Compiled by David C. Jones (djones@ponder.csci.unt.edu)
Copyright, 1996, David Clark Jones. Please see the table of
contents for the location of the full listing of the copyright
notice.
4) Rituals of Meditation
This section contains Tarot layouts which are not expressly
intended for divinatory purposes, but rather, are intended for
personal introspection and meditation. DISCLAIMER: Be forewarned
that I make no claims as to the usefulness or safety of these
layouts. Many of them require some sort of knowledge of the
magickal arts and I would definitely recommend that, unless you are
already proficient with such practices, you discuss these
techniques with your teacher or path-shower before using them.
4.1) Mandalas (Danburg-Wyld)
>From the alt.tarot FAQ:
One simple technique [for tarot meditations] is to select a
card and use it as a miniature mandala. Alternatively, put out an
array of cards and do the same. Some people pick a card in the
morning and use it as a 'focus point' for the day - looking for
aspects of that cards meaning in the events that occur to them.
4.1.1) Daily Focus Point (Buckland)
With respect to a daily 'focus point', Llewellyn's Magickal
Almanac notes an old Romany tradition of starting the New Year with
The Lovers and proceeding numerically. After finishing the Major
Arcana, the next day would start with the Ace of Swords, then the
two, three, etc. up through King. Repeat with the Wands, then
Cups, and finally Pentacles. The next day would stars with the
first card of Trumps and proceed numerically. It should be noted
that there are a few differing opinions as to where the Fool (or
trump 0) should be placed when ordering the Arcana. The following
timetable would be used if placing the Fool anywhere _after_ the
Lovers on a non-leap year.
Jan 1 - The Lovers (Trump 6)
Ace of Swords: 01/18 04/06 06/23 09/09 11/18
Ace of Wands: 02/01 04/19 07/07 09/23 12/10
Ace of Cups: 02/15 05/04 07/21 10/07 12/24
Ace of Pentacles: 03/01 05/18 08/04 10/21
Magician, Trump 1: 03/15 06/01 08/18 11/04
Dec 31 - Eight of Cups
If the year is a leap year, The Ace of Pentacles will start of
February 29th instead of March 1st. Subtract one day from each
date thereafter and Dec 31 will end with the Nine of Cups.
If you choose to order your trump numerically (i.e., placing the
Fool before the magician) or in any position before the 6th Trump,
then you must subtract a day from each date starting with the Ace
of Swords on 01/18.
Finally, I have seen people use different orderings for Trump
ranking. Feel free to adjust this schedule to suit your personal
ordering schema.
4.1.2) Contemplation Ritual (Kraig)
Another simple one-card meditation works as follows:
1) Remove the 22 Major Arcana cards.
2) Perform a relaxation ritual. This is done mainly to help you
focus and such rituals are standard in any book on Golden Dawn
magick. Shuffle the deck as you feel necessary.
3) Select any one card and look at the picture on it for a length
of time. When finished contemplating the image, take a few
breaths to remain focused and relaxed.
4) Record the card name and number in a diary. Also record any
feelings, sensations, or ideas you received while focusing the
card.
4.1.3) Opening the Door (Ozaniec)
Naomi Ozaniec's book contains a number of exercises which allow one
to gain more insight into each of the Trump cards, but very few of
them would actually qualify as meditations or rituals. Here is one
of the few exceptions described, verbatim, while explaining how to
use tarot cards as doorways.
1) Select the Trump you wish to work with. Have the relevant Trump
in front of you.
2) Enter a meditative state. Visualize the Tarot Trump clearly in
your mind.
3) Allow the image to grow so that the frame of the Trump becomes
a doorway.
4) Step into the image. Deepen your meditative state. What can
you learn from this Tarot Trump? When the meditation is
finished, step back through the image, reduce it to a proper
size and return all images to a passive state.
5) Record your experience straightaway.
6) Do not attempt to encounter more than one image during a single
session.
4.2) Qabalistic Cross of the Tarot Ritual (4) (Buckland)
Layout: 02 |
08 -
14 |
21 |
Trumps 2, 14, and 21 are laid upright while Trump 8 is laid on its
side (see diagram on right).
Ritual:
1) Prepare the temple. From a consecrated pack of Tarot card
containing the traditional Qabalistic symbolism, remove the
following: THE HIGH PRIESTESS, TEMPERANCE, THE UNIVERSE, STRENGTH.
Place the four trump cards upon the altar as indicated in the
diagram.
2) Take a Ritual Bath.
3) Place your right index finger above the crown of your head.
Bring your hand down as if drawing the Divine Light into your body.
Touch your forehead and intone the word, "ATAH" (ah-tah). This
means "I Am." Visualize a Bright light centered at the crown of
your head.
4) Bring your finger down to the middle of your chest and
vibrate the name, "MALKUTH" (Mahl-kooth) which means "The Kingdom."
After touching your chest, draw the hand down to the level of the
groin and point toward the floor. Imagine a shaft of white light
extending from the top of your hand down to your feet and ankles.
Concentrate for a minute on the white pillar of light stretching
from Kether to Malkuth.
5) Touch your right shoulder and intone the name, "VE-GEBURAH"
(V'-geh-boo-rah) which means "And the Power." See another point of
white light beginning at your shoulder.
6) Bring your index finger directly across your body to the
left shoulder. Vibrate the name, "VE-GEDULAH" (V'-geh-doo-lah),
which means, "And the Glory." See a brilliant white shaft of light
perpendicular to the first one which connects both shoulders.
7) Put both hands out in front of you and clasp them together
as if praying. Then bring the clasped hands close to your body and
position them straight up, just in front of your heart. Intone
"LE-OLAHM, AMEN" (lay-oh-lahm, Ah-men), which means "Forever, Unto
the Ages." Visualize a complete cross of light formed within
yourself, which consecrates the temple of the body through the
power of the Divine Names.
Once you have established the Qabalistic Cross you may
initiate the Cross of the Tarot. However the image of the Cross of
Light must remain firmly fixed in your mind. With your index
finger tough the four points on your body a second time, and repeat
the names from ATAH through VE-GEDULAH, but add the following
visualizations:
8) At the crown of your head, imagine a brilliant spiral shape
contained within the point of light at KETHER. This is the symbol
of the First Whirlings. [ed - there is a small picture of a spiral
making nearly two full rotations.]
9) At the bottom of the first shaft of light, visualize the
symbol of the cross within a circle. See this sigil at your feet
in black. This represents MALKUTH, the manifested kingdom. [ed -
picture of an 'X' circumscribed in a circle.]
10) At your right shoulder, see the red symbol of Mars flaming
within the white shaft of Light. This symbol alludes to GEBURAH,
the Sphere of Severity. [ed - picture of Mars, more commonly known
as the symbol for male, or a circle with an arrow pointing to the
NW.]
11) At your left shoulder, picture within the point of light,
the blue sigil of Jupiter. This suggests CHESED, the Sephirah of
Mercy. [ed - picture of Jupiter. Looks like the number 2 with a
line going through and perpendicular to the line at the bottom of
the 2.]
12) Now return to the complete image of the Cross within your
body. Vibrate the name of the Hebrew letter "GIMEL" (Gee-mahl).
See the first shaft of it from Kether begin to change to the color
blue. The blue light descends from your head to the area of your
heart and stops there. Concentrate your thoughts on the image of
THE HIGH PRIESTESS from the second Key of the Tarot. The High
Priestess controls the flow of Divine Power from its eternal Source
in Kether to the rest of the temple (you -- as a reflection of the
Tree of life). Through her you experience all spiritual events.
She controls and regulates all life, and she connects that which is
above to that which is below. Contemplate her image for a few
moments.
13) Intone the name of the Hebrew letter "SAMEKH" (Sahm-ehk).
The shaft of light turns brilliant blue from your heat down to your
groin area. Visualize the figure of TEMPERANCE from the 14th Key
of the Tarot. The feminine, angelic form of TEMPERANCE blends the
opposing elements of Fire and Water, Sun and Moon, Intellect and
Emotion, Force and Form. She harmonizes these contradictory
elements of your personality into a mixture of perfect balance,
clearing the way for real spiritual growth to take place. Meditate
upon this image for a short period of time.
14) Vibrate the name of the Hebrew letter "TAU" (Taw). The
shaft of light leading from your groin to your feet turns indigo or
violet-blue in color. Imagine the female figure from THE UNIVERSE,
the 21st Key of the Tarot. The form of the Dancing Goddess gives
final form to the Manifest Universe. She is the womb of Heaven,
giving birth to the signs of the Zodiac, the Planets and the
Elements. She is the completion of the Grand Design in the Mind of
the Eternal. Take time to mediate upon this image.
15) Vibrate the name of the Hebrew letter "TETH" (Tayth).
Envision the second shaft of white light which connects the two
shoulders begin to turn bright yellow, starting at Geburah.
Imagine the woman from STRENGTH, the eighth Key of the Tarot. She
holds the fierce and mighty lion under perfect control through the
power of her Will. She has tamed the raw, fiery energy of the
beast and transformed it by discipline. The strength generated
from passion and intellect working together under will is
tremendous. Feel the sense of inner strength given off by this
image.
16) Repeat once more the words "LE-OLAHM, AMEN" while making
the appropriate gestures. Visualize the complete Cross for the
final time in glowing white light.
Thus ends the ritual.
4.3) Suit and Function Meditation (14) (Ozaniec)
Layout: 10 01
09 02
08 K Q N P 03
07 04
06 05
Cards 1 - 10 are arranged in a circle, each cards top pointing
outward from the circle. In the center are the King, Queen,
Knight, and Page of the suit. Note that Ozaniec calls them the
King, Queen, Price, and Princess respectively.
Deal: Each of the four minor suits is ascribed with a function:
Swords - Function of Thinking
Cups - Function of Feeling
Wands - Function of Intuition
Pentacles - Function of Sensation
Choose a function which you personally want to develop and
deal the fourteen cards of that suit as shown above and enter
a meditative state
Ritual: (verbatim)
Find yourself standing in an antechamber within a castle. You
wait. Ahead of you a pair of great double doors are closed.
Beside the doorway you see a bell. You move forward and ring the
bell. A deep note rings out. You stand back. The doors swing
open slowly. You enter and find that you stand in a Great Hall.
At the far end seated on a long low dais you see four crowned
figures. Here are the King, Queen, the Prince and the Princess.
An unseen voice rings out, 'Welcome to the Elemental Court'. You
move forward further into the hall. A fanfare rings out. 'Let the
Elemental Powers step forward.' Now from behind the dais a
character dressed plainly comes to meet you. The character carries
the Ace of the elemental suit and shows it to you. You meditate on
it. The character returns. A new figure appears bearing the Two
of the suit. In this way each character appears before you,
bearing the appropriate Tarot card. The characters appear from the
direction that you have prepared in your spread. When the bearer
of the tenth card has returned, spend a few moments in the quiet
meditation before moving on to the next phase.
When you are ready, approach the dais where the Elemental
Court sit.
Face the King and pose the question, 'What must I do to awaken
the function of ...?'
Face the Queen and pose the question, 'What must I do to
develop the function of ...?'
Face the Prince and pose the question, 'What must I do to
sustain the function of ...?'
Face the Princess and pose the question, 'What must I do to
express the function of ...?'
Each question presents an opportunity for personal
realization. Meditate on all that has transpired. Offer thanks
for what has taken place. Close the meditation.
Write your experiences up straightaway.
The work does not finish when the meditation closes. The
impetus is transformed from the private interior experience into
daily life and ordinary interaction. Become aware of the
repercussions and effects of your work, recording the perceived
results in your diary. These results may in turn become the
subject for further reflection. The process becomes self-
perpetuating. Initiation is a cycle.
[paragraph deleted]
Each of the Tarot suits may be used in the same way. We may
safely explore and enrich these basic functions within ourselves.
Do not hurry such work. It is important to allow all effects to be
integrated into life. The four elemental initiations could be
spread through the space of a year.
4.4) Figure of Eight (22) (Cannon)
Layout: 04 05
03 06
02 07
01 08
00 09
XXX - Cards 10 and 21 should cross
11 20 each other on the XXX
12 19
13 18
14 17
15 16
Deal: Deal the 22 Major Arcana cards into the positions shown
Ritual: This is lifted directly from Mr. Cannon's e-mail.
Keep the orientations consistent [when dealing] and you should find
that the first loop of 10 cards (Fool-Hermit) are all facing
outwards from the loop, yet by an Escheresque twist of orientation,
the second 10 cards (Strength - Judgement) are all facing inwards.
Significant, huh?
Meditation is a high-falootin' glorification of what I do which is
better described as "make a cup of tea and ponder a bit" but you
should see the whole story of the trumps click into place before
you. Light candles, etc., if that's what you like.
Then you can go on to look at opposites.
The first loop, pretty obviously, is the worldly or "materialistic"
phase of the Fool's progress and similarly the second loop the
"spiritual" phase. If there was ever a more graphic illustration of
the continuity of existence I'd like to see it. Now, if you have
laid out your cards carefully and evenly, you should be able to
ponder the relationships between the opposite pairs of cards in the
two loops, e.g the Pope (5) vs. The Devil(15), or the Chariot (7)
vs. Death (13).
I hope I've got these opposites correct from memory, I haven't got
a pack in front of me right now to test the layout!
The above technique is from Alfred Douglas' book.
4.5) Square-Triangle Layout (78) (Cannon)
Layout: +------+
| /\ |
| / \ |
|======|
+------+
Deal: Set out the 21 numbered trumps in an equilateral triangle,
7 cards per side, with the Fool in the middle. Outside this,
lay out the minor cards in a square, four sides each of 14
cards. You can also put the square inside the triangle,
whichever you prefer.
Ritual: [or more appropriately, ponder this. Again, directly
lifted from Andrew's e-mail]
Ponder the fact that the Fool can "see" either the secular, worldly
domain of the minors, or the spiritual progression domain of the
majors. He can't experience both, because he is constrained within
the two-dimensional world of the cards he inhabits and one of the
domains is always obscured from him by the other.
Clearly to experience both aspects of existence the Fool must
somehow rise along a dimension or degree of freedom supplemental to
those in which he normally operates. Alternatively, he must
displace himself from the center of his universe by some kind of
leap.
This is a heavy-duty meditation, if you're into that kind of thing,
the square and triangle can be considered as "philosophical
machines" and it can all get a bit serious.
>From Fred Getting's book.
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