The portrait of Aleister Crowley

Sometimes labeled a Satanist, nominated in the tabloid press of his time as “the wickedest man in the world” and targeted as public enemy number one, Crowley was definitively a controversial figure and an interesting man. He enjoyed all that buzz and attention and fueled it to keep himself in the spotlight. While before – and even after – him most of the Magicians (Occultists) were extremely discrete and kept their activities hidden (occult means hidden, secret, clandestine – as we know), Crowley was on a constant campaign for media attention and scandals. Those scandals and controversial issues affect his work and inheritance, but can not diminish its actual value. And not so surprisingly, a BBC poll ranked Crowley as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time (1st is obviousely Sir Winston Churchill; third is Diana, Princess of Wales; while Johnny Rotten and David Beckham line up alongside Sir Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare).
Yet, people are more interested if Crowley really was such an evil person, then what he achieved as Magician and the significant work he left behind. It’s still much exciting to speak about his spicy sex life, speculating about he was or he was not a British secret agent, then actually read and decode his writings. Continue reading

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Fortune Telling – meaning of the playing cards

Cartomancy using standard playing cards was the most popular form of fortune-telling since the 18th. In English-speaking countries, the standard English (Anglo-American) deck of bridge/poker playing cards of four suits and 52-card – the jokers not included – are the most frequently used deck. The 52 card deck include the Ace’s (as 1) with all of the 2s through 10s and the court cards: the Jack, Queen and King. Other card readers (fortune tellers) prefer reduced decks of 36, respectively 32 cards. If you want to use 32 cards, you will have to remove all of the 2s through the 6s and keep the Aces and the court cards. For the 36 card option you have to put back the 2’s as well. In France, the 32-card piquet playing-card deck were and still are the most used deck for cartomancy readings. If you have a set (deck) of French or Swiss cards you will notice that they have full-length images which allow to distinguish the normal position (straight, upright), respectively the reverse (downside) of the card, but if you have an English pack, you will have to mark with a pen the cards to be able to read the reverse meaning of the cards as well. I have draw a star on the upper part of the cards from a set of playing cards witch indicate the straight – normal – position. Continue reading

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Oh, the Devil!

I know, I told you there is no good and evil, there is no Devil, although we all know that “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist” – quoting the French poet Charles Baudelaire. No, no! It was not Roger “Verbal” Kint! I was saying that there is a natural balance of “good” and “evil” and we can learn to dancing on this rope and eventually get advantage from the both end of it. It might be just a nice illusion? I still don’t know for sure. But what I know it’s there some sort of evil which keep us in a sort of dreaming state of mind. You might read about this in the books of George Gurdjieff or – worst case scenario – you saw the film Matrix. I don’t know if there is any science in the fiction, but there is always some truth.
It’s commonly accepted, everybody associated The Devil card with the sing of the Capricorn. I guess the presence of the horns are a good enough justification for that although generally the image of the card is inspired by the 19th century image of a Sabbatic Goat, created by Eliphas Levi. Continue reading

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All the 72 Angels and Demons associated with the Minor Cards of the Tarot

I think knowing the angels and demons ruling each Tarot card it’s important to have a better understanding of the meaning of the cards, to have an extra insight of the energies behind the cards, to know more precisely what is the substance of our issues and what’s the driven force behind it and eventually to interact with those spirits to fix issues. But invocation it’s a very dangerous act and should be the very last option in any cases.
People often ask me what it’s the difference between black and white Magic. My answer it’s simple, although use to surprise people: when we are in control, it’s white; but when we loose control and “things” control us, it turns to black! Taking control can be anything from “harmless” thought control when a Demon put his own thoughts in our mind to avoid performing his services for us, but sometimes they can take over and insert in our mind their own agenda which can be really dangerous and practically mean that instead the Demon performing services for us, we will perform services for him/them.
While “right and wrong, good and bad” are cultural universals, We should learn to accept and use, get advantage of both sides. While most of the people consider it a moral issue, I think of it more from practical perspective. I’t like a sword, it have two blades and if you got the wisdom, you will learn to use and work with both of them. So, it’s helpful to know both the angels and demons associated with the Tarot cards and work with them in your best interest.
If those are two energies which fighting each other, it will annihilate each other eventually, but if we see them as brother and sister and use them as complementary forces, we will fully benefit of their power. Continue reading

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The Tarot and the four elements

In the ancient traditions the four elements earth, water, air, and fire frequently occur; sometimes including a fifth element or quintessence (after “quint” meaning “fifth”) called aether in ancient Greece and akasha in India. The concept of the five elements formed a basis of analysis in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, particularly in an esoteric context, the four states-of-matter describe matter, and a fifth element describes that which was beyond the material world. Similar lists existed in ancient China and Japan. The Chinese had a somewhat different series of elements, actually five elements, namely: Fire, Earth, Metal (literally gold), Water and Wood. Some considered and refer to the fifth element as the ‘quinta essentia’. This very simply describes the soul or the spiritual being of a person. It stands apart from the other four elements and is not depicted in the horoscope. This is why it is frequently overlooked. It takes us beyond the doctrine of the four elements and their application in the field of astrology. It hints at the freedom of man and reminds us of the great mystery of the eternal. Regarding the material world, it is considered that the entire universe is consisting of the elements fire, air, water and earth. This four elements are considered the very elements – energies – of life and are regarded as the four basic principles of life. Sometimes they are also called the four “roots”. In recorded history, Ptolemy is credited with making the association between the four elements and the signs of astrology in the 2nd Century AD. Continue reading

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