Divination: The Tarot

Divination is a magickal operation in which the practitioner uses symbols or omens to gain insight into the future. At least, that’s what I understand it to be. I may find out it’s something else by doing it. For now, this description will suffice. For the Year of Magick we will be learning about, and more importantly, testing the effectiveness of divination systems. We will be starting with the Tarot. We will be using the Aleister Crowly Thoth deck. Our study of the tarot will progress in phases.

Phase one: Memorize the basic meanings of each card. This will be achieved one card at a time. Each day we will select one card from the deck, meditate on the illustrations and memorize what the card is meant to represent. Using this method, we should be able to learn the deck in two and a half months. During this phase we will also perform simple one-card divinations in order to further familiarize us with the deck and also to give us practice interpreting the cards. Each evening before going to bed, We’ll meditate on the question, “What does tomorrow have in store for me?” while shuffling the deck. We will draw a single card, and post it that evening. The following evening we will look back on the day and see if the card proved accurate or was able to provide insight in any way.

Phase Two: Assuming we are both comfortably familiar with the deck, we will begin doing weekly spreads meant to address specific questions/situations. These readings would be similar to what one might pay a professional Tarot reader to perform. We may experiment with doing readings for one another. We will post results in the same way we posted them for phase two.

The idea here is to learn the art of divination, as well as test its effectiveness. Should the Year of Magick become a smashing success we will perhaps give scrying a go toward the last third of the year.