a person is not fully under your control. In fact, the diviner and occultist in me believes that it is only very slightly under your control.
What is true for regular speech is true for the speech of the cards. Once you are given the meanings of the cards, it is not a matter of reinventing them, but rather of discovering how the meanings work for you, of understanding what your particular, individual dialect is. This is a never-ending process, because the language of divination is a difficult second language to learn and because there is no human native that can help us.
But let’s discuss an example of how you take a single keyword and turn it into a web of interrelated meanings. In the Bolognese Tarot, which is my current obsession and is quickly becoming one of my favorite systems, the Queen of Coins is called “the truth”. There. If you were sitting on grandma’s lap on Christmas Eve and she were passing the meanings down to you, that’s what she would say. The truth. Period.
The truth is a complex thing, and throughout history different people have understood it to be something different. In itself, it is an abstract concept. After receiving it, you need to make it concrete, i.e., you need to discover how the word “truth” is used in your particular divination dialect. Let’s give it a try (and this is my dialect, obviously. It may or may not overlap with yours).
The truth is what truthful people tell, so obviously the card qualifies people as truthful, dependable, reliable. Next to a person card, the person will be all these things, probably.
Once you know the truth about something, you know about it. Knowledge is therefore another aspect of truth. Who has knowledge? Professors, for sure, and people who have studied something. One might counter that so many graduates today are ignorant fools filled with prejudices they never questioned. And one would be right. Archetypally, though, the connection (the ‘signature’) holds, similarly to how astrologically scholars are ruled by Mercury, even if scholars are often up their asses.
Study, teaching, learning, explaining, science, discovering, bringing to light, intellectual (or at least not physical) occupations seem to also be concepts that beautifully complement that lonely keyword “truth”. But all these aren’t just descriptions for abstract knowledge. What is a less abstract form of knowledge? Expertise, for sure. If you call the plumber, he may not be able to tell you how the categories of Aristotle’s logic apply to your toilet, but he sure knows how to stop it puking out scum. And that’s a good deal more helpful. So a plumber with the truth on his side is certainly a plumber you want to hire.
Today, the word wisdom is almost forgotten, or relegated to describing dubious practices with no scientific stamp of approval. But wisdom used to be deeply connected to knowledge. The Queen of Coins, therefore, surely describes the ability to lead your life the right way, or to lead others the right way.
Especially in the West, the idea of truth has always been connected with the ability to see. “I see” we say, when we understand something. This may sound shallow, but it actually has its roots in the old Greek notion that the truth is what the mind sees beyond the illusions of the senses. The word “idea”, which is what we have in our minds and which we hope to be a truthful representation of reality, comes from the root ‘vid-‘, which is the same root as the latin ‘videre’, to see. So the Queen of Coins stands for sight and for the eyes, and for windows, which bring light (understanding) into the home and from which we see how the world outside looks like. And so on and so forth.
These associations can be discovered by practice and by decoding the combinations that are usually passed down. Again, it is not a matter of making up. It is, literally, a process of discovery.
I often get messages from people asking me how to learn the tarocchino. This makes me happy, because it means this extremely old divination tradition is slowly getting the attention it deserves.
I had the blessing of knowing a great teacher, Germana Tartari, whose first book I reviewed (and whose two other books I shall review in the near future). She taught me how to read the 50 card method.
For those interested, a course by her will start on 15 January. You can read more about it on the website of the Accademia degli Studi Ermetici
