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Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy – Book II Pt. 3

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Fludd explains some of the meanings of Acquisitio, Amissio, Laetitia and Tristitia in the various houses.

Of the Nature and Meaning of the Sixteen Figures in Each of the Houses of the Shield

Acquisitio

In the First house, riches, prudence, profit, good end (or aim)1 luck, receiving what one wishes, but this figure is not good for selling;2 but it is truthful.
In the Second house, wealth, gain, profit, good luck in commerce, reception of something promised, recovery of lost property, increase of all good things.
In the Third house, good luck from relatives, good relatives, siblings, neighbors, good journey, good sense (or feeling).3

In the Fourth house, good inheritance, good and useful house, in which one will acquire riches, rich father, positive solution to all things connected with inheritance.
In the Fifth house, gain from one’s children,4 good children, good letters, good clothes, happiness in the heart, delighting in women, the fruits of the inheritance.5
In the Sixth house, long illness,6 which however will be cured, good animals, good servants.

In the Seventh house, a chaste and submissive woman,7 good company, good dealings, peace, reconciliation with enemies, whether it be in litigation or in war.
In the Eighth house, redress, natural death, gain in foreign land, freedom from fear of death, the enemy is happy and rich.8
In the Ninth house, gain from death, path or travel, fear of God, positive journey, benefit, good dreams, good sense in all actions, piety and religious devotion, good in things of church.

In the Tenth house, profit from (or for) the master or king, peaceful and happy masters, obtaining one’s wish, good sentence from the judge.
In the Eleventh house, good luck, good friends, gain from commerce, immediate reception of gain.
In the Twelfth house, poverty or incarceration due to debts, profit for (or from) servants and beasts,9 long prison sentence, good in case of illness and in being paid back a debt.

In the Thirteenth house, loss and change in profits,10 good journey, acquisition in everything, receipt, implementation of the wish of the absent person.11
In the Fourteenth house, gain in everything one wishes, long life, luck, usefulness, goodness.
In the Fifteenth house, good in everything, recovery of lost things, delay in one’s journey.

Note that this figure in the first house shows a man who is handsome, with yellow or beautiful hair, mediocre build, a red face, a merchant.12

Amissio

In the First house, a bold, unstable man, full of crime and deception, receiving nothing.
in the Second house loss of merchandise and goods, no profit, loss of all goods from robbers.
In the Third house enmity between relatives, parents, brothers, neighbors full of deception, fear on the way.

In the Fourth house falsity and loss of inheritance and patrimony, bad end of the city or house.13
In the fifth house loss of fruits of the inheritance,14 bad and unstable children, bad letters,15 no pleasure in the love of unserious women.
In the Sixth house escape from disease, loss of animals, flight of slaves, likewise injury and perversity.

In the Seventh house an evil woman, a quarrel with one’s master16 or partner, an unstable and lustful woman, loss of merchandise, fugitive robbers, inimical partners, changeable and deceitful, bad change (or removal).17
In the Eighth house loss from death, loss of sense, no profit in the place where one goes, poor enemies, loss a woman’s dowry.
In the Ninth house a long journey without pleasure, no knowledge, some evil for the querent from the Church.

In the Tenth house evil lords, loss of honour, dominion or office, unstable lords, troubles of kingdoms, obstacles to honour.
In the Eleventh house loss of friends, loss of merchandise, false hope, changeable and useless friends.
In the Twelfth house loss of animals, escape from debts, bad change, escape from prison, friends full of falsehood, changeable and derisive.

In the Thirteenth house loss and change in authority or government, bad luck.
In the Fourteenth house loss of friends, much toil in every matter.18
In the Fifteenth house a reception of nothing, a bad conclusion.

note, when this figure Loss is found in the first house, it signifies a pale man, a liar, a predator, a thief.

Laetitia

In the First house judges, wise men, a good and upright life, fullness of joy and exaltation, joy to the querent in all things.
In the Second house a multitude of honors, a life full of fidelity and joy.
In the Third house good fortune through one’s brothers, no fear of God,19 good love of brothers, neighbors, parents, much joy in everything.

In the Fourth house profit from inheritances and from all things on earth,20 a happy end, happiness through real estate, happiness of parents, peaceful inheritance.
In the Fifth house profitable children, long life, happiness in all things, happy and delightful letters and news, happiness from women and all good things.
In the Sixth house servants, animals cured from disease, joyful and cheerful servants.

In the Seventh house a good marriage, profitable partners or profit from partners, victory due to a cheerful and chaste woman, cheerful company, peace and harmony, good change (or removal).
In the Eighth house profits inherited from the dead, escape from fear, profit and profits in the place where one removes to.
In the Ninth house, journeys, fear of God, knowledge, faithfulness, cheerfulness, a holy man,21 business of the church, good news, fine arts, devotion and love of the church.

In the Tenth house exaltation to great honors, bishops and prelates, help from the lords, a happy and cheerful office, beautiful temples, a good judge, a just and good opinion, a warm place.22
In the Eleventh house good fortune from associates, profitable animals,23 joyous love, good hope from a good man, cheerful and good friends, a prudent man and of good knowledge, profit in trade.
In the Twelfth house profitable beasts and slaves, coming out of prison, deliverance from debt, and from all tribulation, peace and reconciliation with enemies.

In the Thirteenth house, profit from a journey, from the king, from the lord, positive change.
In the Fourteenth house good hope of fulfilling one’s will, happy hope, the fulfillment of one’s wishes, joy and exaltation.

When this figure is found in the first house, it signifies a bishop, a prelate of the church, religious and ecclesiastical, a long beard, some evil existing in the finger,24 remaining in high places.

Tristitia

In the First house, sad thoughts, debts, poverty, hidden loss, obligations, prison, roadblocks, bad change, unbelieving and without hope.25
In the Second house fortune and commerce,26 avarice, loss of property, an unfortunate usurer, dishonor.
In the Third house bitterness with relatives, silent hatred with neighbors and relatives, a secret obstacle on the way.27

In the Fourth house loss of inheritance and in battles, loss of house, trouble, bad house, bad luck, poverty of parents, loss.
In the Fifth house bad and poor children, false letters, sadness and anguish of heart, secrets in love of sad women, poor food and clothes.
In the Sixth house evil servants, fear of captivity and poverty, timid and useless animals, long illness or death, poverty, rejection without injury and confusion.28

In the Seventh house a bad woman, a victorious man,29 a thief in the night, poor condition, loss, bad change (or removal), a sad woman.
In the Eighth house being poor from the death of another, loss in a foreign nation, damage from the absent person.30

In the Ninth house the road is unprofitable, hindrances in the journey and loss, a man without wisdom and knowledge, a crude understanding, the downfall of the church and benefits.

In the Tenth house, loss and degradation of men, the exaltation of the wicked,31 loss of duties, sad lords, fear of kings and kingdoms, wrong judgment of judges, a fall from honor.
In the Eleventh house, contemptuous friends, bad luck which will last for a long time, but still with hope, a poor friend, no failure in business.32
In the Twelfth house, debts, enemies, loss, long imprisonment or death in prison, a timid and poor enemy, trouble, fear of obligations and debts, long or incurable illness.33

In the Thirteenth house evil on the road and sadness.
In the Fourteenth house, bad luck, small journeys, anxiety and trouble, despair and irreparable evil.

When this figure is found in the first house, it signifies a dark man,34 having torn clothes, and who deals in dark, foul, and vile things.

MQS

Footnotes
  1. It is unclear to me whether he means a good end to the matter at hand or a positive aim in mind. ↩︎
  2. Because it implies receiving rather than giving away. ↩︎
  3. Probably meaning clarity of mind. ↩︎
  4. This was written in preromantic times, when children were often seen as helping hands. ↩︎
  5. Because the Fifth house is the second from the Fourth. ↩︎
  6. Because it implies not getting rid of it. ↩︎
  7. Implying the querent is a man. However, in some old Astrology handbooks, the Seventh house is assigned specifically to women. ↩︎
  8. Because it is the second from the Seventh house, which is the house opposing the first. ↩︎
  9. The Twelfth house rules larger animals. ↩︎
  10. This sentence is not clear to me, nor why Acquisitio would imply loss. ↩︎
  11. “Implementum desiderii absentis.” This is obscure to me. ↩︎
  12. Fludd attributes, like many others, physical descriptions to the figures when they are in the First House. This is typical of traditional astrology, where the first house represents the querent. Note that these descriptions are rather limiting and conform to old stereotypes. Plus, they imply that the same querent would always be represented by the same figure whenever they come to the geomancer for a consultation, which is highly unlikely. They are still useful on occasion, but one must “mix discretion with art”. ↩︎
  13. In addition to one’s home, the Fourth house indicates the city. ↩︎
  14. Again because the Fifth is the second from the Fourth. However, the Fourth house also rules orchards and lands, so the Fifth can indicate literal fruits from the lands. ↩︎
  15. There is some confusion in traditional astrology on which house rules letters. Some say the Third house, some the Fifth, some the Ninth. As far as I can rationalize this matter, the Third house represents communication and private correspondence; the Fifth house represents messengers because it is the second from the Fourth, the Fourth house being the city, and the second house from any house indicates that thing’s representatives (for instance, my Second house would indicate my lawyer, who represents me in a court of law.) ↩︎
  16. It’s unclear why the Seventh would indicate the master. ↩︎
  17. The Seventh house represents “there”, while the Firsth house is “here”. ↩︎
  18. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth houses, i.e., the Witnesses, generally receive their signification (as we have seen in Abano’s case) from the two houses they derive from on the Shield: the Right Witness from the Ninth and Tenth, the Left Witness from the Eleventh and Twelfth. ↩︎
  19. It is unclear whether this is positive or negative, as fear of God was considered the beginning of wisdom. As for why it is attributed to the Third house instead of the Ninth, in some very old Astrological texts the Third House is the house of the Goddess, and in Christian times it possibly came to represent how one’s faith affected one’s everyday life. ↩︎
  20. The Fourth house, the Imum Coeli, is the earth. ↩︎
  21. All these positive religious connotations stem from Acquisitio’s attribution to Jupiter. ↩︎
  22. The Tenth house, the M.C., represents the sky and therefore the weather. ↩︎
  23. I don’t get why. ↩︎
  24. I don’t understand why. ↩︎
  25. Probably as character traits, since it is about the First House. ↩︎
  26. I do not understand why Tristitia in the second would bode well for commerce. ↩︎
  27. Fludd’s insistence on the idea of secrecy is due to Tristitia’s association with Saturn. ↩︎
  28. “abjectionem sine vulnere et confusione”. I do not understand this sentence. ↩︎
  29. I don’t understand why “a victorious man”. ↩︎
  30. The reference to absent people is due to how common it was to ask astrologers or geomancers about people who had simply gone away or vanished. This is understandable, considering astrology was probably the only tracking device available at the time. ↩︎
  31. Because the Tenth House is the highest place in the chart and Tristitia indicates downward movement and lowly things or people, it can show the elevation of someone unworthy or the downfall of someone who is in a high place. ↩︎
  32. This last part is unclear to me. Possibly because the failure announced by Tristitia is mitigated by the positivity of the house. ↩︎
  33. Typically we assign illness to the Sixth house. However, there are old handbooks that assign illness (especially serious illness) to the Twelfth house. Some distinguish between the Illness (Sixth House) and the confinement that derives from it (Twelfth House). ↩︎
  34. From Saturn’s influence ↩︎

astrology, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Reading Example, Uncategorized

Collection of Light in Astrology (with Example)

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In another article, I discussed the technique called translation of light, which occurs when a planet collects the influence of one significator and translates it to the other.

There is another technique which is, in many ways, the opposite of translation, but has the same effect. This is called collection of light. It happens when a slower-moving planet has been in contact with a faster one, thus receiving its influence, and then another planet also comes into contact with the slow planet. Contact can happen by conjunction or by (usually) positive aspect, that is, sextile or trine, or at least with reception. As with translation, collection usually implies the presence of third parties or external circumstances bringing things together.

Whereas translation can only be effected by a fast planet, and therefore the Moon (or sometimes Mercury) is the most likely culprit, collection of light can only be caused by a slow planet, and therefore Saturn or Jupiter are the most likely intermediaries here.

Example: Is The Book Arriving At All?

My Bolognese Tarot teacher, who is now a good friend, has recently written a follow-up to her book on the 50-card method, and she wanted to send me a dedicated copy. She posted the parcel before Christmas 2024, but by January 6 it hadn’t arrived and I was worried it might have been lost or forgotten in some dispatchment center. So I asked the heavens.

Is the gift arriving at all? App used: Aquarius2Go

I am signified by Mercury, ruler of the ascendant. My teacher sent me the book in her quality of personal friend (it wasn’t part of a course or anything), so she is signified by the Eleventh House ruler, the Moon. The Moon also represents the flow of the action (keep that in mind for later). Her gift for me is her second house, that is, the second house from the Eleventh, i.e., the radical Twelfth, ruled by the Sun. My stuff is signified by Venus, ruler of my second house.

So, ideally, we would want the Sun to be reached by Mercury. How do we get them together? Well, we don’t, clearly, or at least not for a while and not before the Sun has left Capricorn. That’s a problem.

However, we note that the Sun has just sextiled Saturn, having been received by it as well. What is Saturn? Well, it rules the Fifth and Sixth Houses, so the closest thing I can think of is the courier/delivery service (Sixth, house of servants).

What happens to Saturn next? It is sextiled by the Moon. The Moon is the ruler of the Eleventh, my teacher/friend, but it doesn’t make sense (she sent the book, she’s not gonna receive it). However, in most horary charts, the Moon also signifies the flow of the action. So the flow of the action moves favorably (sextile) with the courier (Saturn): the book hasn’t been lost. What happens next is that my significator (Mercury) and the significator of my stuff (Venus) almost simultaneously meet Saturn: Mercury by sextile with reception by sign, Venus by conjunction with reception by exaltation. Even if we chose to disqualify the Venus conjunction because Venus squares Jupiter first, Mercury makes no other aspect before the Saturn sextile.

Thankfully, the book arrived yesterday (I’m gonna review it in the near future). Note that timing in this chart seems to fail: the chart was made on January 8, the parcel arrived on January 15. If we take the Moon sextile it is two degrees away (two days, two weeks), if we take the Mercury sextile it is 15/16something degrees away (again, 16 days). The only aspect that seems to come closer is the Venus conjunction with around 10 degrees (10 days, though it took 7). It is probable that the chart was simply responding to my core question: yes, it will arrive, and took timing for granted. It could also be that I’ve misread the chart and got lucky. If you have an idea, drop a line!

Either way, we’ve finally answered the age-old question: Why is Saturn so fat and slow? The better to collect your light!

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla Cards That Indicate People

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There are plenty of cards, in the Vera Sibilla, that can indicate individuals (see here for groups). Here are the most common (keeping in mind that most of the cards have other associations as well, and may indicate concepts or situations):

Seven of Hearts – The Scholar
The Scholar can represent the figure of a lawyer, a notary, or more in general a professional. Traditionally he is said to be in his 40s or early 50s, but we need to be flexible with age. He can also be a member of the family or even a partner.

Eight of Hearts – Hope
There are two schools of thought concerning the Hope card. According to some it doesn’t represent a woman, while according to others it can (traditionally, a younger or blonde woman). I have found that it is rare for this to be the case, but it could happen.

Nine of Hearts – Faithfulness
The Faithfulness card can represent support, and occasionally it will show up alone indicating a concrete someone, i.e., a friend, who shows us support.

Jack of Hearts – The Boyfriend
It is common for this card to indicate an actual person, often the unmarried male querent or a male who is in love, or positive, or belonging to the family.

Queen of Hearts – The Girlfriend
Same as with the Jack, only applying to women.

King of Hearts – The Gentleman
The King of Hearts is traditionally the figure of a protector or benefactor, someone who aids us. He is typically in a good position to do so. He can be a father or loving husband (when upright), but can also represent the married male querent or a boyfriend who is older or has a position in society.

Four of Clubs – The Friend
The Friend card can represent friendship as a concept, as well as partnerships and other situations where people come together for a common goal. However, it can often indicate a female friend or relative.

Jack of Clubs – The Servant
The Jack often represents a younger man, one up to 30 years of age, or unmarried. However, it can also represent a colleague or friend, regardless of age. It can also indicate a son, if relevant. Usually he is already known to the querent (the Italian word ‘domestico’ can mean servant but it also implies familiarity with the house).

Queen of Clubs – The Maiden
The Maidan can be the female counterpart of the Servant, showing a younger unmarried woman, sometimes a daughter.

King of Clubs – The Doctor
The Doctor card often indicates health issues or the need to take care of something. However, it can also represent a man with a certain social position or with a degree (if next to a female card, then he turns into a woman with those characteristics). It can show the figure of a professional whose advice or help will be required, or a boss.

Seven of Diamonds – The Child
Often it is a metaphorical child, but sometimes the Seven of Diamonds can represent a literal one, usually very young (toddler). It can combine with other cards (the Servant or Maiden, for instance) to indicate a teenager. It is the card of pets as well.

Eight of Diamonds – The Handmaid
A card strongly connected with the coming and going of money and with work, the Handmaid can also be the figure of a female colleague or a female servant (like a cleaning lady). Traditionally she is from a different town, but this is not always the case. She can also be a stranger or a foreigner.

Ten of Diamonds – The Thief
Rarely a literal person, but in connection with negative cards it can show someone who steals, either literally or metaphorically.

Jack of Diamonds – The Messenger
Rarely a person card, the Messenger often heralds the arrival of news and the knowledge of facts. However, it can occasionally represent a young man, traditionally dark-haired.

Queen of Diamonds – The Wife
A card that often represents what it says on the tin, the wife shows a woman who is married and may have children. It can indicate a woman who has achieved some level of success (could be a colleague or boss).

King of Diamonds – The Merchant
Usually this card signifies the querent’s work life. However, it occasionally signifies a literal merchant or someone who a transactional view of life and relationships.

Two of Spades – The Old Lady
Often one of the most complex cards in the deck, the Old Lady has a whole host of metaphorical meanings. The literal meaning, though, is that of representing an older woman, a grandmother, a widow, someone close to retirement, a woman of 60+, and so on. The card can also stand for an ex (your old woman).

Three of Spades – The Widower
As with the Old Lady, so with the Widower, but for men. It can represent an older man, a grandfather, an ex, a widower or divorced man. It is somewhat rarer for the Widower to be a literal person, compared to the Old Lady.

Ten of Spades – The Soldier
Another often cryptic card to interpret, the Soldier can also indicate a young man, in his 30s or early 40s (again, taking it with a pinch of salt), who is muscular or sexy or who wears a uniform. It can also indicate a stranger or a foreigner.

Jack of Spades – The Enemy (male)
The male enemy card can stand for a literal enemy, or for someone who is against the querent for some reason, either as a rule or in a particular situation (your uncle whose car you crashed into a tree can be your enemy too, when he finds out). It can also represent a place where people are inimical to the querent.

Queen of Spades – The Enemy (female)
Same as with the Jack, but for women.

King of Spades – The Priest
The King of Spades often indicates an institution, the government, a judge, etc. It can also sometimes represent an older man who is not inimical to the querent, but who is somewhat cold toward him or her, but is still fair (unless the card is reversed).

MQS

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

Psychological Hang-Ups of Diviners and Querents

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When a person sits in front of a diviner, a number of preconceptions have often already been set off in their mind, and sometimes even in the mind of the diviner.

We must always remember that, nowadays, many people don’t visit an astrologer or card reader by chance, nor (usually) as their first go-to choice. Often, they have made a deliberate choice to step outside of the norm, for better or for worse, meaning that they have found the norm to be lacking in its ability to provide certainty. For many, therefore, the underlying presupposition seems to be: “I accept to take part in something that operates outside of consensus reality as long as it gives me the certainty I can’t find any other way.”

As diviners, we instinctively know it, and we may feel pressured to play into this presupposition or swim directly against it, thus falling into the opposite error.

Some diviners may feel they need to provide the querent with the unreasonable all-knowledge that only God can gift them with, only to end up providing uncertain information with unreasonable confidence. Others may push in the direction of vague self-help: We may not know if Mr. Right is behind the corner for our love-starved querent, but her divine feminine or other buzzword can still derive important lessons and “aha moments” from reflecting on the whole situation.

Mae West said it best. Picture by Sophie Charlotte on Pinterest

There are many dimensions to divination, some of which are indeed very deep. However, as far as our relationship with querents is concerned, we are simply an added means of intelligence-gathering, which, like all tools at our disposal, may fail for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the diviner’s limited knowledge (our knowledge is always limited).

“But I came here to have undebiable, clearcut answers,” one might argue. To which I anwer: Tough titties! If you want undeniable clearcut answers shake a magic eightball. Divination is, quite literally, a divine language, and is not always so cleacut, either in itself or due to our limitations, or sometimes simply because the situation isn’t clearcut in itself. This is especially the case for issues involving human emotions.

As a rule, honesty is the best policy. I believe in voicing my procress to the querent, and the querent has a right to as clear an answer as I am capable of giving them, but we should never feel pressured to give them more certainty than we can truly see in the oracle.

It is perfectly acceptable to talk to the querent about our doubts or about the possible interpretations we are seeing in the oracle. For instance, it is ok to say “it seems like x, but y is also a possibility, while z seems less likely and w is out of the question.” It is also acceptable to say “these cards seem to point to such and such being the case, but I’m uncertain, as this other interpretation might also be right”. More often than not, the querent will say that both interpretations apply, and when this is not the case they can help us disambiguate the oracle.

Ultimately, the fact that divination has no legitimate place in our society implies as a consequence that, because our society believes itself to be held together by reasonable rules and processes, then divination must be either complete poppycock for delusional idiots or it must be capable of unreasonable fits of prowess in other to justify its existence in spite of its current ostracism.

This in turn creates expectations and hang-ups on both ends of the divination process that need to be analyzed and clarified to avoid them subconsciously ruling our practice. Doing so can make divination much more valuable and much more enjoyable.

MQS

Creativity, Divination, Fiction, Fortune-telling, I Ching / Yi Jing

On The Way To Follow

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From the Microcosmicon, 35:

Master Feiyu scolded his pupil, Qiang, for consulting the I Ching by tossing coins instead of using the meditative yarrow stalks.

Mortified, Qiang, who’d been deriving great benefit from the oracle, set about manipulating the sticks. He asked if he’d been wrong in using coins. He got Hexagram 7, The Army. Not understanding the answer, he abandoned the divination.

Later he asked again, but tossed his coins instead. Again he got Hexagram 7, which he still didn’t understand.
What Qiang did understand was that there was nothing wrong in his choice of method, but plenty in his choice of master.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Reading Example, Tarot

Recovery From Surgery (Example Reading)

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Plenty of readings this time of year, and an above average number on health issues. An acquaintance of ours, an elderly man whom we know from theater, had to go under the knife for major surgery, my husband and I decided to see how the situation would evolve. I used the 45-card Bologna tarot system and the 13 card spread.

Recovery from Surgery. Spread with the Bologna

I am immediately reassured by the lack of dramatic sequences. However, the first row is interesting: Death can indicate a major turning point, the Chariot is the bed card in this tradition, and the Tower is a place of suffering, such as a hospital. Death and Tower can be a tragedy or painful situation. Technically you’d need the Knight of Swords together with the Chariot and Tower to predict surgery, but considering I didn’t even need to predict it (I knew it already) the cards are being remarkably specific.

We also find that his thoughts (the Knight of Wands) are not at ease (the Fool and Justice, that is, irrgularities on his idea of what is right). It could simply indicate bewilderment at the question of how he is going to move on from this. Note that the Tower weighs his thoughts down.

In the following row we see that there is love and care around him (Seven of Cups and Love) and that this care is going to have to last quite a while (Temperance). The recovery is going to take its time. Finally, the cards reassure us that the people and doctors taking care of him mean well and know what they are doing (the Queen of Coins is the truth, wisdom and knowledge).

All in all it could certainly have been worse.

MQS

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

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Six of Cups

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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 Six of Cups from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

Time period is the second decanate of Scorpio, from November 1 to November 10 under the combined influences of Jupiter and Neptune.
Well-Dignified: the meanings in specific divinations are based on the influence of Neptune and Jupiter in Scorpio combined with its natural 8th house; deep emotions, ardor, enthusiasm, generosity; money through marriage or business partner, or by inheritance; the beginning of steady gain in business or pleasure, but beginning only; peculiar circumstances.
lll-Dignified: deceit in reference to partner’s money; loss of inheritance through some sort of swindle; danger of death on water, or through poisons or anesthetics; some reversal of fortune.
Keyword: Betterment
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

Children in an old garden, their cups filled with flowers. Divinatory Meanings: A card of the past and of memories, looking back, as–for example–on childhood; happiness, enjoyment, but coming rather from the past; things that have vanished. Another reading reverses this, giving new relations, new knowledge, new environment, and then the children are disporting in an unfamiliar precinct. Reversed: The future, renewal, that which will come to pass presently.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Six of Cups is called Pleasure. This pleasure is a kind of pleasure which is completely harmonized. The zodiacal sign governing the card being Scorpio, pleasure is here rooted in its most convenient soil. This is pre-eminently a fertile card; it is one of the best in the pack.

[…]

This card shows the influence of the number Six, Tiphareth, in the suit of Water. This influence is fortified by that of the Sun, who also represents the Six. The whole image is that of the influence of the Sun on Water. His fierce, but balanced power operates that type of putrefaction-he is in the Sign of Scorpio-which is the basis of all fertility, all life.

The lotus stems are grouped in an elaborate dancing movement. From their blossoms water gushes into the Cups, but they are not yet full to overflowing, as they are in the corresponding card below; the Nine.

Pleasure, in the title of this card, must be understood in its highest sense: it implies well-being, harmony of natural forces without effort or strain, ease, satisfaction. Foreign to the idea of the card is the gratification of natural or artificial desires. Yet it does represent emphatically the fulfilment of the sexual Will, as shown by the ruling Sephira, planet, element, and sign.

In the Yi King, Sol in Scorpio is represented by the 20th Hexagram, Kwan, which is also “Big Earth”, being the Earth Trigram with doubled lines. Kwan means “manifesting”, but also “contemplating”. The Kwan refers directly to an High Priest, ceremonially purified, about to present his offerings. The idea of Pleasure-Putrefaction as a Sacrament is therefore implicit in this Hexagram as in this card; while the comments on the separate lines by the Duke of Chau indicate the analytical value of this Eucharist. It is one of the master-keys to the Gate of Initiation. To realize and to enjoy this fully it is necessary to know, to understand, and to experience, the Secret of the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O.
(From The Book of Thoth)

A fairytale-like AI-generated illustration for the Six of Cups

Golden Dawn’s Book T

AN Angelic Hand, as before, holds a group of stems of water-lilies or lotuses, from which six flowers bend, one over each cup. From these flowers a white glistening water flows into the cups as from a fountain, but they are not yet full.
Above and below are Sun and Scorpio referring to the Decan.

Commencement of steady increase, gain and pleasure; but commencement only.
Also affront, detection, knowledge, and in some instances contention and strife arising from unwarranted self-assertion and vanity. Sometimes thankless and presumptuous; sometimes amiable and patient. According to dignity as usual.
Tiphareth of HB:H (Beginning of wish, happiness, success, or enjoyment).
Therein rule HB:NLKAL and HB:YYYAL

Etteilla

Past.
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: the Past, Formerly, Withered, Formerly. – Formerly, Anteriorly, Of Yore, Once. – Old age, Decrepitude, Antiquity.
Reversed. Upcoming, Future. – What comes next, Afterwards, Posteriorly, Further. – Regeneration, Resurrection. – Reproduction, Renewal, Reiteration.

MQS

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

Robert Fludd’s Geomancy – Book II Pt. 2

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Fludd introduces some preliminary classifications of the houses.

Of The First Twelve Figures Of a Shield

the first twelve shields of the geomantic house refer to the 12 signs of the zodiac, as we must understand in astrology. Therefore, the first house, both in astrology and in geomancy, is given to Aries, and is always by itself a movable house,1 the second to Taurus, and is a fixed house, and the third to Gemini, and is a common house. The fourth is Cancer and is movable, the fourth is Leo and is fixed, the sixth is Virgo and is common, the seventh is Libra and is movable, the eighth is Scorpio and is fixed, the ninth is Sagittarius and is common, the tenth is Capricorn and is movable, the eleventh is Aquarius and is fixed, the twelfth is Pisces and it is common, that is, neither fixed nor movable, but intermediate between both.

And it must be noted that, when the [geomantic] figures are in these houses, nevertheless the nature of the house is not changed, but remains in itself, that is, it will not change the nature of its sign: hence the first house will be called Aries, and so forth, so that every house, whatever attribute it may have, will stay movable, fixed, or common according to its own nature.

Rule I

Bad Houses make good figures bad, and they make bad ones worse: on the contrary, good figures are better in good houses.

Rule II

A figure in a house of contrary nature, that is to say a fixed figure in a movable house, or a movable figure in a fixed house, is rendered worse in judgment. But a fixed figure in a fixed house or a mobile figure in a mobile house are fortified.2

Rule III

The first four of the twelve houses, namely, the first house, the second, and the third will always signify the season of spring, and so on in the rest, as stated in astrology.3

MQS

Footnotes

  1. Today we call the astrological signs cardinal, fixed and mutable. A more archaic way of describing them is as movable, fixed and common. Note that Fludd is equating the signs with the houses, which is natural in geomancy. In traditional astrology, however, the houses are quite distinct from the signs. ↩︎
  2. Here the reference is to the classification of the geomantic figures shown in Book II, Part 1. ↩︎
  3. In astrology (as well as in magic), the four quarters of the Heaven hold much symbolic meaning, lending themselves to the allotment of various fourfold distinctions. ↩︎

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards

The Hothead (Example Reading)

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If you ever happen to receive a comment from someone whom the cards describe in the following way:

2♠️ – 6♦️ – 2♣️

you can safely flag all their future comments as spam. Their actions (Two of Clubs) presuppose (behind) a volatile and unstable temper (Two of Spades – Six of Diamonds). It is someone who is simply looking for a target to live out their idiosyncrasies depending on the fixation of the moment.

MQS

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

The Great Spreads With the Bologna Tarot – The Significator Spread

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This is the last full-deck spread I am aware of that can be performed with the Bolognese Tarot. It doesn’t have an Italian name. The person who taught it to me, together with the 45-card method, just calls it “la stesa”, “the spread”. For her, this is THE spread, while all other systems, whether large or small, are in a separate category, as it were. My other teacher, who taught me the 50-card spread, is also aware of such a way of laying out the cards, but doesn’t have a name for it either.

To distinguish it from the other spreads I call it the Significator Spread, because it requires you to lay out a significator for the querent on the table, as opposed to the bed sheet spread and the staircase spread, where the significator remains in the deck.

In most regular readings, you are going to select either the King of Wands, for a man, or the Queen of Wands for a woman, though someone might ask to lay out the cards for someone else (e.g., a father would be the King of Cups, a daughter the Page of Cups, etc.) You may also choose to ‘christen’ the significator to connect it with the querent. Once this is done, you shuffle the deck, cut it, and then lay out the cards in the following manner:

141516Sign.272829
171819123303132
202122456333435
232425789363738
2610111239
13
4041424344

You may notice some similarities between this spread and the thirteen card spread, which also belongs to the same cartomancy tradition. Here is an example:

The Significator Spread using the Bologna tarot

In this case, the cards 1 to 13, that is, those underneath the significator, indicate either the past or the present of the querent, or sometimes the immediate future, if you’ve already discussed the querent’s past using other spreads. The cards 14 to 26 indicate what comes after (usually the nearer future), while the cards 27 to 39 show the further developments. Finally, the cards 40 to 44 can either give something upcoming and noteworthy or, according to others, simply be omitted from the spread. It is your choice. If you use the 50-card deck, you can add another row of five cards underneath.

As with the regular thirteen card spread, the central column of each thirteen-card cluster is more important, while the cards on the side either give details or may be ignored depending on the situation (after all, not all the cards in the deck are going to be read, otherwise everything would happen to everyone). Finally, remember that not every information you glean is going to be about the same topic, since this is a broad spread to tell a general future, before using shorter spreads to talk about individual topics.

MQS