Sulum Factum Magus

Here is an interesting technique for using the Tarot to gain insight into a problem or situation which is bothering you. I am not sure where this method originates, but it seems a very natural way of working to me. I call it a conversation with the Tarot. First of all, still your mind, and take a few calming and centring breaths, and call upon the assistance of your Deities and/or guides. Then ask a specific question, which has a yes/no answer. Shuffle the cards, regularly turning half of them around, as you hold your question in mind. Then turn over the top card. If the right way up, the answer is yes, if the card is inverted, then the answer is no. The card itself then amplifies or sheds further light on the answer. After considering the meaning of the card, come up with a sentence that expresses the answer.

For example, my question might be, will the job with so and so eventuate? I turn up the inverted page of wands. The cards say, “No, you will be getting bad news about that job, it either won’t eventuate, or will be delayed. A shallow and domineering person is blocking progress.”

That might be all you need, or you might then have a further question, such as, “Are my energies better spent pursuing other opportunities?” Suppose the inverted five of cups turns up. So the answer is “No”. But this meaning needs to be understood in the context of the card, – regrets and disappointments in the past, but better times ahead, and laying the foundations for a more hopeful future. So the answer might be, “No, don’t waste your time chasing other opportunities at the moment, rather focus on laying the foundations for a more hopeful future”.

So now I might want to know how I can start laying those foundations. Perhaps taking some time out to think about things is warranted. So ask “Do I need to take some time out to think about my life goals and directions?” The seven of coins comes up, right way up. So “Yes, but be careful to consider the long term outcome that you want, without getting bogged down by short term considerations, or pressing needs. All difficulties can be overcome in the long run by discipline and dedication.”

So that seems like the end of the conversation – so thank Deities and Guides, and put the cards away, and follow the advice!

I find this conversational method helps me when doing readings for myself, as the usual spreads can often be difficult to interpret for oneself, and contain many ambiguities, which for some reason don’t seem to appear in readings for others! I guess it is a case of sometimes it is difficult to see yourself as clearly as you can see someone else. By framing specific questions with a yes/no answer, the cards can give a clear response, which is amplified by the meaning of the card. Then if something isn’t clear, or you are not sure which of a card’s many meanings is most important in the context of your question, then just ask another question!

Within four or five questions, you should get what you need at any particular time. Further questions after that tend to dissipate energy and confuse the advice in my experience, though of course everyone is different, and maybe it will not be the same for you!

I hope that you will find this technique a useful way of working with the cards. While the cards can give guidance, in the end, we ourselves must take responsibility for our actions. So if the guidance you receive doesn’t seem right, sit with it until you are comfortable with it, or seek other views and angles, either from friends and advisors, or from the cards on another day, or through your inner work, until you are clear on your best course of action.

Blessings,

Robyn :)

The viewpoint of one who practices the magical arts is different in many ways from the viewpoint of most in Western Society. For example, our justice system is based primarily on people’s actions, and someone’s thoughts or intentions are for the most part irrelevant, precisely because it is so difficult to be sure exactly what someone else’s thoughts or intentions actually are! However even our justice system acknowledges the importance of intentions by taking into account a person’s apparent remorse about a crime in sentencing.

The magical viewpoint is quite different, seeing intentions giving rise to thoughts, which then give rise to actions. The worlds of thought and intention are the precursors of the world of action. Now some of those thoughts and intentions are not conscious for many people, and unconscious thought processes can give rise to actions which are unhelpful or self sabotaging. One task of the magical practitioner is to become conscious of these unconscious thought processes, and where necessary, to direct them in more helpful directions. One of the traditional tools for this work is the Tarot, and the associated exercises in visualisation, particularly working with the major arcana. However that is a story for another day. Today I wanted to pick up on the theme of judgement, which is represented in one of the Tarot trumps.

The Christian Society is based on a mythology of judgement, that when one dies, one’s afterlife experience is determined by the weight of one’s actions during their lifetime, either for good or for bad. The image of judgement is however much older than the Christian version, going back to the mythologies of ancient Egypt, in which the souls of those who had died were weighed on scales held by the immortals, to determine whether they would have eternal life as part of the Great God, or whether they would be damned. (Sound familiar?). The same image is represented on the Tarot trump of Justice.

Now it is not only one’s actions that weigh upon or lighten the soul, but one’s thoughts and one’s intentions. Whether you believe in an actual judgement upon death, or whether you believe that this is a symbol of the process of inner development, whereby our actions, thoughts and intentions shape our essential nature and leave their impress upon our soul, it doesn’t really matter. The point for the magical practitioner is that accepting the reality of thoughts and intentions, and their ability to shape the world around one, and to affect others (not to mention one’s self!) for good or for ill, it is a matter of responsibility to be conscious and aware of one’s thoughts and intentions, and to make sure that they are directed in a positive fashion.

In the end, our life is its own judgement. It stands as a testament to what we have achieved, or failed to achieve, who we have become, or failed to become, and the happiness, joy and satisfaction (or lack of it) in our hearts. In any case, the magical life, as I see it, is to live with the reality of judgement, whether by the Gods, or by oneself, and to bring one’s intentions, thoughts and actions into alignment with the desires of the soul self. It starts with aligning the intentions – and this of course presupposes that one knows the desires of the soul. For many people, alas, they have lost contact with their soul desires. Thus the first step is to regain the knowledge of one’s soul desires – not the programmed responses from society or family upbringing, but the true purpose carried in every soul. This in itself is a great undertaking, which once established, lays the foundation of fulfillment.

Once the soul desire is known, one can establish one’s intention to fulfil those desires, and begin to purge oneself of false intentions, those implanted in us by social and parental conditioning, and our immature responses to the limitations imposed upon us by others. Intentions are the seeds of thought and thought processes. With right intentions, our thoughts can be focussed on their fulfilment. However there are many distractions, and one’s thoughts can easily lead one off into false directions. Not that any direction is inherently false, but false in the sense that it doesn’t serve the soul desire. So the next task in the work is to discipline and focus one’s thoughts, and align them with one’s consciously affirmed intentions. Undisciplined, one’s thoughts tend to run in habitual patterns which we mistakenly identify with as our self, or gravitate to the satisfaction of base desires. Not that there is anything wrong with satisfaction of one’s physical desires in a constructive way, but it can become an obsession that diverts one from the work, running in directions that are unhelpful to self and others, unless one’s thoughts are consciously aligned with the soul intentions.

Once one’s thoughts are aligned with one’s soul intentions, they can begin to inform one’s actions, and one begins to see the transformation and flowering of one’s life. At first in small and subtle ways, but as the alignment begins to grow and develop in force, in increasingly profound and far reaching ways. This process will be different for everyone of course, because we all have different soul desires, and different characters, and different arenas of action that we work in. However rest assured that this process will unfold.

Overall, this process represents the concept of “stepping into one’s power.” This power is something that it seems at times our society is designed to strip from us from a young age, so that as adults we will conform to the desires of the state, and fulfil our allotted social function without complaint, and without threatening the interests of the powerful. Indeed, the Christian mythology underlying western society demonises power, as something that tempts one away from the path of love and “turning the other cheek”.

While this may be true of power based on violence or position in the hierarchies of state or corporation, it is not true of the magical power generated by alignment of intentions, thoughts and actions with the soul desires. In my view, the heart of the magical work is about stepping into one’s power in this way. It is about accepting the powerful potential of being human, and working to actualise and express that power. Our choices will determine how that power is used and expressed, and those choices leave their mark upon the soul for those who have eyes to see. In my view, Power and Love must be balanced within one, the twin pillars of becoming, joined in a conjunction that brings forth the Divine Child. In the end, they come to the same thing, as it is a profound act of self love to align one’s intentions, and then one’s thoughts and actions with one’s soul desire, and simultaneously an act of love for all, as the soul desire is to give of one’s gifts to life in some way. And here is one aspect of the mystery of the philosopher’s stone.

How do you know if you have it right? The giving of one’s gifts energises one, and produces feelings of fulfilment, satisfaction and happiness. Love and Power become one. Energy increases and youthfulness is preserved. False giving, the kind that most people do, in which they give away their power, leads to feelings of resentment, bitterness and the feeling of being trapped, used, or disrespected. Energy dissipates, and aging accelerates, for one is calling one’s own death. These feelings and actions trap many in a vicious circle. The magical path provides a time honoured escape route – the alignment of intention, then thoughts, and finally action, with the soul desire. In the final outcome, our life and very being is our judgement, and testifies to whether we succeeded in liberating ourselves from the chains of the “normal” life, or succumbed to our prison cell and its petty pleasures.

And here, with this echo of the wisdom contained in the trump of the Devil, I will close.

Blessings,

Robyn :)

One of the fundamental guiding principles of many Neopagan paths, and indeed the Western Hermetic tradition, is the characterisation of all phenomena into the system of the four elements, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Many add a fifth element – Spirit, which combines, centres, and harmonizes the other four. In my own work, I use the four elements to characterise the energetic essence of all phenomena that interest me. Books and lists of elemental correspondences are an important step in learning the craft, learning to recognise the common energetic signatures of phenomena and entities from the different dimensions of existence. For example, an elemental association can be found for herbs, gems, metals, minerals and trees by consulting various sources of traditional lore.

However the division into just four energetic types is too gross a division to account for all the fine differentiations one finds in the world of nature. For example, there are thousands of different herbs in use, and their characters and properties are all unique. In order to begin characterising energies on a finer division, one system that can be employed is the sixteen fold division of energetic movement. This subdivides each element into four aspects, themselves corresponding to the four elements. Thus we have Air of Air, Fire of Air, Water of Air, and Earth of Air. Whereas Air as an element corresponds to beginnings, thoughts, communication, the mental realm, and changeability, Air of Air corresponds to the quintessence of Air, the beginnings of thought processes, the conceptions behind planning, the guiding principals, the rules of logic, the very beginning of any enterprise, etc.

Fire of Air is the next stage, corresponding to the action stage of mental endeavour, such as fleshing out a novel once the plot and characters have been defined, talking about plans with others, developing ideas with others, allowing a touch of inspiration into one’s plans. Water of Air is the next stage of the process. It may correspond to getting feedback about one’s plans, it may symbolise the beginnings of emotional attachment to one’s goals and plans, it may correspond to sharing, or the desire to share one’s plans with others, perhaps to gain their support, or admiration. It may symbolise the contribution that the unconscious impulses may make to beginnings and plans, or which may unsettle the mind and cause changeability, or lack of confidence. Earth of Air then corresponds to the process of bedding down, locking in, and making a commitment to the proposed course of action, which prepares us to move onto the element of Fire, which symbolises action.

First is Air of Fire, which symbolises the initial steps, the beginnings, the first testings of action. It may also symbolise actions which are achieved or take their form through mental processes, such as writing letters, creating works of literature, or other mental activities that are themselves acts which affect others. Fire of Fire is the essence of movement and action, enthusiasm and inspiration. Water of Fire represents responsive action, guided and directed by feedback from its environment, or the things upon which the action is directed. Earth of Fire represents habitual action, action that has been locked into place through habit and repetition, or action that is practical in nature, or actions that build over time and repetition to achieve their constructive purpose. Whereas Air of Fire is changeable, Earth of Fire is solid action, and almost impervious to influence.

After Fire in the sun cycle of manifestation, is the element of Water, generally taken to be associated with the harvest, the rewards of action. Also associated with compassion, intuition and the subconscious, and the womb of the great mother. So we might take Air of water to represent the beginnings of the harvest or the rewards, with more still to come. We might also take Air of Water to symbolise intellectual expressions of compassion, or intellectual descriptions of the psyche – such as various forms of psychology and psychotherapy. Indeed any intellectual description or categorisation of intuitive, unconscious, dream or other non-waking realities, could be described as Air of Water. Fire of Water moves us into the active phase of reaping our harvest, and the activity of compassion, intuition, and delving into the greater self in some way. Water of Water, brings to mind the quintessence of Water, of compassion, intuition, the inner life. It is the returning current, and it is the mystery of connection. Earth of Water brings to mind the practical expression of intuition, compassion, and inner development, inner connection with the Great Mother: the habit of openness, the habit of compassion.

The Earth element then takes us through a period of stasis, of breaking apart, of composting to form the substrate for the next cycle of manifestation, the time of digesting experience. So Air of Earth is the intellectual expression of deconstructing one’s experience in order to do something better next time, a conscious reflection on events. Fire of Earth brings to mind a cheerful reflection on how things went, bringing to bear humour on a situation. It is also the active step in decomposition, perhaps symbolised by a wriggling mass of worms turning vegetable scraps into compost. Water of Earth is the final return, the reward of one’s reflection, and the processing of one’s subconscious mind, and of the group mind, below the level of awareness. Earth of Earth, is the final stasis after deconstruction and reflection and intuitive insights have been digested, leading to a stable foundation for a new cycle of manifestation.

Further insight into this division of energy may be gained by considering the court cards of the tarot deck. For example, the Pages represent Air, the Knights Fire, the Queens water, the Kings Earth. So Page of Coins is Air of Earth, Queen of wands is Water of Fire, etc.

This illustration of the four fold division of each of the elements is just one means of further characterising energies, and refining correspondences. We may apply further dimensions of characterisation. For example, we may characterise people physically, emotionally, intellectually and according to personality, each according to the 16 elemental divisions described, which gives approximately 64,000 different characterisations of a person. While every individual is unique, the richness of such a characterisation is sufficient for most purposes!

If you want to play with this system of characterisation, starting with people is reasonable, as people are something everyone has experience with. You might also like to consider dog breeds, birds, flowers, herbs, trees, classical music or motor-cycles – whatever your area of interest is. Select one example a day. For your example, decide first which element to place it in. Then within that element, which division. Consider everything you know about the item. Consider also how you feel about it, what you sense about it, and your perception of its energy.

Be prepared to revise your assessments as you go!

I am sure you will find this a rewarding experience that deepens your relationship with the elemental energies.

In Her Service,

Robyn

I was feeling a bit down in the dumps this morning, and wanted to get some insight into the reasons why. Of course Pagans have their ups and downs as much as anybody – myself included. Indeed, it has been my experience that the more one commits to following some path of spiritual development, the more ups and downs one has. Of course it could just be me, but I believe that one of the reasons is that most paths of genuine spiritual development involve attunement to something greater than and outside ourselves, and the growth of awareness and sensitivity. This automatically puts one at odds with the human world that we have created and have the pleasure of living in – which encourages lack of awareness, the dulling of sensitivity, and a robotic existance in service of the employer. Sensitivity and awareness leads one to the conciousness of pain – there is so much pain in this world, so much unrealised potential, so much thwarted desire for expression of the true self, so much hunger and poverty, so much destruction and abuse of nature, so much mechanisation of all aspects of life.  The pain of people is not the only thing. The pain of the non-human world also comes crashing through when the gates of sensitivity and awareness begin to open. The pain of slavery, the pain of clear felling, the pain of destruction. I was talking to someone the other day who mentioned that they’d been reading a book by someone whose main thesis was that depression and despair are unavoidavble in today’s world, because at a deep level, all of us feel the depression and despair of the destruction that is being wrought upon our dear Mother Earth. Of course many are successful in shutting off theses feelings, and immersing themselves in their egocentric existance, making a virtue of seperation and independance. Yet every genuine spiritual path that I know of makes it its business to broaden the consciousness, to break down the egocentric self conception, and open an awareness into the collective intelligence that embraces all.

Dealing with these feelings that well up from the deeps can be over-whelming for people who first set their feet on the path. Especially so for paths that embrace the modern Pagan world view, that the world is alive, and the body of Our Goddess, our dear Lady, our Mother. There is only one thing I know that can counteract these feelings, and that is to embrace and fulfill one’s true nature – the path, in my view, laid out by the Blessed Mother, which leads to that point where inner and outer meet and become one. In this, there is the cure  for the wound, and for the wasteland, the inner distress, and the outer distress, respectively. I’ve written much more about this in my book “The Great Work”, so won’t further belabour the point here.

Back to my story – I decided to draw a tarot card in order to gain some insight into the melancholy condition in which I found myself this morning. It was the page of coins. The deck I chose to use this morning is “The Circle Tarot”, put together by Ann Franklin. It is a very Pagan deck, featuring a lot of traditional British, Wiccan and Druidic symbolism, and the interpretations are very alligned with my own Pagan spirituality. It is always an education to draw one of these cards, which feature the sacred sights of the Brittain and Ireland, herbs, trees, totem animals and God forms familiar to Celtic and Wiccan pagans.

The interpretation for the Page of Coins was the need to pay attention to balance in the physical body – a balance of exercise and relaxation. The implication being that I had become out of balance. This was fair enough, and a welcome reminder. The next card that came up was the seven of cups. In the Sacred Circle deck, this card is associated with delusion, and the need for careful choices. I am no stranger to this card, and its message. One of my regular stumbling blocks is trying to do too many different things, and being unable to choose one direction over another – for fear of loss. Yet life will force the choice that isn’t made pro-actively, after much distress, usually, and failure in many directions for want of focus and commitment.

Of course, being a Pagan, I have several Tarot decks, so naturally I felt like checking on things with another deck. What card should be first up? You guessed it, the Page of Coins! What card should come up second? None other than the seven of cups! OK, OK, Ancient Ones, I get the message!

However the interpretations given by my second deck (The Dragon Tarot by Peter Pracownik and Terry Donaldson) are a bit different. Page of Coins is given the intepretation “the desire for a new line of work”, and the seven of cups “The need to choose among several options”.

It is interesting to note the different interpretations, especially of the page of Coins. How can these be reconciled? Both interpretations are expressions of the Page energy (Air, changeability), applied to the Earth element (Physical Body, Money matters, Job). Yet another traditional interpretation is of Good news (communication – air) about a job (Money – Earth).

For me, perhaps it is an indication of needing new beginnings in the Job world – of finding a job that more closely alligns with my Nature. The inattention to this need then leads to physical imbalance in the body. I will keep you posted how I go!

I wrote the above almost six months ago, but somehow didn’t get around to posting it. In the interim, I have been offered, and accepted, a voluntary redundancy package from my workplace. Page of Coins and Seven of Cups indeed!

BB,

Rob

Here is an exercise that you might find useful with your work in the tarot. Indeed, the following method can be used with almost any symbolic representation, in order to contact the astral and spiritual energies and forms behind the appearance. I will describe the exercise in terms of using a tarot card, but you can adapt it as you see fit. To gain the full benefit from this exercise, you should have some ability to move the attention, to visualise, and some experience with activating the third eye chakra. Here is what I do.

Select a card from the major arcana that you wish to work with. Many authors recommend starting with the fool, and working through in sequence. Sit in a comfortable and warm position. Sitting up in bed just before lying down to sleep for the night can be very effective, as the exercise will also then create an impetus to dream on the same subject.

Hold the selected card in front of you, and stare at a focal point of the card. For the cards with human figures, stare at their third eye chakra, just above and between the eyebrows. After awhile, your vision will begin to play strange tricks, as the cells of your retina become habituated to the image. Keep staring at the same point, and allow your vision to do what it will. You may find yourself involuntarily moving your focus, which resets your vision to normal. Don’t worry, just keep staring at the same fixed focal point.

When the vision has started to shift due to the phenomena above, begin the following breathing sequence, keeping the eyes focussed on the focal point you have chosen in the card. As you breathe in, place your attention between your own eyebrows, on your own third eye chakra. As you breathe out, place your attention on the third eye chakra (or focal point you have selected) of the figure in the card. Keep breathing slowly, deeply and smoothly, in a relaxed manner, alternating the attention as described. It may help to visualise a white thread linking your third eye to the third eye of the figure in the card, with your attention moving between the two ends like a bead on a string.

Continue the breathing, with the alternating of the attention for up to ten minutes, all the while keeping the eyes focussed on the third eye (or chosen focal point) of the figure in the card. Now allow your eyes to close, and try to see the card in your mind’s eye, and continue the breathing and alternation of attention. However, now your attention moves to the card you see in your mind’s eye, rather than the physical card. If you can’t see the card with your mind’s eye, no matter – just visualise the card as best you can with your imagination. As you visualise, sooner or later, you will begin to catch glimpses of the card with the inner sight, which will seem to poke through your visualized imagery. If it doesn’t happen on one occasion, it will certainly happen at some stage as you continue working with the attention, visualisation, and the third eye chakra.

After another five minutes or so, or the length of time which feels right for you, transfer your attention to the personage in the card, and leave it there. Allow the experience to unfold in the way that is right for you. You may find yourself receiving impressions, images, or communications from the personage. You may find yourself viewing things from the perspective of the personage. You may find yourself “inside” the tarot card, looking at the card from the inside. Each person will be able to carry on the experience in their own unique way.

When I have done this exercise, I have found that the subsequent day or two becomes powerfully influenced by the energy and archetype of the card, and the resulting experiences have provided profound insight into the corresponding aspects of life. I hope that you will find the same, and that this method helps you to grow towards your true nature and its full and ecstatic expression.

To finish the exercise, express thanks for the experience, and whatever learnings you may have received, and take your leave of whatever energies or personages you may have been interacting with. Focus the attention on your own third eye chakra, for both in and out breaths, for a few minutes, and then move your attention to the point between the top lip and the nose for several deep breaths, with the intention of  grounding and returning your attention and energy back wholly within your own etheric field.

BB

Robyn :)

Sometimes life throws up some difficult choices, and it’s hard to know which way to go. There may be the voice of reason saying one thing, the heart calling in a different direction, a variety of talents and possibilities demanding to be given time and attention, various people in your life ready with advice, some good, some bad, and somewhere lost in the clamour, the calling of the soul.

Sometimes the biggest problem is being immobilised by the need to choose, and not knowing which direction to take. So we do nothing, and allow the status quo to carry on. However this is rarely in our best interest.

One of the sayings I am fond of is that often, it’s not so much about making the right decision, but making the decision right. Some people become immobilised, because they can’t figure out the right decision. Maybe they can’t figure it out because there is no alternative that is right, with all the others wrong. Any alternative would do, if only one would make a decision and stick to it. Making the decision right, means to commit to a course of action, and put your best foot forward, whatever you have chosen. This commitment will in turn bring with it energy and enthusiasm, and this will act in the situation to give the best chance of a positive outcome.

Another aspect of ‘making the decision right’ is the process of coming to a decision. My philosophy is to work with a balance of all the human faculties. I try to think things through from a practical perspective (engage the mind). I try to come to an awareness of my feelings about each alternative, and the source of these feelings, whether they be from fears, or past experiences positive or negative, or indications of a soul calling. I also engage my intuition about the various alternatives, perhaps through tools such as a tarot spread, which incorporate also the willingness to take guidance from guides and inner world contacts, and my own higher self. I may also engage my imagination in trying to picture to myself how life will turn out under the different decisions, what I will be doing each day, where I will be living, my state of mind, the happiness of my self and my family, whether I am in tune with my soul calling and so on. After such a process, the decision is often much easier. You’ve made the decision right, so you can make the decision right!

There are a number of tarot cards that are tied up with decisions and choices. The three that come to my mind are the seven of cups, the lovers, and the hanged man. The seven of cups is seen in many decks as the need to make a choice, or being unable to decide on a direction, because there are many possibilities before one. Often this is seen as a positive sign, indicating choices and options, but when reversed, may mean stagnation or immobilisation through inability to make a necessary choice. The lovers is said to indicate a time of choice in the process of individuation. The young man pictured in the card must choose between loyalty to his mother, and the desire and love for a young woman. It marks the process of growth and becoming one’s own person, separating from the parental influence and guidance, and making one’s own way in life. On a deeper level, the mother represents to me the internalised bonds, the apron strings, that often tie a young man to his mother. These are bonds of strong emotion which also circumvent one’s life experience. There comes a time when the safety of home must be left behind in order to experience the full richness of life. The young women represents on a deeper level, the calling of soul, which ever beckons one to follow, and to leave behind one’s comfort zone. The symbolism on this level applies as well to either sex.

To me this card then represents the fundamental choice which must be faced time and time again by the person who wishes to grow into their spiritual maturity – the choice to follow the calling of soul, and leave behind the familiar. It is all the more poignant for the love and comfort that surrounds one in the familiar. It would be easy enough if one’s present was full of conflict and misery when soul called you to something different. However when one’s life is full of love, comfort, and the many satisfactions of a happy home or work environment, it is a much more painful choice when soul comes calling you to something different. But the call must be answered, for to refuse it, leaves one strangely hollow, and a little disappointed. Domestic comfort and the loves of home begin to lose their shine, for the soul begins to pine. Yet it is still a choice, as one cannot be forced to follow the call of soul.

Another card that talks about choice is, to me, the hanged man. The card is often interpreted to mean sacrifice. However I see it as sacrifice in the sense that something must be cut away from one’s life in order to make space for something new. Otherwise the new has no room to grow and develop. However it is not easy to cut away parts of one’s life – there is always a cost attached. It may be a monetary cost, for example, forgone income when one chooses to work part time in order to give oneself time for study or a project of personal importance. It may be the cost of foregone dreams or goals, as in for example giving up practising the violin, and the dream of performing, in order to spend time writing a novel. To me, the card represents the hoary old truth that only by painful sacrifice can worthwhile things come about. Considering the sacrifice involved in almost any undertaking, is it worth it? My view is that only the call of the soul is capable of justifying the sacrifice required.

The hanged man also resonates, for me, with a story told about Merlin, when he had returned to court after spending time alone in the wilds as a madman. A boy was brought before him, and he was asked to prophesy how the boy would die. “By falling from a high place”, said Merlin. Then in order to trick the sage, the boy was dressed in different clothes, and brought back. Merlin was asked again to prophesy the way this apparently different boy would meet his death. “By hanging from a tree”, said Merlin. Again the boy was taken away, and this time dressed up as a girl, and brought back. Merlin was asked to prophesy how the ‘girl’ was to die, and he replied, “Women or no, by drowning”.

On becoming a young man, the boy was hunting a stag, if I remember correctly, and died by falling from a rock, upon which his foot got stuck in the cleft of a tree, and he ended up hanging upside down with his head in a stream flowing under the tree, and so drowning. So as it turned out, all three prophesies were fulfilled.

Curiously, considering what I posted recently about him, the Norse God Odin is also associated with hanging from a tree (in this case Yggdrasil, the world tree), and the threefold death, and thus also is associated with the Hanged Man of the Tarot. It is also curious that in the last year, I have taken to sleeping with one leg cocked foot to knee, for no particular conscious reason, just as depicted in the tarot card. Hmmmm.

Blessings

Robyn :)

There is a difference between who we really are and who we think we are. It’s something I have written about in my book “The Great Work”, where I talk about the difference between the rationo-centric self, and the true self. Basically the story is that our locus of self identity becomes fixated in the rationo-centric mind. I use this term because it is a little more than the rational mind, which most people understand as the ability to reason and approach life logically by thinking things through. However the rationo-centric mind describes something a bit further than this. It describes how our self concept develops through discriminating between self and other, and adopting various rules and concepts about our self as though true. It is the part of you that says “I am this” and “I am that” and “I Like this” and “I don’t like that”. Now these sorts of statements often start as an understanding of ourselves, in response to a particular situation. But the trouble is, we change, and the situation changes, but these self concepts become part of our identity, and we hold on to them as if they were our most prized possession, long after they have passed their use-by date.

It is an example of the way we build up a mental construct of who we are, and then allow it to imprison us, by cutting us off from new experience. The relevant Tarot trump is the Tower – showing how when this happens, the divine thunderbolt arrives to knock down the tower of mental constructions, giving us the gift of a fresh start to rebuild something more suitable for our stage of life and the times we face.

An example of this process occurred to me just the other day. When I first became interested in the pagan pathway, I was very drawn to my Celtic ancestry. I identified strongly with the Deities, traditions, mythology and legends from the Celtic current. I cultivated Celtic Deities, and worked within that current quite happily. In fact, it became part of my sense of self. I was a “Celtic Wiccan”, or a “Celtic Pagan”. However what we think we are, is not ever who we really are, and in spite of our mental constructions to the contrary, our true self and true identity will manage to insert themselves into our lives, sometimes in spite of our best efforts to keep them at bay.

Often it becomes clear only on looking back, how the unseen hand has been at work, in spite of our efforts to limit our experience to a particular realm due to a mental construction of “I am this” and “I am not that”. For example, readers of these pages will have heard about my trip to Denmark, in which I visited the Troll Church, and had an experience of the Dragon Power, and my subsequent explorations and experiences with this energy through Dragon Walking. In one such experience, I encountered the astral form of a fellow wearing a brown hooded robe. At the time it came to me that he was one of the hooded ones, which I assumed to be an order of initiates working with the Dragon energy. Since then, I have had an inclination to do a little exploration with the Runes, something that I had previously avoided, being outside the “Celtic Universe”. And of course, my chosen name, Robyn Wood, resonates with the mythical figure Robin Hood, who Steve Wilson informs me is none other than the figure of Odin, transported to English shores and merged with Celtic mythic motifs. It appears that he often appears wearing a hood. Hmmmmm.

So the picture is starting to become a little clearer…and the lesson is that we are more than our self concept at any particular time. When the gifts arrive from the Gods, be ready for them, however they come. They may well come in an unfamiliar disguise! After all, most of us these days have many lines of ancestry – and perhaps it is time for me to explore some other lines, as well as the Celtic.

Blessed Be,

Robyn

Over the years I have developed my own numerological style which is somewhat at variance with the usual meanings found in your typical numerological book currently on the market. Like any thing that I am interested in, I use the witch’s method of enquiry. I put my attention on it, open the third eye, and allow its essence to communicate itself to me. You may be interested in the system I work with, which I have found to be extremely effective and illuminating, particularly in association with Tarot readings. 

The number zero is empty space, open-ness, the unformed and un-manifested space in which action and consciousness takes place. Without it, there could be no existence, no action, no motion, and no being. Yet it is none of these things itself, but behind them, supporting them, giving rise to them. Therefore it is also the primal womb, and the Great Mother from whom all manifested reality in all worlds spring.

The number one is the primordial impulse to movement and consciousness, the unit of singular awareness, the differentiation of self from other. It is the God, the primal masculine essence, the inseminating and enlivening principle, the urge to self hood. In its phallic form, it represents the male genitalia, and male sexual energy.

The number two signifies the first manifestation of the female principle in shape and form, to provide a means by which the male principle can seek its reunion with the Great Mother, and which can provide a focus and draw for its inseminating and enlivening energy, and transmute it, into further creation. It is therefore the creating and gestating energy of the Goddess. The number two calls to mind the two breasts, and in Roman numerals, represented as two vertical strokes, the two lips of the vagina. It thus represents the qualities of nurturing, and receptivity, and female sexual energy. It thus also represents the primal balance between self and other, male and female.

The number three represents the sacred union of the God and the Goddess. All manifestation is created through the sacred union, both microcosmically and macrocosmically. Thus three represents both the world of form and creation, and the child of promise within each person, the child of the Gods, which is born from the alchemical crucible when the heavenly and earthly energies are harmonised within one. The child of promise is formed when intellect is married to intuition, sun is married to moon, and the whole-person takes shape, whose self identity is neither bound to reason nor to intuition, but is beyond both, encompassing both, and formed of both the individual and the whole, the inner essence and the outer essence, giving rise to the self aware soul who partakes of the Divine nature.

The number four represents the first impulse of the self aware soul, the child of promise, which is to manifest and build within the physical world. Thus begins the lessons of experience as activity is undertaken, and successes and failures evaluated. Thus four represents learning through experience, practicality, and the impulse to do and to build. It is thus a resonance with the one energy, and reflects the God manifested and manifesting within the world of nature and physicality. This is symbolically represented by the square. The right angle is the secret of building, and this is reflected in the set-square which is the symbol of the free-masons. The right angle is formed by the numbers three, four and five, through Pythagorus’ theorem. And this has a symbolic significance!

The number five represents the manifested form of the Goddess. Symbolically it is associated with the five pointed star, which from ancient times has been associated with the planet and Goddess Venus. Thus five represents the Goddess manifested in human form, and the social and emotional dimension required for social and interpersonal harmony. It thus also represents the enlightened human being, whose awareness of the Goddess enables them to live harmoniously with others and with nature. There are a great many resonances with the number five, ranging from the awakened human, Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings, the five senses, the five fingers and toes on each limb, the five limbs (including the head and neck), the four elements plus spirit, and the symbolism of the pentacle. To my mind, these revolve around the awakened human and the manifested Goddess.

We may now see that the secret of building, the right angle, formed from the numbers three, four and five, represents the soul aware human (child of promise), taking action and learning through experience, under the guidance of, and in service to, the Goddess.

The number six, symbolised by the star of David, two interlocking triangles, represents the sacred union of the God (four) and Goddess (five), manifesting on the material plane. The Hermetic adage, “as above, so below” resonates with the number six. Here we have the adept, who has journeyed as the child of promise, learnt from experience, and awakened themselves to the reality of the Goddess, being thus re-born with the mastery of the creative process, which is the ability to conjoin the God and Goddess and give rise to the fruitful kingdom, the promised land. However the fruitful kingdom inevitably becomes a wasteland, through ignorance of the underworld forces shaping ourselves, others, and the world around us. This necessitates our underworld journey to seek the causes of the wasteland, and correct them, symbolised by the number seven.

Thus in the numbers four, five and six, we have the God, the Goddess, and the fruit of their union, resonating in the middle worlds. In the numbers one, two and three, we have the God, the Goddess, and the fruit of their creation resonating in the upper worlds, or the spiritual worlds. It is through the three, the spiritual dimension of the sacred marriage, that the upper world is connected to the middle worlds of human action and experience. Likewise, there is a resonance of the God, the Goddess and the sacred marriage in the under worlds, in the numbers seven, eight and nine. It is through the number six, the balance of adepthood and service, that one is fitted to gain access to the underworld power. It is also the number six, through the failure of the fruitful kingdom, which necessitates the decent into the underworld. 

The number seven then represents the Lord of the underworld. It represents the masculine Saturnine energies of discipline and restriction, associated with the seventh day of the week, Satur(n)day. It represents the qualities of the unconscious realm, such as dreams, obsessions, compulsions, fears, phobias, the power which comes from them, and the discipline required to overcome them in oneself, and master one’s own underworld domain. For while the underworld is unmastered, it rules one’s life, forcing one to live out destructive patterns and habits, repeat mistakes, and attract negativity and failure to oneself through poor self image. However mastery does not imply forceful submission, but understanding of the rules and laws that govern this realm, and the ability to use them constructively. As much as one may master these underworld forces in oneself, one may choose to also use this mastery to influence the lives of others, for good or for ill, to serve the greater good, or to serve one’s own interests. Thus seven represents the choice that every adept must face in how to use their power. Typically, if one hasn’t mastered one’s own underworld domain, one is tempted to choose to influence and control others for one’s own (misguided) benefit, thus projecting mastery externally. Thus seven also resonates with the dark night of the soul, the journey through the underworld, where one confronts and masters one’s unconscious nature and urges, and with them the impetus for turning the fruitful kingdom into the waste land.

The number eight then represents the return to the middle worlds, in order to build in accordance with the Divine plan. The adept who has mastered the underworld is at last capable of manifesting within the world according to the Divine plan. The Divine plan is not something external to the adept, but something that is now a part of them. They can’t help themselves. This is symbolised by two squares, representing building on the physical planes, and building on the spiritual planes. Through the number eight they are both manifesting the Divine plan spiritually, which creates a spiritual template for all receptive beings to work through, and physically, to create consonant conditions on the material plane for that plan to take form and shape. The number eight also resonates with the wheel of the year, the eight solar festivals, another manifestation of living in accordance with the Divine plan of nature. As such, the number eight is a resonance of the Goddess, as Persephone, in regular movement between the underworld and her consort its Lord, and the middle world and the life of humanity, thus creating the movement of the seasons, and manifesting the yearly growth cycle of the plant world, on which we depend for our continued existence. Plants, of course, have their roots in the underworld, and their fruits in the middle world.

The number nine represents the completion and fulfilment of the cycle. Once again, we have the sacred marriage of the underworld Lord (seven) and Lady (eight), leading to their creative offspring, the fully formed one, the completion of the work. Just as in the myths of Merlin, who is said to retire from the sphere of influence and action, to seek a life of quiet contemplation, so also in the life of the adept. A time of rest and completion must follow the work of the eight, sinking gracefully into the underworld, both as physical death, and as acceptance of all that which is, and all that which one has brought about. This completion stage is really the beginning of a new creative cycle, and the nine represents one’s return to the womb of the Great Mother, the zero. This return journey is mimicked by the roman numeral for nine, which can be seen as a pathway leading to a zero, and also as reminiscent of a human sperm. For this silence and stillness and completion is actually the seed and sperm which will act upon the primordial womb to bring about another round of growth and manifestation, via the same process all over again.

Thus there is a never ending cycle of manifestation, growth and becoming. The energy proceeds from the upper world, through the middle world, to the under world, and as in Dante’s inferno, where a stairway to heaven lies in the very centre of hell, so from the underworld, a new creative cycle is manifested again, and ever onwards like a great rolling wheel of becoming and transformation. Let those whose eyes are open work in harmony with this great wheel, while the rest are swept around by the forces of so-called fate, at times on the ascendant, and at other times, crushed by the relentless revolutions.

Blessed Be,

Robyn

One of the things that I enjoy is working with a set of tarot cards. My first deck, many years ago, was the Aleister Crowley Thoth tarot deck. At that stage of my life, needless to say, I was preoccupied with interests in ceremonial magic and the Cabalah. I eventually gifted that pack to an associate who had been waiting some years for a pack to come his way, believing that the only legitimate way of obtaining a pack was to be gifted one. My second pack was the Rider-Waite deck, which was gifted me by my partner, who also presented me with my favourite witch’s deck, the Sacred Circle Tarot. This deck has been my mainstay for a number of years, and contains beautiful images of the sacred sites and mystical places of Britain and Ireland. As well, it has been re-interpreted specifically from a Wiccan perspective, using the symbolism of the wheel of the year, the sacred herbs and trees, and the Deity forms familiar to Wiccans, and in particular Celtic Wiccans.

Recently, I have become interested in dragons, their lore and magic, as regular readers may have guessed from recent posts on Dragon Walking and Dragon Power. This goes back to the red and white dragons of the prophecies of Merlin, which I mention in my post on the Caduceus Meditation. So what better way to celebrate this magical interest than with a new tarot deck – this time, the Dragon Tarot Deck, by Peter Pracownik and Terry Donaldson. My first impression is that it is a very pragmatic deck, with symbolism firmly rooted in the traditional imagery. I am enjoying getting to know this deck, and look forward to using it more. The other day, in an incident which I feel turns me from a Tarot aficionado into a Tarot deck collector, I saw the Leonardo DaVinci tarot by Caitlin Matthews at a local bookstore at a bargain basement price. Needless to say, having enjoyed many of her works, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So now I have another deck on hand to help out!

Of course I couldn’t wait to get stuck in and divine the cause and solution to my latest bout of Melancholy, which regular readers will understand afflicts me on the odd occasion. Incidentally, I understand that 1 in 5 adults in Australia suffer from depression at some time in their lives – but that is another story. Back to the point, the cards spoke of Melancholy caused by (or associated with) ancestral grief.

In our highly individualistic world, such a concept probably seems outlandish to most people, but not to me. In fact, I resonated with this clue. In deed, there is a chapter in my book “The Great Work” on just this topic. Ancestral grief, for me,   seems to be focussed on my (deceased) grandfather. He died before I was born, and I barely knew of his existence, as my father rarely spoke of him as I grew up. I told the story of the grief I felt at first seeing his photograph, and how I honoured him at our last Samhain circle in a previous post. It came to me that I should put his story, the details of which my Auntie has documented, into a song. This began a very intense time for me, of extreme grieving. Over a week of putting his story into song, I could hardly get a line or two out before bursting into tears. Sometimes I wondered if I would ever be able to perform it at all. I could feel his presence around me, and it seemed to me that I could feel there was bitterness and regret in his life. Perhaps this came from his war experiences. Perhaps it came from having to sell his newspaper publishing business during the depression, struggling to raise a family and being, from family accounts, rather too fond of the bottle. In any case, I feel in some way that I carry a wound with me, a wound that began in his life, and passed itself on to me via my father. It is not a psychological process, that I am talking about, more like a spiritual resonance. There is some unfathomable connection between us. I hesitate to say that I am he re-incarnated, as I experience his spirit essence as distinct from my own. Yet, perhaps in the way of identical twins, we share an essence and consciousness, which is as defining as our separate identities.

I am not sure how to work further with this healing process. It seems that we are both interested in writing and publishing. I don’t know whether he was interested in esoteric subjects, but he was a member of a Masonic Lodge. According to my auntie, this was for business reasons, though whether she is making a reasonable assumption or remembers something of his attitude towards it I don’t know.

It is soon to be my father’s 75^th birthday, and the song will be ready for that occasion. I am a bit nervous, as I am not sure how my father will re-act to it. However I feel that it will be a positive occurrence, and part of the healing journey for myself, my father, and my grandfather.

I will let you know how it turns out!

BB,

Rob.