The Role Divination has in the Great Work

There have been many times during a Tarot reading where I pay little attention to the Tarot cards. There have been times when I’ve only glanced at them.

In a Tarot Reader – How to go from beginner to expert in three easy steps, I discuss the natural learning cycle all Tarot readers go through. They start by learning the basics of whatever technique they choose, then they get competent with that technique, then finally, they abandon that technique. Eventually, the technique itself becomes a hindrance and the reading starts to suffer.

Why is this?

Because a technique is an artificial device that’s designed to help you get results that, under certain specific circumstances, could be achieved without them. Great readings can happen naturally with no technique at all. Of all the methods we learn, the techniques we practice, the decks we buy, the books we learn form, they’re all tools to help us reach a “certain place”. Like a road map they guide us, but once we’ve been there more than once, we already know the way. We don’t need the map anymore. We can get there on our own – and we might even take the scenic route along the way!

What are you talking about?

I’m talking about psychic ability.

Sure, some people are born psychic and they don’t need maps to guide them – they can pick up a Tarot deck without ever having seen one before an make predictions better than someone who has been studying the Tarot for years. However, that doesn’t mean that people who aren’t born psychic can’t become so. That’s what learning all the techniques and methods are about; they’re about providing you with a map to “psychic land”.

There comes a point for all Tarot readers who weren’t born psychic where, eventually, they end up abandoning all the techniques previously learned. Where, without them, they can provide better, more accurate readings. Why has this happened? Because the techniques they spent years learning had served their purpose. They guided the reader to “psychic land” enough times that they instinctively knew how to get back there. And that is what it’s all about – getting back to “psychic land” naturally, without aids.

The Great Work

The Great Work is a term that comes from Alchemy – the process of turning base matter into gold. Throughout the course of history its meaning has developed. The way I like to think of the Great Work is the process ( usually through various techniques ) leading to the mystical union of the Self with the All.

The Great Work is the uniting of opposites. It may mean the uniting of the soul with God, of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of the female with the male, of the ego with the non-ego.
Aleister Crowley

Essentially, the Great Work involves having knowledge of ones own Being.

What does this have to do with Divination?

I finally got my hands on The Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of Mystical Philosophy. There’s a section in the back of the book about Divination. Naturally, this was the first place I looked.

Here is what Robert Wang had to say about divination:

It may come as a surprise to some to learn that the primary reason for divination in the Great Work is not to learn the future. Rather, it is for the development of psychic faculties. The more one uses the Tarot cards to find answers to given questions, the more that person taps into unseen currents. Those who have used the Tarot cards for years will attest to the fact that there comes a point where the cards are not longer necessary to an accurate divination. Answers to specific problems are simply felt.

Notice that he’s not saying don’t do divination! What he’s saying is that divination, reading Tarot cards, divining the future, can all be used towards the Great Work.

He continues with some advice:

Most people tend to consider psychism a natural talent, something with which one is born, and that is true. It is, however, possible to consciously develop psychic abilities. To this end, it is necessary to test these growing abilities fearlessly, by expressing feelings about situations and being willing to be wrong! Yet the student of Tarot will find that his “guesses” are increasingly correct, as his friends’ responses will corroborate.
Robert Wang

The rest of the section continues with him sharing his ideas on divination and psychism.

What’s interesting about viewing the Tarot in this way is how divination itself actively aids us in the Great Work.

Conclusion

I wasn’t born psychic. I’m not even sure I would describe myself as such even now. However, I do fall into the category of rarely thinking about what the Tarot cards mean, what technique I’m using or what to do when things go wrong. That’s not to say that I give great readings all the time, I don’t. I let pressure and desire interfere.

Psychism is just one small part of the Great Work, but it’s a part that the Tarot plays a big role in. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Tarot plays a much bigger role in the Great Work than developing Psychic abilities. It helps us, amongst many things, become aware of who we are!

(Theoretically) Related Posts:

• The Kabbalah: What does the word mean? An exploration
• Why using Rationality to Access Intuition Works
• Which Tarot Deck is the right Deck to learn with?
• The Tarot Location Challenge
• The Complete Guide To Using Elemental Dignities In A Tarot Reading!

Tagged as: Golden Dawn