If There Is One Technique you Must Learn — This is it!

I know you were just thinking to yourselves: man, I hope Doug posts some super nerdy, completely obscure and geeky approach to reading Tarot, the kind that if you start talking about it at parties means you’re walking home alone that night. Don’t worry, I got your back.

For the last six months or so, I’ve been playing around with a technique that I feel has made an enormous impact on the quality of the readings I produce. It’s deceptively simple in execution but surprisingly complex to apply (yup, it’s a contradiction and one I’m sure you’ll come to appreciate when you start giving this a go). I love it and I want to share it with you.

I should mention that I’m not going to cover any of the complex theory behind this technique, in part because I’m not convinced it’s helpful, but also because the theory itself would be in danger of overshadowing the technique (it would demand a post in its own right).

For anyone who is interested in the theory then the abstract framework or thinking behind this technique concerns the Qabbalah and the Tree-of-Life. Don’t worry if you don’t know anything about the Tree-of-Life, I’ll do my best to cover all the practical information you’ll need to know in order to use this technique. Of course, if you want to learn more, then I would recommend the Book of Thoth — which is how I began to learn, and where I got the idea for this technique.

What is the technique?

The Technique is a Meditation. Eventually you will be able to apply it within a Tarot reading, but initially it’s a meditation.

The Technique itself starts as a thought experiment on the structure of Tarot. First, you must view the 22 Major Arcana has having an unusual and perhaps special role within a Tarot deck. Taking this perception a little further, imagine that each of the 22 Major Arcana had its own set of “small cards” that live inside it; each of the 22 Trumps having its own separate Universe.

Each Atu (Major Arcana) possesses its own private, personal and particular Universe, with Demiourgos (and all the rest) complete, just as every man and every woman does.

— From The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley: p189

With this way of viewing the Tarot held firmly in your mind, imagine also that the Court Cards and the Minor Arcana make up the skeletal framework of that universe — the stuff that makes things work, or what holds it together.

The next point is very important. These cards (the 56 small cards) are Blind Forces. They constitute what the Universe is, how it maintains itself, but not how it’s experienced. It’s the 22 Major Arcana that experience these Blind Forces, and each one of the 22 Major Arcana will experience these 56 small cards in its own unique way.

What do you mean by a Blind Force?

Think of it like this: Someone may have a different experience of public transport than another. The public transport is a Blind Force. It is public transport; it’s only people’s perceptions that give it a different story (because each person has a different experience of it). Likewise, the Small cards are the Small cards; it’s only the Major Arcana’s perception of them that give them a different story (because each individual Major Arcana has a different experience of them).

It’s similar to the concept that each individual has their own universe. There is only one Universe but each person experiences their own Universe uniquely.

Think of a Blind Force as something that lacks intelligence. Now the Small cards do have intelligence but they are blind as to how to execute their Being or Function. That is where the Major Arcana comes in. They provide these Blind Forces with meaning — a way for us to understand their specific expression.

I want to stress that I’m not saying that the Minor Arcana have no personality, because they do. For instance, under the Qabbalistic system, the 5 of Wands is subject to many different factors which ultimately result in it being named Strife. The reason I’m explaining things in this way is in an attempt to clarify the importance of seeing the 56 Small cards as Blind Forces.

To summarise:

• The 56 Small cards are the Skeleton of the Universe.
• The 56 Small cards are Blind Forces.
• The 22 Trumps are unique in that they have experience of these Blind Forces.
• The 22 Trumps will experience these Blind Forces in their own unique way, according to their nature.

A handy way to remember all that is to think of each of the 22 Trump cards as having its own Universe, or set of 56 small cards living within it.

Okay, now that we have a sense of what mindset is required in order to do this meditation, what does the technique look like?

How to do it!

1. Select one of the 56 Small cards: The actual choice doesn’t matter. The important factor lies in picking a card you want to learn about. This excercise is very much a meditation as well as a great way to improve your Tarot readings so picking a card that you want to understand, or get to know better is a great way to start.
2. Make sure to have all 22 Major Arcana separated out from the rest of the deck: Because this technique involves learning how the Major Arcana experience the Small cards, it’s helpful to meditate on what a particular Small card will represent for all 22 Trump cards. The best way to approach this meditation is to pick a Small card ( a Minor or Court card — it doesn’t matter) and deal out a Trump card. Interpret the combination and then deal out another Trump card. Repeat until you have interpreted that Small card against all the 22 Major Arcana.
3. Remember, the Small cards live inside each Trump card: Although I have said earlier that you combine the two cards. This isn’t completley true. Each of the Trump cards has its own Universe, with its own set of Small cards. Rather than think, “combine the Lovers with the 4 of Cups”, think, “the Lovers’ 4 of Cups!” It’s a kind of ownership.
4. Write down some quick impressions of each combination: This is critical. Apart from all the obvious benefits, it will aid you in your understanding of the function and behavior of the 22 Trumps.

Example to make things clearer

The following example comes from the Book of Thoth. In it, Crowley uses the Blind Force of the Three of Disks throughout the example. Essentially what he’s doing is to express the Three of Disks through the individual Major Arcana to illustrate how they will alter the experience of this card.

The Priestess’ or the Lovers’ Three of Disks might represent the establishment of such an oracle as that of Delphi, or Adjustment’s (Justice) might be the first formula of a code such as Manu gave to Hindustan; Hierophant’s, a cathedral; Tower’s, a standing army; and so on. The great point is that all the Elemental Forces (the “small cards”), however sublime, powerful, or intelligent, are blind forces and no more.

— Paraphrased from The Book of Thoth by Aliester Crowley: p189

The difference between local and global meanings

Global meanings involve things that impact a large group of people (like a political policy that bans smoking from public buildings). It is a way of describing a group of people that may not know each other but are, or will be, affected by some kind of big event. Things like natural disasters, war, the economy, and so on, would fall into this category.

There are two different types of local meanings. The first is the type of meanings we develop when we first learn Tarot cards and the second is specific to clients the Tarot reader has never met. Lets look at both in turn.

When we first start learning how to read Tarot cards, we normally start by reading for our friends. This can end up being problematic because we already know our friends. We already know their relationship status, financial circumstance and career goals. We already know what they want and how they feel about things which unfortunately means that the Tarot cards start to take on a local meaning. In other words, localised to that Tarot reader and their particular social group (which will undoubtedly share commonalities between all of them — similar political, religious, philosophical ideas, relationship understanding and geographical location).

On the other hand, when that Tarot reader turns professional, they will be reading for people they can’t relate to. They will be reading for people that have radically different religious, political and career related opinions and goals. Just think about how even something as simple as living in a completley different geographical location can radically alter the meaning of the cards — and the Tarot reader’s ability to relate to that different geographical location. Despite this development in meanings, it’s still localised to the client the Tarot reader is reading for.

Examples of the difference between local and global meanings

Major Arcana in the 4 of Swords	Global	Local
The Fool	Social unrest; Riots; Anarchy.	Surprise Illness.
The Magician	Political Spin concerning a policy nobody wants dressed up as the need for Social Harmony.	A Surgeon carrying out a medical procedure on the client.
The Priestess	The outlawing of Spiritual ideas.	The need for acceptance outweighs the need to be oneself!
The Empress	The care and rebuilding of a country’s people and infrastructure after War.	A nursing home/personal care.
The Emperor	A Dictatorship — or enforcing Martial Law.	Being bullied at work.
The Hierophant	A Religious Law or Doctrine that is enforced.	Taking a day off work by calling in sick.

Why this isn’t the same as regular card combinations

In regular card combinations you take one card and combine it with another in order to produce a child of that combination (something separate and unique). However, this technique involves specifically seeing the Small cards as Blind forces. This means that we are not adding to the Small card, rather, we are looking to how the Major Arcana, whatever one it may be, experiences it. This is a very subtle but powerful distinction.

The Conclusion

Part of the power of this technique is its ability to be used as a mediation. When practicing, try to expand your interpretations to be as global as possible. Look at Crowley’s interpretations for some awesome and inspirational examples. Rather than seeing the Heirophant’s Three of Disks as something related to the career (study for advancement) of the person being read for, Crowley used a global interpretation — a Cathedral.

How does this benefit me?

1. Most events happen within the context of bigger events. By being able to indicate some bigger events to the client, at the very least it will help with timing the local prediction.
2. One benefit that I like, although I accept that this won’t appeal to everyone, is that it allows my readings to become more Oracle like. Consider the predictions from Mythology (and the style in which they’re delivered).
3. By focusing on pure predictive, the possibility for personal growth, understanding (both of oneself, the Tarot and the Universe) is undoubtedly improved.
4. The deepening knowledge of the cards goes without saying, but the pathworking experiences that I’ve had doing this is something I consider to be invaluable.
5. Finally, the quality of your Tarot readings will increase. This isn’t a particularly conscious thing. It just happens.

The ability for this technique to change how you read Tarot cards is immense. I think it’s only natural that people will start by applying local meanings (or whatever it is you relate to) to this technique. However, I think it’s important to examine your interpretation and make sure you haven’t just done a regular card pairing? Could you make this meaning more Global?

This technique does demand a good, core understanding of the 22 Major Arcana. Don’t worry if you feel like you’re currently lacking this, because this technique is precisely geared towards developing your core understanding. Remember to record your experiences. This will become invaluable as time goes by.

At the beginning of this article I said that this technique was “deceptively simple in execution but surprisingly complex to apply”. I hope you can see why this contradiction actually makes some kind of bizarre sense. It doesn’t matter that this technique is easy to understand and practice, it’s actually really tough to do it properly — because it demands that we really think about the relationships that the Major Arcana have with the small cards.

What do you think of the technique? Do you do something similar and if so, what is it? Let me know how you get on with this technique or anything you have done to improve or modify it in some way — especially any examples you may wish to share. I’ll see you in the comments.

(Theoretically) Related Posts:

• Improve your Tarot Readings Activley with the Rule of 2 — Guaranteed
• How to Troubleshoot a Tarot Reading when it makes no Sense
• Which Tarot Deck is the right Deck to learn with?
• A Quick Tip on using The Major Arcana
• The Chariot Card! A Triumphant Victory or a Personification of the Church?

Tagged as: Crowley, Tarot Lexicon, Trumps