The Tarot Grimoire
Page 9
Note
Despite their association with the tarot, I would recommend studying the original grimoires that each of these groups of spirits come from in order to understand them in their own right before associating them with the tarot. Attaching these spirits to the tarot cards is a Golden Dawn innovation. One can dispute whether it is valid to do so. All I can say is to give this method of contacting them a try.
Evocation
As stated previously, evocation is the calling down of spiritual entities into the physical realm in order to have them manifest change on that level.
There are many systems of evocation, but there are essentially only two key elements to any evocation, the name and the sigil of the spirit you wish to contact. These are the calling cards of spirits, their name and phone number if you wish.
I would argue that traditional magick overcomplicates evocation, but on the other hand there is good reason for it. As stated, all you need to call a spirit is its name and its sigil. However, all the long conjurations and tools used for rituals are there to put the magician into a state of mind or consciousness to perceive the conjured spirit.
The problem with evocation is that beginners don’t really know what to expect. They haven’t developed the astral senses, and the experience to distinguish between whether their mind is just “imagining things” or if it’s picking something up.
I fell into this trap myself. The way evocation is presented makes readers expect a spirit to show up in a tangible form that you can physically see. Not many instructions explicitly state that the magician should put themselves into a light trance where their mind is in a receptive state to be able to pick up impressions without projecting its own images out. That’s why it’s important to meditate!
What is likely to happen for beginners of evocation is to call up a spirit, but because nothing seems to be happening, they just pack up and leave the ritual. The conjured spirit ends up hanging around with nothing to do, and would wreak havoc, if it is so inclined.
Remember, calling a spirit is extremely easy, it’s perceiving the spirit that’s the hard part!
During my first successful evocation I kept chanting the name of the spirit because I wasn’t sure if it was truly present or not, even after I felt or thought it acknowledged its presence. The problem is that it is very hard for beginners to distinguish whether these mental impressions are “real” or imagined. The spirit got a bit annoyed, wanting to get on with it. “Yes! Hello! I’m here!” Eventually I decided to accept that voice in my head as real for now and just carry on through the ritual.
If you follow these instructions and you don’t perceive a spirit, just continue with the ritual as if it’s there. Ask what you want of it and follow the procedure. You will know if it truly was present by whether your wish is granted.
General rule of thumb, if you “feel” like it’s there, just trust your gut. Spirits largely communicate with us via telepathy during ritual. Or perhaps through synchronistic events.
Alternatively, a Taoist trick I picked up from Benebell Wen’s The Tao of Craft is simply to use your preferred method of divination to confirm whether the spirit is present. Even just flipping a coin works for a yes or no answer.
What I’ve outlined here is the bare bones of what is required to work with spirits using evocation. However I would recommend for beginners to start with more fleshed out systems before tinkering it to your preference. The books that got me started with evocation were Rufus Opus’ books. I would recommended any and all of these three:
A Modern Angelic Grimoire
A Modern Goetic Grimoire
Seven Spheres
Example: Spirits of the Unaspected Cards
Let’s assume for now that my reading using the First Operation of the OOTK has recommended that I work with the spirits of the 8 of Cups. If I were already experienced with, or am interested in, the Goetia, I could look up the Goetic spirit associated with the 8 of Cups. There are two spirits associated with each Minor:
(34.) FURFUR. - The Thirty-fourth Spirit is Furfur. He is a Great and Mighty Earl, appearing in the Form of an Hart with a Fiery Tail. He never speaketh truth unless he be compelled, or brought up within a triangle, Ò. Being therein, he will take upon himself the Form of an Angel. Being bidden, he speaketh with a hoarse voice. Also he will wittingly urge Love between Man and Woman. He can raise Lightnings and Thunders, Blasts, and Great Tempestuous Storms. And he giveth True Answers both of Things Secret and Divine, if commanded. He ruleth over 26 Legions of Spirits. And his Seal is this, etc.
(70.) SEERE, SEAR, or SEIR. - The Seventieth Spirit is Seere, Sear, or Seir. He is a Mighty Prince, and Powerful, under AMAYMON, King of the East. He appeareth in the Form of a Beautiful Man, riding upon a Winged Horse. His Office is to go and come; and to bring abundance of things to pass on a sudden, and to carry or recarry anything whither thou wouldest have it to go, or whence thou wouldest have it from. He can pass over the whole Earth in the twinkling of an Eye. He giveth a True relation of all sorts of Theft, and of Treasure hid, and of many other things. He is of an indifferent Good Nature, and is willing to do anything which the Exorcist desireth. He governeth 26 Legions of Spirits. And this his Seal is to be worn, etc.
Out of these two, I would say Furfur is appropriate to my situation. His ability to cause lightning and storms is likely both metaphorical and literal, in the sense that he stirs things up. This links to his ability to influence love. If he can stir passion between couples there is no reason why he can’t stoke the fires of an individual towards life itself.
Example: Working with the Spirits of the Tarot
This is an evocation I have done for Archangel Tzadkiel using the tarot years ago. Tzadkiel is assigned to the (Wheel of) Fortune card, being the Archangel of Jupiter.
Sit down with the Fortune card in front of you. Do a cleansing ritual of your choice. When you are ready, stare at the card until you feel that it has been fixed into your imagination, and then start chanting Tzadkiel’s name. I do this with my eyes closed. Chant the name as a mantra until you “feel” the spirit’s presence.
State your purpose or request that you conjured the angel for. When it is done, pay attention to what images or visions come into your mind. It is key that you are completely relaxed at this stage. Usually the vision is a message pertaining to your request. Often I get advice relating to my request, which may or may not be accompanied by synchronistic events after the ritual.
Once you feel that the visions have finished, thank the angel as it departs, and slowly bring your awareness back to your physical body.
This method works with all other kinds of spirits assigned to the tarot. Some experienced conjurers may debate whether this is a safe system since there are no magic circles to protect the magician. Particularly when dealing with “demons” such as the Goetia. Others will argue that magic circles don’t actually work as protection, and acts more as a marker that politely asks a spirit to keep their distance. I didn’t list a method of ritual cleansing at the beginning of a ritual although I personally do so in my own practice.
Experiment with different methods and see what you prefer. Some occultist will even dispense with the tarot card or sigil and find that simply calling the spirit with one’s mind is enough, whereas others will prefer much more tools and ceremony in their rituals. I’ve experimented with the whole spectrum with varying results.
Keep in mind that just as magicians have their individual preferences, so do spirits. Different ritual formats have varying effectiveness on conjuring different spirits. The grimoires specify which tools are required for the particular group of spirits they specify in. For example Enochian Magick does not use the circle or triangle, whereas Goetic and Trithemian systems do. Whilst I have done this barebones method in the past, I currently use a more fleshed out ritual format in my own practice.
The Golden Dawn Attributions
I constantly go back and forth with my contentions of the Golden Dawn attributions o
f the grimoire spirits to the tarot cards. The Golden Dawn very frequently made changes from the old grimoires in order to make all the disparate attributions fit in their own system. These changes may chafe against grimoire magicians who are traditionalists.
Despite their attempts to make everything fit, I find certain inconsistencies off putting. Not just because they deviate from the original grimoires, but because they are internally inconsistent.
For example let’s take the Shemhamphorash. These angels are numbered and listed chronologically from 1-72, just as the Goetia are. Rather than assigning the angels to the Minor Arcana starting from Aries, the Golden Dawn decided to change that and start from Leo, because they believe the astrological wheel starts from Regulus.
So rather than this:
Original Shemhamphorash
Aries:
2 of Wands: 1 & 2 (Angels)
3 of Wands: 3 & 4
4 of Wands: 5 & 6
Taurus:
5 of Disks: 7 & 8
6 of Disks: 9 & 10
7 of Disks: 11 & 12
Etc.
We have this:
Golden Dawn Shemhamphorash
Aries:
2 of Wands: 49 & 50
3 of Wands: 51 & 52
4 of Wands: 53 & 54
Taurus:
5 of Disks: 55 & 56
6 of Disks: 57 & 58
7 of Disks: 59 & 60
Etc.
This is really jarring for astrologers who are used to thinking of Aries as the beginning.
Then there’s the Goetia. Firstly the Goetia never really had astrological attributions[23]. If anything they were assigned to the planets and not the zodiac. Setting that aside for now. Rather than use the same system for the Shemhamphorash for the Goetia, they decided to start from Aries after all. Not only that, rather than do them chronologically, they decided to do this “two cycle” system. This is best illustrated with examples rather than explained in words.
Golden Dawn Goetia
Aries:
2 of Wands: 1 & 37 (Demons)
3 of Wands: 2 & 38
4 of Wands: 3 & 39
Taurus:
5 of Disks: 4 & 40
6 of Disks: 5 & 41
7 of Disks: 6 & 42
Etc.
The biggest change of all was the Golden Dawn’s deviation from the Enochian Magick of John Dee, which is based on alchemy, to their own version of Enochian Magick that is founded upon the four elements. To me these systems only resemble each other superficially and cosmetically. The heart and soul are so different that they might as well be two different systems.
The point I’m trying to make with all this is that the Golden Dawn attributions are by no means the most objectively accurate. If you feel that there are better associations of these spirits to the cards, then you have every justification to change them. The Golden Dawn changed the attributions as they saw fit for their own system, so why shouldn’t you? Provided you know what you’re doing of cource.
Having said that, despite their inconsistencies or inaccuracies, that is not to say that their attributions don’t work. There’s also nothing wrong with accepting what they’ve come up with as an established and workable convention that you can accept for the sake of practicality.
Think about where you fall in this spectrum and which path you decide to take in your own practice. I constantly go back and forth between sticking to the original grimoires and accepting the Golden Dawn system for the sake of convenience. I personally am not consistent either on how much I stick to the original grimoires vs substitute my own ideas. I tend to gravitate towards the attributions and descriptions of the spirits in the grimoires but deviate with more modern techniques when it comes to actually conjuring them.
As always, use your own judgement. Test things out and use whatever works for you.
Tarot Mirroring
Although mirroring was not mentioned in any Golden Dawn source, it is a technique that I feel is too important not to include in this book. This is yet again another technique revealed by Paul Hughes-Barlow. He claims to have discovered the technique in Kenneth Grant’s book Outside the Circles of Time. I have had the book on my shelf for years now, but my personal experience with Kenneth Grant’s books is that they tend to go over my head. That has not prevented me from being able to use this technique however.
Paul coined the term “mirroring” because the idea came to him from Kenneth Grant’s instructions on how to use magic mirrors. Where two glass surfaces are used to create a scrying medium.
Mirroring is essentially about scrying two tarot cards at the same time. I think it has its origins in card pairing, or perhaps the reverse is true. Rather than explore the energies of a single card, you are experiencing the energies created from the interaction of two cards. It is elemental dignities at work, two cards alchemically synergising with one another to create something new, a third thing. Hence we have the idea of the two modifiers creating the centre card when interpreting triads.
Tarot mirroring is perhaps the ultimate evolution of elemental dignities. It is essentially what happens when we are interpreting cards using this method. Although when reading cards we are doing it much more quickly and shallowly. Scrying or mirroring is a deep dive to explore those energies.
The method is simple. Rather than having one card in front of you, you set up two cards for scrying. You can either stare at both cards at once to embed them into your psyche before closing your eyes, which is what I do. Or you can stare into the space between the cards, retaining the two cards in your peripheral vision.
Choosing cards
Theoretically you can chose any two cards, but for practical purposes it is likely you’ll stick to the Major Arcana. Any permutation is likely to yield interesting results. You can pair cards that you feel would make an interesting contrast. For example Paul recommends pairing the Priestess card with the Moon card. The fact that the astrological planet of the Moon is attributed to the Priestess card rather than the actual Moon tarot card makes for some interesting scrying.
Ritual Mirroring
For his book The Tarot and the Magus Paul scried the Major Arcana from the opposite ends of their chronological order. The Fool with the Universe, the Magus and the Aeon etc. Similar to the card pairing technique in the OOTK. By doing so he inadvertently discovered a system of initiation.
Like with Pathworking the Major Arcana, I would advise scrying each pair once a week if you want a structured working of all the Majors.
Tarot Mirroring Example
Here I would like to share my vision of the Fool and the Universe.
The Fool & The Universe
19 June 2015
I saw a vision of the Big Bang from Nothingness. Then all the stars contracted into one point, and there was another big bang. This time the stars were in the shape of the sign of infinity.
Then a third time. This time I noticed the fact that there is no sound in space. I felt the explosion but heard nothing. The speech in the silence.
I noticed how the expansion and contraction of the Universe is in sync with my breathing. It is then I realized that the Fool and the Universe, the beginning and the end, all happens extremely quickly, by God's time. It is like an inhalation and exhalation of breath to us.
That is all I got for now. Going to close my eyes and keep going.
Strange that I can pause and resume these visions to take notes.
I saw a vision of a single star. So huge and bright. Then the vision zoomed out, and I saw clusters of stars. But it did not stop there. When zoomed far enough I saw that those clusters of stars then merged into a single star.
I closed my eyes again and this process repeated itself infinitely. Zooming out constantly, the vision repeats. A single star is just as absolute as all the aggregates that it is a part of. A single point or atom is the same as infinity.
This time when I closed my eyes I saw a calm vision of the cosmos. And I feel that the vision is at an end.
Tarot and the Hebrew Alphabet
Much of this chapter was inspired by The Shem Grimoire by Nick Farrell. In his book he brought the practices of traditional Jewish Mysticism to my attention. The core of the practice is to treat Hebrew as a magickal or holy language. That writing the Hebrew letters is a sacred act that should be treated with respect. Part of that mentality is the idea that each letter is in fact an aspect of God, and that when you write the letters you are in fact invoking that aspect of God.
Understanding Hebrew Words
The Golden Dawn decided to attribute the Hebrew letters to the 22 Major Arcana, and thus they became pictorial representations of the Hebrew letters. Each card depicts the quintessential ideas that each letter symbolises.
We can use this to understand Hebrew words. This can be any word in the Hebrew language but for magicians the main areas of interest are Divine names and the names of angels, including one’s own Holy Guardian Angel.
Say for example you want insight into the word Adonai. You can take its Hebrew spelling ADNI and lay out the tarot cards corresponding to them. In this case, The Fool, The Empress, Death and The Hierophant. You can then use what you know of these cards to draw conclusions as to what the word means and find out the nuances of its meaning.
That would be the intellectual method of understanding Hebrew words. But you can also do it magically. Scry all those cards at once and see what comes up!
Qabalistic Angels
Using this system you can also understand the nature of Qabalistic angels. I stress the Qabalistic nature of these spirits because I don’t necessarily feel this method applies to spirits outside of this Jewish system. People have tried to transliterate the names of the Goetia into Hebrew for example but I don’t necessarily feel that would be representative of their natures.