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Cards Designed by Aleister Crowley & Painted by Lady Frieda Harris
Cards Designed by Aleister Crowley & Painted by Lady Frieda Harris
INTRODUCTION
Noah Webster defines divination as the practice of attempting to foretell future events or
discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means. The interesting word in this rather
prosaic definition is attempting, which would suggest that divination is humbug: typical mainstream thinking regarding a subject beyond ones personal knowledge and prejudices.
Divination works, as long as the practitioner knows what he or she is doing and is not a
humbug themselves. Using Tarot cards to garner hidden knowledge about people and situations goes all the way back to the Ancient Egyptians. If you are interested in an in-depth discussion about how they work and what they are all about, you would do well to study THE BOOK
OF THOTH by Aleister Crowley, who had a much deeper and fuller grasp about this arcane
subject than do I, and from which most of this treatise is derived.
Many times I have used Crowleys Tarot cards to tell fortunes for people I do not know
personally and more often than not I have been asked How do you know that? about their affairs and life situations. Actually, I dont know that at all. The cards allow me to tune in on
people and I merely give my interpretation of what I see. The trump cards usually show some
spiritual force operating on the querent (the person getting the reading), court cards generally
mean a person in the situation and the number cards deal with the more worldly aspects of the
querents life at the time of the reading. The nice thing about the number cards is that they all
(except the Aces) have a word on them describing what they mean.
This little treatise is nothing more than a condensation of Crowleys work in the book. I
have tried to leave out the philosophy as much as possible and take only the data which deals
with what the cards mean when used in divination. Next and last is a description of how I use the
cards in a lay out taught to me by a mystical lady who really understood the Tarot.
0 The Fool
KNOW NAUGHT!
ALL WAYS ARE LAWFUL TO INNOCENCE.
PURE FOLLY IS THE KEY TO INITIATION
SILENCE BREAKS INTO RAPTURE.
BE NEITHER MAN NOR WOMAN, BUT BOTH IN ONE
BE SILENT, BABE IN THE EGG OF BLUE, THAT THOU MAYEST GROW TO BEAR THE
LANCE AND GRAAL!
WANDER ALONE, AND SING! IN THE KINGS PALACE HIS DAUGHTER AWAITS THEE.
In spiritual matters, the Fool means idea, thought, spirituality, that which endaevours to
transcend earth.
In material matters, it may, if badly dignified, mean folly, eccentricity, or even mania.
But the essential of this card is that it represents an original, subtle impulse or impact,
coming from a completely strange quarter.
All such impulses are right, if rightly received; and the good or ill interpretation of the
card depends entirely on the right attitude of the Querent.
MNEMONIC
Truth, laughter, lust, Wines Holy Fool! Veil rent,
Lewd madness is sublime enlightenment.
I The Magus
The True Self is the meaning of the True Will: know thyself through Thy Way.
Calculate well the Formula of Thy Way.
Create freely; absorb joyously; divide intently, consolidate completely.
Work thou, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, in and for Eternity.
Skill, wisdom, adroitness, elasticity, craft, cunning, deceit, theft. Sometimes occult
wisdom, or power sometimes a quick impulse, a brain wave. It may imply messages, business transactions, the interference of learning or intelligence with the matter in hand.
MNEMONIC
The Word of Wisdom weaves the web of lies,
Weds irreducible Infinities.
Pure, exalted and gracious influence enters the matter. Hence, change, alternation,
increase and decrease, fluctuation. There is however, a liability to be led away by enthusiasm;
one may become moon-struck unless careful balance is maintained.
MNEMONIC
Mother, moon-maiden, playmate, bride of Pan;
Gods Angel-Minister to every man.
MNEMONIC
Beauty, display thine Empire! Truth above
Thoughts reach, the wholeness of the world is Love.
IV THE EMPEROR
Use all thy energy to rule thy thought, burn up thy thought as the Phoenix.
MNEMONIC
Sire and Inceptor, Emperor and King,
Of all things mortal, hail Him Lord of Spring!
VI THE HIEROPHANT
Offer thyself Virgin to the Knowledge and Conversation of thine Holy
Guardian Angel. All else is a snare.
Be thou athlete with the eight limbs of Yoga: for without these thou are
not disciplined for any fight.
Stubborn strength, toil, endurance, placidity, manifestation, explanation, teaching, goodness
of heart, help from superiors, patience, organization, peace.
MNEMONIC
Wisdom to each apportioned to his want
By modes of Light, shed forth, great Hierophant!
VI THE LOVERS
The Oracle of the Gods is the Child-Voice of Love in Thine own Soul; hear
thou it.
Heed not the Siren-Voice of Sense, or the Phantom-Voice of Reason: rest in
Simplicity, and listen to the Silence.
Openness to inspiration, intuition, intelligence, second sight, childishness, frivolity,
thoughtfulness divorced from practical consideration, indecision, self-contradiction, union in
a shallow degree with others, instability, contradiction, triviality, the high-brow.
MNEMONIC
To each his Understanding sooth discovers
Wordless; your mode, immortal Twins and Lovers!
MNEMONIC
Behold, the Chariot! Through the water floods
The Sangraal, life and rapture, Wine and Bloods!
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VIII ADJUSTMENT
Balance against each thought its exact opposite.
For the Marriage of these is the Annihilation of Illusion.
Justice, or rather justesse, the act of adjustment, suspension of all action pending
decision,; in material matters, may refer to law suits or prosecutions. Socially, marriage or
marriage agreements; politically, treaties.
MNEMONIC
Adjustment! Rhythm writhes through every act.
Wild is the dance, its balance is exact.
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IX THE HERMIT
Wander alone; bearing the Light and thy Staff.
And be the Light so bright that no man seeth thee.
Be not moved by aught without or within:
keep Silence in all ways.
Illumination from within, secret impulse from within; practical plans derived
accordingly. Retirement from participation in current events.
MNEMONIC
Most secret of all Lifes serpent plan,
Virgin, the Hermit goes, dumb Guardian.
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X FORTUNE
Follow thy Fortune, careless where it lead thee.
The axle moveth not, attain thou that.
Change of fortune. (This generally means good fortune because the fact of consultation
implies anxiety or discontent.)
MNEMONIC
Sped by energies triune, the Wheel
Of Fortune spins, its Axles immobile.
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XI LUST (STRENGTH)
Mitigate Energy with Love; but let Love devour all
things.
Worship the name _____, foursquare, mystic,
wonderful, and the name of His House 418.
Courage, strength, energy and action, une grande passion, resort to magick, the use
of magical power.
MNEMONIC
The Lion-Serpent begets Gods! Thy throne
The rampant Beast, Our Lady Babalon.
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MNEMONIC
In Mother-Deeps of Ocean the God-Man
Hangs, Lamp of the Abyss Aeonian.
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XIII DEATH
The Universe is Change; every Change is the effect of an Act of
Love; all Acts of Love contain Pure Joy. Die daily.
Death is the apex of one curve of the snake Life: behold all
opposites as necessary complements, and rejoice.
Transformation, change, voluntary or involuntary, in either case logical development
of existing conditions, yet perhaps sudden and unexpected. Apparent death or destruction,
but such interpretation is illusion.
MNEMONIC
Eagle, and Snake, and Scorpion! The Dance
Of Death whirls from Life to Trance to Trance to Trance...
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XIV ART
Pour thine all freely from the Vase in thy right hand,
and lose no drop. Hath not thy left hand a vase?
Transmute all wholly into the Image of they Will,
bringing each to its true token to Perfection.
Dissolve the Pearl in the Wine-cup; drink, and make
manifest the Virtue of that Pearl.
Combination of forces, realization, action based on accurate calculation; the way of
escape, success after elaborate maneuvers
MNEMONIC
Solve, coagula! By V.I.T.R.I.O.L. shewn,
The Tincture, the Elixir, and the Stone.
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MNEMONIC
! upon the summits the God-goat
Leaps in wild lust of ecstasy afloat.
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Quarrel, combat, danger, ruin, destruction of plans, sudden death, escape from prison.
MNEMONIC
Bellona, scream! Unhood the Hawks! The roar
Of Universes crashing into War!
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Hope, unexpected help, clearness of vision, realization of possibilities, spiritual insight, with bad aspects, error of judgment, dreaminess, disappointment.
MNEMONIC
Nuit, Our Lady of the Stars! Event
Is all Thy play, sublime Experiment!
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MNEMONIC
Witch-moon, upon the beck of blood afloat
The Midnight Beetles brave prophetic boat!
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MNEMONIC
The Sun, our Father, Soul of Life and Light
Love and play freely, sacred in Thy sight!
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XX THE AEON
Be every Act an Act of Love and Worship.
Be every Act the Fiat of a God.
Be every Act a Source of Radiant Glory.
Final decision is respect of the past, new current in respect of the future, always
represents the taking of a definite step.
MNEMONIC
Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit! The Aeon
Of the Twin Child! Exult, o Empyrean!
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The matter in question itself, synthesis, the end of the matter, may mean delay,
opposition, obstinacy, inertia, patience, perseverance, persistent stubbornness in difficulty.
The crystallization of the whole matter involved.
MNEMONIC
Naught becomes All to realize the span
Of naught, O perfect Universe of Pan.
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In a Tarot reading, the entities pictured in the court cards generally refer to real people
in the Querents situation at the time of the reading. The Knight and Queen refer to older , more
mature people and the Prince and Princess to young adults, teen-agers or children. Each suit
also refers to a particular type of force and spiritual attribution. Wands represent Fire and the
Divine Will, Cups are for Water and Understanding, Swords for Air and the Human Will and
Disks for Earth and manifest existence.
The Knights are the most sublime, original, active part of the energy of the element.
Their action is swift and violent, but transient.
The Queens receive, ferment and transmit the original energy of their Knight. They
endure for a time to carry the energy and are the second stage of the creative process,
The Princes represent the active issue of the union of Knight and Queen and is the result
of their combined energy, and is more enduring than his forebears.
The Princesses represent the ultimate issue of the original energy its completion, its
crystallization and its manifestation. They are the re-absorption of the energy: the Silence to
which all things return.
The Queen of Wands has the characteristics of adaptability, persistent energy, calm authority which she uses to enhance her attractiveness. She is kindly and generous, but is impatient of opposition. She is proud, but in a vainglorious, snobbish way.
The other side of her character is a tendency to brood, come to a
wrong decision thereon, and react with great savagery. She may be
easily deceived, then she is likely to show herself stupid, obstinate,
tyrannical and vengeful.
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The Princess of Swords is stern and revengeful. Her logic is destructive. She is firm and aggressive, with great practical wisdom
and subtlety in material things, showing much cleverness of controversial practical affairs and adroitness in the settling of controversies.
If ill-dignified, she becomes incoherent and her gifts combine to
form a species of low cunning with equally low objectives.
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The Knight of Disks represent those who tend to be dull, dense and
pre-occupied with material things. They are laborious and patient,
but have little intellectual grasp of anything. They imitate the
growth processes of Nature and lack initiative.
If ill-dignified, they are hopelessly stupid, slavish, incapable of foresight and are generally churlish, surly, jealous and incurable meddlers.
The Queen of Disks possesses the finer of the quieter qualities: immensely affectionate, kind, non-intellectual, quiet, hard-working,
practical, sensible, domesticated and can be lustful and debauched
and can be drunkards.
If ill-dignified, they are dull, servile, foolish and drudges rather than
workers. Life for the is purely mechanical.
The Prince of Disks has great energy for solid, practical matters. He
is energetic, enduring, a capable manager and planner, and a steadfast worker. He is competent, ingenious, cautious, trustworthy and
imperturbable, and almost entirely lacking in emotion. He may appear stupid, but is not. He is slow to anger but implacable if roused
sufficiently.
The Princess of Disks is the essence of Womanhood in its ultimate projection. What characteristics surface in her depend on the
influences to which she is subjected. Her general reputation will be
on of bewildering inconsistency.
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The Small Cards have the same suit attributions as the Court Cards. No textual explanations are given for each
card has its primary attribute printed on the bottom of the cards face. See the Book of Thoth.
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Instructions:
Choose significator by
characteristics of querent.
Have querent shuffle thrice
and cut.
Deal out cards in order from
cut
Meaning:
MICROCOSMIC - Material
Significator _____________________________________________________________
Ideals ________________________________________________________________
Past __________________________________________________________________
Future_________________________________________________________________
MACROCOSMIC - Spiritual
Querent _______________________________________________________________
Environment ___________________________________________________________
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This diagram shows one of the many milestones from Aleister Crowleys career:
the equating of the Chinese I Ching (Book of Changes) with the Qabalistic Tree of Life.
Thus were two of the major and highly disparate (at least on the surface) systems of divination and spiritual philosophy brought together.
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