Tarot and healing

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Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop, Imbolic 2014 edition. Today's subject is Tarot, creativity and healing. In light of that I thought that I would talk a little about a healing effort going on in the ceremonial magic community.

Simple layout for Tarot healing spells.

A few weeks ago, the ceremonial magic community learned that Donald Michael Kraig, best known as the author of Modern Magick, was suffering from stage four pancreatic cancer. Upon learning this news, several members of the ceremonial magic community started to post rituals to magically help Kraig survive this illness.

Donald Michael Kraig--author of Modern Magick.

I will admit that I find it interesting that I have yet to see anyone suggest that we need to do a divination before warming up our cauldrons and circles. One of the things that Kraig writes about in Modern Magick is that one should always perform a divination before doing magic. Basically, his position (to the best of my understanding) is that good intentions are not enough to prevent a spell from going dark--rather it is the eventual outcome of the spell that determines whether you were doing white, black, or grey magic.

No, I am not suggesting it either. While I might be using Tarot cards in my spellwork, they are for focusing purposes. My personal opinion is that this is one working that it is probably safe to skip the divination on.

(For the record, healing magic can turn negative...let's say you save the life of the next Adolf Hitler, that's probably dark mojo there. Or a child abuser. Or a drug kingpin. Or a serial killer. You get the idea. But in general, most healing spells can be assumed to be white magic, or grey at worst. Generally, most of us don't sweat the idea that a healing spell can lead to bad things.)

The idea behind using Tarot cards in spell work is that just like we use the symbols of Tarot to communicate with the universe about events, we can also use them to communicate with the universe about what we want to happen. In practice, it is like playing a game where you present a situation and guess what cards (forces and events) would come up in a reading that would be read as representing that situation.

(Practical hint--if you have never done this before, buy a separate Tarot deck for your spell work. It has been my experience that spell work with a deck hinders its use in divination.)

The first card of the spread represents the client to be healed. In this case, I chose the Magician because Kraig is a ceremonial magician and a writer.

The second card of the layout represents the illness to be healed. This does not have to be a physical illness; this layout can also be used for emotional, mental, and spiritual illnesses. In this case, I was undecided what card to use, so I looked up the astrological ruler of cancer in Rex E. Bills' The Rulership Book. According to Bills, cancer is ruled by the Moon and zodical sign of Cancer. D'oh! He also suggests looking up the organ in question, which in this case is the pancreas, which is also ruled by Cancer. Being someone who still uses the Golden Dawn attributions for the Tarot cards, that means it would be represented by the Chariot.

(Interestingly, I understand cancer to be a set of cells that are growing out of control--therefore, the symbolism of the Chariot does seem to fit the issue at hand.)

The third card represents the healing force to be activated and used in the curing of the illness. Honestly, I am not sure what force to use (while I have Reiki, I only have the first level of it). In general, healers (including doctors of modern medicine) are ruled by Virgo. (Except for faith healers, who are ruled by Neptune--they pull power from above, aka God.) So I figure using the Hermit (Virgo in GD terms) would be the proper card to use. Kraig will be undergoing procedures with doctors, so hopefully it helps the procedures to take and put the cancer in remission.

The final card of the spread is the hoped for outcome. In this case, it is a personal choice. I feel like I owe Kraig a drink or three, and hope to someday be able to buy him a drink or three.

(This involves me also overcoming my own health issue of moving vehicles being one of my migraine triggers, as well as my budget problems--gee, this spell has two layers to it...scary, isn't it? Yes, I just realized that.)

The reason I feel like I owe Kraig a drink or three is the fact that I was reading his book, Modern Magick, when my Golden Dawn sponsor first spotted me. If it wasn't for that book, my sponsor and mentor wouldn't have spotted me, and I might have ended up being a self-initiate, rather than being a Vaulted member of one of the many branches of the Golden Dawn system of magic. So I figure that if I ever meet Kraig that I should buy him a drink or three, just for getting me entry into the Temple.

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Ebay bans fortune tellers and miracle workers

[Update Sept 5th--there is some doubt that eBay has actually made a policy change. This may just be an internet illusion.]

[Additional update Sept 5th--having looked for the information, I can firmly say that this is actually going on...despite the fact that the information was buried deep on Ebay. Added another post with screenshots of the eBay information.]

Yesterday, a fuss started to be made on the blogosphere and Yahoo forums about eBay's recent decision to no longer allow the sale of fortune telling and spell-work. Initially, people were crying that it was a "pagan and Wiccan" ban, but a little research showed that pagan and Wiccan products were still allowed for sale, provided that they were physical items and not just services (good job, David, for spotting that).

Interestingly, the Los Angeles Times article include magic potions in the banned category (wait for it--I will have a few words about that before the end of this post).

Now, living in Denver and having been involved (somewhat--I was the public representative for the ROAM/EOEW at the time) in the fight against Denver's anti-fortune telling regulations, I am positive that it is a service ban and not a product ban. And unfortunately, I can understand eBay's position, just like I can understand the position of Denver's laws on fortune telling.

From 1950 to 2000, it was illegal to perform fortune telling in the city of Denver. The law was part of the anti-gypsy laws. (Discrimination is discrimination is discrimination.) There was a whole set of laws that were designed for the sole purpose of keeping gypsies from being able to make a living in the city of Denver. Violating the law could result in jail time. And then, it became legal to be a fortune teller, provided that you paid a fifty dollar a day license fee (which may still be on the books--I am not sure).

The law was only periodically enforced. The last time, the Denver Police Department decided to enforce it was 1999/2000. The Police Chief actually used the term "gateway crime" to describe fortune telling. Among the Wiccans who decided to fight the law, the joke was that obviously fortune telling led to drug abuse, prostitution, and urinating in public.

(The Wiccans managed to get the illegality of fortune telling overturned, but I am not sure about the license fee.)

But when you look at some of the bad fortune tellers out there (and occasionally, they make national news), fortune telling is a gateway crime. It is the hook to a bigger scam. "The reason why your life generally s***s rocks on toast is the fact that you have been cursed. For a thousand dollars and all your jewelry, I can lift that pesky curse off of you."

There are also things like Divination Addiction that helps make fortune telling a cash cow for those who do readings. Well, a cash cow for the dishonest readers.

And those are the fortune tellers that eBay is really targeting. Unfortunately to get rid of them, they have to get rid of everyone else who is offering such a service or variation thereof. Because of they leave any door open, the slimy con-artists will find it.

This ban is on ALL spiritual advisors and healers--there are a ton of Christian fortune tellers and miracle workers who are also affected by this ban.

(Kinda reminds of the little problem that is ongoing in the erotica market--the Forbidden Four sell, and some people are weasels who keep finding ways to continue writing about yucky themes.)

Now, let's look at from the viewpoint of Golden Dawn. One of the things that people talk about is how some Orders collect dues and provide astral initiations...and because you cannot prove that the officers involved are not sitting around drinking beer, they must be frauds. This is what eBay is targeting. How do we know that Reiki treatements are actually being done? How do we know that spellwork is actually being done? EBay doesn't know how to tell, and might be too lazy to check, therefore everyone selling a spiritual service is banned.

(On a sidenote: I have been told that astral initiation are a scam; self-initiations are a scam; books about the occult are a scam; products made by Golden Dawn members are a scam; and I have argued that memberships in Orders are a product, and have heard people argue that they are also a scam--in fact, I have been told that any Order collecting dues or any monies at all is running a scam. Basically, if you are charging for anything in the esoteric field, there is someone out there who is going to scream that you are running a scam. I tend to ignore the screams of fraud because everyone is accused, and a lot of the people doing the screaming are cheap-skates or sworn enemies of the people they are accusing. It is just easier to presume that everyone is a fraud, and ask yourself, despite that fact, if you find value in the product and/or service that someone is offering.)

Now, one of the loopholes that the frauds will try to use with eBay is the physical product loophole. But eBay is already going after the loophole with the ban on "magic potions." In other words, if the primary selling point is not the product, but its magical power, then it is banned. On the other hand, selling essence oil mixtures will still be acceptable provided that you make no claims about its spiritual and magical virtues (beyond the standard statement "Traditionally, this oil was used for XYZ magic").

So--do I agree with eBay's banning of spiritual advisors and miracle workers? No. Do I understand why they are doing it? Yes.

Denver Reiki Circle

Denver (Capital Hill) Reiki Circle

Free, kid friendly.

Where: Capitol Hill Community Center
(Annex Building around the eastern back area of the lot)
1290 William St. Denver CO 80218
(That is right next to Cheeseman Park.
One needs to be careful here; it is easy to make a wrong turn
and get lost driving around Cheeseman Park.)

Starts at 7:00 pm, ends at 9:00 pm.

February 18
March 18
April 15

Public Performance of GD Rituals

When I was at the Reiki Circle on Wednesday, before the meeting begun (before anyone other than the Jo, the organizer, and her daughter showed up) I started to do the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the Middle Pillar ritual.

Jo is well aware that I am a member of Golden Dawn. In fact, we first met at the July OFM (the one that I did that involved a long lecture about the food chain) and one of my fellow lodge members did the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram at the start of the ritual.

Anyway, while I was doing these rituals on Wednesday, a couple of people showed up. And I barely broke stride to wave them past and to tell them to pay no attention to me. I had my back turned when a third person showed up while I was in the midst of the Middle Pillar ritual.

And I didn't care.

As far as I am concerned the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the Middle Pillar ritual are common knowledge; if you are in any of the circles of the esoteric community, there is a good chance that you have encountered them.

In fact, one person later that night mentioned OTO and Golden Dawn (a failed joke that the two groups get along well with one another) and the another took the Middle Pillar to be a positive sign.

I have seen several groups using these two rituals often without knowledge of their original sources. These two rituals are also included in many public workshops and classes.

Because of this, I really don't consider it a violation of my oaths if outsiders see me, or another Golden Dawn member, perform them.

I do draw the line however in the fact that I will not perform the Supreme Rituals or the Portal version of the Middle Pillar ritual in public. They are not well-known enough that one can consider them part of the standard esoteric toolkit.

Reiki Circle tonight

Tonight is the Capitol Hill Reiki Circle. And like I have done the last few months, I will be attending. As many of my regular readers know, it is organized by a friend of mine, Jo, who is a Reiki III (Master).

Jo was the person that got me interested in Reiki. While my wife had a couple of books on the subject that I had leafed though, and only leafed though, I knew really nothing about the subject.

When I wrote a short article on the subject for CCD Campus Connections (the student newspaper of the Community College of Denver), I was starting from scratch.

[The Reiki article I wrote, I have since posted on Associated Content.]

I still don't know all that much about Reiki. Yet. But eventually, I plan on getting the first attunement. Perhaps the other two attunement also.

Honestly, it shores up a weakness in my own training as an Adept. We are a Rosicrucian Order in the Inner, except when you look at the Inner Order material, we have next to nothing on healing.

Perhaps, I should say nothing about healing; off the top of my head, I can't think of anything official in the RR et AC that deals with the subject, at least not openly.

So for awhile, if several of my posts and articles read like I am obsessed with Reiki this cycle, it is just that I am trying to figure out what should have been placed in this blank spot in the Golden Dawn lesson plan.

Reiki circle 19th of November

The next Capitol Hill Reiki Circle is November 19 from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Location: the Capitol Hill Community Center annex located on 1290 Williams St. Denver, CO 80218.

It is free and kid friendly.

Reiki circle 15th of October

There will be a Reiki Circle on Wednesday, the 15th of October from 7:00 pm to 8:45 pm at the Capitol Hill Community Center (1290 Williams St, Denver, CO 80218).

One needs to be cautious about where they turn in this neighborhood; it is easy to make a wrong turn and end up driving around in circles in Cheeseman Park.

It is free to attend, and it is kid friendly.

Denver Reiki Circle

I have learned that there will be a Reiki Circle on Wednesday, the 17th of September, from 7:15 pm to 8:45 pm at the Capitol Hill Community Center (1290 Williams St, Denver, CO 80218). It is free to attend, and it is kid friendly.