Category Archives: Divination

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

What Do I Need to Hear Right Now? Example Reading

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Occasionally, people throw questions at you that clearly they’ve been trained to ask by other readers. One of these questions is “what do I need to hear right now?”

The question is tricky, because, strictly speaking, we never ‘need’ to hear anything. To suggest otherwise is to imply that the universe is some kind of paternalistic (or maternalistic) minister of welfare with a moral compass that somehow overlaps with that of modern coastal elites.

However, this is not to say that the question is unanswerable. The cards describe situations, and we can, using common sense, derive healthy tips for our querents from them. We can also make the following assumptions about the querent, when we hear something like this:

  1. The querent is not necessarily looking for a prediction.
  2. They are more or less lost and in need of some guidance.
  3. Even if they aren’t lost, they are missing something or something isn’t clicking into place in their life.
  4. (more rarely, they are missing nothing, but they still want to invite an element of supernatural guidance into their life. This still implies a level of dissatisfaction.)
  5. The answer they prefer is probably formulated in terms of ‘oracular advice’ similar to the one heroes get by the Gandalf figure of their story (for instance, in the theory of the monomyth)

Assumptions can be deadly, but we need to start somewhere. So here’s the spread I got when I got asked the “What do I need to hear right now?” question by a querent:

What do I need to know right now? Cartomancy with playing cards

To refresh people’s memory, the meaning of the positions is:

  1. Up: What’s on his/her mind
  2. Down: what the querent treads on (they don’t like, causes trouble)
  3. Left: leaving behind
  4. Right: going toward
  5. Center: in his/her heart
  6. To the side: for him/her

Since we have nothing to start our analysis from given the vague question, let’s take a quick note of something obvious: except the cards the querent is leaving behind, all other packs end with a Spade, signifying trouble (the cards she treads on end with a Heart, but the position itself is one of trouble).

The fact that the querent is leaving behind the only good thing in her life is not encouraging. These cards speak of a happy family. Clearly this is no longer the case, at least for her. And look at what’s on her mind! Double Spade! She is not in a good place mentally at the moment. She feels isolated and impeded at every turn.

There’s desire in her heart (the Nine of Hearts) but she cannot express it (Spade on the Four of Clubs, the card of words).

The two little fans regarding the future talk about various problems, both economic and marital, but we need not delve too deeply into them. As far as the cards below her are concerned, it turned out during the reading that her dad has lost much of his mobility and is in need of assistance.

Clearly, this is the spread of a frustrated, borderline depressed woman. it could be a very good jumping-off point for more spreads, each one analyzing the various situations going on in her life. But that is not the point. The querent doesn’t want to know about each of them separately (notice how the cards seem to talk about various themes in a very cursory manner). She wants to know what she needs to know at the moment.

So, what do we tell her? First, we remind her that life is made of ups and downs, and that she doesn’t need to despair; Second, in times of hardship she must not let go of the few things that she derives (or derived) joy from; Third, there is no shame in asking for help, including professional help, and she must not exaggerate with the self-abnegation, or she’ll run herself into the ground; Fourth, she must try to make space in her life for what she desires (hobbies, passions, etc.) no matter how little time she can dedicate to it, because it will keep her sane, and when the situation improves, she’ll be glad she has planted those seeds.

MQS

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

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Two of Pentacles or Coins

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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 Two of Pentacles / Coins from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is the first decanate of Capricorn, December 22 to December 31, under the rulership of Saturn. Meanings:
Well-Dignified: harmony in the midst of change; alternation of gain and loss; change of occupation; travel in quest of wealth; ups and downs of fortune; a visit to friends.
Ill-Dignified: intimates discontent; foolishness in the management of resources; restricted condition of material affairs due to bad management; the Querent is probably too talkative and too suspicious. He is kind, but inconsistent, and should avoid arguments.
Keyword: Fluctuation
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A young man, in the act of dancing, has a pentacle in either hand, and they are joined by that endless cord which is like the number 8 reversed. Divinatory Meanings: On the one hand it is represented as a card of gaiety, recreation and its connexions, which is the subject of the design; but it is read also as news and messages in writing, as obstacles, agitation, trouble, embroilment. Reversed: Enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment, literal sense, handwriting, composition, letters of exchange.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Two of Pentacles was of old time called the Lord of Harmonious Change. Now, more simply, Change; and here the doctrine must be stated a little more clearly. This suit being of Earth, there is a connection with the Princesses, and therefore with the final Heh of Tetragrammaton. Earth is the throne of Spirit; having got to the bottom, one immediately comes out again at the top. Hence, the card manifests the symbolism of the serpent of the endless band.

[…]

The number Two, Chokmah, here rules in the suit pertaining to Earth. It shows the type of Energy appropriate to Two, in its most fixed form. According to the doctrine that Change is the support of stability, the card is called Change.

Its celestial rulers are Jupiter and Capricornus; and these symbols are most inharmonious, so that in practical matters the good fortune of Jupiter is very limited. Their influence on the card is not great. Yet, Jupiter being himself the Wheel (Atu X), he emphasizes that idea.

The card represents two Pantacles, one above the other; they are the Chinese symbols of the Yang and Yin duplicated as in the Hsiang. One wheel is dextro- and the other laevo-rotatory. They thus represent the harmonious interplay of the Four Elements in constant movement. One may in fact consider the card as the picture of the complete manifested Universe, in respect of its dynamics.

About them is entwined a green Serpent (see Liber 65, chapter iii, verses 17-20). His tail is in his mouth. He forms the figure Eight, the symbol of the Infinite, the equation 0=2.
(From The Book of Thoth)

Nice AI-generated illustration for the Two of Pentacles or Coins

Golden Dawn’s Book T

TWO wheels, disks or pentacles, similar to that of the Ace. They are united by a green-and-gold serpent, bound about them like a figure of 8. It holds its tail in its mouth. A White Radiant Angelic Hand holds the centre of the whole. No roses enter into this card. Above and below are the symbols of Jupiter and Capricorn. It is a revolving symbol.

The harmony of change, alternation of gain and loss; weakness and strength; everchanging occupation; wandering, discontented with any fixed condition of things; now elated, then melancholy; industrious, yet unreliable; fortunate through prudence of management, yet sometimes unaccountably foolish; alternatively talkative and suspicious. Kind, yet wavering and inconsistent. Fortunate in journeying. Argumentative.
Chokmah of HB:H (Pleasant change, visit to friends).
Herein the Angels HB:LKBAL and HB:VShRYH have rule.

Etteilla

Embarrassment
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Awkwardness, Obstacle, Commitment, Obstruction, Setback. – Disturbance, Bother, Emotion, Mess, Confusion, Difficulty, Impediment, Tangle, Obscurity. – Agitation, Restlessness, Perplexity, Concern.
Reversed. Ticket, Piece of Writing, Writing, Text, Literature, Doctrine, Erudition, Work, Book, Production, Composition. – Dispatch, Epistle, Missive. – Written character. – Literal Meaning. – Alphabet, Elements, Principles. – Promissory note.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book III Pt. 5

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Abano gives some examples of the meanings of Albus and Rubeus in the various houses.

Albus

Albus in the first house means obtaining the wish, success in white things,1 happiness, success in watery things, good news, letters.
In the second it means increase of wealth, riches, gain in merchandise, usefulness through partnership.
In the third it means obtaining what you wish, good for serving a lord or nobleman, good brothers and relatives.

In the fourth it means gain through the father, inheritance, gain through travel and water, rivers, watery places.
In the fifth it means good kids, good messenger, good news, good letters, honor, good life.
In the sixth it means serious, long sickness,2 tears, servants, animals.

In the seventh it means chaste women, honest woman, pregnant woman, gain through women.
In the eighth it means tears due to bereavement, rain, lots of water.
In the ninth it means gain through travel, problems due to rain (during travel), good news from afar, good messenger.

In the tenth it means good luck, good things from noblemen, or friends, good in any question.
In the eleventh it means good luck through friends and happiness in all you wish.
In the twelfth it means certainty in what you doubt in things of war or armed men, good for animals, bad for the prisoner, success after difficulty.

In the thirteenth it means good change of place, gain through congregation of lords.3
In the fourteenth it means help from friends, freedom from enemies, happiness in what you wish.
In the fifteenth it is good depending on the other figures.4

Rubeus

Rubeus in the first means problems, fear of death and blood, great fights, enmity, ingratitude, rumors, all kinds of problems.5
In the second it means theft, loss of gain, poverty, little gain through merchandise.
In the third it means sadness, loss of blood, enmity, discord among siblings and relatives, evil siblings, blood, traveling by night.

In the fourth it means loss of blood or sebum, loss of inheritance, a bad year, drought.
In the fifth it means evil children, useless study, evil science,6 violence, damange through animals, evil life, good luck in war.
In the sixth it means acute infirmity, fever, choler, problems through servants and animals, theft.

In the seventh it means war, fights, evil marriage, evil wife, perversion of the spouse, bad outcome, except in war, depending what side (of the chart) it favors by its presence.7
In the eighth it means loss of blood, fear of death, infamy after death.
In the ninth it means dangerous journey due to thieves, assassins, public violence, wounds, drunkenness, horrible things.

In the tenth it means tyranny,8 public violence due to one’s lords, evil judge.
In the eleventh it means enmity, discord, evil friends, foes, misfortune, problems, evil servants.9
In the twelfth it means toil, enemies, big misfortune, loss of what you wish, damage through merchandise, loss of wealth, bad for the prisoner.

In the thirteenth it means bad journey, loss through noblemen, hatred from higher ups, misfortune.
In the fourteenth it means useless toil, prison of the messenger, hatred of evil servants, theft, evil men, dangerous travel.
In the fifteenth it means good or evil depending on the figures in the other houses, it is only good in war for the victorious side.10

MQS

Footnotes

  1. This is because Albus, of course, means ‘white’. However, one is left wondering what these white things are, and if there are deeper implications based on the symbolic and alchemical meaning of the figure. ↩︎
  2. In many sources Albus in the Sixth House is considered a symbol of medicine. ↩︎
  3. The idea of lords or masters is given by the Tenth House. Albus, being a figure of Mercury, supplies the idea of connection. ↩︎
  4. Albus cannot be the Judge. See my footnote in Book III Part 4. ↩︎
  5. It is known that Geomancers often discouraged people from reading the chart if Rubeus was in the first house. Here Abano does not mention this rule, but rather interprets Rubeus in the First House as a normal figure. ↩︎
  6. The connection of the Fifth House with science is not clear. ↩︎
  7. As discussed previously, in things of war Abano suggests giving one half of the shield to one party and the other half to the opposing party. ↩︎
  8. In classical philosophy, tyranny was considered the greatest illness of politics, so it is fitting that it should be represented by the most sinister figure. ↩︎
  9. This probably refers to ‘sevants of the king’ as the Eleventh is the second from the Tenth. ↩︎
  10. Rubeus cannot be the Judge. ↩︎

astrology, Cartomancy, Creativity, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Occultism and Esoterism, Philosophy, Playing Cards, Spirituality and Psychology, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

Fantasy in Divination: A Double-Edged Sword

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I’m currently still doing readings in exchange for recommendations for when I  decide to start offering readings from this site. After a short reading with a querent we began chatting about the process of divination, and he asked me if fantasy is required to interpret the cards. I thought this was a really great question. I’m taking fantasy as a synonym with imagination, that is, the ability to conjure up images in one’s mind.

First off, we need to distinguish fantasy/imagination from (true) intuition. True intuition is relatively rare and it does not originate from the limited structure of the personality. It is, for all intents and purposes, otherworldly. Before being appropriated by boss babes on TikTok, intuition was rightfully considered a gift of the gods. It is hard to obtain and even harder to train, although the practice of divination, as it leads to the divine, does allow for the development of intuition.

Fantasy or imagination is mostly the product of neurons bouncing together, and it is at least in good part under our control (though whether imagination is also merely a personal power is up for debate. Many occultists think it isn’t, and I agree.)

Imagination plays a large role in modern magic, and, it could be argued, in the magic of all times (though with different implications and within different frameworks), but I’ll leave this discussion for another time. The point is that imagination is one among the many legitimate sources of understanding that we have at our disposal, including in the occult world.

Ordinarily, if someone asked me what’s the one thing that is required in order to become a diviner, I would answer that they need to understand the vocabulary, grammar and syntax of what is essentially a divine language.

Yet, in philosophy of language, and even more in philosophy of science, there is a concept called underdetermination. In its most frequent use, the principle of underdetermination states that, given a number of facts, there exist more than one theory that can explain those facts and account for them. How we then choose the most appropriate theory has sparked a debate that largely goes on to this day between scientists, philosophers, psychologists and anthropologists.

Something similar happens with divination: given a spread of cards, or a chart, it is often the case that more than one explanation might appear plausible at first. True, the more cards we string together, the fewer the possible interpretations are, just as a single word out of context might mean many things, but the more words there are, the more we understand the sentence.

But take a sentence like “we saw her duck“. Was she avoiding a bullet or does she live on a farm? This is a form of underdetermination, because the possible mental images evoked by the sentence cannot be reduced to the sentence itself.

Probably if we had a perfect understanding of the language of divination we would get unambiguous results, but we don’t. We must therefore use logic and context to weed out the less likely predictions, yet even so we might be left with more than one possible image of the future in mind. The word image here is key.

Can we predict a future we cannot imagine? That is, can we predict a future (or reveal a past) that we cannot put in the form of a picture or series of pictures? If one asks me: would you be able to understand a sentence you’ve never heard before? The answer is: if I know the language, yes. We hear sentences we’ve never heard before everyday and we rarely have problems. But going back to “we saw her duck”, if I didn’t know that duck can also be a verb, I would interpret the sentence univocally, as I wouldn’t be able to create a mental image corresponding to the interpretation of “duck” as verb instead of noun.

In real world languages the ambiguity is often removed by clear context. But in divination context is not always clear, meaning it is harder to exclude possible interpretations, and we need to be capable of creating mental images of all the most likely interpretations of an oracle before choosing which one is the most likely.

We need to be able to extrapolate the many possible meanings a spread can have before submitting them to inquiry. The ability to construct mental images or scenes from the divination tool we are using is consequently incredibly important. In other words, yes, imagination is key in divination.

But the imagination I am talking about is not the unbridled imagination that so many mistake for intuition, and which usually leads either to error or to unverifiable predictions. Imagination is the ability to create possible images derived from our (limited) understanding of the medium we are using, so that we can then see which one is more likely to be accurate by finding testimonies in the spread or by asking the querent.

Like all other occult arts, divination therefore requires the cooperation of both sides of the brain (to which we may add the importance of bodily grounding, but that’s a matter for another post).

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book III Pt. 4

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Abano discusses now some of the meanings of Laetitia and Tristitia in the various houses.

Laetitia

Laetitia in the first house means king, priest, noble person,1 just people, good company, justice, faith, honors, good life.
In the second house it means increase of wealth, gain, obtaining what one wishes.
In the third it means good luck, science, inner goodness, amity, friendship with relatives, good siblings, just people, who fear God.

In the fourth it means inheritance, usefulness, obtaining what one wishes,2 just things, things that are occult or hidden or under the earth.3
In the fifth it means help from children, honor for one’s household, mirth, songs, dances, coming out of difficult situations, long life, obtaining one’s hope.
In the sixth it means servants, subjects, sickness through coldness and through envy, good success.

In the seventh it means good marriage, victory over enemies, good partnerships, usefulness, gain.
In the eighth it means gaining the wealth of dead people, usefulness, gain through marriage or friendship.
In the ninth it means travel for religious matters or science, faith, honor, counsel, gain through travel, change of place, talking to priests.

In the tenth it means honors, dignity, judges, congregation of clerics or lords and noblemen.
In the eleventh it means happiness through one’s friends, dignity, honor, gain through friends.
In the twelfth it means freedom from servitude and prison, travel in faraway lands, staying away a long time.

In the thirteenth it means usefulness through travel and prelates and churches, obtaining one’s wish.
In the fourteenth it means help from friends, gifts, good news in what one hopes to get, long life.
In the fifteenth it means good according to the other figures.4

Tristitia

Tristitia in the first house means difficulties, pain, problems, poverty, debts, evil fancy, desire to hurt, disgrace through merchandise.
In the second house it means difficulty in obtaining wealth, little gain through merchandise, poverty, dearth, damage in movable things.
In the third it means adultery, incest, fights and disorder with family members.

In the fourth house it means evil children,5 loss through trees and fruits, ruin for a city or castle, secret enmity, loss of inheritance, acquisition of secret things.
In the fifth it means little gain from merchandise, little happiness through children, false documents, you will gain what you want but you will lose it soon afterward, loss through fruit trees.6
In the sixth it means problems, difficulties, sickness (long), pain in the head, prison, poverty.

In the seventh it means dishonest women, unjust marriage, discord with friends, thieves, evil men, traitors.
In the eighth it means fear, problems, desperation, death, gain from the sick person, fury, malignity.
In the ninth it means problems traveling, delay, sickness, change of place for the worse.

In the tenth it means fall from grace, elevation of the inferior, loss of honor, exaltation of evil people.7
In the eleventh it means change, variety in friendship, misfortune in what we wish to gain, lack of help.
In the twelfth it means many great enemies, fear, problems, things ill done, damage, loss of animals and servants, death of the prisoner.

In the thirteenth it means change of place, travel, loss through lords or judges, loss of wealth.
In the fourteenth it means ill luck, loss, toil, misfortune due to enemies, dearth.
In the fifteenth it always bodes ill, except for rain and stability.8

MQS

Footnotes
  1. because of Laetitia’s connection with the noble side of Jupiter. ↩︎
  2. Likely due to the Fourth House’s connection with the end of the matter. ↩︎
  3. It probably means that such things are obtained, unearthed etc., due to Laetitia’s connection with upward movement. ↩︎
  4. Laetitia cannot be the Judge. Abano assigns meanings to every figure in every house, including the Judge, even though only eight of the sixteen figures can become Judge. I don’t know why this is the case, whether it is due to a blind, an oversight, a lack of understanding, or a simple “stylistic exercise”, so to speak. Considering Abano’s intellectual prowess and great education, I doubt he wasn’t aware of the fact that Laetitia and other figures cannot be the Judge. ↩︎
  5. The connection of the Fourth House with children escapes me. ↩︎
  6. The Fourth House is the ‘orchard’, the Fifth are the orchard’s wealth, i.e., its fruits. ↩︎
  7. I find some of these interpretations extremely ingenious, and worthy of attention. The Tenth House indicates honor and elevation, but Tristitia indicates lowliness and evil, so the combination of the two can yield either a fall from grace or the elevation of someone who isn’t worthy of being elevated. ↩︎
  8. Tristitia cannot be the Judge. ↩︎

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

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Two 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 Two of Swords from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is the first decanate of Libra from September 23 to October 2, under the rulership of Venus.
Well-Dignified: contradictory characteristics in the same nature; strength through suffering; pleasure after pain; delay in the realization of objectives. This card sometimes indicates a period of uncertainty, during which the Querent, though he has a sense of adequate power, does not know just what to do with it. It also indicates justice, unselfishness and the restoration of peace.
Ill-Dignified: falsehood; sorrow; injury from another who really means well to the Querent, or injury by the Querent to another whom he wishes to help; always a symbol of tension, of want of tact, and suggests force held in abeyance, awaiting some announcement or revelation that will make decision possible.
Keyword: Indecision.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A hoodwinked female figure balances two swords upon her shoulders. Divinatory Meanings: Conformity and the equipoise which it suggests, courage, friendship, concord in a state of arms; another reading gives tenderness, affection, intimacy. The suggestion of harmony and other favourable readings must be considered in a qualified manner, as Swords generally are not symbolical of beneficent forces in human affairs. Reversed: Imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Two of Swords was formerly called the Lord of Peace Restored; but this word “restored” is incorrect, because there has been no disturbance. The Lord of Peace is therefore a better title: but it needs thinking hard to work this out, since the Sword is so intensely active. It may be helpful to study the Essay on Silence (p. 120) for a parallel: the Negative Form of the Positive Idea. See also the Essay on Chastity (Little Essays toward Truth, pp. 70-74) which concludes: Sir Knights, be vigilant: watch by your arms and renew your oath; for that day is of sinister augury and deadly charged with danger which ye fill not to overflowing with gay deeds and bold of masterful, of manful Chastity.

Witness also Catullus: domi maneas paresque nobis Novem continuas futationes. Nor does he misunderstand the gesture of Harpocrates; Silence and Chastity are isomers.
It is all one case of the general proposition that the sum of the infinite Energy of the Universe is Zero.

[…]

This card is ruled by Chokmah in the Element of Air. This suit, governing all intellectual manifestations, is always complicated and disordered. It is subject to change as is no other suit. It represents a general shaking-up, resulting from the conflict of Fire and Water in their marriage; and proceeds, when Earth appears, to crystallization. But the purity and exaltation of Chokmah are such that this card manifests the very best idea possible to the suit. The energy abides above the onslaught of disruption. This comparative calm is emphasized by the celestial attribution: the Moon in Libra.

The Moon is change, but Nature is peaceful; moreover, Libra represents balance; between them, they regulate the energy of the Swords.

In the card appear two swords crossed; they are united by a blue rose with five petals. This rose represents the influence of the Mother, whose harmonizing influence compounds the latent antagonism native to the suit. The Rose emits white rays, producing a geometrical pattern that emphasizes the equilibrium of the symbol.
(From The Book of Thoth)

An ominous AI-generated illustration for the Two of Swords

Golden Dawn’s Book T

Two crossed swords, like the air dagger of a Zelator Adeptus Minor, each held by a White Radiant Angelic Hand. Upon the point where the two cross is a rose of five petals, emitting white rays. At the top and bottom of the card are two small daggers, supporting respectively the symbol {Crescent moon with horns upward} thus, and Libra representing the Decanate.
Contradictory characters in the same nature, strength through suffering; pleasure after pain. Sacrifice and trouble, yet strength arising therefrom, symbolized by the position of the rose, as though the pain itself had brought forth beauty. Arrangement, peace restored; truce; truth and untruth; sorrow and sympathy. Aid to the weak; arrangement; justice, unselfishness; also a tendency to repetition of affronts on being pardoned; injury when meaning well; given to petitions; also a want of tact, and asking question of little moment; talkative.
Chokmah of Vau. Quarrel made up, yet still some tension in relations: actions, sometimes selfish, sometimes unselfish.
Herein rule the Great Angels HB:YZLAL and HB:MNHAL.

Etteilla

Friendship
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Friendship, Attachment, Affection, Tenderness, Benevolence, Relationship, Identity, Intimacy, Convenience, Correspondence, Interest, Conformity, Sympathy, Affinity, Attraction.
Reversed. Falsehood, Falsehood, Lying, Imposture, Duplicity, Bad faith, Overbearingness, Dissimulation, Cunning, Deceit, Superficial, Superficiality, Surface.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Playing Cards, Spirituality and Psychology

The Ghost That Came Back (Example Reading)

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Certain topics are exceedingly rare, and they should remain so, because people otherwise tend to see the supernatural at play everywhere. Traditional divination takes these topics very seriously, which is why it rarely discusses them. In most systems, a vocabulary is given to describe most situations in life, including encounters with ghosts. We are, of course, free to disbelieve, but the cards can still talk about it.

A querent asked me if there was a ghost in her (very old) apartment complex. As I said when talking about curses and hexes, the answer is almost invariably no (although, to be fair, ghosts and other entities are far more common than competent witches). Here’s the spread (it started as a three card spread, I kept adding cards until I was satisfied).

A♠️ – Q♠️ – 2♠️ – K♥️ – 2♣️ – 4♣️ – 9♥️ – 5♠️ – 10♥️

I asked the querent an open question (to avoid influencing her), that is, I asked her to describe the ghost she thought she saw. She said she thought it was the spirit of an ugly, angry woman moving in the hallways of the building. This fits very well with the Queen of Spades and Two of Spades. The Ace of Spades, aside from indicating death, is also a card of great evil.

What about the rest of the spread? Usually the Heart court cards indicate either positive spirits (God, etc.) or religious people. I asked the querent if she was planning on contacting a priest, shaman or other such figure. She said she wasn’t really thinking about it, but another tenant was.

I said that it was a good idea. Look at the King’s action: he is taking steps (Two of Clubs) by uttering words (Four of Clubs) which are positive (Nine and Ten of Hearts). But what about the Five of Spades? My sense is that the presence will not be eradicated or banished for good, since the Five of Spades is a card of imprisonment, but it will be contained in some form (the two Hearts hemming in the Spade).

The interesting thing was that, according to the querent, the other tenant (who had been living in the building for much longer than the querent) told her that many years ago they had had a problem with the same presence and had managed to somehow exorcise it.

My view is that even this time the situation will not be remedied completely, but the situation should improve by calling in someone to perform a religious ritual.

MQS

Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, Uncategorized

The Geomancy of Peter of Abano – Book III Pt. 3

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Abano gives some examples of the possible meanings of Fortuna Major and Fortuna Minor in the various houses.

Fortuna Major

Fortuna Major in the first house means good luck for the querent, science, honor, fame, noble people, health, long life, good in all.
In the second it means gain, good luck, science, victory, money, and good through women1 and animals.
In the third it means good luck, happiness with brothers, relatives, friends, usefulness in travel and through women, obtaining what you wish.

In the fourht it means usefulness in stable things, inheritance, good things from one’s parents and older relatives.
In the fifth it means good fame, friendship, good grace, happiness through children, good news, favors from women, obtaining your wish.
In the sixth it means health, except for women, and gain through animals and servants.

In the seventh it means marriage, increase of wealth, good partnership with gain, overcoming your enemies, good and tranquil life.
In the eighth it means gaining wealth through other people’s death, freedom from danger and from death, gain, increase of wealth.
In the ninth it means travel with honor, gain through it, and through science in foreign countries and with foreign people, good change of place, quietude, divine spirit, true judgment.2

In the tenth it means honor, dignity, riches through one’s ingeniousness and speeches, and thanks to one’s mother, and in things related to God, good fame, gain through great and noble people, and through one’s job, and from prelates.3
In the eleventh it means good luck, gain, increase through friends, servants, kids, and from the King or from lords and prelates and noblemen.
In the twelfth it means health, freedom from danger and fear, gain through animals and servants, but the sick person won’t heal and the prisoner won’t be released, or with difficulty.

In the thirteenth it means gain through travel or from the king or a lord, parties, banquets, and toils and difficulties to have health.
In the fourteenth it means good luck in all you wish, and in animals, agriculture, buildings, long life.4
In the fifteenth it means good success, good outcome, succession, good friendship.

Fortuna Minor

Fortuna Minor in the first means King, Queen, lord, nobleperson, dignity, honor, fortitude, noblewoman, noble things, animals, good journey.5
In the second it means gain, gain through merchandise, and in selling and in buying, and from family or servants.
In the third it means a sister or (female) relative or (female) neighbor, good luck, good science.

In the fourth it means bringing secret things to light, fixed term employment or office, inheritance, unmovable goods, buildings.
In the fifth it means honor, dignity, spouses, happiness among the common folk, happiness through journey and children.
In the sixth it means sickness of a servant, problems through them, female servants, gain through toil.

In the seventh it means marriage, congregation of people, but with problems, partnership, gain throguh movable things.
In the eighth it means quick long travel bringing gain, but with danger of death, good fame followed by death, being killed.
In the ninth it means change of place, honorable journey, peregrination, good sceince, occult things.

In the tenth it means empress, king, lord, dignity, magistrate, mother, judge, excellent master/teacher, law, institutions.
In the eleventh it means happiness, chanting, dancing, various sounds, noble friends, fortitude, travel, obtaining your wish.
In the twelfth it means honor and dignity, fear of enemies and subjects and servants and sick people, freedom from prison, good for animals.

In the thirteenth it means travel with honor, sacraments, faith, gain, quick positive results.
In the fourteenth it means good luck and fortune in all you wish to gain.
In the fifteenth it means good succession, fame, honor among people, obtaining or accumulating wealth.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. It is not clear why women should be connected with the Second House or with Fortuna Major. ↩︎
  2. It is not clear what the word ‘judgment’ refers to here. In some old astrology books the Ninth house represents the court in a court case, though usually, for instance in Horary, we take the Tenth house as the judge. Furthermore, the Ninth House represents the wise people whose judgment was held in great esteem in the community. ↩︎
  3. Although some of these subjects are usually Ninth House matter, gain through them is the second from the Ninth, so the radical Tenth House. ↩︎
  4. The associations of the two Witnesses are taken mostly, as I’ve already discussed, from the two houses they derive from on the Shield. ↩︎
  5. Journeys are not normally associated with the First House, but Fortuna Minor is a mobile figure and the First House can represent the querent’s location and the means of transport they use to move (buggy, ship, etc.) ↩︎
Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards, Reading Example

A Reading Gone Wrong

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Getting things wrong hurts, but is part of the human condition. In fact, I would argue that if a reader says they are infallible, that’s a good time to put as much distance between you and them as possible. An infallible reader is either so delusional that they block out all negative feedback from their reality or so dishonest that they’ll constantly be looking for the right bridge to sell you. Either way, they are best kept at a distance.

Still, there’s no denying that getting a reading wrong is disheartening because, as much as we should keep the ego out of the equation, the ego always seeps into it. I think it’s fair to share our failures as well as our triumphs. Here is a reading I got wrong relatively recently.

The querent was asking about her recent pregnancy.

Q♣️ – 7♣️ – J♥️ – 3♠️ – 2♥️

Accepting the question was my first mistake, as such issues are way too delicate. There is no situation where “you will miscarry” is an acceptable thing to say, and if we can’t be honest there is no point in giving a reading. Even if I had interpreted the cards correctly I would never have told the querent.

Thing is, though, that I wanted to give her good news, albeit subconsciously, and so I ended up interpreting a clearly negative spread positively. The querent falls first in the spread, and there is a card of obstacles between her and the child (the Jack of Hearts). The Three of Spades in questions of pregnancy often leads to loss, but I interpreted the Two of Hearts as the solution of the problems, while in fact it was merely saying that the loss would happen soon (it was knocking at the door). In hindsight, I probably should have added some cards.

I told the querent the pregnancy would go fine, though with minor problems which would be solved, but that she should always listen to the doctor. In reality, the cards point to a situation that not even doctors would be able to salvage (the doctors don’t show up in the spread).

Two things can be learned: first, never accept questions you are not really comfortable answering; second, always keep your desire to give a skewed answer in check. It is human nature to want other people to be happy (or sad, if we don’t like them) but this gets in the way of our objectivity.

MQS

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

Do You Need To Believe In It For It To Work?

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One of the questions that occupy way too many people in the esoteric community is whether divination or even magic require the person to believe in it in order for it to work. If you’ve ever watched the movie The Skeleton Key, you’ll know that this concept has seeped into the collective consciousness enough for it to find its way into mainstream products (I will not spoil the movie here, since it is actually a fun watch, but it depends heavily on its twist).

If you open most premodern books on magic, you’ll be stunned to discover that their content bears very little resemblance to the post-Golden Dawn landscape. This, by the way, is neither good nor bad. Things change. But we need to be aware of the change to avoid being unconsciously ruled by it. One clear difference is that the magician’s will1 or his imagining/manifesting faculties are barely taken into consideration in older sources, at least outwardly.

This is not to say that there aren’t sources that encourage the practitioner to be of firm mind and clear intent (after all, you’d want your doctor to focus, too, even though their focus is not what make their science work), but even those old sources do not consider, generally speaking, the magician’s mind to be the cause of the change. Broadly speaking, when dealing with sources that date back to before the invention of modern psychoanalysis and psychology, we must be extremely careful when interpreting their concept of mind, soul, psyche, etc.

An example will suffice. In his De Vita, Neoplatonic Renaissance philosopher and magus Marsilio Ficino encourages us, among other things, to “think solar thoughts”, or jovial, or venusian, depending on the aim. Similar remarks are found, in various form, in many old sources. A contemporary practitioner might be tempted to interpret Ficino’s invitation as saying that we must envision solar things in order for them to manifest. But neither the language nor the substance of this interpretation belong to his worldview.

Ficino’s view of the cosmos is essentially the same as Agrippa’s and that of many other premodern magi: we are surrounded by chains of sympathy and antipathy between universal powers (typified by the planets). When we think “solar thoughts” we are doing essentially nothing except stepping inside a current of power that has its own metaphysical reality regardless of our attitude toward it. This is because in Renaissance naturalism, the mind is essentially like the body, i.e., a part of the cosmos, and a movement of the mind is like a movement of the body, and just like the body can create a talisman or a concoction, so can the mind shape images that allow it to shower in certain currents of universal power.

Thus, the invitation to think certain thoughts found in Ficino (and others) is not a precursor to manifestation, attraction and other modern concepts, but a natural consequence of the old view of the mind and the world.

On the other hand, from a postmodern standpoint, reality is for us to create at will. Yes, I am exaggerating, but not too much. Therefore, there is the widespread idea, or at least the widespread implication, that what happens happens because we believe in it.

Let us leave magic alone for now and concentrate on divination. Does divination work because we believe in it? Well, no. Certainly divination doesn’t require the querent to believe in it in order for it to work. In fact, it is my belief that, considering how many frauds there are in this field, a querent should be borderline psychotic to blindly believe in divination without a healthy dose of scepticism.

What about diviners? Do they need to believe in divination in order for it to work? That’s complicated, in my view. On the surface of it I would argue that, again, no, we don’t need to believe in divination for it to work. Divination systems work because they have their own internal consistency. The most obvious is Natal Astrology, which presents us with an objective set of symbols that have nothing to do with the manipulation of counters on the part of the diviner.

On the other hand, we need to allow for the fact that divination is not a mechanic set of behaviors, especially with the overwhelming majority of divination systems that do require manipulation (cartomancy, geomancy, dice, etc.) As I often repeat on this blog, divination is and remains something extraordinary. The honest desire for an answer, or at least for a picture of the future, tends to guarantee a crisp and clear answer. This is because the honest desire for an answer allows us to honestly connect with the symbols in a way that makes them fall in the appropriate order.

The querent doesn’t need to be honest in his or her desire, unless they are also the diviner. But if the diviner does not have at least a degree of confidence in what he or she is doing, then the question they put to the system is not the surface question (e.g., “Does X love Y?”) but “Do you really work?” which is an impossible question for the system to answer (if the answer is no, then the system does work).

Even then, I would be cautious in overexaggerating the importance of the diviner’s attitude. As I believe I have mentioned, one of the ways my teacher trained me was by asking me to discover secrets about her past. Clearly, the exercise was not meant to discover something new that might benefit my querent or me, but rather to build my confidence and skill. Yet it worked, and it worked well. Maybe the diviner doesn’t need to believe in divination (I know I am always skeptical until proven right), but they do need to at least be open to the idea that this is a legitimate way of receiving information, just enough to enter into the system rather than operating it from the outside as a scientist would manipulate a bunch of molecules.

My general belief at this point is that the esoteric arts do not require our consent in order to work, but they are also not the product of the mechanistic application of abstract principles. It is indeed a fine balance.

MQS

  1. Let’s leave aside the fact that the concept of Will found in modern magic is actually more complex than what it appears to be on the surface ↩︎