Tarot Magic!

[Suantrai Nocturne]

I thought I'd bring up a subject that was always a favorite of mine. In this thread, we can share our favorite stories and spells utilizing the centuries-old Tarot.

How many of you use tarot for more than divination?

Here's one of my favorite spells, which I use to speak to spirits-

1. Take a deck of tarot cards and separate the Trumps and the Minor Arcana into two separate piles. Make sure your court cards are included with the other Minor Arcana.

2. Separate out the four Aces from the Minor Arcana. Lay them in a row in front of you in this order: Wand, Sword, Cup, Pentacle.

3. Reach out to the spirit you're seeking to speak to. Shuffle the Trumps, and draw a card. Look into the card, becoming fascinated with it, and allow the spirit to settle within the card. This is the card which shall be the body of your spirit, anchoring it to your working space.

4. Now, you may begin to ask it questions. Shuffle the Minor Arcana (minus the row of Aces in front of you), and ask a yes or no question of the spirit.

5. Beginning with the Ace of Wands, start flipping cards from the Minor Arcana pile and laying them over the four Aces- Wand, Sword, Cup, Pentacle, and then starting over with the Wand again. Stop when you've laid a card upon the Ace of its suit. This is a match.

A Wand card laying upon the Wand pile is a yes. A Sword match is a no. A Cup match is a maybe, and a Pentacle laying over the ace of Pentacles is a sign to "ask another question," meaning that the wording needs to be rephrased to be answered correctly.


6. If you need information about a spirit that doesn't use yes or no, you can lay three cards out, in an upward pointing triangle formation. The top card is your answer, and the two bottom cards are read together, to help explain the top card's message.


REMEMBER- always use precautions when dealing with spirits. Some spirits are benign and untroublesome, but others may be mischievous or even hostile. Place protections such as a circle of salt or iron, an amulet made from silver, rowan, and soil, or burn sage, pennyroyal, and cedar to bring safety from spirit mischief.

*smiles* Anyone else?  

[Animated Beauty]

You know, I actually tried Tarot Magic once by spreading out the cards that best suited the outcome I wanted for a court date on my dresser, and then to honor the cards I left honey on a plate outside so that any wild animal that came across it would bring my wish into the universe. biggrin  

[Suantrai Nocturne]

Ooh! Good spell! *smiles* I love using tarot for things in the Craft- talismans to protect me during the day, etc.

I like the offering of honey idea, too. It's always good to show proper honor to the spirits.  

[Animated Beauty]

I learned it from the couple that introduced me to tarot. I thought that it worked very well for me 3nodding  

[Xenobia_Rose]

I didn't think you were supposed to do readings on yourself.  

[Sickest Light]

I've never done much of Tarot magic. I read cards, but that's it.

Quote:

I didn't think you were supposed to do readings on yourself.

You really aren't, but I know people who have done it. It doesn't really work on yourself though...

I actually knew a great medium once and she used just a regular pack or poker cards to do readings. She actually taught my brother and my brother taught me. I actually like it better. xd

 

[Xenobia_Rose]

Yeah they do work. Just don't play poker with a deck of tarrot cards. They really hate that.  

[Animated Beauty]

I remember learning how to read with regular playing cards. They seem to have a better system to reading them.  

[Suantrai Nocturne]

I've never had trouble doing divination for or about myself. It just takes a willingness to be impartial and objective, in my experience.

Also, I like to use my tarot cards and such for card games, although I must admit I've never used them for poker. The trick is to make the game a reading- like with solitaire: if you win, the answer is affirmative. *smiles*

I actually learned how to read cards with regular playing cards. They're quite interesting as a tradition.  

[Dalaigh]

Here's something a little weird: at the request of a friend, I wrote a tarot card reading computer program (uses the four-card Celtic Cross spread). The weird thing is that everyone who's used the program has found the reading to be true, every time. As the program's author, it spooked me at first, but talking to a friend who's been doing readings as long as I've been alive told me that I worked so hard on the program and so intently that I actually put a piece of myself into it and that can give the program actual energy to do its work.

Strange, I know, but I don't know how else to explain it. I did spend nearly six hours a day for two weeks straight to get the program to work (not as easy as you might imagine!).

As for using regular playing cards, I knew a gal in the Army who'd do tarot readings using a playing card deck as not to arouse suspicion from other soldiers...we could do a reading out in the field and no one'd know it.

-- D  

[Suantrai Nocturne]

Hmmm... do you have a penchant for collecting and/or building magical objects? Because that's a kind of magic, you know.

As for the card-reading program working, all I have to say is "well of COURSE it works." Divination is divination, whether you use binary code or paper and ink to make the tool. It works like gravity or magnetism- it's simply nature.

I once designed an object on Second Life to do divination with, and everyone was surprised at its accuracy. *chuckles* It was never wrong, although it was often sarcastic as the Devil.

*smiles*

It quite suited me.  

[Brinioo]

HHow does spells work??