As I discussed in a previous post, the Book of Thoth is silent about how to count and pair the cards when the Significator is at or near one end of the line, such that the full count can't be reached and pairs may not be achievable. In Israel Regardie's Complete Golden Dawn System of … Continue reading Counting with the OoTK: The Ultimate Solution?
Golden Dawn
How to Read the OotK Pairs
Another question that the Book of Thoth leaves completely unanswered is how one goes about actually reading the paired cards on either side of the Significator at the end of the First Operation of the "Opening of the Key" (OotK) method. "Make a story of these cards." OK, Al, but are they to be read as … Continue reading How to Read the OotK Pairs
Adherence of the RWS Pips to Their Golden Dawn Roots
As a follow-up to my previous post on the relationship between the RWS and Thoth decks and their common source in the Golden Dawn's esoteric system, I conducted a small exploratory analysis of the relative adherence of the RWS pip cards to their Golden Dawn roots. I took the descriptions in Liber T and compared … Continue reading Adherence of the RWS Pips to Their Golden Dawn Roots
Cheap Shots #21: Thoth vs RWS, Head-to-Head
Let it be said right up front: I'm not a huge fan of the Waite-Smith (aka Rider-Waite-Smith or "RWS") deck. I think that, in many cases, the narrative vignettes embedded in Pamela Colman Smith's scenic "pip" cards - the minors with their ready-made stories - hijack the deeper esoteric meaning that lies at its core, … Continue reading Cheap Shots #21: Thoth vs RWS, Head-to-Head
An Opening of the Key First Operation Template
Those who are interested in the Golden Dawn and Thoth methods of divination have the complex and lengthy Opening of the Key (OotK) series of "operations" to entertain them. This includes a relatively straightforward initial operation that provides an overview of the querent's situation at the time of the reading. It is followed by three … Continue reading An Opening of the Key First Operation Template
“A Little Magic” Prepared-Deck Spread
As a long-time user of the Golden Dawn's "Opening of the Key" method of reading (or at least the First Operation), I'm always looking for novel ways to apply the "four elemental sub-packs" model to other spreads. I've also been intrigued by the notion that the deck can be separated into four equal sub-packs with … Continue reading “A Little Magic” Prepared-Deck Spread
The Golden Dawn Factor
The contribution of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to our modern understanding and use of the tarot cannot be overestimated. Here is a link to a brief article on Biddy Tarot by Richard L. Palmer that lays out the fundamentals. https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-astrology-golden-dawn/ The esoteric concepts and structures devised by the Golden Dawn and its … Continue reading The Golden Dawn Factor
Correspondences: How Much is Too Much?
Funny thing about esoteric correspondences. Sometimes you don't need them at all, other times you can get nowhere without at least a cursory nod to them. They're especially useful when a spread serves up a disjointed mish-mash of contradictory meanings that resists all tactics of intuition, inspiration, imagination and ingenuity. The analytical skill required to … Continue reading Correspondences: How Much is Too Much?
The In-between
In a recent essay on David Spangler's (he of the pioneering New Age pedigree) Lorian Association website (see "Strange Attractors" at http://www.lorianassociation.com), Susan Beal described how she eventually resolved the apparent conflicts between her inner and outer worlds - those of private spiritual practice on one hand and routine daily existence on the other - … Continue reading The In-between
“In the Court of the Crimson King” 3-D Elemental Matrix
This isn't a spread per se, it's a simpler substitute for the initial step of the "First Operation" of the Golden Dawn's Opening of the Key method. Instead of separating all 78 cards into four stacks and finding the Significator, only sixteen cards including the Significator are selected for the matrix, four in each elemental … Continue reading “In the Court of the Crimson King” 3-D Elemental Matrix
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 