Category Archives: Divination Master Post

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Page of Cups

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The Page of Cups in the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

In divination this Key suggests the warmth, radiance and the generous productivity of summer. Thus the Page of Cups indicates a radiant, generous, youthful personality of either sex. The time period is from the first decanate of Cancer, June 21, through the last decanate of Virgo, September 22 – the entire summer season.
Well Dignified: the character is sweet, poetical, gentle and kind; fond of home and all that it stands for; imaginative, dreamy, yet with a good deal of latent courage; friendly to the Querent and will further Querent’s hopes and wishes.
lll Dignified: may still show or profess friendship, or even wish to be of help, but the character is unstable, too indolent to be of real service and probably prone to promise far more than he can perform.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A fair, pleasing, somewhat effeminate page, of studious and intent aspect, contemplates a fish rising from a cup to look at him. It is the pictures of the mind taking form. Divinatory Meanings: Fair young man, one impelled to render service and with whom the Querent will be connected; a studious youth; news, message; application, reflection, meditation; also these things directed to business. Reversed: Taste, inclination, attachment, seduction, deception, artifice.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Princess of Cups represents the earthy part of Water; in particular, the faculty of crystallization. She represents the power of Water to give substance to idea, to support life, and to form the basis of chemical combination. She is represented as a dancing figure, robed in a flowing garment on whose edges crystals are seen to form.

For her crest she wears a swan with open wings. The symbolism of this swan reminds one of the swan in oriental philosophy which is the word AUM or AUMGN, which is the symbol of the entire process of creation. [See, for a full analysis and explanation of this Word, Magick, pp. 45.]

She bears a covered cup from which issues a tortoise. This is again the tortoise which in Hindu philosophy supports the elephant on whose back is the Universe. She is dancing upon a foaming sea in which disports himself a dolphin, the royal fish, which symbolizes the power of Creation.

The character of the Princess is infinitely gracious. All sweetness, all voluptuousness, gentleness, kindness and tenderness are in her character. She lives in the world of Romance, in the perpetual dream of rapture. On a superficial examination she might be thought selfish and indolent, but this is a quite false impression; silently and effortlessly she goes about her work.

In the Yi King, the earthy part of Water is represented by the 41st Hexagram, Sun. This means diminution, the dissolution of all solidity. People described by this card are very dependent on others, but at the same time helpful to them. Rarely, at the best, are they of individual importance. As helpmeets, they are unsurpassed.
(From the Book of Thoth)

A cutesy AI generated illustration for the Page of Cups

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A BEAUTIFUL Amazon-like figure, softer in nature than the Princess of Wands. Her attire is similar. She stands on a sea with foaming spray. Away to her right a Dolphin. She wears as a crest a swan with opening wings. She bears in one hand a lotus, and in the other an open cup from which a turtle issues. Her mantle is lined with swans-down, and is of thin floating material.
Sweetness, poetry, gentleness and kindness. Imaginative, dreamy, at times indolent, yet courageous if roused.
When ill dignified she is selfish and luxurious.
She rules a quadrant of the heavens around Kether.
Earth of Water

Etteilla

Blond boy
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Blond Boy, Scholar. – Study, Application, Work, Reflection, Observation, Consideration, Meditation, Contemplation, Occupation. – Craft, Profession, Employment.
Reversed. Tendency, Inclination, Inclination, Attraction, Taste, Sympathy, Passion, Affection, Attachment, Friendship. – Heart, Want, Desire, Attraction, Promise, Seduction, Invitation, Attraction. – Flattery, Moine, Ruffianry, Flattery, Praise, Praise. – In decline, threatening ruin, tending to the end.

MQS

astrology, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Philosophy, Playing Cards, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

Should Diviners Give Advice? Yes, But…

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I come from a rather traditionalist school of divination. One of the ways I learned was that my teacher often told me to do a spread on an aspect of her past I knew nothing about to see if I managed to discover what happened. Another way was when she told me to do a spread to see what would be the problem of the next person going to her for a reading. Interestingly, I have met other people, who have taught me other techniques, who used the same method.

As can be expected, there was little room for anything other than the literal interpretation of the cards. This has helped me a lot to remain  with my feet on the ground as I forged my path, which is very good, considering how littered with nonsense the esoteric landscape is.

On the other side of the spectrum you have a sizeable chunk of diviners today, though the situation now is slightly more balanced than it was just twenty years ago. These readers simply interpret the cards (or the planets, or whatever) as if they were benevolent tips from the universe about some inner issue that the person needs to work through to progress.

The problem I have with this approach, aside from the fact that it leads to unverifiable predicitions, is that it presupposes a superstitious view of the universe as some kind of benevolent nanny that teaches you how you ought to behave. These people, I should remind you, are the ones who often loathe Christianity as a bundle of silly dogmas and think they are the reasonable ones.

If there is one thing that my study of philosophy as well as my experience as fortune-teller has taught me is that there is no such thing as an ‘ought’. There’s what is and what isn’t, what was and what wasn’t, what will be and what won’t be, as well as what can be, or is more or less likely to be. For instance, there is no way you ‘ought’ to eat. You either eat well or you don’t. Eating well only becomes an ought when your current diet is checked against your desire to minimize health risks. It’s your desires that create oughts, not the universe.

I already discussed how I believe that divination tools are essentially something that gives us a bird-eye view of existence, affording us a glance at a number of considerations about our situation that we might not otherwise have. To use my old analogy, it is like being in a crowded city center and talking to a person on a walkie talkie, this person looking at your position from the top of a skyscraper and therefore seeing things you cannot see.

It goes without saying that I believe divination tools never give advice.* As maps, they simply tell you what is. Advice is contingent on what either someone wants to do or what they believe a superior authority wants them to do. My view of the superior authority is that it is too occupied exploring all its potential through us to pick and choose what’s best for us.

Does it therefore mean that a diviner should not give advice? I actually believe advice is a perfectly fine thing, as long as it is not delusional advice. I think a good divination session should always be of help to the querent in living their own life better. This is done by checking the querent’s wishes (sometimes implied, sometimes stated outright) against the wider situation as portrayed by the oracle, with its potentials, its risks, its possibilities and impossibilities, its certainties and its uncertainties.

In other words, advice must come from the diviner on the backdrop of the oracle, and not be projected onto the oracle, which just pictures reality as it is, not as it should be (because there is no way reality should be, from an objective standpoint). Sure, sometimes I tell my querents “the cards are advising you to do X”, but this is short for “I am advising you to do X based on what the cards are telling me about your situation.”

Sometimes the right bit of advice at the right time can help the querent make a turn for the better in life. These are the readings I love the most. Sometimes it can improve a situation. Sometimes, though, the advice is not enough to change an objectively difficult situation. The more heroic and nietzschean reaction to these slings and arrows that life throws at us is that of amor fati: in knowing what’s coming, one can learn to love it, thus overcoming it, making it part of oneself instead it being an alien destiny. But this is not always possible. Sometimes, all the querent can get from a difficult reading is peace of mind. And peace of mind is a great thing, all too often undervalued until it’s no longer there.

MQS

* In this, divination tools are very different from inspired divinations caused by spirits or deities, since these actually do have their own particular views and preferences.

astrology, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Playing Cards, Uncategorized

Is This Course for Me? (Playing Cards Reading and Horary Astrology)

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I’m always on the look-out for opportunities to deepen my knowledge of esoteric topics. Since the esoteric world is filled to the brim with junk covering a couple of pearls on the bottom (but don’t worry, things don’t get much better outside of lalaland) it is very useful to know some forms of divination to supplement my bullshitometer.

I recently came across a certain course on traditional Italian witchcraft which passed all my preliminary tests (no mention of Wicca or neopaganism, relating anecdotes on practices I’m already familiar with and know are valid, etc.)

Still something was off, though I couldn’t put my finger on it. On thing was probably the reference to authors, like Raven Grimassi, who have been largely debunked. I asked the heavens for a sign, and then pulled some cards. Let’s start with the cards. They were:

4♣ – 2♠ – K♦ – 2♣ – 6♦

Right off the bat, I don’t like the teacher being represented by a King of Diamonds. The King of Diamonds is the merchant, the banker, the one whose end goal is money. If he had been the King of Hearts or even the King of Spades I would have been reassured. You may argue that obviously a course is offered to earn money, to which I respond that there is a difference between earning through your passion and earning through other people’s passion.

I am unsure about the preceding combination of Four of Clubs and Two of Spades, but it likely represents contradictory (2♠, arguments, going apart) doctrines (4♣, that which is told). The Two of Clubs and Six of Diamonds traditionally represent limping (insecure steps). The King of Diamonds is not secure enough in his knowledge. Limping is still better than being bed-ridden, so there is something good to the course, but probably not enough to offset the negatives.

Horary Astrology Reading

Let’s look at the horary chart:

Is the course good for me?

The Moon is the Lady of the Ascendant and thus represents me. Magic is higher knowledge, so it’s Ninth House. This is Jupiter. The two malefics Mars and Jupiter are present in the Ninth house, and are both peregrine, so they afflict the house.

The Moon is in her sign, but she’s also tucked away in the very malefic Twelfth house. Interestingly, the Twlefth house represents witchcraft, but only in the sense of something done behind the querent’s back to hurt him, not magic in general (which, again, is higher knowledge). So while I’d be capable of learning (Moon in own sign) my position is not good. There’s something iffy.

Jupiter is mildly dignified by term and in the succedent Eleventh house. The Moon is in sextile with Jupiter, which is technically good, but it is separating from it, indicating growing divergence. The Moon’s next aspect is a square of the Sun, which is negative. The Sun rules the second house, the house of money. So proceeding would put a strain on my finances. This isn’t necessarily to say that it costs too much in absolute terms, but it costs too much compared to its quality. Interestingly, Jupiter is disposited by Venus, which is in detriment and moving toward the Sun, which hurts her, so Venus has a rather excessive love of my money compared to the necessary love of knowledge.

All in all, based on both readings, I would say that the course would probably contain some valuable information, but would not be a great investment in my education.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Knight of Swords

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(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 Knight of Swords from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is from the beginning of the third decanate of Taurus to the end of the second decanate of Gemini, May 11 to June 10. Meanings: youngish man; some talent for governing; materialistic, with some artistic appreciation; active, clever, skillful in management.
Well-Dignified: favorable to querent and his enterprises
Ill-Dignified: Inimical, domineering, overvalues small things, crafty.
Dark hair and eyes.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

He is riding in full course, as if scattering his enemies. In the design he is really a prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might almost be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart. Divinatory Meanings: Skill, bravery, capacity, defence, address, enmity, wrath, war, destruction, opposition, resistance, ruin. There is therefore a sense in which the card signifies death, but it carries this meaning only in its proximity to other cards of fatality. Reversed: Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

(Note: Crowley and the Golden Dawn made a mess with the kings and knights)
This card represents the airy part of Air. With its particular interpretation, it is intellectual, it is a picture of the Mind as such. He rules from the 21st degree of Capricornus to the 20th degree of Aquarius.

The figure of this Prince is clothed with closely woven armour adorned with definite device, and the chariot which bears him suggests (even more closely) geometrical ideas. This chariot is drawn by winged children, looking and leaping irresponsibly in any direction that takes their fancy; they are not reined, but perfectly Capricious. The chariot consequently is easy enough to move, but quite unable to progress in any definite direction except by accident. This is a perfect picture of the Mind.

On the head of this Prince is, nevertheless, a child’s head radiant, for there is a secret crown in the nature of this card; if concentrated, it is exactly Tiphareth.

The operation of his logical mental processes have reduced the Air, which is his element, to many diverse geometrical patterns, but in these there is no real plan; they are demonstrations of the powers of the Mind without definite purpose. In his right hand is a lifted sword wherewith to create, but in his left hand a sickle, so that what he creates he instantly destroys.

A person thus symbolized is purely intellectual. He is full of ideas and designs which tumble over each other. He is a mass of fine ideals unrelated to practical effort. He has all the apparatus of Thought in the highest degree, intensely clever, admirably rational, but unstable of purpose, and in reality indifferent even to his own ideas, as knowing that any one of them is just as good as any other. He reduces everything to unreality by removing its substance and transmuting it to an ideal world of ratiocination which is purely formal and out of relation to any facts, even those upon which it is based.

In the Yi King, the airy part of Air is represented by the 57th hexagram, Sun. This is one of the most difficult figures in the book, on account of its ambivalence: it means both flexibility and penetration.

Immensely powerful because of its complete freedom from settled principles, capable of maintaining and putting forward any conceivable argument, insusceptible of regret or remorse, glib to “quote Scripture” aptly and cunningly to support any thesis soever, indifferent to the fate of a contrary argument advanced two minutes earlier, impossible to defeat because any position is as good as any other, ready to enter into combination with the nearest element available, these elusive and elastic people are of value only when firmly mastered by creative will fortified by an intelligence superior to their own. In practice, this is rarely possible: there is no purchase to be had upon them, not even by pandering to their appetites. These may nevertheless be stormy, even uncontrollable. Faddists, devotees of drink, drugs, humanitarianism, music or religion, are often in this class; but when this is the case, there is still no stability. They wander from one cult or one vice to another, always brilliantly supporting with the fanaticism of a fixed conviction what is actually no more than the whim of the moment.

It is easy to be deceived by such people; for the manifestation itself has enormous potency: it is as if an imbecile offered one the dialogues of Plato. They may in this way acquire a great reputation both for depth and breadth of mind.
(From The Book of Thoth)

A futuristic AI generated illustration for the Knight of Swords

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A WINGED King with Winged Crown, seated in a chariot drawn by Arch Fays, represented as winged youths very slightly dressed, with butterfly wings: heads encircled by a fillet with a pentagram thereon: and holding wands surmounted by pentagrams, the same butterfly wings on their feet and fillets. General equipment as the King of Wands: but he bears as a crest a winged angelic head with a pentagram on the brows. Beneath the chariot are grey nimbus clouds. His hair long and waving in serpentine whirls, and whorl figures compose the scales of his armour. A drawn sword in one hand; a sickle in the other. With the sword he rules, with the sickle he slays.
Full of ideas and thoughts and designs, distrustful, suspicious, firm in friendship and enmity; careful, observant, slow, over-cautious, symbolizes GR:Alpha and GR:Omega; he slays as fast as he creates.
If ill dignified: harsh, malicious, plotting; obstinate, yet hesitating; unreliable.
Rules from 20 Degree Capricorn to 20 Degree Aquarius.
Air of Air

Etteilla

Military Man
Upright: This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Military Man, Man of Sword, Man of Arms, Fencing Master, Swordsman. – Soldier of any corps and weapon, Enemy Fighter. – Dispute, War, Combat, Battle, Duel. – Attack, Defense, Opposition, Resistance, Destruction, Ruin, Overthrow. – Enmity, Hatred, Anger, Resentment. – Courage, Valor, Bravery. – Satellite [= Attendant], Mercenary.
Reversed: Inexperience, Inertia, Stupidity, Bestiality, Stupidity, Imprudence, Impertinence, Extravagance, Ridiculousness, Baggianity. – Scrounging, Fraud, Bricolage, Industry.

MQS

astrology, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling

When Will the Horror End? (Horary Astrology Reading)

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I occasionally help my husband when he needs to work from home and I’m free. Yesterday was one such occasion. He’s a stenographer and was sent several audio bits from a famous company so that he would make a protocol out of them. I don’t think I need to stress how tedious this is. I do it mostly to improve my German, aside from being helpful to my husband. At around 18:04, he was told that the meeting was running late and that there was the possibility of us receiving audios well into the night. Horrified, I asked “when will it be over?”

The Heavens answered with this chart.

When will it be over?

I am represented by Mercury, Lord of the Ascendant. Mercury is retrograde, stuck in the evil Eight House of “fear and anguish of Minde”, as William Lilly wrote, and speeding into Combustion of the Sun. In a word, my poor Mercury is a mess. At this point I am unsure if only I am signified by Mercury and my husband by Jupiter, Lord of the Seventh House, or if we are both signified by Mercury. The fact that a Bi-Corporeal sign is rising (Virgo) seems to indicate we are both Mercury. Our stress is well captured by Mercury’s affliction.

However, one thing that gives me hope is the VERY late ascendant (29.05 Virgo), which seems to indicate it won’t take that much. Let’s look at the Moon. She is in her exaltation in Taurus, separating from a sextile of the two Malefics and about to bump into Jupiter, the Great Benefic. Help may be at hand! Initially, as I said, I half-thought that Jupiter was my husband. However, reflecting on my question “when will it end?” I realized that Jupiter rules the Fourth House, which can indicate the end of the matter. In this case, it is quite appropriate that the end of the matter be signified by a benefic.

If that’s the case, then the Moon approaching Conjunction with Jupiter must indicate that things are about to end. When though? The Moon perfects the aspect in around two degrees, so we are left with “two somethings”, i.e., two seconds, two minutes, two hours (days wasn’t an option). The Moon is in a fixed sign, but also very quick in motion and strongly dignified, so my sense was that it would be over in less than two hours. Looking at the ascendant, which had less than one degree of Virgo left on it, I had the feeling that it could possibly be around an hour.

The question was asked at around 18:04, and at 19:02 we were told it was over.

MQS

astrology, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards, Reading Example

Love Fool (Horary Astrology and Playing Cards Reading)

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This is the first time I use my new interest, Horary Astrology, in conjunction with playing cards. Let’s see what they have to say. The question was asked by a friend of mine who just broke up with her girlfriend. He wants to know if there is a future. This reading was made a couple of days ago.

Relationship reading, is there a future?
Answered with horary astrology

The querent is Mars, lord of the Ascendant, while the quesited, i.e., the girlfriend, is Venus lord of the Seventh. The Moon indicates the flow of the action.

In a night chart, Mars is dignified by triplicity in Pisces, and is angular, while Venus is exalted, also in Pisces, and also angular. The first thing that strikes me is that Venus is moving away from Mars. Furthermore, the Moon is separating from a difficult square with Jupiter in the Seventh. I asked my friend if he had broken up with her or she had broken up with him, since from the chart it seems it was her initiative. He didn’t like to admit it, but said she had left him.

Note that Mars is in triplicity, so a decent Mars, but also conjunct Saturn. Saturn is peregrine. Also note that Venus, the girlfriend, is exalted, and exaltation is sometimes an indication of haughtiness. Clearly she thought she could do better than Saturn-like Mars as she moved away from him. My friend then told me she told him she didn’t like the fact she is to attached to her.

Well, CAN she do better? Venus is about to change sign, from Pisces to Aries, whereupon she will not only lose all her dignity, but she will also enter her detriment. Let us look at the Moon now. The Moon separates from the square with Jupiter and moves toward a sextile with Mercury Retrograde. Sextiles are positive aspects. If we put together the indications, we have: 1) Venus moving away but regretting her decision 2) A future positive contact 3) the contact is about things that go back (retrograde)

This seemed to me a sign of reconciliation. Just to be on the safe side, I had the querent pull three cards from the playing card deck. These were:

5♠ – Q♣ – 3♥

The cards are quite clear. The Five of Spades is a card of imprisonment, but it also indicates regret (which is what you are supposed to feel in prison). Then we have her significator, followed by the Three of Hearts. I would have preferred to see a Six of Hearts to show reconciliation, but the Three of Hearts will do. In this case, the added shade of meaning seems to be that the cards don’t even consider the breakup effective, because the Three of Hearts show things that flow positively without interruption.

I will update this post when I know the outcome.

MQS

Card Combinations, Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards

Playing Card Multiples

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I believe that in the development of divination techniques, the creation of meanings for multiples of cards of the same number must have probably come pretty early. When I was taught to read playing cards, the person who gave me the meanings passed also the signification of card multiples to me, with the caveat that she’d never found them to be very reliable, contrary to the rest of the method. I must confess that I almost never use them, except when the meaning can be derived from the meanings of the cards, which is why I never talked about them before. However, since someone asked me, I’ll retrieved them from my notes so that you can experiment with them.

Note that it does not matter which cards we are talking about as long as they have the appropriate number of pips. However, the presence of Spades in the combination is supposed to worsen the meaning, especially if the Spade card comes last.

Aces
2 = Surprise
3 = Positive Chance
4 = when together, death or great danger, when apart, glory or success

Twos
2 = Exchange
3 = Agreement
4 = Slowness, Boredom

Threes
2 = Tricks
3 = Increase or Progress
4 = Quick Communications

Fours
2 = Worry, Insomnia
3 = Situations speeding up, Unblocking
4 = Travel

Fives
2 = Small losses, Small torments
3 = Resolution
4 = Law

Sixes
2 = Nervousness
3 = Anger
4 = Violence

Sevens
2 = Development
3 = Sickness
4 = Dissatisfaction

Eights
2 = New acquaintances or learning something new
3 = Wedding bells
4 = Infamy

Nines
2 = Help from friends
3 = Triumph
4 = Glory

Tens
2 = Change of place
3 = Change of life
4 = Birth or rebirth

Jacks
2 = Fighting
3 = Litigation
4 = Danger

Queens
2 = Talks
3 = Gossip
4 = Slander

Kings
2 = Help
3 = Commerce
4 = Great Honor

MQS

astrology, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Philosophy, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

The Height of Science is to Know Nothing

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or “Summa Scientiae Nihil Scire” in Latin. This motto is very useful in practical fortune-telling. One of the greatest risks we run is of assuming. “She’s 85, how is she gonna find love?” “He’s a 23-year-old jock, he’s probably not a priest.” “She looks so prim and proper, she’s unlikely to have seven lovers.”

All these preconceptions and more cloud our mind as we try to read the oracle’s answer, regardless of the oracle, whether it be the Tarot, playing cards, astrology, the I Ching, etc. All these preconceptions are poison to the art of divination. They are not of service to us, nor to our querent. Let’s delve into why.

Let us start from the fact that bias is a natural and necessary phenomenon, as politically incorrect as this may sound. Bias comes to us from our experience, but also from the experience of others, especially family members, friends, teachers and people we trust. Bias orients our life, and this cannot be otherwise. The attempt to forcibly eliminate bias from people’s minds only causes suffering, and is its own kind of irrational crusade.

You know who is NOT biased? God. You know what God does? Everything. But you can’t do everything. You can only do something. And in order to do something, you must be biased against something else. That’s life.

This is not to say that all bias is good. For instance, I may have accepted some preconceptions from my parents, who got them from their grandparents, who got them from the priest, who got them from a crazy lady next door, etc. This kind of bias is the worst because it can needlessly limit our options and create likewise needless suffering in those around us. The best kind of bias is the critically examined one that you accept based on your actual life experience and keep open to revision.

Yet even this kind of “good” bias is harmful to divination. When someone comes to us for a reading, or when we read for ourselves, what we are doing is trying to look at reality from the point of view of a symbolic system that reflects life from an objective, or at least less subjective standpoint.

Divination is a language with no native speakers, except maybe the guy upstairs, which means that our understanding of it is always going to be imperfect and faulty. But this is a technical kind of difficulty, and in its own way it’s excusable. What is less excusable is the additional confusion we create by reading our biases into the divination. This is not just about politics, philosophy, morality or religion. It’s everything.

“A 85-year-old is not going to find love again” is one sort of bias. “An attractive young guy is probably not a priest” is another. The aim of divination is to read the truth, not ourselves. That’s why the height of science is to know nothing. If we start with a clean slate we can receive much more information from the tool we are using, simply because we are not randomly blocking out information we consciously or subconsciously deem unlikely.

The unlikely happens everyday. Think about it. Almost everyday something unlikely happens in the world. That’s not to say we must feel the urge to make our predictions as unlikely as possible in order to impress the querent. Most of the time, what’s likely is what ends up happening. Still the unlikely is not the impossible.

I am big on comparing divination with language, as those reading this blog know. And as you know, I am not a native speaker. Around fifteen years ago, I was trying to improve my English by watching youtube videos. Yet this was very hard, because the language people use on youtube is very inconsistent, erratic at times, filled as it is with memes, asides, jokes, ancdotes, interruptions… I was trying to project the artificial English I had learned in school onto this truer, more lived English.

“Surely he can’t have said what he has just said. It doesn’t make any sense,” I constantly thought. It was when I stopped projecting my presuppositions and started just taking in what was objectively being said that my English truly improved. That’s the same with divination. The height of science is to know nothing. Only if we know nothing we can take in what is being said.

MQS

astrology, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Playing Cards, Reading Example

Checking Talismans with Playing Cards

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In one of my recent posts I discussed how playing cards can detect curses (of course, it’s not just playing cards that can do it). Today I wanted to add to this subject by discussing the esoteric use of Playing Cards to check if a spell (in this case, a talisman) is a good idea or has been successfully created and is working.

I should perhaps first explain that there is a modicum of belief in magic involved in all this. The modern worldview tends to react to the idea of magic in two ways: the skeptical way (“it’s not really true”) and the new age way (“it’s not really true, but I would really love for it to be true, so I’ll play make belief and tailor everything to my preconceptions”)

Either way, magic is reduced to the acceptable role of cathartic theater or psychological tool (unfortunately, even great minds within the occult scene, like William Gray, have partly fallen for this approach, or at least considered it viable). From here it has even found its way even into the corporate sphere (a friend of mine working for Google told me she was forced to attend a “magical” day with a psychic who talked to them about tarot and Wicca). You know something is crap when pandering megacorporations appropriate it.

At least since Aleister Crowley (but there are predecessors) magic has been understood as the way of the will. Granted, Crowley’s understanding of the word “Will” is not the same as how we understand it in our everyday life, which would rather be “whim“. His view resembles more closely Nietzsche’s view of the will, so it does have some nobility.

But this doesn’t detract from the fact that most people whose view of magic has been colored by Crowley’s (and that’s almost everyone today, whether they know it or not) don’t REALLY believe in magic. Instead, they tend to see it as, again, little more than a placebo. It’s true if you believe in it. It’s true if you want it to be true.

Still, it’s my experience that belief in magic is not really required for magic to work. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find any trace of the concept of the magician’s will in the traditional Western approach to magic (or in the Eastern approach, for that matter).

Because just believing in it was usually not considered a prerequisite for success, the use of divination to check the efficacy of magical workings has been advocated a long time. Besides, if belief is not enough, other, more objective factors must be checked. *

The Arab mages of old, for instance, invited people to do a horary reading to see if the use of planetary magic was warranted. Agrippa probably used geomancy for the same purpose. We don’t know about Abano, but it is not a stretch to think he would have consulted a geomantic shield to check how his spellwork was doing.

In general, all forms of divination take the reality of magic for granted within the worldview that informs their language. After all, why would divination work, but not magic? ** This is true for playing cards as well. Here is an example.

Last year while the Sun was in Leo I was working on a Sun talisman. I’m not going to disclose the aim of the talisman. It was nothing untoward, but I’d rather keep it to myself. After the creation of the talisman I set out to consecrate it. The number of days varies.

On the first day, after the first consecration, I got the following spread:

A♠ – 6♣ – 5♠

Definitely a bad start. And I wouldn’t have expected anything less. The majority is Spades, which is bad for anything but black magic.

6♣ – 8♣ – 10♣

Second day of consecration. A mash of clubs is not positive. It shows difficulties and toil without success. Still, Spades have abandoned the spread, which is a positive.

6♣ – A♦ – 3♠

This is the third day. Close but no banana. It is still a negative spread. It has the Six of Clubs in common with the previous spread, and it closes with an unpromising Three of Spades, which bring Spades and large obstacles back into the equation. Note that this is the third day in a row I get the Six of Clubs. But the Ace of Diamonds has appeared, which indicates success, talismans and even the Sun.

A♦ – 9♦ – 10♦

Fourth day. This is the sign I was waiting for. The Ace of Diamonds is back. This time it is well-placed. The Nine of Diamonds and Ten of Diamonds together just mean “it works”, whether we are talking about an object, a business plan or a spell.

MQS

* This is not to say that the old magi wanted you to do your homeworks half-heartedly. Marsilio Ficino talks about the importance putting your heart in your spellwork.

** this would lead us off into an interesting discussion of all those that practice divination without believing it to actually work (“it’s just a brainstorming method” being the most common rationalization)

astrology, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling

Is She Alright? Horary Astrology Reading

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Horary astrology is a centuries old form of divination. The word ‘horary’ means ‘of the hour’, because unlike natal astrology, which predicts from someone’s natal chart, Horary looks at a chart for the time and place a meaningful question is asked.

The fascinating thing about Horary is the way it works: it doesn’t require you to shuffle a deck or cast dice. There’s nothing for you to manipulate. Once someone asks a (relatively) serious question to someone else who can cast a chart, the answer is there. In a way, it presupposes a view of the universe as an unraveling system of self-answering questions or self-solving problems.

As I strive to create a coherent philosophy of divination, Horary is definitely one of my most important sources of inspiration. I will probably start offering cheap email horary readings in the near future in exchange for feedback, in order to gain experience. In the meantime, here’s an example from yesterday.

Is she alright? Horary question answered with the App Aquarius2Go

Background: A woman my husband is involved with for some projects had disappeared for a couple weeks after the death of her father. She didn’t answer any message my husband or the other people involved sent her, so naturally they were all worried that she might have fallen into depression and done something silly. So the question he asked me, knowing I’ve started dabbling in Horary, was “Is she alright?”

My husband is signified by the Moon, lady of the Ascendant. The woman is not really his friend (Eleventh house) but rather his colleague, so she is signified by the Seventh house and its ruler, Saturn. This is appropriate, as Saturn rules solitude.

Since the question is about this person’s wellbeing, we are looking at potential afflictions that Saturn may be suffering from. It’s peregrine, that is, it is in no dignity. Peregrination is a minor affliction. It also describes her very well: “peregrine” means “wanderer”, and she has disappeared. Saturn is also in a cadent house, the ninth, which however is not especially malefic. On the other hand, Saturn is Sextiled by Jupiter. This is a positive aspect, and Jupiter is a protective planet. My idea was that she wasn’t especially fine, but she wasn’t in any great danger either.

My husband (and probably the other people involved) is the Moon. The Moon is in her fall and inside the Via Combusta, i.e., the stretch of Zodiac that goes from 15 Libra to 15 Scorpio, which is bad for the Moon, as it is said to indicate turmoil. This is a good description of their apprehension. Mercury is slow in motion and squaring the Ascendant: communication is a problem.

The Moon is in exact Trine (to the minute) with Saturn. Trines are aspects of amity, so obviously they want to know that Saturn (aka the woman) is fine, and are worried (Fall, Via Combusta) about her.

Since Saturn doesn’t seem to be in any grave peril, it stands to reason that the woman will be back in contact (we would need strong testimonies to show the contrary). The fact that the Trine aspect is exact doesn’t allow us to say whether it is still applying or separating, but considering all the chart, it seems to be an indication that she will soon resurface. This is also shown by the fact that the Moon is near the end of the Via Combusta, so I judged that she would write my husband soon. Another possible indication is that the First House Cusp is nearing the end of Cancer, so the situation is in its late phase and is about to change. But I’m on the fence about this testimony.

Result: yesterday (day of the question) after weeks of not hearing from her, my husband got a message from her three or four hours after this chart was cast. The woman was of course not in top shape, but she was relatively fine.

MQS