by Henry Ho
Scrying and astral projection are the easiest ways to use Tarot cards for the purposes of magick. They can accomplish essentially any purpose you would use any other form of magick for. The techniques used are the same, the difference is merely in intent. Having a different intent can radically change your experiences of each card!
The first use of these techniques is simply to explore the cards themselves for their own sake. In doing so you will get insight and clarity in the meaning of the cards.
Astrally exploring the tarot cards can also be used for manifesting change in the physical world, as you would do with any spell. Essentially when you scry the card, you would get a vision pertinent to you achieving your goal. Usually it is advice of some kind. But after exploring the card, it is likely that you would experience synchronistic events that would manifest your desired goal. All you need to do is to scry or astrally project into the card with the intent to manifest your desired outcome.
Scrying and astral projection into the cards create change in one’s subconscious. I would argue that this happens as a side effect regardless of whether it is your main purpose in pathworking the cards. The visions you receive will affect your subconscious mind, much like how taking a walk in the park would likely change your mood. Although this happens at a much deeper level.
Practitioners can contact spiritual entities using the cards. This is covered to an extent in my chapter on evocation, but this is an alternative method for doing so. The difference between the methods is that in evocation, you call the spirit into the physical realm to interact with it. Whereas with astral projection, you enter into the spiritual realm to visit them instead.
Finally, pathworking is itself a system of initiation. Tarot is a pictorial representation of the universe. In working with the tarot you are channeling the energies of the entire universe. When you explore the Major Arcana you are working with the forces of creation, and that is bound to elevate your consciousness.
As you can see, tarot is a complete system of magick and not just divination. If you so choose, you can use the tarot exclusively as your sole tool for magick and you would not be found wanting.
The techniques
Let us address the differences between the two. Scrying is exactly how it sounds. You are seeing a vision like you would on television. But obviously, this is just in your mind. You are seeing what’s happening, but you are not really taking part in the scene. You are just there to observe. Although sometimes you do converse with spirits, like you would in a video call.
Astral Projection on the other hand is the equivalent of flying to the “country” where spirits live, to visit them in person. You are actively interacting with spirits. It is more physically tiring for the mind or imagination than scrying is. This is because in a scrying vision you are just passively seeing whatever your senses are picking up. Astral projection is a much more active interaction which takes up more brain power to process. Use whatever feels appropriate.
Here I want to touch upon pathworking. The term pathworking has been used to refer to scrying or astrally projecting into a Tarot card itself as a “realm” on the astral plane. In principle it is the same technique. Just applied to a tarot card. Some have used the term to refer specifically to astral projection but I have seen it used for scrying as well.
Pathworking is a good way to have an active interaction with the tarot cards. Unlike in readings, we would actually experience first-hand the personality of the card. It is not unlike how you can get an impression of a house or a flat from the pictures that your estate agent shows you, but you won’t really have a feel for the place until you actually go to the property yourself.
In the modern world, virtually anyone can visit the astral realm. The reason for this, as it was explained by Alan Moore and Serge Kahili King, is that back in the days where literacy wasn’t universal and there wasn’t much technology, people’s imaginations did not have as much stimulation as we are privileged to now. Imagine that you are an ordinary peasant in ancient times. You can’t read, and you probably have only been about five miles away from your house in your entire life. Your mind would be limited to the small amount of the universe that you have seen with your own eyes.
It is only with tools such as books that our minds are taken out of our day to day life. To explore realms that do not even exist. To think about new ideas and possibilities. Now think about modern technology. With computers and visual arts we can see images of things that have never even existed in the physical realm.
Think about it. In order to understand the words on this page, you are processing the meaning of the words through your imagination. To the ancients, anyone who can use their imagination is considered a genius, a magician. Now, practically everyone can do it. We are all magicians (potentially). Magick is no longer the difficult thing that it once was, because our imaginations are so developed now through all our other activities.
Anyway, onto the techniques themselves.
Scrying
Bearing in mind that scrying is simply a focused form of daydreaming, this will give you an idea of how easy it actually is. We all daydream. The problem with magick comes when things have been overcomplicated. Books on magick use so much technical language that the authors have forgotten the normal layman’s terms for the same thing.
All you have to do is take the symbol you want to have a vision of, then stare at it for a while so that it is the only thing in your consciousness. Once you have stared it for long enough so that its “afterimage” stays in your vision, lift your eyes off the symbol and close your eyes.
Just relax with your eyes closed. Let your mind go on autopilot and see what images or scenes come up in your imagination. This is why the ability to just relax and not think is so important in magick. So much so that magicians actively cultivate the ability via meditation.
That’s it. Once the vision is over, consciously “close” the vision with your willpower or intent. You can make your own way of doing it. You can superimpose an image over the vision to cover it, or just will the vision to turn black or fade to a whiteout.
Now in order to truly appreciate the art of scrying, and to know whether you are getting objective information rather than just making crap up with your imagination, you need to do a few tests.
Take a symbol which you do not understand the meaning of. Total ignorance is important here. If you are a beginner to tarot, the cards would suffice. When I started my practice of scrying I had already learnt the tarot really well, so it wouldn’t have been a good test. So I used I Ching hexagrams instead.
Scry that symbol. See what images come up. Record it. More importantly, try and actually interpret what the visions mean. What each thing you see represents. An animal or landscape is not just what it is. It is a symbolic representation of an idea. Think about what each symbol means to you.
After you have recorded it, look up the meaning of the symbol in a book. If the meaning stated in the book is congruent with the vision you saw, then it was a successful test. You have now proved to yourself that you can get accurate information through your imagination alone.
Note that the imagery you see doesn’t necessarily have to be congruent with the symbol itself. Symbols, like language, are all arbitrary definitions we tack onto stuff for the sake of communication. Those have to be learned, much like languages.
Just make sure that it is the meaning behind your vision that is congruent with the meaning of the symbol. All meaning in the astral realm is filtered through the understanding of your subjective mind. Meaning is translated into images that we understand. You are not dealing with the word “cat” so much as the idea of a cat. It doesn’t matter that a Frenchman calls it “chat” and a Chinaman calls it “mao.”
Try it with different symbols and see what happens. As with any test you need to try it many times in order to verify its certainty. But there you have it. Now you have acquired objective information with nothing but your own imagination as a tool. Isn’t that awe
some?
Astral Sight
This is a variation of scrying. But it is applied to the objects in your physical surroundings, including people. By doing this you can gain an insight into the nature of various people and objects you encounter in your life.
All you have to do is focus on an object, then just close your eyes and see what images come up. This is how you use your imagination as an extra pair of eyes.
For example I once used my astral vision on my IPad. I then saw stars shooting out of my IPad. To me, this relates it to the Star card of the tarot. The card is attributed to Aquarius, which rules the 11th House off social networks. So this vision indicated how the IPad is a tool for social media, to connect with people. This also reflects the fact that my main use of the IPad is for surfing the web. More so than my PC which I use more for work.
You see here how the tarot can be used as a very useful language or dictionary of symbols for us to interpret our astral visions? Through the tarot we have a standardized system with which we can use to communicate our visions to others. That is why organizations like the Golden Dawn put so much emphasis on the tarot in its curriculum. It is literally your magickal dictionary.
It is hard to verify just how much of the astral realm is subjective or objective. You need to practice this skill a lot to verify this for yourself. Crowley in Book 4 mentions how this is usually fairly unreliable, especially to the untrained mind. So practice is essential in order to use it with confidence.
Take note of what symbols your mind chooses to represent the attributes of the things you see. Remember that you are passively receiving these images. Don’t consciously conjure the images up. Allow your brain to go on autopilot. Relaxation is key.
When you get proficient at the astral sight you will start seeing things in your mind’s eye even when your physical eyes are open. You will see images kind of superimposed over your physical senses. Kind of like how 3D images work.
Astral sight isn’t necessarily a practical tool, but it is a useful exercise to practice utilizing your imagination as a sense organ.
Astral Projection
There are many techniques for astral projection, but the one I find the easiest is this one.
Sit in a comfortable position until you are relaxed. Imagine a replica of your physical body in front of you. Then project your consciousness into it.
Imagine a large version of the tarot card as a door. Enter the door and explore the landscape of the card.
Whilst in the tarot card, explore the landscape for a while. What characters or entities can you interact with? More importantly, get a feel for the place.
If you are exploring the tarot card in order to contact a spirit, then expect to meet the entity you set out see. Interact with it. If you are there just to get to know the spirit then ask it questions. On the other hand you are there to bring about a change of some sort, then ask for it to do so.
When you are done exploring imagine the card as a door again and return to the physical world. Be sure to re-enter your physical body with your astral body.
Scrying for Manifestation
You can scry cards explicitly to manifest change in your life. There are many numbers of ways to rationalise why this works. Perhaps the easiest way is to understand it is through the Law of Attraction. Basically it works by visualising what you want and trust that it will happen.
I would argue that sigil magick works this way too. Except that the sigil becomes a surrogate or symbol of your desire, and you meditate on that instead rather than visualising your desire directly. Some people find that meditating on a symbol is easier than active visualisation. Perhaps by abstracting the goal into a symbol, one avoids conjuring the fears and insecurities the desired goal may conjure, to the detriment of the spell.
In this case, we are using tarot cards as our symbols. No need to fiddle around with pen and paper sigilising your desire.
The mechanics are pretty much the same as with scrying for any other purpose. What’s different is just the intent when you are going into it.
There are two ways you can select your tarot card for manifestation. You can go through the deck yourself and select the card that you feel matches your desired outcome. Or you can shuffle and let the cards tell you what you need the most. I personally prefer letting the cards decide because they can often show you exactly what you need for your desire to manifest, and why.
For example say you want more money to come into your life. After shuffling the cards the Fortune cards show up. The scrying vision gives you images of positivity and abundance. From that you feel that perhaps you have been dwelling too much on your victim mentality and that the world is against you, therefore you need to let go of that in order to move forwards. Afterwards you find that business opportunities start to just show up in your life.
Positivity and optimism facilitates both risk taking behaviour and relationships. People are more inclined to give you opportunities if they like you after all.
Compare this to say, if you got the Universe card instead. Scrying reveals images of discipline and hard work. Perhaps you haven’t been working as hard as you think you have been. The energies of Saturn then manifest in your life and you become more structured and orderly. Soon your boss tells you that your increased productivity was noted and you’re up for a promotion.
I once pulled a card when I was in a relationship dry spell. I got the Sun card. Scrying it taught me that I was taking things too seriously and that I should lighten up and have fun. Literally a few minutes after scrying the Sun card a friend of mine called me up to hit the clubs that night.
Ritual Pathworking
If you’re feeling in the mood for spiritual insight, you can embark on a systematic pathworking of all 22 Major Arcana. Once a week on any chosen day, scry one of the Major Arcana cards starting from the Fool working you way to the Universe/World card. I would not recommend scrying the cards in rapid succession as your mind and body need time to calibrate to the changes that such initiations make.
Pay attention to what happens in your life after scrying each card. Something may happen that relates to the card, or it may not. Your mileage may vary. When it does happen it is usually a significant event with an important message for you.
Don’t feel like you have to be restricted with this weekly schedule. You can do a scrying session pretty much whenever you feel ready and allow yourself to integrate the energies of the cards more slowly. This actually allows the Major Arcana to manifest more fully into your life before you move on to the next. Sometimes you just need more time before you’re ready to move onto to the next stage.
You may want to ignore this advice and scry the cards in much more rapid succession, just for fun. I don’t recommend this unless you are a more experienced occultist. Perhaps you should do this the second time round you scry the Major Arcana. I would not recommend scrying more than once every four days, but if you feel adventurous go ahead and do one every day. You can even get rid of all limits and scry whatever card you want, whenever you feel like it.
I do recommend scrying each card more than once in your lifetime however. Every time would be different, and it is likely you will gain different insights into the card every single time. And the energies of the card will manifest differently due to the different life circumstances you’re in at the time.
Example Scrying Vision
This is the record of my vision when scrying the Art card of the Thoth tarot.
“I see myself as the alchemist in the Art card, mixing things in the cauldron. The raven is perched on my shoulder. I am fusing Fire and Water, and in doing so I produce death, and lava. When it was complete the raven promptly took the cauldron in its talons and flew off with it. It poured the lava onto the world, which looks to be around the size of a football.
The lava burns it into a black sphere of clumped ash. From the burnt ash sprang life anew, and the world becomes the Garden of Eden.”
Spirits of the Tarot
In the Golden Dawn system of magick, the tarot is the medium in which they organised their whole system. If you read Liber 777, the Order attributed everything in their system to various tarot cards. In this chapter we’ll be looking at the spirits associated with the tarot.
Due to space and complexity I will only be giving a broad outline and direct you to the books that specialise on this subject.
Goetia
First of all there is the infamous Goetia from The Lesser Key of Solomon. The 72 demons are assigned to the Minor Arcana, minus the Aces. Two demons are assigned to the 36 small cards, doubling up to 72.
The best book that covers the Goetia’s relationship to the tarot is Lon Milo Duquette’s Tarot of Ceremonial Magick. In fact that is perhaps the best single book on the subject of the spirits of the tarot, albeit not for every group. His book covers the most ground out of any book that I’ve encountered so far.
The Qabalistic Angels & Shemhamphorash
I’ve lumped these two groups together because they are related, if independent. Also they are both covered well in great detail in a single book, Tarot Talismans by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero.
The Qabalistic angels are assigned to pretty much every tarot card. Be prepared for having multiple groups of spirits assigned to the same cards, just to make things more complicated. However chances are you are likely to only work with a small selection of these groups of spirits in your personal practice anyway.
The Shemhamphorash, like the Goetia, are assigned to the 36 Minor Arcana. With two angels assigned to each small card, thus we also have a total of 72 Shemhamphorash angesl.
Enochian Angels
The Enochian angels are assigned to the 16 Court cards, plus the Aces. Lon Duquette’s book also covers these entities well.
