Tarot and the Magus
Opening the Key to Divination, Magick and the Holy Guardian Angel
by Paul Hughes-Barlow
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The Tarot and the Magus is a groundbreaking work that takes the Tarot into previously unexplored areas of divination magic and spirituality.
The book takes you through new and innovative methods of using previously hidden techniques of divination and analysis that opens up new areas of research into the Tarot. The first half of the book is dedicated to a step by step demonstration of these techniques, which all complement each other, and build the confidence of the tarot reader.
These divination techniques lay the foundation for the development of magical and spiritual techniques beyond the Tree of Life, an area previously the domain of advanced magicians. The Tree of Life has been used to define the Tarot, but there is also the Atbash Code, a technique used by Kabbalists (and recently popularised by Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code). The author demonstrates safe and effect means of accessing the spiritual powers that lay dormant within all of us using divination techniques, the Atbash Code and the Tarot.
Until now, magicians have been unaware of the spiritual and magical power of the Tarot, instead preferring complex ritual magical techniques that require immense preparation for magical tools, a temple space, and a lot of courage. Now, armed only with a Tarot deck and the previously hidden divination techniques, the magician has the power to access the spiritual powers within, spirits who will work willingly with the magician, making the transformation into the Magus.
If you only wish to extend your divination skills using the Tarot, you will be amply rewarded. Professional tarot readers will find the edge in improving their earning ability using the skills demonstrated in the book.
The book is illustrated with the classic Thoth Tarot deck designed by Aleister Crowley and executed by Frieda Harris, bringing new insights into the design of this powerful and enigmatic deck.
Reviews
Essentially what this book describes is a way to navigate the Tarot such that it can be used to control the energies of reality directly. The techniques are simple, once you get used to them. The old spread used, called the 'Opening of the Key', begins with cutting the cards into four piles (for the four elements), and then analysing them - or mostly perhaps, analysing only one, the one most connected with the question at hand. The reason Hughes-Barlow's ideas are fizzing along at a mile a minute, leaving the rest of us scrambling to catch up, is that *he's onto something!!!*
There's no predetermined positioning of card meanings (this card for 'past', this for 'love', this for 'obstacle', etc.) It is *the way the cards position themselves* that determines the meaning, which the querent can determine by a highly elegant process that gradually zeroes in on aspects of the *patterns* they make.
Firstly operations such as interpreting the top card, counting the cards to determine an associated Major Arcanum, seeing if there are three- or four-of-a-kind, and so on, are carried out, to give a general flavour. Then cards are paired from the outside to the middle, and interpreted afterwards in threes by the system of elemental dignities, which gives a kind of topography to the querent's situation. Court cards emerge as people, minors as their actions, majors as the things acting upon them. A story materialises as if out of a dream.
At this stage Hughes-Barlow brilliantly employs the old Golden Dawn counting technique to build a kind of 'tree' of events and energies - this leading to this, how this person or that sees the past and the future. All of these operations are based upon his ideas of elemental dignities, the interactions between the elements (Fire Water Air and Earth) that the cards represent. These and the counting process suddenly show which cards are important and which insignificant, which have power to act and which have their energies restricted. A complete picture of the situation develops.
As if such a beautiful system weren't enough, Hughes-Barlow goes further - *far* further, bringing in ideas that are profound beyond any Tarot book I have ever seen. Certain cards in the pile (or 'string' as he often calls it, bringing to mind DNA, which is by no means a spurious notion) will be what he calls 'unaspected', that is, the counting process will seem to miss them out. What this means is that the energies of this card play into the situation but are in some way invisible or unknown - they have a *magical* use. By bringing in the energies of these cards, the subject of the reading can change his or her future. (By the way, on his superb website supertarot.co.uk, you can find astrological associations in the cards that allow you great precision with dates in readings - dates not only of events necessarily, but perhaps of magical rituals to bring in the energies required).
But the author hardly stops there! He has realised something - seems to have been realising these things almost in the act of writing the book, which is why it can be hard to follow - and that is that these techniques of counting and pairing the cards bear an astonishing resemblance to the kabbalistic techniques of people like Abraham Abulafia, who permutated the letters IHVH (the four elements) towards a meeting with God. Because the cards do represent Hebrew Letters and have such specific associations with the elements, the processes involved in a Tarot reading thus become a way to meet God too, or in magical terms to encounter the Holy Guardian Angel.
Furthermore, by employing the pairing technique on the Major Arcana ordered 0-21, Hughes-Barlow actually discovered that he was summoning Goetic and Liber 231 spirits - he had no plan to do so, they all showed up, the experience was very enjoyable (in contrast to the average evocation, as he points out), and occurred as a natural result of the process. The implications are extraordinary - properly interpreted, the Tarot deck becomes the greatest magical and spiritual tool imaginable. It's a far cry from the usual fortune-telling stuff!
So no, this is hardly a simple read. But the reason that most Tarot books are so neat and well-organised is that they simply restate what other books say! This one is a quantum leap forward for Tarot and magic, and further more the author insists on bringing in everything he can think of, from gematriot to shamanism, to throw light on the situation. If you are interested in ideas that will be the mainspring of much development in magic in the next century, be in on it at the beginning and buy this book. The techniques in it simply cannot fail to profoundly alter your life and perspective for the better.
Jason Wingate
Aeon Books, although a young publisher, are making impressive offerings, and sourcing exciting new writers on diverse subjects of Occult interest. P.H-B is one of the best I've read for a long time. I suspect that Oliver, the publisher has some more stunning authors up his sleeve!
In line with the previous two books, this is another scholarly tome. Exquisitely written, this is a Grimoire for both present and future. Paul Hughes-Barlow has written a book that looks deeper into the Tarot than the usual books on the subject. His original intention was to write a treatise on the Opening of the Key Spread, but this quickly developed into something much more.
TATM is a book that covers the tarot deck from an holistic view, rather than separating it into constituent parts. This is not a book for beginners, though. You will need a knowledge of working with the Tarot to get the most from this book. Oh, and a copy of Liber 231. You should also be comfortable working with spirits and some desire to gain the Knowledge and Conversation with you Holy Guardian Angel... . Not something to be embarked upon lightly. However, Paul is a good tour guide - think of him as a seasoned explorer telling you what you will encounter during your trip... plus where to meet the best spirits. This is one of the most interesting books I've had to review, and also one of the most difficult. Prepare for some life changes after reading this because after working through it, life will not seem quite the same again. You will not be surprised to know that P.H-B and Prospero know each other quite well, and I'm sure an afternoon in the pub with both would be highly educational. Highly recommended.
John Randall, Pentacle Magazine. Five Stars
This is a very serious book and should be treated as such. If you have just been dabbling with learning the tarot cards, this book is not for you but if you have a desire to build upon your tarot reading skills, this is invaluable. Apart from discussing the relationship between the cards in depth, the author teaches readers how to open communication with their Holy Guardian Angel, a process which allows for a good tarot reader to become an exceptional one. It is extremely powerful stuff but has the benefits of being safe, well-researched and well thought out. You should not ignore your own intuition when working with the tarot but this book will allow you to get a good grounding in what each card is saying within a spread. There is an emphasis on the magickal aspects of tarot and some may find this a little off-putting but for a balanced tarot reader, it is good to get different approaches to the cards before picking the one you're comfortable with.
Prediction Magazine Review, August 2004, Reviewer: T.E.
As a scientist/agnostic towards much of divination and a comparative newcomer to Tarot reading, I have found your work on "supertarot" has maintained my interest where most else would have failed! I am particularly pleased to see the extent to which your new ideas on this topic are covered. I am also relieved to see the great "basic stuff", that we know and love from "supertarot", now also receives the full and polished treatment!
An Oxfordshire readerThere is a lot here to study & assimilate but suddenly the GD Opening of the Key has become more accessible and meaningful. Your book makes possible Dion Fortune's statement that divination is a "spiritual diagnosis".
I'm sure in time it will become essential reading for GD initiates and magicians everywhere...
Frater AMRA
Online Reviews
- Price: £14.99
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