thoth tarot

Thoth Tarot and personal growth

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I was asked to write something on Tarot so I wrote one post on how to interpret a relationship spread here. I am using brief straightforward meanings, not esoteric ones, as these posts are meant for you to get interested and if possible learn Tarot. I suggest, “The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards” by Hajo Banzhaf. (Later if you can, do read books written by Aleister Crowley to get the esoteric stuff. Then your readings will gain more depth. And of course practice is essential.) 

Thoth Tarot and personal growth

I really started learning Thoth Tarot after the most emotionally hurtful incident in my life. Someone (a brother) whom I love deeply (still) and consider to be my home, argued with me to such levels that I left his house literally crying. Despite knowing Jyotish, despite knowing that this was to happen today, I had to go through that event. Some karma cannot be avoided. Words, either said aloud or left unsaid, damage relationships beyond repair (which then have to be made up in future lives). That was the lowest emotional point of my life. So rather than feeling upset all the time, I decided to brush up on Tarot. I like Aleister Crowley’s horoscope, a genius and his Thoth Tarot is magic.

The Thoth has a visual impact which no other deck has. The esoteric symbols on the cards trigger things from the sub-conscious mind/ inner self and bring forward the exact information needed. Every card is intricate and intense. When you shuffle and spread out the cards, the energy of the moment makes you focus on some aspects of the cards which you then interpret. The Reader reads the Tarot from his own perspective and the energy of the moment drives him. The client should not take a photograph of the spread to another Reader and ask him to interpret it. If the client wishes for a second opinion he should ask the other Reader to shuffle and lay out the cards again. The cards modulate themselves as per the Reader’s capacity. Tarot indicates the truth of the matter. If you have a card in front of you and remember something, it is because the card wanted to show you this image. You cannot ‘unsee’ whatever flashed in your mind. The impact is visual and on the energy levels. You are made to understand something about the situation, you may like it or not.

I am emphasising this as Thoth Tarot cards are magic, you are shown what you need to see. The cards have an intelligence of their own. Aleister Crowley had performed occult rituals over the cards and infused them with some things ‘magic’. (I have seen only one other deck with such energies, the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot with the energies of the African gods infused in them, ultra-intense, handle-with-care.)

Thoth Tarot should ideally be used as a tool for self-development. Here I am sharing a reading I did for myself a few days ago. It was my Sat-guru’s 115th birth anniversary and I was missing him very much. He is always available to me at every moment, but sometimes I wish I could talk/see him live like earlier. I use the Tarot to talk to him, I like seeing the cards he shows me.

So for my blessing/ guidance, I got the Ace of Cups, The Lovers, The Star.

Ace of Cups is the burst of Divine Love. My Sat-Guru poured over me the highest benediction of his compassion, his infinite kindness. Rejuvenation and healing (I was going through a karma from my past, my astral body was suffering). An assurance that my sorrows will be converted to spiritual love (Ketu in Sagittarius bringing painful karmic stuff from my past, with the associated grief). A reminder to increase my spiritual practice. To trust him, the Highest Intelligence and let him fill my heart with that what he can give, ie the essence of the Non-Dual. This card brought genuine joy to my soul.

The Lovers Trump no.6. I have briefly mentioned about the Lovers card in this post. But this reading is about self-discovery so the interpretation will be slightly different. This meant that he, the Eternal Intelligence, loves me (I was very unloved at that time). I will find my deepest one-one relationship with my own self. I have to focus on what I desire to achieve it. A reminder to increase my spiritual practice, my Soham mantra, to walk my path with conviction. The strength to resolve my own internal dualities (I was deeply conflicted internally). He granted me the energy of unconditional love and the ability to choose what to do with this energy. (There is always some free will, even if the options are limited, you can still choose to some extent. This is the essence of the Game of Creation, Lila, everyone chooses to either create more karma or to stop creating karma) 

The Star, Trump no. 17. I have written about the Star card in this post. It shows the Prakruti creating the manifested universes from the Eternal energy. The realised souls depicted by butterflies are shown moving out from the created worlds. Both evolution/Pravrutti and involution/Nivrutti is depicted beautifully. The energy of this card is Hope. To give someone Hope is the greatest gift possible. In the spiritual context, I was again told in the gentlest possible way to concentrate on the universal love. To trust my Sat-guru and that I will achieve my deepest desire. He knows the difficult times I have gone through in my past and he encourages me to be happy. Things are brighter as he will guide me to Myself. (The Star is in sequence after the no. 16 Tower, Tower indicates complete destruction. After complete destruction, Hope arises). 

Love relationships and the Moon signs

Life is karma, if you have given out love you will get it back. If you have hurt someone, it will also be returned to you. No one is exempt from this law.

For me, ‘past’ does not mean just this life’s past. The past months since the 26th Dec solar eclipse have been quite traumatic as it is. But I also remember so very many of my past lives, work, incidents, debts, decisions the repercussions, my deaths etc with the emotional/ visual contexts. I know several of my past identities, my families, the places I was born/lived/died, my several past names, Gurumohini, Putala, Jagat, Jan-Prosper etc. Some truly horrific things which happened to me which very few suffer through, intense pain. I see my own mistakes due to which others suffered, regrets. My actions taken in in good faith rebounding on others and on myself, betrayals and hurts. Someone whom I loved with all my heart, I could do anything for him/her, but possibly he/she loved me too but never could trust me, unrequited love. Someone whom I trusted betrayed me and my people, so much to make up to so many people. I know these people from back then and also who they are now around me, new faces but with the same aura/energy.

I have a very powerful Ketu in my current life, he grants me all my psychic and intellectual abilities. More than my superbly placed ascendant lord, more than my Yogkarak, Ketu rules over my life. His energies always trigger stuff from the Past for me, the unbalanced stuff which I have to balance now, I have no option on this. This unrolling of karma started in real earnest when I met my husband, the only love of my lives, in my Ketu-Rahu-Rahu Vimshottari period. And became even more intense when I met someone from several lives with loads of mutually pending karma, during my Venus-Rahu-Ketu Vimshottari period.

Some people think seeing past lives is exciting and romantic, believe me it is not. It is an unfinished business which you have to complete now. Causes severe turmoil on the emotional, astral, physical levels. You rarely see events from the past which made you happy. You are always shown your unfinished work, the karmic debts you owe others. It is karma demanding rebalance and it gets very exhausting.

My Sat-Guru was a Jivan-Mukt, he had realised the Nirvishesh Brahma so was Parabrahma himself. He is the pure Advaita and every guidance/ blessing he gives can be nothing but the Advaita, even if I tell him to speak in the language of the Thoth tarot. So when I ask my Sat-guru and pull out cards with the intention that this is his guidance and blessing, I do get truly magical cards. The very act of pulling them out and seeing them changes the energies around me. Hopefully this 3 card intense reading, ending in the Star Trump is my Sat-guru telling me that the past is truly over.

Every divination tool teaches you to trust the higher power, the inner self. Make sense of what is happening to you. Helps letting go, leaving things to karma, removing yourself from that binding of hurt. Trust the Sat-guru the Advaita. I had written about forgiveness. Sometimes in life you are put in such situations where you are required to forgive someone who does not understand what hurt his words/actions did to you. If you learn a divination method do use it as a means for self-development. Try to remain dispassionate during the reading so that you can reach the truth of the situation. Avoid pre-conceived ideas during this process of self-discovery. If you at least know why things are like this, maybe you can reconcile yourself better to the situation.

Thoth Tarot and personal growth

Thoth Tarot, an example reading

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I was asked to write something on Tarot especially on the analysis part of it. (My regular Astrologer readers can skim through this, as it is an useful divination tool, maybe you might feel inspired to learn it!)

I use Thoth Tarot as a quick short cut, like the Jyotish’s Prashna Kundali. The Tarot cards are capable of giving practical answers and as tools for self development. I use the Thoth Tarot because its creator, Aleister Crowley was a superlative genius and this is reflected in his cards. They are magic.

The Gemini-Sagittarius axis in the current times is causing upheaval in everyone’s lives. Ketu in Sagittarius making everyone hazed out. People are disconnected with their auspicious beneficial karma, their own merits from their past lives are unable to reach them and help them. People are now thinking and acting under the influence of Rahu in Gemini, delusions and illusions forcing them to create even more karmic debts. This is a very critical period where most of us will create even more karmic tangles which will take even more lives to resolve. (A few can make good use of these energies, especially those who have a Ketu capable of giving auspicious results in their charts.)

Thoth Tarot, an example reading

So this question was from someone close, a woman who wanted to know if a relationship would continue. This is a very highly karmic relationship and both remember each other through their several life times together in very close relationships. Both have psychic abilities. Since the 26th Dec 2019 solar eclipse released its energies, their relationship has ended.

I am not discussing the entire reading, just one question from that session which had interesting answers.

So first we asked this, ’Did he ever genuinely love her?’ You see, this is the only question which really matters. If there is some potential in this answer only then can we go ahead and see what she can do about the relationship as such, attempt to retrieve it or let it go. And the reply was this,

Prince of Disks, The Lovers, The Emperor

Prince of Disks is the ‘air’ of ‘earth’, shows restrictions in terms of energy. ‘Prince’ summarises the man well enough as he is not mature enough to be called a ‘Knight’. There is an inherent conflict in his thoughts. There is some stability but not very much. An imbalance of Martian energy exists, which varies from lethargy to passion. Capable of doing practical things to reach his goals, but gets complacent before he reaches his goal. Complacency is dangerous as the path and the goal both are karmic, building up from several lives. He tries to control his life flow/ emotions/ instincts flow etc too much, is anxious about displaying emotions or receiving emotions. Lacks emotional warmth, is insensitive and dull. Does not understand the depth of his own/her feelings. He is interested because of the karmic pressure and also wants to experience the relationship but has emotional conflicts in his mind on how this should be regulated. He is aware of the karma from the past and its slow, grinding, determined movement but he desires to control its flow. He is hampered by immaturity, anxiety, desire to control and lack of emotions. He focuses on his personal self more than the relationship as this is a court card right in the beginning of the spread. There is interest but confusion.

The Lovers – Trump no. 6, the most complex card of the entire Thoth deck. The card depicts the marriage of the Emperor and the Empress, the Lovers. Reconciliation of opposites is the overall theme. When it pops up in a 2-person relationship reading it means a beautiful soul-mate relationship, very deeply felt emotions, attraction and inter-linked karma. True Love. The longing is mutual and very strong through their several lives. (It is an Atu, a Trump, higher forces are at work). Elemental dignity is ‘air’. It shows two separate individuals who are desirous of knowing their unity/ singleness together, but fear the process and the result too! These two people are already going through a very highly karmic relationship where everything unfinished from the past lives is demanding to be balanced with very high intensity. Here intelligent choices can be made regarding the relationship. He can exercise his individual will to some extent as a choice between two difficult paths can be made. The wrong choice carries heavy consequences. Thus this card is also a dangerous energy as choice, decisions, repercussions, union and unity are all built in. He is aware of what is happening, yet emotionally anxious and in dual mind and has been given an option to choose.

The Emperor – Trump no. 4, its elemental dignity is fire. The man desires control over everything. He wants structure, organisation and to lead/rule in the relationship. He has learnt some life lessons and wants to enforce those lessons on himself and on the woman and the relationship. There is a core of selfishness, his ego has increased greatly and he uses his energy to manipulate the relationship as he wants it to be. What the woman wants is not important to him now. He has become high-handed, coldly logical and has repressed the emotional part of himself and the relationship. He does not allow the woman to express her emotions also. Hard-hearted. He has become clever without intuition, which is damaging in the long run as Logic without Emotions ultimately is a Prison. Here Lovers Trumps energy connects the Prince of Disks to the Emperor, it connects a court card to a Trump. The togetherness and balance of the Lovers Trump has been distorted by this choice as the Emperor remains alone. This is a step backwards, the man has bound himself even more strongly by his thoughts, his repressed emotions and self-controlled non-intuitional behaviour. This naturally has an adverse impact on both of them and their relationship. (I have done readings for them earlier and the Emperor is is like a personal card for the man, always pops up. And the Empress often comes up for the woman too.)

So in context to our question, ’Did he ever genuinely love her?’, the cards indicate that, to begin with he was a bit anxious, his thought process did not really allow the emotional context to come out. He tried to frame his love in a structure rather than going with the flow. (But karmic relationships going back several lives do not allow structure imposed, the correct choice is to always go with the flow.) When he chose to become the Emperor, he added lack of emotions, overthinking, selfishness, enforcing his own rules on how to behave, not acknowledging the emotions of the woman, not giving himself or her any emotional outlet, etc type of things into the relationship. A step backwards as it goes back from the Trump no. 6 to Trump no. 4. It is not an equitable one-one relationship as he wants to rule always. So ‘genuine Love’ perhaps did or did not exist but it was not allowed to express itself ever. Overall Karma yes, evident visible Love in the positive emotional sense, no.

I believe that if Love exists it should be expressed. If you are so tightly bound by your own sense of self (Essentially a Narcissist) that you cannot recognise the other’s emotions, or express your own, the relationship is essentially a fraud. If there is no way left where Love can be expressed for either of them, it is not Love anymore.

Thoth Tarot, an example reading

And then we asked, ‘Did she ever genuinely love him, throughout their relationship together?’ And the reply was,

Two of Wands, Fortune, The Lovers. The spread ended in the Lovers, so I pulled out one more card to see in what direction her energies went. The 4th card is the Knight of Disks.

Two of Wands is called Dominion. The fire of the Wands is given impulse here. To direct the inner Fire into action, to plan and move. The woman, whenever she started on this relationship with this man in whichever life, steps out of her comfort zone to try new things with him. Her desire to experience is burning within her, but in a somewhat harmonious manner, it is not damaging to anyone, just very intense. It is not very comfortable, but she wants to try with all her will, she is inspired. She has the energy, desire and direction. She has the emotions and is willing to try for it with all her energy.

Fortune is the highly esoteric Trump no. 10. Elemental dignity is ‘fire’. For her, this relationship goes through several unpredictable cycles, the irresistible flow of experience through several lives. The energy of Dominion is put through cycles of unexpected changes. Fortune represents karmic relationships which go on for lives together. She remains optimistic and allows the karmic changes to take her along, she always has faith in him and in the relationship. She allows the higher self to set the tone without questioning it. (Trumps always indicate the higher energies operating). And Fortune is actually ‘good fortune as per Crowley, so this card shows that the woman was contributing positively to the relationship throughout.

Then the third card, technically the last card in the spread, is The Lovers for her. This card appearing in her spread too makes this reading very intense. This is a very deep karmic relationship for her. The emotions, attraction, the mind-set and the longing is mutual. She understands that this connect goes back several lives. True Love. A Choice is presented to her, triggered by the Emperor-energy in the man. (Refer the above explanation of the Lovers) She changes from Fortune to the Knights of Disks using this energy of the Lovers.

The Knight of Disks, ‘Fire’ of ‘Earth’. Fire and earth are complementary elements, slightly low in energy, but grant both achievements and the sense of achievement. This is the 4th card in her spread. So we can interpret this as follows. After the man opts to become the ‘Emperor’, the woman chooses to become the practical, reliable, down to earth, Knight of Disks. The ‘Lovers’ energy connects ‘Fortune’ to the ‘Knight of Disks’, she lowers the energy level from which she operates. She strongly maintains her sense of ethics and her sense of understanding. This Knight cannot lie, is transparent, guileless, highly principled and hard-working. He is ultimately successful. She tries to make sense of this relationship despite dealing with the ‘Emperor’ mindset and these are rather big odds. She wants faithfulness and intimacy but now this is not an emotionally fulfilling situation for her. Committed but exhausted by the behaviour of the man, she has become emotionally dull. This though a male card describes this woman perfectly as she plays a more protective role in the relationship than women usually do. In this life I have seen her taking care of the material requirements of this man, like the house, carpets, dining sets, bracelets, giving gifts to him, getting material things for his comfort etc.

So, ‘Did she ever genuinely love him?’ She is very willing to put in all of her energy into it. Karmic work is more for her but she goes through it all with a positive frame of mind, on faith. She is aware that it is a highly karmic relationship going back several lives. When the man turns into the Emperor she chooses to become the Knight of the Disks. Emotionally stifled, aware of everything, unwilling to disrupt the natural flow of things, working hard, patient. Karma yes, Genuine Love yes. But a Love with no outlet to express itself. A suppressed thing which can poison her mind and soul ie create more karmic tangles.

Thoth Tarot, an example reading

Out of the 7 cards, 4 were Trumps, strong energies from their past acting on them. The Lovers repeated in both spreads, there is genuine Love but its expression is hindered. She has psychic abilities herself and aware of their past, present and future lives together. The woman desires Moksh in this life-time for both. She wants the flowing karmic rebalancing to continue. The man does not care and seems intent on creating more issues rather than resolving their karmic tangles. Self-ego is more important to him, than her or the relationship. Whenever and in whatever life these two started off, the woman was more enthusiastic and desirous of the overall experience, more willing to open up and let the higher self/ karma work through the relationship. The man was more immature and refused to let his emotional/ intuitive side express itself, always tried to control himself, her and the relationship. Now he is structure, she is patient.

This was a basic interpretation of a 3 card reading. One simple question of ‘Did he love her?’ turned out to be a such a lengthy answer!

(Later I did a OOTK, Opening of the Key spread designed by Crowley to be used with the Thoth Tarot and we discussed things some more.)

 

Aleister Crowley and philosophy

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Someone asked me why I use Aleister Crowley’s birth details as my blog’s sample chart. The reason is, one he is dead, I don’t like using living peoples charts as study material on a public forum. Then his birth data is reasonably accurate and his life-events match the chart. His chart has so very many significant positions which can be used in discussions. He had a very happening life, the events are documented. How he was first involved with the material and then evolved into the spiritual is also clear. And I love using his Thoth tarot deck. You know a man by his work and this deck is his crowning achievement. It is a work of art, philosophy, magic, the cards are brimming with so much energy. I have used this deck for my personal development, as a quick fix, for setting energies right, as a tool in magics, divination, to make events move faster etc in so many ways.

But what really made me appreciate him the most, is his this quote, “The mind of man is obsessed and blinded by geometry which blocks his spiritual vision”. The most significant sentence ever which cemented my opinion that Crowley was very highly aware of the material and the highest spiritual. He must have studied Vedanta in depth and experienced the deepest stuff to have made such a profound statement. This philosophy is very clear in the Star Trump card of his Thoth deck.

Aleister Crowley and philosophy

This is a very beautiful card made using Egyptian philosophy. But here is the Vedic part of this card. The Prakruti creates the manifested universe. If you observe the cups in her hands. The upper cup represents the divine spiritual, the energy has wavy and straight lines, no crystalline geometry. The cup is golden in color, it represents the inner Sun, the Eternal Divine. She is pouring this energy on her own body. The lower cup has crystals coming out of it which are settling around her feet, ie geometry has taken form. The lower cup is silver colored, it represents the Moon, the illusion, a mere reflection of the divine Eternal. The crystals indicate the creation of the manifested world. Divine energy flows over her and as it flows down and out, it crystallises and becomes a fixed geometry of the universe. (This same thing is clearly mentioned in Sankhya philosophy.) At the right lower corner of the card are butterflies, which represent realised Souls who have come out of the geometry bound worlds.

This fixed geometry is our Shri-chakra. The Shri-chakra pervades the manifested universe in its several dimensions. (I have experienced this hyper-dimensional form of Shri Chakra in Dhyan, so will you if you focus on your own self) The Shri-chakra is the rule by which the worlds are created, exist, evolve and finally end. The body/ mind of your current incarnation is a part of the geometry of the universes. But your soul is the Divine, it is beyond geometry. That is why this quote “The mind of man is obsessed and blinded by geometry which blocks his spiritual vision” is so beautiful. As long as you are obsessed by your mind/ body and the things of the material worlds you will always remain blind to the splendour of the pure Soul. If you believe that you are the mind/ body you will never realise that you are the Soul. The Soul is not a part of this world’s geometry, it is pure Advaita. The body/ mind has been created for one single purpose, that is to go through karma. The body /mind is this crystalline geometry! The Soul is not linked to any karma or anything of the manifested universe in any way. The Soul is beyond geometry. The Soul is beyond Prakruti. It is the Advaita, the Nirvishesh Brahma itself.

Who is a Guru?

Now we are astrologers, we read charts. The chart is also this same fundamental geometry. If you have read my earlier posts, the planets and the signs are all inside your Sushumna nadi. Each chakra is linked to one planet and the signs ruled by it. And obviously each chakra in your body is a part of the Shri-chakra itself. So these planets and signs are also a part of the geometry of the universe and under the rule of Prakruti. When you read the horoscope you are reading geometry ie only the mind/ body. You cannot read the Soul from the chart. But you can gauge how deeply is the Soul’s light is veiled by the geometry of the mind/ body. ie is the chart’s energy directed towards enjoyment of the material or is the chart’s energy more directed towards tearing the veil of illusion around the Soul. A chart can do only one of these two things at a time. It cannot be spiritual as well as materialistic at the same time!

When the mind get obsessed with desires linked to the chakras, ie geometry, the energy flow in this part of the Sushumna is distorted. This distortion can be ‘seen’ as actual snakes hissing at you from within your chakras while you do Dhyan. Or microscopic bits of floating black energy in your Sushumna. Unless this distortion is cleared out the Kundalini cannot rise up in the Sushumna. This is what Crowley indicates by ‘spiritual vision’. You ‘see’ all this when you focus on your third eye chakra.

If you study charts where the spiritual potential is very high, you will see that the karma of the body/ mind do not affect this person. He goes through all the karmic events (prarabdha karma) but he is completely disconnected from all this happening. He has understood that he is not the body/ mind, he understands that he is the Soul and is actively working towards his actual Realisation. Such a person will never ask you any materialistic question like, ‘when will I get married’ or worry about things of the material worlds. Every act he does will be for spiritual progress. If he does a puja it will be for gaining Himself not for making his marriage work! He knows that all this is an illusion and his objective is to go beyond it. He will know very clearly what his goal is and he will not waver in the least from it. He will not create new bindings of marriage or business which have the potential to create trouble in his chosen path. Materialistic stuff is meaningless for him. A serious aspirant knows that given the least bit of scope, material life can easily overpower spiritual energy. (Read the Vivekchudamani by Adi-Shankaracharya). Prakruti does not let the aspirant pass upwards through her until she has tested him to the limit. For such high level aspirants, the horoscope is generally meaningless as the joy/ sadness represented by it does not affect him deeply. The physical events will occur as per the horoscope but they will not affect him in the least. But he will remain alert about creating new karmic tangles, will avoid such situations assiduously

So as per Crowley, you are blind to the Divine as long as the mind is enchanted by the illusory geometry. The crystalline geometry hides and distorts the light of the Self. The mind itself is a product of the geometry! So no wonder it is enmeshed in the crystalline Prakruti. To dissolve the Mind is the goal of all spiritual practice. Only when the mind dissolves does the veil of the crystalline geometry dissolve. This is called the Unmani-avastha. After this, your progress towards Yourself is faster.

But for your general clients, who are quite fascinated by the geometry of the universes, the horoscope’s events will affect them on all levels. They will be happy/ sad and create more karma etc as per the chart. The divine spark exists but it is hidden behind the geometry. So for your routine clients all this spiritual stuff is meaningless. And the material stuff is paramount. So if they ask you, ‘when will I get married?’, do tell them the correct time, match their charts and also tell them to do pujas and remedies for having a happy married life. This is their life goal, counsel them and help them complete it.

Leo ascendant Integration

Once while in Dhyan I had an extraordinary vision, as if my Sat-guru had offered my Shri-yantra to the flames of ’Soham’. That was the day I experienced the power of the Advaita in freeing the soul from the blinding veils of geometry. A genuine Sat-guru is very rare. There are several Guru-s, yogi-s, high level aspirants, in this world who can be generally respected, but give your faith and your trust only to a Sat-guru else you may get into trouble in your practice.

For clients who have very material desires, I do recommend the Shri-chakra/ Shri-sukta as a first step. They are obsessed with experiencing the material, so what better than to make them focus on its fundamental geometry itself. It works for general auspiciousness and beneficial things and will give you every material thing you desire, but also slowly make you desire the spiritual too, maybe now or a few lives later. When you are sated with your experience, obviously you transcend. The Shri-Chakra geometry can be a part of your spiritual school syllabus in the initial stages but it is not the ultimate goal. Once you feel the burning desire to know yourself, ‘Soham’ is the only mantra which will take you onwards. The ultimate goal is your Soul, the Advaita.

My Sat-guru did puja of the Shiv-lingam in his initial practice, did complicated Hatha Yog and seriously very high level stuff. But after he realised Himself, he stopped doing all sorts of worship. (Maximum I have seen my Sat-guru do Soham-jaap using a jap-mala, very rarely, only when he had no other engagements. Then he would give this mala to some disciple. He was always on the move, giving discourses, meeting and blessing his lakhs of disciples, from the age of 29yrs – 96yrs). He always ‘gave’ the easiest Soham mantra for all his disciples. This, after he himself had performed the most complicated stuff for his own realisation! He would say that Soham is the easiest and the best way for attaining that Ultimate state. Soham mantra is essentially Sushumna Yog. Only a Sat-guru can ‘give’ it in the real sense. Performing it is also very simple. It will spontaneously take you to Kevala Kumbhak, Samadhi and Advaita in this life-time itself.

A Sat-Guru who has Seen the ultimate Self cannot worship the Shri-chakra or the Shiv-lingam or any moorthi! How can the Advaita, the Eternal Divine worship a mere geometry for hours and in seclusion as a practice! A Sat-guru is a Jivan-mukt, he is Eternally Aware. A genuine Sat-guru will not put his disciples into very complicated rituals. These are all a part of the geometry of this manifested worlds, these have no place where the Self exists. (Krishna has said the same thing in his Bhagvat Gita 18-66, ‘dissociate from the geometry of this manifested worlds and realise that you are the Advaita yourself’)

If your Guru whom you follow, still worships a yantra, linga, moorthi etc for hours, secludes himself for his ‘practice’, follows strict rules on things, prescribes complicated rituals, still goes on pilgrimages, feels emotional about events around him, eg death of someone or a handicapped child being born to someone, if he is still affected by the things of this geometric universe, then judge for yourself if he has Realised Himself or not. Best would be to ask him directly and see what kind of reply he gives. Does he say ‘yes’ with the power of the Advaita in his words or baffle you with empty words? (Someone I know was searching for a Sat-guru, about 50yrs ago. He met several Gurus and actually asked them if they had realised the Eternal. They were genuine at heart so clearly said that they were also aspirants, albeit very high level ones. So he searched some more and finally met my Sat-guru, all his questions were answered here.)

Back to Aleister Crowley, if he could comprehend this existential complexity and yet it’s essential simplicity he must have been much more spiritually than what his contemporaries report about him. So this is the real reason I use the Thoth tarot as my go-to deck and use his birth chart as a sample chart in my blog!

 

Leo ascendant Integration

Cards anyone? Cartomancy and Tarot

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Lets learn something fun today. Cartomancy! Specifically how to set up your very own Lenormand card set and use it. Of all the card sets and Tarot sets that I have worked with, Lenormand is a practical and a fun way of divination. No kaballah, no esoteric stuff, no high level words, just plain simple questions and answers. And it is a way of accessing the information hidden inside your own subconscious, a good way of listening to your own self.

Now straight on to the practical stuff.

You can make this card set at home. I think for most of you this will be your first card deck. It is just so exciting to make your own stuff because they then pick up your energy and really become your own.

Cards anyone? Cartomancy and Tarot

Buy a deck of normal playing cards and separate the following 36 cards, write their card names on the playing card using a permanent marker. I have also mentioned a few important keywords for each card. The keywords are quite logical too, eg “child” may actually mean a child, innocence, inexperience, trusting person, small issue, playful person, all the things that we actually associate with a child. So remembering the keywords should not be very difficult.

  1. 9 of hearts is “Rider” – short journey, young energetic man, speed, messages
  2. 6 of diamonds is “Clover” – tiny bit of luck, gamble, small joy, spark
  3. 10 of spades is is “Ship” – long journey, vehicle, departing, adventure,
  4. King of hearts is “House” – family, home, physical building of the home, establishment, privacy, safety, takin care, at home
  5. 7 of hearts is “Tree” – family tree, dynasty, health, spirituality, roots
  6. King of clubs is “Clouds” – difficulties, problems, smoke, misunderstanding, doubt, hidden
  7. Queen of clubs is “Snake” – karma, clever woman, desire, intestines, tubes, lies, knowledge
  8. 9 of diamonds is “Coffin” – ending, death, sadness, sleep, rest, exhaution
  9. Queen of spades of “Bouquet” – happiness, flattery, social interactions, politeness, flowers
  10. Jack of diamonds is “Scythe” – accidents, cuts, danger, sharp weapon, warning, speed
  11. Jack of clubs is “Whip” – exercise, sex, conflict, repetitive activity, arguments, pain, beating, action
  12. 7 of diamonds is “Birds” – conversations, nervousness, gossip, excitement, lots of messages.
  13. Jack of spades is “Child” – child, inexperience, innocent, playful, new starts
  14. 9 of clubs is “Fox” – man of the world, just business, crafty, cunning, be cautious, not trustworthy, tricks
  15. 10 of clubs is “Bear”- power, strength, food, leader, anger, influence
  16. 6 of hearts is “Star” – hope, spirituality, dreams, inspiration
  17. Queen of hearts is “Stork” – possibilities, changes, new beginnings, out of the box,
  18. 10 of hearts is “Dog” – best friends, loyalty, followers, devotion, support
  19. 6 of spades is “Tower” – institutions, big buildings, authority, being alone, ego, arrogance
  20. 8 of spades is “Garden” – social networks, a function, get-together, open areas, fame, happiness,
  21. 8 of clubs is “Mountain” – obstacle, heights,
  22. Queen of diamonds is “Crossroads” – options, opportunities, choice, travel, confusion
  23. 7 of clubs is “Mice” – theft, reducing, disease, filth, rubbish, infestation, flawed, parasites, stealing under your nose.
  24. Jack of hearts is “Heart” – love, forgiveness, romance
  25. Ace of clubs is “Ring” – commitment, marriage, completion, cyclic
  26. 10 of diamonds is “Book” – secrets, education, information available but not yet accessed, research, prescriptions
  27. 7 of spades is “Letter” – documents, communications, information
  28. Ace of hearts is “Man” – any male associated with the question asked, family member, husband etc
  29. Ace of spades is “Woman” – any female associated with the question asked, family member, wife etc
  30. King of spades is “Lily” – maturity, sensuality, wisdom, sex, morals, older woman, serenity
  31. Ace of diamonds is “Sun” – happiness, success, pride, power, heat, truth
  32. 8 of Hearts is “Moon” – night, subconscious, emotions, desires, intuition
  33. 8 of diamonds is “Key” – solutions, achievements, freedom, openness
  34. King of diamonds is “Fish” – finances, plenty, gains, treasures,
  35. 9 of spades is “Anchor” – stability, restrain, foundations, enduring
  36. 6 of clubs is “Cross” – suffering, burden, religious, principles, harsh, duty, bound

lenornmandsprayset

In the Lenormand system, the name of the card is everything, the pictures of the cards have no divinatory meanings as such. The cards are read in pairs and sequences like a sentence. The cards have the same meaning upright or reversed. If you would like a short cut and not learn the above keywords then use the card combination meanings from this site.

Now to to play with your subconscious and your first card deck. Shuffle the cards and focus on a question, eg, “How is my day going to be today”. When you feel like it, stop shuffling and spread the cards out in a fan, with your non-dominant hand pull out 5 cards, lay them face down in a line as you pull them out and then turn them together.

Suppose you get this sequence “clouds scythe rider bear birds”. One interpretation of this could be “cloudy day” “cut sharply” “young man” “food” “conversations”, and it gets fulfilled as your day does not look so promising, confused, then suddenly the doubts get resolved, your boyfriend suddenly turns up and you eat food and talk together. The central card is the focus card around which the interpretation revolves.

Another example, “How is this new guy I met today for me?”, and you get “fox, tower, clover, man, mountain”, so one interpretation can be, “career/business” “office building” “small luck/gamble” “the young man in the question himself” “obstacle”. So you may think he would be a little bit lucky for your business establishment but in the end he will be a obstacle.

So you see for your first deck the Lenormand is perfect. Practical questions with practical answers. Right now you are on baby steps, trying to work around with cards. But Lenormand is definitely not a baby system, there are other spreads and ways to work with it, it is quite powerful and sometimes its answers will amaze you. As you learn the to interpret and learn to put meanings together you can use this system to its full potential.

Even later when you wish to experiment with self discovery, you should really try out Tarot, i.e. Thoth, Raider-Waite or Marseillus decks.

thoth

raider waite

marseillus

I do consider cartomancy as one of the easiest and safest means to start accessing you subconscious. The answers do not come by “magic” but from your internal higher self, the cards are the tools, the medium, the “magic” is you, your own self.

So as a to-do.

Ask the cards this one question everyday, “How is my day going to be”.  Note the combinations in your diary and tally at the end of the day, how accurate they were and how good was your interpretation. Do this for 21 days at least before trying out the other spreads and stuff.

And all the best for your first step into divination.