About Spells Made With Tarot, i would like to use these cards in rituals. Options

Greetings!
A few weeks ago I have purchased a basic Rider Waite Tarot pack and I am wondering,can I use these cards in rituals?I have heard that I can,so I am wondering,how can I do that?Can I also use rituals I have created myself ? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cc_confused.gif) p.s.Any spell with Tarot cards will help! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by Prudence: Apr 4 2006, 09:35 AM

Is this your first deck? If so I suggest you get used to them first and understand them fully. Learn some basic astrology alongside of it to get all the symbolism well understood. Once you gained that amount of understanding and familiarity with your cards the rest will show itself to you.

Yes,it is.It is my first deck ever,and I want to learn everything about Tarot cards,so I am looking for all information about them!

I totally think you can use the cards in rituals!! I have the Celtic Dragon Terot deck and the book that came with it actually has spells and rituals you can do with your cards. I think you should become more familiar with them first though. Once you have a good connection with them, then maybe spells would be easyer for you. But you should do whatever you feel is right for you to do.

moonlit

I have successfully used both the Rider-Waite and Robin Wood Tarot decks in rituals. I advise not using the same deck for rituals as for readings in order to keep the reading deck free from extraneous psychic influences, although the two decks may be of the same type.

really helpfull book for working with Tarot, for all children from former Yugoslavia is Ključevi Arkana by Maja Mandić, its based on working with Crowleys deck, but there one could find various spreading methods, meditations and rituals, too bad 'esotheria' s not planning to reprint it:( informative and practical book, one of my favorites (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Yes, there is quite a bit you can do with tarot in spell work and in ritual. I agree about getting to know the cards better first. If you use the card to ask for something, or connect to a specific entity/energy, and you do not know what the card means, then you do not know what you are asking for.

WIth that in mind, time spent in meditation of each of the cards is a good way to understand them, in addition to the book learning. You can also 'astral project' into the scene of the card, and experience it that way.

Once you are familar with the cards, you can use them in spell work by thinking of them as the alphabet/language between you and the other world or you and your subconscious. You can construct a 'reading' or layout you wish to manifest, or use one or two cards to signify an idea or entity. But, be sure you know what each and every card you are using means before magnifying the effects by adding ritual power to the equation.

Greetings!
A few weeks ago I have purchased a basic Rider Waite Tarot pack and I am wondering,can I use these cards in rituals?I have heard that I can,so I am wondering,how can I do that?Can I also use rituals I have created myself ? p.s.Any spell with Tarot cards will help!

Tarot cards represent various correspondances. Each card has its own numerical value, but also its own zodiac and planetary correlations. Each card in the major arcana corresponds to a hebrew letter. Each card has its own day, month, tree, stone. I don't know where to find a list but if you could find your own that would help. You can also create your own correspondances. What you would use tarot cards for in rituals is to represent qualities related to your spell. So say you want to do a love spell. Well the obvious card to use would be the lovers card. Say you want to gain new knowledge, you'd use the magician or high preistess. If you incorperate entire spreads into your spells then this can get really really complicated and specific. But weather you focus on using one card or several at a time the basic idea remains the same - use the cards to represent your spell. If you do this they'll act as focusing devices and will aid in setting clear intentions and harnessing the appropriate energy.

lately i m using court cards for 'conneting' with person one specific card represents. i havent noticed any distorsions in divination using that same deck.

I guess the degree to which using your cards as both an active and a passive focus would vary depending on how you structure your rituals. I have found that it is customary to have separate decks for these different purposes. I think that it is a good idea also because some decks are more suitable for pathworking or other specific purposes.

I found that when I was not careful about separating the divinatory function from an active mindset I use in workings, that my divinatory abilities suffered.

motsie

im totally guilty of using my tarot cards ritually...


in addition to what has already been said... i personally recommend having a separate dack for "other use" because individual cards have a way of becoming soiled, bent or otherwise altered in appearance and can definitely interfere with shuffling, maintaining randomness etc

...not to mention sometimes a card needs to stay separate for the duration of the working etc. and you may forget if you put it back or not, and no one wants to count millions of cards before doing an important reading, lol ive been there.

just as in a deck of cards one plays poker with, you want your cards to remain in relative order as not to interfere with "the game"

in any case... do whatever feels right for you and dont worry if its your only deck... you can always get a nicer set any time. also, there are some non-tarot fortunetelling cards which can be used this way.. if that interests you more than traditional readings.

-v

Greetings, Check out www.supertarot.co.uk This may or may not help. The site owners book's not to bad either.

People have made great suggestions about learning the cards more before you work rituals with them and I agree with what they say. But I believe you can learn about them as you're doing rituals without much harm - as long as you keep your rituals minor.

Donald Tyson recently put out a book called Portable Magic that is entirely about using the Tarot for rituals. It's quite good, and simple to implement. It also works fast. Have a look for it on Amazon, or your book seller of choice.

Portable Magick could be a good choice or Tarot & Magick by Donald Kraig, both are good for someone to learn the basics. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

This post has been edited by redhand: Oct 18 2006, 11:36 PM

The Tarot & Magic that redhand mentions includes chapters on magick, tarot spells, astral projection and talismans and the tarot. It is quite good in explaining magic in relation to the cards but if you are looking for a book that shows which cards for a speciified outcome, then Tarot Spells by Janina Renee has illustrations on each set of cards you would need for say career improvement or making decision, however, I would personally choose my own wordings, hers are poetic and you may prefer more straightforward requests.

My first deck was the 1JJ Swiss: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/badmood.gif) .


A big problem with the deck is that the minor arcana looks more like playing cards, with pips instead of illustrations. The 1JJ is significantly different from the Waite or Crowley decks and is based more closely on the early tarot (especially the Marseille). In spite of this -maybe because of it- understanding the symbols without Golden Dawn/Thelemite symbolism wasn't difficut (memorising the minor arcana was...).
Now I use a Crowley deck, though I use Waite cards if I'm reading for somebody else. When you look at the cards you're also looking through them, because you have to see all the connections and knots in different configurations. Doing all this kills distraction, which makes divination possible (or any magick really). It helps draw you up to a point of focus/gnosis. I think the actual divination occurs in your understanding, with the cards as some kind of medium towards that. In that way, you could look at all your tarot spreads as ritual. Ritual space is involved when you shuffle the cards, lay them out, flip them over and try reading them. Investing the reading with the presence of a deity/entity, maybe allowing them to guide/prompt the reading, could be interesting to try: it would make it more like some kind of evocation.

Give yourself some time with the cards away from books full of supplied meanings, because no matter how much of somebody else's philosophy you get you'll only learn things in a particular way. It is challenging to face the cards like this, but first-hand experience is so much better than any description. Other people's opinions fill out the bigger scope of the cards and paint in shades of meaning, but before jumping into all the literature you should find out how the cards relate to YOU.

Edit: A good book to explore once you'd want to is 'The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination' by Robert M. Place.

This post has been edited by tyrian: Nov 4 2006, 02:46 AM

I have to agree that you should find out how the cards relate to you, but a basic key word association help in finding the deeper meanings of the cards, as in why the art work is represented the way it is. Just my oppinion on the manner. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/evilB.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/evilB.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/evilB.gif)