by Henry Ho
Practical Tip
Every time you count onto a card, lift the card up slightly from its peers so that you know that it has been counted on before. This helps you keep track of what cards have already been counted on. If you count back to card that has been raised, you know when to stop. This also it removes some of the work later when you try to find the unaspected cards in a reading. More on that later.
Card Counting Example
Air String
My significator is the Queen of Disks, so starting from her:
(10 of Cups, Queen of Disks, 3 of Wands)
Emotional satisfaction wars with passion. Leading to passivity. Emotionally I am not lacking anything and so there is no real motivation to change my life. Except for the desire for movement itself. Wanting to be productive for its own sake. Or perhaps just to make life more interesting.
Counting left
Counting 4 from the Queen of Disks lands on the Knight of Cups.
(Death, Knight of Cups, 4 of Cups)
There is a desire to pursue change from this stagnant state that I'm in.
We count 4 from the Knight of Cups as it is also a Court card, which leads to the Tower.
(7 of Wands, Tower, 7 of Disks)
It is significant that there are two 7s in this triad. There is much destruction or drive for passion, but every endeavour peters out after the initial onrush. The 7 of Disks suggests burnout, or running out of fuel. It has been hard to sustain any particular direction.
The Tower card is the movement between Hod and Netzach. From the previous parts of this reading I'm seeing this as a move from Hod to Netzach, from theory to practice.
Being a planetary card the Tower counts 9, back onto the Queen of Disks.
Conclusions:
So far I see a description of what is happening. The fact that it leads back to the Queen of Disks suggests that this approach leads me back to where I started, i.e. nowhere! I'm stuck where I am.
Counting right
Counting 4 towards the right from the Queen of Disks lands onto Trump 14 Art.
(8 of Wands, Art/Temperance, 5 of Swords)
There is a drive for creative expression. Particularly in written form. But this has ended in defeat.
Zodiacal cards count 12, so from Art we count back to the Queen of Disks.
Conclusions:
Again, back to where I started! This reminds me of the Prince of Swords on top of the Fire String. Paralysis by analysis. Getting nowhere from thinking. So far this reading has just described the situation I'm in. The solutions were given right at the outset of the reading, at the overview. The solution is to listen to my heart, gut and emotions. The irrational parts of my being. It is the Air cards that continually provide me trouble, Defeat and Futility.
But perhaps there is more detailed to be gained. Time to find the Unaspected cards!
Catalysts of Change
This chapter is where tarot meets magick. Through the Aces and the unaspected cards in the OOTK spread we can see whether there is potential for change, and what kind of magick or actions we need to do in order to manifest different outcomes.
Aces in the OOTK
When reading the instructions for card counting from different sources, you may have noticed that Crowley in The Book of Thoth counts Aces as 11, whilst the instructions in Isreal Regardie’s book on The Golden Dawn tells us to count 5.
Aces represent the element of Spirit, which is the fifth element of the Pentagram. That is why originally we counted 5 for the Aces. However when Crowley created Thelema, it is found that 11 is the number for Magick and spirituality in his system. As 5 is the number for the Microcosm and 6 is the Macrocosm, 11 is the unity of the two, the number of the Great Work. The Union between God and Man.
This is also symbolized by the word of the Aeon ABRAHADABRA, with its 5 vowels and 6 consonants.
Another occult significance for the number 11 is that it is the sum of the four elements with the seven planets.
I have taken advantage of this difference in opinion by using both 5 and 11 for the Aces. I use this to represent different paths of our future.
We can see in the OOTK spread that time more or less does flow in a straight line (although in reality time doesn’t really exist, but we’ll leave that aside for now). However the future is not set in stone. How actions can and do affect the future. The Aces show the different branches of the future that we can choose through our actions.
Having said that I have found in many readings that there are times when even when you branch out from the Aces, the two paths conjoin again at a later point. Both paths may end up counting onto the same card. Here we see that sometimes we can’t fight against fate, that no matter what we do we’ll still end up in the same place. The currents of time and causality are flowing against us and so there’s no point in fighting or worrying about it. Sometimes there’s just too much inertia for us to change the situation. So don’t be surprised when this happens!
Unaspected Cards
The full credit for the discovery of unaspected cards goes to Paul Hughes Barlow, who also coined the term. He also calls them uncounted cards. The discovery was made when Paul chose not to limit himself by starting the card count from the Court cards, but instead experimented by counting from every single card. To read his writing on the matter check out his book, the Tarot and the Magus.
The word “unaspected” refers to the unique quality of certain cards found within a string that no cards count onto them. However these unaspected cards still count onto other cards. In essence, they are influencing the reading but nothing is influencing them back in turn.
The term “aspect” was borrowed from astrology, where planets exert their influence on houses that they do not occupy. With this clue I myself noticed that card counting technique works very similarly to how planetary aspects work in Vedic astrology, which reinforces my belief in the astrological origins of this technique.
Paul has his opinions on what these unaspected cards represent. For him, unaspected cards reveal hidden spiritual influences within a reading. Either from the supernal level of existence or perhaps one’s own HGA. Indeed from my own experience, analysing the unaspected cards from certain readings does indeed give clues to the nature of one’s HGA.
My own interpretation of unaspected cards is simpler. They represent the roots of the matter. Since no cards count onto them, they must represent the origin points of the strings. The true source that created the situation represented in the reading. In other words, the true starting points for card counting.
This ties into the idea of being “Bornless[8],” of having no beginning. If something was not caused by something, then it itself is the source of causality. Hence why unaspected cards can sometimes be thought of as the influences of spirits and one’s own HGA.
Broadly speaking there are two types of unaspected cards. The root cause of a situation, or a potential new beginning that a querent can tap into.
To find out which of these categories an unaspected card belongs to, one simply has to go through the card counting process starting from the unaspected card. Does it “feed into” the same thread or pathway as when counting from the querent’s Court card? Or in other words, does it count onto one of the cards that was landed on when counting from the querent’s significator? If it does this is a clear indication of something that is currently influencing the life of the querent. Often these unaspected cards count onto the significator itself!
Finding the unaspected cards of the reading reveals the source of the situation. The root cause. If it is a problem, then it can be changed for the benefit of the querent. Unaspected cards give insight in what the heart of the matter is, and gives the savvy magician the power to create great change. Similar to how understanding the root cause of a disease allows doctors to truly cure it, rather than just treat its outward symptoms.
Sometimes, counting from an Unaspected card reveals a completely new pathway. A new direction that the querent can t
ake, if the reading reveals that it is a desirable outcome. The magician can bring that potential future into a reality using the magickal techniques listed later in this chapter.
In his book Paul also draws attention to cards that are only unaspected in one direction. Due to the increased complexity I have never explored that avenue, but the interested reader may do so in his book The Tarot and the Magus.
The Technique
To discover unaspected cards, the practical method is to count twelve either side of each and every card within a string. If no card matches with the value of the count, then you know that no card counts onto that card, therefore it is unaspected.
Once you find the unaspected cards of a reading there are several things you can do. The first is just to start counting from that card and see how it is influencing the reading. If the unaspected card reveals a whole new pathway, it can represent the kind of energy the querent needs to tap into to manifest their desired outcomes.
Pay attention to what cards consistently crop up as unaspected cards. These are the ones that gives you clues to your HGA, as your genius is the one constant of your life. Often you just get an intuitive feel for whether it is your HGA’s influence at play.
If you already know the name of your HGA, pay special attention to the Major Trumps assigned to the letters that make up the name of your Angel.
Sometimes unaspected cards can signify the influence of someone’s magick, either your own or of others. Or simply the influence of someone outside of the querent’s expectation, magickal, physical or otherwise.
Take into consideration which stack the unaspected card is taking place in. Say if it is in the Earth pile, then the root cause is a physical act. The Air pile would signify energetic or telepathic influences. Perhaps someone’s thinking bad thoughts about you and you are effected by their negative energy. The Water pile would signify astral influences.
Personally I would not consider unaspected cards to represent the influence from spiritual entities unless they are located in the Fire or Water stacks. Perhaps the Air stack too, for lower astral entities, or perhaps artificial servitors.
As always, use your own discretion and experience. You may not choose to use the four stacks to represent the four planes of existence the way I do.
Experienced tarot readers can often intuitively pick out unaspected cards through gut feeling. If you have a strong feeling about a certain card, try counting 12 from it in both directions to verify the hunch.
Magick
There are many things you can do with unaspected cards once you have identified them:
Meditate on the card to invoke its energies.
Scry or Astrally project into it.
Evoke the spirit assigned with the card.
Astrally interact with a person.
Make changes in your own psyche.
I’ll cover each of these in more detail with subsequent chapters.
These techniques apply to both types of unaspected cards, whether they be negative influences that you desire to change, or a completely new potential outcome you would like to tap into.
For the former, use one of these techniques to access the energies that the card represents and change it in some way. To bring about a new potential outcome, invoke it into your life. There are so many different kinds of situations that it is impossible to cover all examples. The reader will have to use their own common sense or strategic thinking. If it is black magick from another practitioner, counter it or shield yourself. If on the other hand it is your own limiting beliefs that is causing the situation then one can use any number of techniques out there to change that. Use the tools most suitable to yourself and the situation at hand.
Unaspected Card Example
Going back to my reading of the Air String from the chapter on Card Counting. I count 12 from every single card I haven’t already landed on in both directions to find the unaspected cards. In essence you are doing the reverse of what you are normally doing, checking if other cards count onto the starting card. If you took my tip to slightly lift counted cards from the rest of the string, this reduces some of the legwork as you know which cards have already been counted onto.
Using this technique I found that there is only one Unaspected/Uncounted card in the Air String:
8 of Cups
The title of the 8 of Cups is Indolence, which is very descriptive of the current challenge that I'm facing. For more than a year now I have been struggling with feeling a lack of motivation. Or more accurately I haven't felt passionate or excited about any worthwhile creative project. I have been studying deeply into magick, and that has been fulfilling to me. But there's a part of me that wants to do more than just study, it feels the need to create. But I haven't felt inspired to work on anything since writing my first book three years ago.
I feel that working on the Indolence card may help with this. The fact that it is unaspected shows that it is the root of the issue that I am confronted with in this reading.
In this instance I would say that scrying/astral projection would be the appropriate technique for me to use to address the issue. Purely because the meaning of the card itself is congruent with what’s been happening in my life. But say if I were to look up the spirits associated with the cards I can perhaps work with an entity that can help me address this issue.
Some would argue that I am just making the influence of the 8 of Cups stronger in my life by doing this. That would be the case if that were my intent. But by working with the card, I am changing my relationship with it, thus rather than work against me I can transform it into a beneficial force.
Counting from the 8 of Cups (Air String)
(5 of Swords, 8 of Cups, Ace of Disks)
My Saturnian way of being is hindering, even destroying, the creative energy necessary for me to manifest the productivity that I want.
Counting left
(Knight of Cups, 4 of Cups, 10 of Cups)
The emotion of satisfaction overpowers my desire to pursue ideals. Thus the feeling of stagnation.
Note here that despite the fact that the modifiers are of the same element, they conflict with one another. As shown by the centre card, which often (but not always) shows the result of the interaction between the modifiers. Things of the same nature can conflict with one another, even though the energies also technically amplify one another.
(Tower, 7 of Swords, Death)
Violent energy is required to destroy this state of futility.
(8 of Wands, Art, 5 of Swords)
This card was counted onto before but only when counting right from the Queen of Disks. In this left count, the Art card is still fresh.
This triad mirrors and reinforces the meaning of the previous one. Swift action can be done to overcome inertia in order to transcend it.
I find that the OOTK does this a lot. The same message gets repeated in order to make sure that the message gets across to the querent.
(8 of Cups, Ace of Disks, 7 of Wands)
Here we finally count onto the Ace, and we'll show in this example how the Aces can represent divergent paths.
The modifiers around the Ace, to me, describes the divergent paths that I could take. One is the one I'm on, that of the 8 of Cups. The other is the 7 of Wands. Good news for me. I can change this situation if I want to. Sometimes the correct way to respond to a problem is simple to endure through it and come out the other side rather than actively changing it.
Not all triads involving Aces are interpreted in this way, but given the narrative this interpretation feels right to me. Especially because the card the represents the root of the problem is in this triad, and the card opposite it pretty much has its opposite meaning.
Counting 5 from the Ace of Disks
(3 of Wands, 8 of Wands, Art)
Here we see an outcome that is the opposite of the 8 of Cups. There is so much fire and activity here and it is exactly what I want. It is really obvious here that the prescription for me is to work with Fire
energies to get me out of this rut.
Counts back to the 7 of Swords.
Counting 11 from the Ace of Disks
(7 of Swords, Death, Knight of Cups)
My gut instinct for interpreting this triad is that pursuing an ideal is my way out of this situation. But given that I've already been given the solution in the 5 count, and the difference in nature to the previous fiery triad, I feel the opposite is true. That merely following my emotions where it goes is feeble. Leading to a slow death. I have to actively push through!
(4 of Cups, 10 of Cups, Queen of Disks)
If I just go with the flow and do what I normally do then things won't change.
(Art, 5 of Swords, 8 of Cups)
I would be susceptible to Indolence, the energies of the 8 of Cups, and therefore kill my creativity.
Counts onto the Queen of Disks.
Conclusions:
Here we see not only from the meanings of the card themselves, but also from the card counting, that the pathway of the 11 count from the Ace of Disks leads to the situation that I am in. Whereas the 5 count leads to an alternative possibility. One that I desire. Whenever the pathway of an unaspected cards feeds into or crosses that of the significator, i.e. they both count onto the same card, it is evidence that the unaspected card is the root of the issue experienced by the querent.
