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

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

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is from the beginning of Libra to the end of Sagittarius, September 23 to December 21. Meanings: a young person of either sex. Artistic, active, generous. Capable of weighing evidence, somewhat interested in occultism, philosophy or religion. Naturally aspiring, graceful.
If Ill-Dignified: frivolous, cunning and prodigal
Light brown hair and blue eyes
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A lithe, active figure holds a sword upright in both hands, while in the act of swift walking. He is passing over rugged land, and about his way the clouds are collocated wildly. He is alert and lithe, looking this way and that, as if an expected enemy might appear at any moment. Divinatory Meanings: Authority, overseeing, secret service, vigilance, spying, examination, and the qualities thereto belonging. Reversed: More evil side of these qualities; what is unforeseen, unprepared state; sickness is also intimated.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Princess of Swords represents the earthy part of Air, the fixation of the volatile. She brings about the materialization of Idea. She represents the influence of Heaven upon Earth. She partakes of the characteristics of Minerva and Artemis, and there is some suggestion of the Valkyrie. She represents to some extent the anger of the Gods, and she appears helmed, with serpent-haired Medusa for her crest. She stands in front of a barren altar as if to avenge its profanation, and she stabs downward with her sword. The heaven and the clouds, which are her home, seem angry.

The character of the Princess is stern and revengeful. Her logic is destructive. She is firm and aggressive, with great practical wisdom and subtlety in material things. She shews great cleverness and dexterity in the management of practical affairs, especially where they are of a controversial nature. She is very adroit in the settlement of controversies.

If ill-dignified, all these qualities are dispersed; she becomes incoherent, and all her gifts tend to combine to form a species of low cunning whose object is unworthy of the means.

In the Yi King, the earthy part of Air is represented by the 18th hexagram, Ku. This means “troubles”; it is, for all practical and material matters. The most unhappy symbol in the book. All the fine qualities of Air are weighed down, suppressed, suffocated.

People thus characterized are slow mentally, the prey of constant anxiety, crushed by every kind of responsibility, but especially in family affairs. One of both of the parents will usually be found in the aetiology.

It is hard to understand line 6, which “shows us one who does not serve either king or feudal lord, but in a lofty spirit prefers to follow his own bent”. The explanation is that a Princess as such, being “the throne of Spirit”, may always have the option of throwing everything overboard, “blowing everything sky high”. Such action would account for the characteristics above given for the card when well dignified. Such people are exceedingly rare; and, naturally enough, they appear often as “Children of misfortune”. Nevertheless, they have chosen aright, and in due season gain their reward.
(From the Book of Thoth)

Golden Dawn’s Book T

AN AMAZON figure with waving hair, slighter than the Rose of the Palace of Fire. Her attire is similar. The Feet seem springy, giving the idea of swiftness. Weight changing from one foot to another and body swinging around. She is a mixture of Minerva and Diana: her mantle resembles the AEgis of Minerva. She wears as a crest the head of the Medusa with serpent hair. She holds a sword in one hand; and the other rests upon a small silver altar with grey smoke (no fire) ascending from it. Beneath her feet are white clouds. Wisdom, strength, acuteness; subtlety in material things: grace and dexterity.
If ill dignified, she is frivolous and cunning.
She rules a quadrant of the heavens around Kether.
Earth of Air

Etteilla

Observer
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Spy, Curious, Observer, Scrutinizer, Collector, Overseer, Intending. – Examination, Note, Observation, Annotation, Speculation, Account, Calculation, Conjecture. – Scientist, Artist.
Reversed. Unexpected, Suddenly, Suddenly, Suddenly. – Stunning, Astonishing, Inopinently. – Improvise, Acting and speaking without preparation, Composing and acting sitting down.

MQS

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

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Page of Coins or Pentacles

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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 Page of Pentacles from the BOTA (Builders of the Adytum) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time pe r iod is from Decembe r 21 t o March 21, which encompasses the three signs of the winter quarter, Capricorn, Aquariusand Pisces, ruled by Saturn, Saturn- Uranus and Jupiter- Neptune.
Well-Dignified: good command in practical matters; ability to see the
principles be hind physical plane situations and phenomena; a young person of either sex, friendly to the Querent. Usually a friendly disposition with some leaning to the occult or a touch of psychic ability
in the make-up. Generous, diligent, compassionate.
lll-Dignified: more or less in bondage to material matters; inability to see beyond physical plane phenomena . A young person unfriendly, dull, wasteful, thoughtless, self-centered. If interested in the occult, it is usually for the sake of furthering selfish ends.
Dark eyes and rich brown hair.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A youthful figure, looking intently at the pentacle which hovers over his raised hands. He moves slowly, insensible of that which is about him. Divinatory Meanings: Application, study, scholarship, reflection another reading says news, messages and the bringer thereof; also rule, management. Reversed: Prodigality, dissipation, liberality, luxury; unfavourable news.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Princess of Disks, the last of the Court cards, represents the earthy part of Earth. She is consequently on the brink of transfiguration. She is strong and beautiful, with an expression of intense brooding, as if about to become aware of secret wonder.

Her crest is the head of the ram, and her sceptre descends into the earth. There its head becomes a diamond, the precious stone of Kether, thus symbolizing the birth of the highest and purest light in the deepest and darkest of the Elements. She stands within a grove of sacred trees before an altar suggesting a wheatsheaf, for she is a priestess of Demeter. She bears within her body the secret of the future. Her sublimity is further emphasized by the disk which she bears; for in the centre thereof is the Chinese ideogram denoting the twin spiral force of Creation in perfect equilibrium; from this is born the rose of Isis, the great fertile Mother.

The characteristics of an individual signified by this card are too various to enumerate; one must summarize by saying that she is Womanhood in its ultimate projection. She contains all the characteristics of woman, and it would depend entirely upon the influences to which she is subjected whether one or another becomes manifest. But in every case her attributes will be pure in themselves, and not necessarily connected with any other attributes which in the normal way one regards as symbolic. In one sense, then, her general reputation will be of bewildering inconsistency. It is rather like a lottery wheel from which the extraction of any number does not predict or influence the result of any subsequent operation. The fruit of the Philosophy of Thelema is enjoyed, rare, ripe, nourishing and vitalizing at its highest and fullest in this meditation; for to the adept every turn of the wheel is equally probable, and equally a prize; for every Event is “a play of Nuit”.

In the Yi King the earthy part of Earth is represented by the 52nd hexagram, Kan. The meaning is “a mountain”; of how sublime a significance is this Chinese doctrine of Balance, and how closely congruous with that of the Holy Qabalah!

The mountain is the most sacred of all terrestrial symbols, stark, rugged, and immoveable in its aspiration to the Highest, thrust up as it is by the Titan energy of Hidden Fire. It is no less an hieroglyph of the Inmost Godhead than the Phallus itself, even as Capricornus, the sign of the New Year, is exalted in the Zodiac, its deity autochthonous no less than the Most Holy Ancient One himself.

It is essential for the Student to trace this doctrine for himself in every symbol: Air, the elastic and flexible, yet all-pervading and the element of combustion; Water, fluid yet incompressible, the most neutral and composed of all components of living matter, yet destructive even of the hardest rocks by physical assault, and irresistible in its burning power of solution; and Fire, so kin to Spirit that it is not a substance at all, but a phenomenon, yet so integral to Matter that it is the very heart and essence of all things soever.

The characteristic of Kan in the Yi King is rest; each line of the comment describes repose in the parts of the body in turn, and their effects; the toes, the calves, the loins, the spine, and the jaws.

This chapter is a close parallel in this respect, line by line, with the 31st, Hsien, which begins the second section of the Yi.

The Rosicrucian doctrine of Tetragrammaton could hardly be more adequately stated-to every ear that is to heavenly harmony attuned.

“There’s not a planet in the firmament
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim;
But while this muddy vesture of decay
Doth wrap us round, our nature cannot hear it.

Let every student of this Essay, and of this book of Tahuti, this living Book that guides man through all Time, and leads him to Eternity at every page, hold fast this simplest, most far-reaching Doctrine in his heart and mind, inflaming the inmost of His Being, that he also, having explored each recess of the Universe, may therein find the Light of Truth, so come to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and accomplish the Great Work, attain the Summum Bonum, true Wisdom and perfect Happiness!
(From the Book of Thoth)

A medieval looking AI-generated illustration for the Page of Pentacles

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A STRONG and beautiful Amazon figure with rich brown hair, standing on grass or flowers. A grove of trees near her. Her form suggests Hebe, Ceres, and Proserpine. She bears a winged ram’s head as a crest: and wears a mantle of sheepskin. In one hand she carries a sceptre with a circular disk: in the other a Pentacle similar to that of the Ace of Pentacles.
She is generous, kind, diligent, benevolent, careful, courageous, persevering, pitiful.
If ill dignified she is wasteful and prodigal. She rules over one quadrant of the heavens around the North Pole of the Ecliptic.
Earth of Earth

Etteilla

Brown-haired boy
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Brown-haired Boy, Study, Instruction, Application, Meditation, Reflection. – Work, Occupation, Apprenticeship. – Schoolboy, Disciple, Pupil, Apprentice, Amateur, Student, Speculator, Shopkeeper.
Reversed. Profession, Superfluity, Width, Luxury, Lavishness, Magnificence, Abundance, Multiplicity. – Liberality, Beneficence, Generosity, Beneficence. – Crowd, Multitude. – Degradation, Dilapidation, Squandering, Dissipation.

MQS

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

Can I Trust Him? Well, Can He Trust You? Vera Sibilla Reading With a Twist

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Querents are not always paragons of virtue. There are usually two sides to most stories. I generally distrust people whose past is littered with psychos, crazy ex and narcissists. While someone CAN be that unlucky, the general trend seems to me to be more that people who have trouble in every relationship tend to be the cause of the trouble. “My love life is always a mess!” Of course it is, Rhonda, you are always in it!

As I said, there are usually two sides to each story, but as diviners we rarely hear the other one, so what we are stuck with is the querent’s own version, their word that the universe is constantly conspiring against them and a divination system usually saying exactly the opposite. And we are stuck in the middle of the perfect storm, carefully trying to thread the fine line between politeness and truth.

We were at a friend’s house and she had invited over another friend. The latter asked me the question: “I’m always unlucky in love. I’ve started dating this new guy, can I trust him?” Our friend made an odd face I could not decipher as we did the spread. These were the cards:

Is he reliable?

As I already discussed, sometimes the cards describe the development of a situation as if it were a book. At other times, they recreate a scene that can almost be observed with the characters calling attention to what they symbolize. This is one of those situations.

Right off the bat we notice that both querents are present. They are within the age range of the Queen of Clubs and Jack of Clubs. However, the mere fact that they are represented by these cards in a love question shows that this is not the romance of the century and will probably end, sooner or later. The cards, though, tell us something else.

Look at the Queen of Clubs! She is reversed and occupying the center of the spread. Usually, when the Young Maiden (Giovane Fanciulla) is reversed, she is afflicted by something, as opposed to other significators which, when reversed, tend to show problematic behavior.

This is unless the Maiden is reversed and near cards that show problematic behavior. This is exactly the case here. She is together with the Four of Diamonds, the Falsehood card (which, notice, is on her side of the spread, not on the guy’s side) and the Ten of Clubs, the Levity or Carefreeness card.

On the other hand, we have the Ten of Hearts, i.e., the Perseverance card, on the side of the boyfriend. Although the Perseverance card is not one of major feelings, it still shows him to be dependable. She, however, is depicted by the cards as being not only somewhat whiny, but also a little flighty (someone might say a little floozy, especially since she comes up reversed with the Ten of Hearts at the end of the spread)

In this situation, I tried to sugarcoat it to the querent by telling her that he is rather dependable, though this romance was probably not the one that would lead to marriage, and that he also had doubts about her, and that she should make sure not to send mixed signals.

Upon leaving, our friend pulled me aside and she told me that the girl has literally been the “butterfly” of the group, landing from man to man, being unreliable and not learning anything from experience. This is very well described by the reversed Queen of Clubs, who, in a negative context, can show a woman with a princess complex who thinks everyone else is at fault.

MQS

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.

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

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

Divination and Intellectual Honesty

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When I was a teen, I remember stumbling upon Aristotle’s definition of the “educated mind” as being able to hold a thought without accepting it, and I remember thinking how silly and basic the definition was. The older I get, the more I find myself agreeing with him, as I see fewer and fewer people capable of doing it (the fact that Aristotle never actually wrote the sentence is a whole ‘nother can of worms)

A lot of people don’t have an educated mind per the definition above. One would like to think that tarot readers, astrologers and the like would not be like a lot of people, seeing how much the word “wisdom” gets thrown around in their circles. But one would be wrong. Leave it to the “spiritual community” to be among the most ideological and stiff. And, consequently, not among the brightest. If there is a group of people I don’t trust to be capable of holding any thought except the ones they agree with, that’s these people.

I believe I already talked a little about this, but one of the most memorable examples I can think of is the 2016 US election, when every tarot reader on youtube and their mom were busy predicting Trump would lose the election disgracefully, poop his pants, writhe on the floor, throw a tantrum and retreat into the hell that spawned him while Hillary Clinton swung her throbbing, veiny, 25 inch hard-on at the glass ceiling. While I am slightly exaggerating, this was pretty much the tone. (interestingly, those same readers routinely claim that the tarot is not for fortune-telling)

One such reader went as far as channeling Trump’s character. I do not remember the exact spread, nor most of the cards, but two things stuck with me: first, no egregiously bad card showed up, and second, the King of Cups featured prominently in the spread. She interpreted the card as Trump being a violent man prey to his base emotions and instincts. I took a quick look at some of that reader’s other videos, only to discover that she never, ever interpreted the King of Cups this way. In fact, she always interpreted it as the significator of a good man who takes care of the querent.

This is a good time to point out that I am fiercely apolitical, so this is not about politics. All ideologies are, as far as I am concerned, clouds over the mind’s clarity. I’m not saying everyone needs to think like me. Everyone has their delusion of choice, and everyone (including me) has their way of slanting reality in one direction or the other, whether politically, spiritually or philosophically (or even scientifically, for that matter). In fact, slanting reality is probably needed in order to filter information that might be useful to us.

Yet divination should be something else. What that reader did was merely using the cards as a mirror of her own (perfectly legitimate) bias. This is fine, and can even be useful at times–if you are aware that you are doing it. Even that would not be actual divination, but at least it wouldn’t be a waste of time.

I already discussed that divination is really a process of deification, that is, the process of allowing the dispassionate, bird-eye view clarity of the divine into one’s limited, subjective world by letting new information in. In other words, true divination is the opposite of retreating into one’s bubble: it’s the bursting of the bubble.

This, in turn, requires a certain readiness to accept the information we get (which is why it is always best to get someone you don’t know to read your cards.) Divination without intellectual honesty is just a crutch for one’s ego, and that’s how it is currently being used by the vast majority of diviners.

Unfortunately, intellectual honesty won’t make you many friends. Back in 2016 I had arguments with more tarot readers than I care to remember and was routinely labeled a dangerous extremist just because I called into question the usefulness of this type of reading (back then I still tried to entertain fruitful conversations with people). But occultism, in all its branches, is a narrow path.

Two lessons from all this: 1) if you are reading for yourself and the cards (or chart, or dice, or whatever) seem to confirm what you already think or wish, apply a bucketful of salt to the reading; 2) invest some money into a simple handbook of logic, or at least expand your knowledge of logical fallacies. This will repay you many times over, regardless of what branch of sorcery you practice.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – Knight of Coins or Pentacles

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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 Pentacles 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 Leo to the end of the second decanate of Virgo, August 13 to September 12. This period is under the rulership of Mars, Mercury and Saturn. Meanings: Well-Dignified: ability to use actions effectively; good mind, able to see through the veils of sense experience to their true import. In specific divination, a man younger than the King and though intelligent, somewhat matter-of-fact; not original or imaginative; good at carrying out any plan calling for intelligent action on the physical plane.
Ill-Dignified: avaricious, mean, jealous, somewhat violent and cruel. Dark brown hair and dark eyes.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

He rides a slow, enduring, heavy horse, to which his own aspect corresponds. He exhibits his symbol, but does not look therein. Divinatory Meanings: Utility, serviceableness, interest, responsibility, rectitude-all on the normal and external plane. Reversed: inertia, idleness, repose of that kind, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

(Note: Crowley and the Golden Dawn make a mess with the Kings and Knights)
The Prince of Disks represents the airy part of Earth, indicating the florescence and fructification of that element. He rules from the 21st degree of Aries to the 20th degree of Taurus.

The figure of this Prince is meditative. He is the element of Earth become intelligible. Clothed in light armour, his helmet is crowned with the head of a bull; and his chariot is drawn by an ox, this animal being peculiarly sacred to the Element of Earth. In his left hand he holds his disk, which is an orb resembling a globe, marked with mathematical symbols as if to imply the planning involved in agriculture. In his right hand he bears an orbed sceptre surmounted by a cross, a symbol of the Great Work accomplished; for it is his function to bring forth from the material of the element that vegetation which is the sustenance of the Spirit itself.

The character denoted by this card is that of great energy brought to bear upon the most solid of practical matters. He is energetic and enduring, a capable manager, a steadfast and per severing worker. He is competent, ingenious, thoughtful, cautious, ‘trustworthy, imperturbable; he constantly seeks new uses for common things, and adapts his circumstances to his purposes in a slow, steady, well-thought out plan.

He is lacking almost entirely in emotion. He is somewhat in sensitive, and may appear dull, but he is not; it so appears because he makes no effort to understand ideas which are beyond his scope. He may often appear stupid, and is inclined to be resentful of more spiritual types. He is slow to anger, but, if driven, becomes implacable. It is not very practicable to distinguish between the good and evil dignities in this card; one can merely say that, in case of his being ill-dignified, both the quality and quantity of his characteristics are somewhat degraded. The reaction of others to him will depend almost entirely upon their own temperaments.

In the Yi King, the airy part of Earth is represented by the 53rd hexagram, Kien. The commentary concerns the flight of wild geese, “gradually approaching the shore”, then “the large rocks”, then “advanced to the dry plains-the trees-the high ~ finally, to “the large heights”. It thus symbolizes slow, steady emancipation from repressive conditions.

The description is even happier than that given by the Qabalah, although in every way congruous with it. Practical considerations are never absent from Chinese thought, even at its most abstruse and metaphysical. The fundamental heresy of the Black Lodge is con tempt for “the world, the flesh, and the devil”, all which are essential to the plan of the Universe; it is cardinal to the Great Work for the Adept so to order affairs that “even the evil germs of Matter shall alike become useful and good”.

The error of Christian Mystics on this point has been responsible for more cruelty, misery, and collective insanity than all others put together; its poison can be traced even in the teaching of Freud, who assumed that the Unconscious was “the devil”, whereas in fact it is the instinct which expresses, beneath a veil, the inherent Point-of-View of each, and, properly understood, is the key to Initiation, and a hint of what seed may blossom and fructify as the “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel”. For “Every man and every woman is a star”.

But no doubt the judgment of the Adepts Exempt (for it is they who determine, under the guidance of the Masters of the Temple, all such details of doctrine) in respect of this card has been influenced by its transition from Aries to Taurus. It is too often forgotten that Taurus is the House of Venus, and that Luna is exalted therein. The new doctrine set forth in this present Essay makes the primary colour of Earth not black, but green; it insists that every Disk is a living and revolving symbol. The central thesis of the Book of the Law asserts the Perfection of the Universe. In its pantheistic conception all possibilities are equal in value; each and every Point-Event is “a play of Nuit”, as it is written in the Book of Wisdom or Folly, “Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt. But whose availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!” Liber Al. 1. 22. Or, yet more comprehensively and simply: “Every number is infinite; there is no difference.” Ib I.4.
(From The Book of Thoth)

Weirdly adorable AI generated illustration for the Knight of Coins

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A WINGED Kingly Figure seated in a chariot drawn by a bull. He bears as a crest the symbol of the head of the winged bull. Beneath the chariot is land, with many flowers. In the one hand he bears an orb of gold held downwards, and in the other a sceptre surmounted by an orb and cross.

Increase of matter. Increases good or evil, solidifies; practically applies things. Steady; reliable. If ill dignified he is selfish, animal and material: stupid. In either case slow to anger, but furious if roused.
Rules from 20 Degree Aries to 20 Degree Taurus.
Air of Earth

Etteilla

Utility
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Useful, Advantageous, Gainful, Profitable, Interesting. – Interesting, Important, Necessary, Obligatory.
Reversed. Peace, Tranquility, Rest, Sleep, Apathy, Inertia, Rest, Inactivity, Unemployment. – Leisure, Pastime. – Recreation, Carefreeness, Indifference, Indolence, Laziness, Poltrony, Numbness, Discouragement, Annihilation.

MQS

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

Vera Sibilla – My Friend’s Misadventures

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It is well-known that the Sibilla is damn chatty, sometimes too much. Every deck can veer off topic if it needs to, but the Sibilla has a penchant for it, whereas, for instance, regular playing cards are usually easier to keep on a leash. Still, I believe what I’m about to show would have popped up with any other deck, since the cards usually warn us of unexpected happenings, whether positive or negative. This is a spread we did for a friend of mine in January. He wanted to know about his love life.

Vera Sibilla Reading, my friend’s misadventure

The thing that immediately struck me is that the cards clearly were not talking about my friend’s love life. Instead, judging by the first line, they were depicting something difficult that was going to happen. I must confess I was not capable of organizing my garbled thoughts into a coherent prediction back then, even though looking at it now it seems obvious. I believe a part of me knew what the cards were talking about but didn’t want to give the news to my friend. I knew the cards were talking about danger at the hand of some people, and that a man would help him. I told him so much, but of course this was too vague to be of help.

Here is what happened around a month later, as told by the cards. While out of his house (Journey) he was attacked (Widower reversed. I made a mistake in reenacting the spread) by a small gang of criminals (Enemy, Fools). Fortunately (Levity reversed) a man saw the whole thing, chased off the strangers and helped my friend (Friend reversed, Fortune reversed). My friend sprained his ankle badly, I’m guessing this is why the Fortune card is reversed, showing delayed fortune, but is otherwise unharmed, except the anxiety (Sighs).

I think part of the problem of reading for friends is that, because you don’t want them to come to any harm, your mind tends to censor you a bit. Still, an interesting case study, and a story that could have ended much worse.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Knight of Wands

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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 Wands in the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

Astrologically the Knight of Wands includes the time period from the third decanate of Scorpio through the second decanate of Sagittarius, November 12 to December 11, representing, as we have seen, the combined influences of the Moon in Scorpio and of Jupiter and Mars in Sagittarius. In Divination we find the more specific meanings of each Key, but always remember that as advanced B.O.T.A. members, treading the Path of Return, you must use this art with discretion. It is best not to give querents for your help too specific instruction. Try to act as an emissary for the Hierophant and give them the principles behind their problems as they are unveiled to you by the sequence of Keys. Leave it to those you are helping to apply universal principles to specific problems in their lives.
Well Dignified: an active, generous, impetuous, quickmoving man, younger than the King of Wands. He is secretive, probably interested in the occult, somewhat psychic and mysterious. He is friendly to the querent and may bring him news relating to his enterprises.
Ill Dignified: e vil-minded, false, cruel, bigoted, brutal young man (or situation), dangerous or unfriendly to the querent1 s affairs. This card
sometimes signifies departure or change of residence.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A.E. Waite

He is shewn as if upon a journey, armed with a short wand, and although mailed is not on a warlike errand. He is passing mounds or pyramids. The motion of the horse is a key to the character of its rider, and suggests the precipitate mood, or things connected therewith. Divinatory Meanings: Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence. Reversed: Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

AI-generated illustration for the Knight of Wands

Aleister Crowley

(note that Crowley and the Golden Dawn made a mess with the knights and kings)
The Prince of Wands represents the airy part of Fire, with its faculty of expanding and volatilising. He rules from the 21st degree of Cancer to the 20th degree of Leo. He is a warrior in complete armour of scale mail, but his arms are bare on account of his vigour and activity. He wears a rayed crown surmounted by a lion’s head winged, and from this crown depends a curtain of flame. On his breast is the sigil of To Mega Therion. In his left hand he bears the Phoenix wand of the Second Adept in the Ritual of 5○=6□ of R.R. at A.C.), the wand of Power and Energy, while with his other arm he reins the lion which draws his chariot, the chariot which is fortified by a wheel radiating flame. He rides upon a sea of flames, both waved and salient.

The moral qualities appropriate to this figure are swiftness and strength. But he is sometimes inclined to act on impulse; sometimes easily led by external influences; sometimes, especially in trifles, a prey to indecision. He is often violent, especially in the expression of an opinion, but he does not necessarily hold the opinion about which he is so emphatic. He states a vigorous proposition for the sake of stating it. He is in fact very slow to make up his mind thoroughly on any subject, but always sees both sides of every question. He is essentially just, but always feels that justice is not to be attained in the intellectual world.

His character is intensely noble and generous. He may be an extravagant boaster, while slyly laughing both at the object of his boast and at himself for making it. He is romantic, especially in matters of history and tradition, to the point of folly, and may engineer “stunts” or play elaborate practical jokes. He might select some inoffensive nobody, and pursue him for years with every weapon of ridicule) as Swift tormented the unhappy Partridge, all without the least animus, ready to give the shirt off his back, should his victim be in need. His sense of humour is omnivorous, and may make him a mysterious figure, dreaded without reason by people who actually know nothing about him but his name-as a symbol of Terror.

This is due to the influence of the last decan of Cancer upon this card. One of his greatest faults is pride; meanness and pettiness of any kind he holds in infinite scorn. His courage is fanatically strong, and his endurance indefatigable. He is always fighting against odds, and always wins in the long-the very long-run. This is principally due to his enormous capacity for work, which he exercises for its own sake, “without lust of result”; perhaps his haughty contempt for the world at large-which however coexists with profound and ecstatic respect for “every man and every woman” as “a star”-is responsible for this.

When this card is badly dignified, the character degenerates. Each of the qualities mentioned above is found in its antithesis. There is great cruelty in him, partly sadistic and partly due to callousness arising from indifference-and, in a sense, laziness! So too he may be intolerant, prejudiced and idle-principally because it saves trouble. He may furthermore be an empty boaster and a great coward.

In the YI King, the airy part of Fire is represented by the 42nd Hexagram, Yi, which signifies addition, increase. Full of virtue, and confident therein, he contemplates work of stupendous scope, often with the idea expressed in line 5: “with sincere heart seeking to benefit all below”. In this he may achieve immense success. But this course is fraught with commensurate danger. “We see one to whose in crease none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart”. (line 6) This peril avoided, there come “parties adding to the store of its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed-Let the King employ them in presenting his offerings to God….” (line 2).
(From The Book of Thoth)
Note: Crowley clearly sees himself in this card, which is why he depicts the Prince as the adorable occult prankster he saw himself as.

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A KINGLY Figure with a golden, winged crown, seated on a chariot. He has large white wings. One wheel of his chariot is shewn. He wears corslet and buskins of scale armour decorated with a winged lion’s head, which symbol also surmounts his crown. His chariot is drawn by a lion. His arms are bare, save for the shoulder-pieces of the corslet, and he bears a torch or fire-wand, somewhat similar to that of the Zelator Adeptus Minor. Beneath the chariot are flames, some waved, some salient.
Swift, strong, hasty; rather violent, yet just and generous; noble and scorning meanness.
If ill dignified — cruel, intolerant, prejudiced and ill natured.

Etteilla

Departure
Upright: This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Departure, Displacement, Removal, Absence, Abandonment, Change, Escape, Desertion, Transmigration, Emigration. – Transposition, Translocation, Transplantation, Transmutation, Evasion.
Reversed: Disunion, Disagreement, Rupture, Dissension, Division, Competition, Separation, Partition. – Faction, Party. – Complaint, Altercation. – Cut, Fracture, Discontinuity, Interruption.