by Henry Ho
The Tarot Grimoire
The Magick of the Opening of the Key Spread
Henry Ho
About the Author
Henry started his study of the Tarot and Western Magick at age 20. Since then, the occult has been his main obsession. Henry continues to explore magick in all its forms, from High Magick, Shamanism, Reiki, Tantra and Taoism. He published his first book on the tarot in late 2013, runs a blog and YouTube channel on all things esoteric.
Henry lives in London with his wife and two cats.
www.starrytarot.com
YouTube: Starry Tarot
Other Books by Henry Ho
Tarot and the Path of Initiation
The Tarot Grimoire Copyright © 2017 by Henry Ho. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Henry Ho
Henry Ho
Visit my website at www.starrytarot.com
CONTENTS
Introduction
The Significator
The First Operation
Analysing the String
Elemental Dignities
Card Counting
Catalysts of Change
Card Pairing
The Astrological Operations
The Fifth Operation
Energy Manipulation
Pathworking
Spirits of the Tarot
The Golden Dawn Attributions
Tarot Mirroring
Tarot and the Hebrew Alphabet
Meeting the Holy Guardian Angel
Introduction
I began my study of the tarot in 2011. For many months I struggled with the meaning of the cards and using the Celtic Cross spread. During the summer I discovered the YouTube channel by Paul Hughes-Barlow, who is a champion of this tarot spread in the modern era. This spread is the one I now use almost exclusively due to the clarity of its messages. It is the tarot system that launched me from a beginner to a competent reader. I would like to share it with the tarot community in this book, to help promote this still relatively unknown tarot spread despite its virtues.
Little is known about the origins of the spread apart from the fact that is was created by the order of the Golden Dawn, whose curriculum has influenced the whole of modern ceremonial magick. The Rider-Waite tarot deck, created by one of the members of the order, Arthur Edward Waite, has become the template for many tarot artists after its creation. Whilst the images of the deck have been highly popularised, two aspects of this Golden Dawn tarot deck has been heavily ignored by many in the modern tarot community. The Qabalistic and Astrological correspondences, and the Opening of the Key spread.
My first book, Tarot and the Path of Initiation, addressed the first issue. It was sad to see that these correspondences that were used to imbue the cards with meaning have been forgotten. The Thoth tarot, however, made these correspondences overt in their design, unlike the Rider-Waite which chose to hide them. It is important for knowledge of any kind to be published, lest they perish from secrecy. If it does not survive in the minds of men, and in books, then it may as well have not existed.
This book addresses the second shortcoming. The Opening Key Spread is one of the leading innovations by the Golden Dawn on the tarot, yet it is being left behind. Few tarot readers even know of its existence.
Perhaps there is valid reason for this. It is a tarot spread that requires the reader to learn various skills that are not used in more mainstream spreads that rely on positional meanings. The learning curve of this spread is not a short one. It took around half a year of reading almost every day for me to feel that I can read competently with this spread. In total it took a whole year of reading the cards almost every day before I felt I totally mastered this spread.
Likely it will not take most of my readers this long to learn this spread. Bear in mind that I was a total beginner when I first learned this spread. Most of you, my readers, are likely to have had much tarot experience under your belt already. My wife is the first person I taught the spread to, and it took just one sitting for her to be able to utilise the spread on her own.
The other issue is that in its original form, it is a very long reading. There are five “operations” to the reading. Essentially it is five readings in one, and the individual sections are already very long on their own. When I started out it took me a whole hour per reading to just do the first operation. Now it takes me around ten minutes.
So why use this spread at all? Because once mastered this spread is the most adaptable and clear of all. It reaches levels of depth that other readings can barely scratch the surface of. The flexibility of the deck makes it adaptable for any question, no matter how mundane or spiritual.
Positional spreads rely on the predetermined meanings of the placement of the cards in order to give context. This inherently boxes the cards into a limited sphere of meaning. The result is that most spreads are only suitable for certain types of questions.
The Opening of the Key[1] style of reading places an emphasis on the relationship between the cards in order to create the same context. I have found this to be a much richer, dynamic way of reading the cards, and looking at life. Once you have learnt this spread, you will need no other.
In short, it is a form of tarot that may be more suitable to certain individuals than conventional positional spreads. I have found that I was able to give very clear readings as a beginner before my intuition was developed. Through reading with this spread I have felt that my intuitive muscles have been trained and developed greatly.
Structure of this book
Part 1:
The Significator
The First Operation
Analysing a String
Elemental Dignities
Card Counting
Catalysts of Change
Card Pairing
These chapters examine the fundamental mechanics of reading the OOTK spread that is common to all five operations. I will be using the First Operation to showcase each of the techniques in depth.
Part 2:
The Astrological Operations
The Fifth Operation
Here we will analyse each operation individually, go through their mechanics and discuss their uses in practice.
Part 3:
Energy Manipulation
Scrying and Astral Projection
The Spirits of the Tarot
Here we will explore how we can combine the OOTK spread with magick. How tarot itself is a complete system of magick, and also how the OOTK spread can be used to give us advice on what kind of magick to use for us to get the results we desire, and how to craft our rituals.
Part 4:
The Golden Dawn Attributions
Tarot Mirroring
Tarot and the Hebrew Alphabet
Meeting the Holy Guardian Angel
This section serves as an Appendix to the rest of the book. A list of articles that are useful commentaries for tarot readers.
Notes
References
I will be drawing upon these sources as my main reference material. My readers are encouraged to explore them on their own.
The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley
The Tarot and the Magus by Paul Hughes-Barlow
The Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie
Titles
I will also be referring to the tarot cards by their titles given in the Thoth Tarot Deck. If you are not familiar with the deck, this is how it differs to the Rider Waite:
The Knights:
T
he Knights are still called knights, but they are the real “Kings” of the Court Cards. This is because the man on a horse represents Yod in the Golden Dawn system, and therefore they are the Fathers in the families of the courts. Therefore Knights represent older male figures, even though they embody the dynamic energy of fire.
The Princes:
The “Kings” in the Rider Waite Deck are changed into “Princes” in the Thoth. This is because in the Golden Dawn system, the Kings/Princes represent Vau, or the Son in the Court card families. The “Kings” represent younger male figures. This is because the man on a chair or a chariot has combined the active influence of the Father/Knight with the passive energy of the Mother/Queen to create the throne/chariot. This creates the element of Air, active movement tempered by passive contemplation.
Example Reading
For the purposes of this book I decided to share a reading to serve as an example. I will not cover the individual meanings of the cards which can be found in my first book, Tarot and the Path of Initiation. Rather than create an imaginary querent, I had a feeling it was more appropriate to share a reading that is more personal to me.
I ordinarily refer to the tarot cards by their titles (Virtue, Change, Oppression etc.) rather than their number and suit as is traditional. However in light of the fact that not all my readers are students of the Thoth deck I will use the more traditional notation system.
Disclaimer
As of writing this book in early 2017, I have yet to be initiated into any occult order. Everything I write here is based on my research into published material[2] as well as my own insights from my personal experience in tarot and magick. Nothing I write here is in violation of any oath of secrecy, nor is it part of any confidential curriculum of any occult group. I cannot write about what I have not been taught!
The OOTK that I present here is my own version of the spread that I use on a day to day basis, with some brief commentary on the more traditional techniques for comparison. Full credit is given to the authors that have influenced my system of tarot and magick.
The Significator
The OOTK spread begins with the selection of a significator. Some readers opt not to due to their own preferences, but I find that this gives a point of focus for the narrative of the reading. In this case we have the point of view of the querent.
There are various methods for choosing a significator. Some readers use the physical appearance of the querent, others choose a card based on their intuition about the querent’s character. The astrological method is my preferred technique. I choose a Court card for the querent based on the position of their Sun in their natal chart.
There is a slight complication due to the fact that each Court card actually represents the last 10 degrees of one sign and the first 20 degrees of another. The exact zodiacal attributions of the cards are covered in my first book Tarot and the Path of Initiation.
When reading for clients I try to work this out in my head as best as I can. The key thing to remember is that whilst every Sun sign transitions around the 21st of every month, the Court card transitions on every 10th of the month.
Alternatively you can consult a diagram such as the one below, or keep a Golden Dawn tarot reference book handy, such as Book T which is available online for free.
A simpler method is to abandon this split system of correspondences and assign the Court cards to the Astrological signs on a one to one basis. You do this by, for example, rather than have the Knight of Swords represent the last decanate of Taurus and the first two of Gemini, the Knight of Swords represents the whole sign of Gemini. In which case:
Aries: Queen of Wands
Taurus: Prince of Disks
Gemini: Knight of Swords
Cancer: Queen of Cups
Leo: Prince of Wands
Virgo: Knight of Disks
Libra: Queen of Swords
Scorpio: Prince of Cups
Sagittarius: Knight of Wands
Capricorn: Queen of Disks
Aquarius: Prince of Swords
Pisces: Knight of Cups
Rather than be limited to Sun Signs, you can also decide to use a querent’s Ascendant or other signs instead depending on various astrological reasons. A querent may have a stelium in a certain sign, or a certain planet is head and shoulders stronger than the others, and so the sign it is placed in may be chosen as the significator of the querent if the astrologer feels strongly about that aspect of the natal chart.
In Vedic astrology there are two methods to devise a significator for one’s whole birth chart. The first and simplest is to locate the ruler of the First House. The ruling planet of the first chart is said to rule the whole chart, and so the sign it is deposited in can be used as a significator.
The second method is to locate the planet with the highest degree in one’s birth chart. In this system, the planet with the highest degree is arguably the true significator that represents the essence of one’s personality or soul.
The astrological method gives the reader much flexibility to choose a Court card that most resonates or represents the querent for one reason or another. However the problem is that unless the reader has the querent’s natal chart handy, or the querent herself knows it well, then in practice only the Sun sign is quickly identifiable for the purposes of a reading.
I have found that deviating from the Sun sign is useful when selecting a significator for myself, as I have an intimate knowledge of my own birth chart. So for the astrologically inclined tarot readers, it is recommended to select a significator based on their own analysis of their birth charts.
Using more than one significator
There is no reason to limit oneself to just one significator. I have found that using two significators is very useful for relationship readings. There were some cases where couples have asked me for readings on their relationship and I would take down both their birth dates.
Of course this technique also works for clients who want to analyse their relationship with an individual who is not present. Rather than see what Court cards show up in the reading, setting a significator for the other person can give valuable insight before you even start the reading. The significators alone can give an overview of the relationship between two people.
Note that obviously this application is not limited to romantic relationships. Friends, family, work colleagues and enemies can all be analysed this way!
The experience of using multiple significators in readings have revealed to me that card counting from a certain significator gives the reader the point of view of that particular individual. And that shows the inherent value of choosing a significator for the OOTK. It focuses on one point of view of the entire narrative of the reading. Showing us the story of that particular character.
The focus that choosing a significator gives to a reading allows us to zoom in on the emotions, thoughts and motives of the querent and each individual involved in the reading.
Organisations as personalities
There’s no reason that we should be limited to just reading for individuals. Whole organisations can be represented by the Court cards! Groups at least as much personality as individuals do! Intuit the character of a group mind (otherwise known as an egregore or a group’s Genius) and select a Court card as a significator it.
Be creative! There are so many ways that the techniques from this spread can be adapted and used. I use many of these methods for readings even when not using the OOTK spread itself.
The First Operation
The OOTK tarot spread is divided into five “Operations.” Even though technically they are five parts of one reading, each operation can in fact be seen as a whole reading in their own right. The format for all bar one of the operations is to either cut or deal the full tarot deck into a number of “stacks” of cards. These stacks are subsequently turned over and read similar to how one would read a positional spread to give an overview of the reading. The reader would finally search for the stack that conta
ins the significator, and fan it out into a “string” of cards. This string would then be interpreted using elemental dignities, card counting and pairing techniques to reveal a gold mine of depth in the reading.
This chapter will only cover the initial step of the First Operation, that of cutting the cards and reading the top cards of each stack. The subsequent steps will be covered in the later chapters of part 1 of this book.
According to the Golden Dawn, the First Operation represents “The Opening of the Question.[3]” In practice however I have found that the first operation alone is enough to conduct a full reading. This is also the case for most Golden Dawn members as well, who the stuck with the First Operation and went no further for their mundane divinations.
In The Book of Thoth, Crowley writes: “This shows the situation of the Querent at the time when he consults you.[4]” The implication here is that the First Operation explores the present circumstances and past influences that led the querent to the moment of the reading.
In practice I have found that whilst it is true that the First Operation often does explore all the influences affecting the present circumstances, there are times where it explores possible (and likely) future outcomes based on those aforementioned circumstances.
This operation is crafted based on the YHVH formula. Which is the sequence that the four elements are created in and emerge from. To create this spread we cut the whole deck of cards into four stacks, each representing one element: Fire, Water, Air and Earth.
Cutting the Cards
After choosing the significator and shuffling the cards, the full deck (face down) is cut roughly in half from right to left.
Be sure to leave a space in between the two packs. For we are about to cut each deck a second time. Again, roughly in half from right to left. The result should be that we have four stacks of cards each consisting of around a quarter of the full deck of cards.
