Tarot As A Magical Compliment, Tarot spells Options

I wanted to mention to everyone on this forum that the tarot is a very strong and potent magical iteam. I find that they are excelent symbols in spell work. The more familiar you are with them the better. Since the Tarot can be a map of conciousness, it is exelent in aiding with visualizations and planning how your spell will play out. Also overtime i feel strongly that the Tarot have generated enough energy to act as inteligent entities when called. Such as an evokation of the King of swords, or whathave you.

I'd go one step further. The Tarot is probably the most important magick tool you could use in your work. The top of mind reasons are:

• An entire universe of archetypes and symbols (assuming a Thoth Tarot or Golden Dawn deck
• Portable "elemental" weapons (sword, chalice, pentacle, wand)
• The awesome "lifetime" wisdom of mages (Crowley in the case of Thoth, which builds on the wisdom of the mages of the Golden Dawn)
• Bonding to the deck at a very intimate level if you "carry" it with you everywhere -- something you're not likely to do with your other tools
• A perfect tool for mapping a very powerful sacred circle
• An entire "sacred space" in the pocket--circle, alter, triangle of manifesting, elemental weapons, archetypes for visualizing, etc

It has become a popular theme in some books (Kraig's "TAROT AND MAGIC" and Tyson's PORTABLE MAGIC are fairly basic, but focus on this theme as sole mission), and many mages have uses the Tarot as a most important tool for decades. Crowley described working with the Tarot as magick of the highest order involving "initiation of such high degree that it is impossible to describe the method."

For me, I've used the Thoth deck in all my magick work since I was a teen (this goes back thirty years, IOW), but always the Thoth. It is so incredibly rich in symbolism and raw power, even before I knew what I was doing I was visualizing and manifesting by "accident." If I wanted to touch the creative spirit in me, I would simply meditate on the Magus card. Within moments, without a word of power spoken, with no ritual, with no tangible effort, I would be on a journey. And no, I don't do drugs. The symbolism is just that awesome. I know of one magus who carries a pocket deck (besides myself) as an amulet. The pocket Crowley deck is quite awesome. And it bonds in very real ways because it is always in contact (if you carry it). It allows me, any time, to reach up to my unconscious or Deep Mind.

For me, a little relaxed breathing, and a quiet mantra (sometimes), then a quiet gaze at the card that archetypally links to my goal, and I'm already there. The cards are not just for speaking to your inner higher self, or a deeper mind, or an entity. The cards almost have a spirit all their own, like a Tibetan Tulpa (but always in your control) or a Servitor.

I have tried work with other decks. Like most tarot fanatics, I'm a collector. I still have my first purchased decks, more than 30 years old and yellowed and worn (not to mention offset printing wasn't so great back then!)... but I can only connect for my work with the Thoth deck, even though I have probably 40 some odd various decks. Probably because Crowley poured a lifetime of searching and wisdom into that deck, And Lady Harris was a magnificent artist. They feel empowered right out of the box. Alive. Other decks, especially Rider Waite with deliberately flawed symbolism (I say deliberate because my research indicates Waite deliberately hid proper correspondences out of respect for his oaths, and it shows in the lack of continuity in the deck, while Crowley had no such inhibitions, and an intuitive creative mind to go along). I get a kick out of various decks, and when I'm reading for friends I use all of them. But for my own work, I only feel empowered magickally by the Thoth deck. I'd be interested to know if other decks resonate with others in the forum?

If you like Tarot magick systemized -- for me I don't believe it's necessary, since there's so much raw power in the symbols, a good deck takes you on journeys -- there is Tyson's Portable Magic. I've tried some of it. It requires leaps of visualizing, not on a card, but on the "entire sacred space" He builds a sacred circle out of the twelve zodiacal majors --
JUSTICE in the WEST, then going towards south anticlockwise: HERMIT, STRENGTH (but he's using Rider Waite, so it'd be ADJUSTMENT for me), CHARIOT, LOVERS, HIEROPHANT, EMPEROR (although Crowley would swap the STAR AND EMPEROR based on his Tree of Life correspondences?), MOON, STAR, DEVIL, TEMPERANCE (ART) , DEATH. He spreads them in a circle with the corners of the bottom of the cards touching in an unbroken ring in front of him, then suggests you visualize yourself in that circle (not hard to do with practice -- but the hard part is visualizing the perspective of giant cards as rugs around you (I prefer visualizing three D, but that's hard to keep up). I know of at least one magus who spreads a giant circle around him with all the elemental cards laid out (aces in the four corners), then he uses the majors in his visualizing work inside the circle.

Tyson then makes an altar out of the aces (makes sence, the Aces contain the essence of the entire suit, which means the elements, so Ace Pentacles in North (Discs in Thoth), Swords East, Cups West, Wands South. And he makes a TRIANGLE OF REALIZATION out of the Fool, Hanged Man and Judgement... Etc. The problem with Tyson's pretty slim and basic book is too much dependence on three dimensional visualizing, and dependence on the more basic and simplistic Rider Waite deck (which really doesn't subconsciously link to the proper correspondences in my humble opinion.)

Anyway, this is all unnecessarily complex, because it draws on so much visualizing that it's impossible to stay focused. I prefer to work my normal way (I tend to be EMPTY HAND anyway), and just focusing on one to three cards that symbolically link to the archetypes I need (can work for healing, journeying, conversing with your Holy Guardian Angel, protection, any form or tradition, anything) Since Crowley deliberately conveyed an entire universe of symbolism (recognized by the subconscious) into the deck, just using one card that illustrates what you would have otherwise conveyed in ritual or sound is usually sufficient.

In fact, if I had to choose ONE tool for my work, it would be the Thoth Tarot. If I had to give everything else up, I could still work with just that deck.