Tarot Twist

by Marcus Katz

  Suarez Miranda,Viajes de varones prudentes, Libro IV,Cap. XLV, Lerida, 1658 [This is a literary fiction concocted by Borges – Marcus]

  From Jorge Luis Borges, Collected Fictions, Translated by Andrew Hurley (Penguin, 1999)

  Equally, as we see in Borges above, a 1:1 mapping system is too close to the arising manifestation of life to work in this way. If you wanted to remove the “interpretative lag” between your Tarot deck and a Horse Race for example, you would simply create a small deck of cards with the names of the horses on them, and shuffle the deck and every time you stopped and laid the cards out, they would appear in the order for which the horses would finish the race. It is obvious the Universe does not work like that on this level!

  So the cards are “close enough” to give us connected and relevant answers irrespective of time and space, but not so close that they are identical to the events. In between is where our divinatory art is practiced.

  So whilst admitting that, let us look at two methods for giving predictive timings, one interpretative, and the other direct.

  Method One: Timing Interpretative

  Using a standard spread such as the Celtic Cross, we can analyze the cards for a general feeling of the timing of an event. This is because we accept that the cards themselves correspond to a deeper structure, equally modeled by Kabbalah, where the Universe is an emanation.

  As such, it flows through the images and numbers, one to ten, in a cosmic unfolding. So our spread should reflect the stage in this process which is present at the time of the reading.

  Equally, the cards in any “future” and “Outcome” positions will reflect this timing. As will the cards in the “past” or “previous” positions.

  So if we take a look firstly at the overall spread, simply ignore the Majors (which are placeholders of the timeless and archetypal forces) and the Court Cards (which indicate the levels of energy at play) and look at the Minor cards in the spread.

  Firstly, take an average of the numbers. That indicates the overall stage on a 1-10 manifestation. So if you have 5 Minor cards in your Celtic Cross, and they are the Ace (1) of Wands, 3 of Pentacles, 7 of Swords, 5 of Cups and 9 of Cups that equates to 1+3+7+5+9 = 25. Divide that by the 5 cards to get the average and we get 25/5 = 5. This is an exact half-way between 1-10. It shows the situation at present is only half-way to its manifestation.

  We can further analyze the reading by then looking at the Outcome card (which might indicate a rapid resolution, say the Blasted Tower) and see that whilst the situation is only half-way manifest, it is rapidly approaching a climax, meaning a sudden acceleration!

  When you have an average, you can apply it to the overall timescale likely by saying, the situation is likely to be anything between 1 month – 1 year as you told me. I see it being manifest by 6 months (half-way).

  Method Two: Timing Direct

  Take the following six Timing Significators out of the Majors:

   Blasted Tower

   Death

   Moon

   Sun

   High Priestess

   Empress

  The Wheel is taken out and placed face-up in the centre of the table. This signifies the wheel of Karma, cause-and-effect, the changes of life and Time itself. It corresponds to the Hebrew letter Kaph, meaning “palm of hand” and it is the universal hand in which all fate and destiny is written.

  Get a clock or watch and shuffle the six timing significators for exactly 60 seconds. This represents the passage of time and incorporates it into the method to replicate the notion of time.

  Lay out the six cards about the Wheel in a clock face. Here it is important which order and location we place the cards so it is indicated below.

  Illus. Timing Wheel Spread.

  Now ask the Querent (or yourself) whether you would wish the event predicted to transpire immediately (1), very soon (2), soon (3), in the near future (4), later (5) or never (6). Take the card in that position and read it as in the following table.

  Timing Significator Interpretation

  Blasted Tower

  Immediately, very soon

  Death

  Later rather than sooner

  Moon

  1 month/soon

  Sun

  1 year/later

  High Priestess

  Who knows? In its own time.

  Empress

  9 months

  Again, we must recall that timing is not an accurate science and it may well be that you gain the cross-services of an Astrologer for such predictive timing or acquire astrological skills yourself.[2]

  78 Methods and Spreads for Tarot Twists

  In the following section of Tarot Twist, we present the new methods and spreads making up the 78 innovations of Twist. These have been created over many years to demonstrate how Tarot may be taken as a basic alphabet (cards) and grammar (correspondences) and turned into a complete language of divination in direct dialogue with the Universe.

  Whilst some of these ideas and exercises are basic positional spreads, others are magical or mystical exercises of spiritual import. In Tarosophy we see the Tarot as a primary illustration of the Western Esoteric Initiatory System (WEIS) and whilst you need not subscribe to this view nor recognize it for use of these methods, we would encourage you to approach some of these exercises with appropriate consideration.

  We introduce in this Twist many new concepts that have been used by Marcus for some three decades, in over ten thousand personal readings, face-to-face with Querents. These include pulled spreads, fractal spreads, split-spreads, branching spreads, Gated spreads, and other types of spread which have many further variations. The Tarosophy book has others, including tumbler spreads, and linked and chained spreads.

  We will discover in these pages the mysteries of Pooh Bear’s profound questions, next to the dark grimoire of the Typhonian Book of the Spider. We will range from shamanic practice to the Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn. We’ll riff on Edgar Allan Poe and Ancient Egyptian burial practice. We’ll even face Death itself and dream Tarot. You will take your Tarot for a walk, push it off tables, set fire to it, lose it to the wind and generally play fast and loose with the deck.

  This is a steam-train of a book to encourage you to adopt a playful, curious and creative attitude to your Tarot. There are no hard and fast rules, just you, the deck, and the Universe.

  Have fun and hold on tight – here we go!

  The Settler, Warrior, Nomad Spread

  Using the Power of three Tribes to divine how to deal with a tricky situation.

  In this opening spread of Tarot Twist, we present a relatively straightforward spread. However, of course, we add a twist to it. This is what in Tarosophy is called a split spread. That is to say, we split certain parts of the full deck out to do the reading. Sometimes we use parts of the deck in different areas of the reading, sometimes we just use one part of the deck for the whole reading.

  In this case we use only the Minors (Ace to Ten of all four Suits). This is because we only want to look at the down-and-dirty real-world events and advice for a tricky situation – not confused with archetypal and abstract forces (of the Majors) or the perspective of other forces or people (the Courts). So just take out all 40 Minor cards and deal them as you wish into this pattern whilst considering your question/situation – or the question/situation of your Querent.

  Another Twist we apply to this straightforward 6-card spread is that we can also use numerology (from a Kabbalistic background) in a very simple manner to discover in the reading which of the three approaches being examined will lead to the fastest result, and which one will take longest to bring resolution. This allows a basic consideration of predictive timing to be taken into account.

  It might be, for example, that the better of two options of three (where one is negative) is actually shown taking a longer time. So the Querent who wants a faster resolution might follow the advice of the lesser of the positive results because that one comes out faster.<
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  You will also note that in all examples we rarely use numbers to indicate positions as these tend to train students in reading the cards in a linear sequence, 1,2,3… whereas experienced readers will cast their gaze over the whole reading first and then read it as they find it. So long as you determine the order of laying out the spread first or by your own choice in the moment, that is the important thing.

  This spread is inspired by the book Warriors, Settlers, Nomads by Terence Watts. You can also take a short questionnaire in the book (p. 14) to determine your particular tribal makeup!

  Illus. Settler, Warrior, Nomad Spread.

  Having laid out the six cards you can read them as three different aspects of what a “Warrior” would advise (planning, strategy), what a “Nomad” would advise (acting, movement) and what a “Settler” would advise (getting on with others, taking account of the environment). Each of these three aspects may agree with each other, or shed different aspects on the same overall response.

  Use Tarot Flip to read the cards as pairs if you require further insight.

  Where they all disagree, you can interpret the relative time-scale of each course of action by simply adding up the numbers of the two cards in each pair. The highest total is the one closest to happening. So if the two Nomad cards are a Four and a Three (totaling seven) and the Settler cards are an Ace and an Eight (totaling nine) and the Warrior pair is a Five and a Nine (totaling fourteen) it is the Warrior planning that will actually get the fastest and most immediate result.

  This works on the basis that in Kabbalah, the world of action is the “10” of a sequence starting at “1” so numbers closer to 10 are closer to manifestation.

  The What to Do Spread (Next Step Method)

  An innovative method answering the question following a reading, “So what do I do?”

  This is a practice which answers the usual client question after a first reading, which is “so what do I do about it?” or “what next?” This next step method can be done in two ways, as a divination or as a counseling/coaching tool, dependent on your own skills. This is one example of what Tarosophists call a progressive spread, one where the progression of the cards in sequence is taken as meaningful.

  1. Perform a three-card reading for a simple question.

  2. Lay the three cards out and then underneath each card select the “next” card in the sequence of the Minors, the next card “up the court” if a Court Card, or the next in sequence if a Major. For example, if the first card in your 3-card spread is the 8 of Wands, the card you put underneath it should be the 9 of Wands. If the card is the Ace of Cups, the card you put underneath it is the 2 of Cups. If the card is the Page of Pentacles, the “next” card is the Knight of Pentacles. If the Blasted Tower (XVI) then the Star (XVII).

  If the card is at the “end” of the sequence, cycle round to the “start”; i.e. Ten of Wands becomes Ace of Wands, King of Swords becomes Page of Swords, the Universe/World become the Magician. The only card that has no “next” card is the Fool, of course! The Fool remains the Fool!

  So, for example, we shuffle, split and deal a 3-card spread which is:

  Two of Wands

  Knight of Pentacles

  Hermit

  The cards we place underneath are therefore:

  Three of Wands

  Queen of Pentacles

  Wheel of Fortune

  Then look down each pair and ask “how does this card become this next card?” Look for clues, for what must have happened “inbetween” the two cards. What did the Hermit do to become the Wheel of Fortune … perhaps give up his mountain retreat to go gambling?! How did the Knight become the Queen – other than the gender change, perhaps by gaining maturity through travelling the world?

  Then take these three “bridging strategies” and put them together to create a narrative with a single theme, perhaps one of “maturity though experience”, “trusting instinct”, “Learning from others” or “going it alone”.

  This narrative will provide the “next step” required by the Querent to move out of their presently stuck situation. This is a powerful method and in dialogue with the Querent often provides innovative insight and coaching or counseling potential.

  As a straight method of divination, simply perform your regular reading (say 3 or 5 cards) and lay out the “next step” cards below as described, leaving a gap between the cards. Then lay out cards from the deck ‘between’ the gaps which you may read as the ‘step’ the client is advised to take next to get onwards.

  If a card which is the next step from another has already appeared in the reading (and therefore cannot be laid out) what might this signify?

  This method, whilst being used and taught by Marcus for many years, was first presented at a UK Tarot workgroup in 2005 and is published in the Tarot Shuffle (issue 2), given out to Tarosophy Tarot Houses worldwide.

  If you are interested in establishing a Tarosophy Tarot House, with 3-4 friends or fellow Tarot students, meeting on a monthly basis to develop your Tarot in these innovative methods, please contact us.

  The Time Capsule Method

  A Quantum Mechanics Method (also called Schrödinger’s Spread)

  For this method you will need a spare deck, perhaps one of those small mini-decks or novelty decks. You are about to set fire to it! Well, some of it at least!

  This is for a question where you are totally unsure as to how something is going to pan out, fall into place, or resolve itself. It uses a strange phenomenon called the “observer effect”. Whilst this is only apparent at the minute levels of the Universe studied by quantum physics, here we use it as a metaphor or model at a large Tarot-scale.

  You will also need a small degree of patience and will-power in this method.

  Take your deck and shuffle, considering the question or situation. Take out one card, face-down. Place it in a sealed bag or box and go bury it somewhere where you have easy access - and don’t forget where it is buried! Leave the rest of the deck face-down.

  Now leave the buried card and the face-down deck for about one week, during which time you may begin to wonder what the answer to your question is – which card is it out of 78 which is buried? Those of a pagan perspective may perform this between a New Moon and a Full Moon.

  When you have built up your impatience to sufficient degree, go out and take your deck (minus the one buried card) to where that card is buried. Set light to the deck above the burial place of the one card.

  At that present moment, it is impossible to tell if the card buried is any one particular card. It could well be that the Universe itself is in many states, with each of 78 different cards buried – or none, or something else entirely different.

  It is only now at the moment that you dig the card up and look at it that the Universe sets itself – from your perspective – into the Universe in which that is the card that is in front of you. You may wish to keep this card, or heed its advice and then burn it as with the rest of the deck.

  Climb Inside Your Spread!

  How to really get inside the spread and discover more than you first saw.

  This method works well with a medium spread of 8-15 cards in any particular pattern. It is designed to get you looking at the cards in a different way. You can perform this method and then return to your original spread within a week and you will discover new insight.

   Take the names of the cards in your spread.

   Take a pad of “post-it” notes, or several small colored pads.

   Write down one card from your reading on a separate note.

   Go round your house (or room) and place the post-it notes in positions relative to your original spread.

   Live inside the spread for several days to a week at most.

  Notice when you notice the notes, look around from one note and see which others are closest and which ones you cannot see.

  Watch which ones fall off from where you first placed them, or family members move them around, or write things
on them.

  Insight may come during the exercise, or when you then return to lay out the cards in the original spread.

  The Negative Confessions Spread

  A Test and Purification of your Soul through Tarot.

  The Ancient Egyptian afterlife held within it a sacred journey of the soul, whose purpose was tested to ensure the deceased had lived a life according to Ma’at, the cosmic order or essential measure of truth. In this method we test ourselves according to a contemporary “declaration of innocence” in a ritual version of the so-called negative confessions.

  The deck most attuned to this method is the Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris, or any other deck based on the Ancient Egyptian motif and symbols.

  For each of the lines (some amended by this author, you may wish to modify them to your own code of conduct) we produce a Tarot confessional card to reflect the action we must take to pass that pylon. Take your deck, shuffle, reviewing your life thus far, and draw out the cards in sequence. You may wish to read aloud the confessions.

  Between each of the 42 statements below, draw a card which will indicate the response of that particular gate, and whether you need to take action to pass that gate in the afterlife (or the here-and-now) and measure up to Ma’at. If for example you received the 9 of Cups against the second pylon, “I have not robbed with violence” you are probably clear at that gate.