Liber Azag: The Book of Tarot written by Frater Akenu
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Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................4 How to select cards...................................................................................5 Spreads.....................................................................................................6 Card Of The Day....................................................................................7 Two Cards Of The Day...........................................................................8 Three Card Spread................................................................................9 Blind Spot............................................................................................10 The Cross............................................................................................12 The Relationship Spread.....................................................................14 The Decision Game.............................................................................16 Special cards...................................................................................16 The Path..............................................................................................18 The Celtic Cross..................................................................................19 Astrology Circle...................................................................................23 How to read the astrology spread...................................................25 The Fool Game spread........................................................................26
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Introduction Tarot is a truly amazing piece of divination system. It was originally derived from a card game called tarocchi. Many people claim that the divination system was first, but check the history. The thing is that it doesn't really matter, which was first, tarot is still an awesome tool for divination. It speaks to us through names, positions, symbology, correspondences, but mainly through our own intuition. The nice part is that you don't need to necessarily believe in the power of tarot and it can still mesmerize you. It can give you the proof you need to believe. But the best part is you do not to be a spiritual person at all, you yourself can take the whole thing psychologically. You can follow the paradigm that you unconsciously knew or expected something to happen and the tarot's symbology just helped you to name it. Whatever the reality is, just enjoy the tool. In this book we will use Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck. Use any deck you are resonating with, just keep in mind that descriptions written here might have little to no significance for other decks, but spreads described here will still be useful no matter what deck you got. There is also something to remember, things revealed by tarot are not to be taken as a guide, more like a recommendation, keep that in mind and don't screw something up, ok? Remember to always think about stuff, be analytical and be patient. The Tarot deck is split into Major and Minor arcana. Major arcana (also called trumphs) contains 22 cards. Minor arcana contains 56 cards. 4
Those 56 cards are split into suits, each suit has 14 cards. Suits commonly are Wands, Swords, Cups and Pantacles (or Coins). Each suit contains 10 numeric cards and 4 court cards: Knights, Queens, Princes, Princesses (or traditionally: Kings, Queens, Knights, Pages).
How to select cards There are two major ways of selecting cards for interpretation. First method is to spread the whole deck and select cards with your left hand (left part of the body is controlled by right hemisphere, the intuitive half of the brain). Second method is to shuffle the cards till you get the "this is right" feeling when you stop and then you pick cards from the top. This feeling is hard to describe, but don't worry, you will know exactly when to stop. I recommend to use the shuffling method for spreads where there are more cards and left hand picking method for spreads with fewer cards. A good method for the left hand is to wave your hand slowly right above the deck and pick cards that seem to emit heat, unfortunately this method is time consuming so use it really just for few cards. Keep also in mind that no one else should touch your deck, it is always better when personal electromagnetic fluids are not mixed, whether you believe it or not. When you do a reading for someone else, always pick cards for them. Speaking of readings for others, some people use reversed cards for readings, as well. Usual question in such situation is whether cards should be taken as reversed fro the point of view of a reader or of a querent. 5
Reader interprets the cards so the reader's point of view is always the one that is being considered.
Spreads The heart of the Tarot are spreads. An indepth interpretations of correctly chosen spread give us the best understanding of the question at hand. It is a common sense that simple spreads are easier to learn but less descriptive, so bear that in mind during the beginning.
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Card Of The Day Let's start with the easiest of the spreads. You pick just one card and that card represents the experience of your day, these are usually selected in the morning to see what's coming at you. You can either try to memorize it and match your day accordingly, or you can just select the card, keep it separately somewhere and reveal what the card was during the evening, that way it won't be a selffilling prophecy. This spread is really simple, even a beginner can do it, unfortunately one card won't give you much information so this spread is usually used just for the beginning when you start working with Tarot.
Image 1: One card spread
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Two Cards Of The Day This spread is hardly ever used or described and frankly I do not know why. It's a simple, yet amazing beginner's spread teaching you something you will need to use later for more complicated spreads, it teaches you a relationship between cards. You know, every position in spreads has its unique meaning, but you always need to consider the spread as the whole, else your readings will be just an half of what it should be. For this spread you pick two cards. Each card represents one quality of your day, one positive and one negative, but what is really the very definition of your day is the difference between those two cards. It can be very tricky to spot the difference sometimes, especially when cards seem to mean the same thing, but when you get it, you will be amazed how much information this spread can actually give to you. This spread also can be used as an quick overview of what happens if we do something. Then the first card shows the positive aspect of the action and the second card shows the negative aspect of the action. You could say these cards represent good and bad consequences.
Image 2: Two cards spread 8
Three Card Spread Infamous Three Card Spread also known as the Past,Present,Future spread. As the name hints, you select three cards. First refers to your past, second to your present and the third one to the future. This spread is heavily used by beginners and rarely by an experienced reader who wants just some basic overview of the progression of the situation. Biggest mistake with this spread is to consider cards separately only. This spread shows a flow of events and this flow naturally goes from past to the present, from the present to the future and from the past to the future, so to interpret it correctly you also have to consider the difference between the Past and Present, between Present and Future and between the Past and the Future. This is the skill that we mentioned in the Two Cards Of The Day spread.
Image 3: Three cards spread
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Blind Spot An amazing introspection spread, it's the easiest of all introspection spread (these are usually difficult). It can give you an insight into who you really are and how you are perceived by others. It is quite healthy to use this spread at least every two weeks. For this spread you need to pick 4 cards. Card 1: Well known identity This card represents a well known aspect of you, known by you and the others really well. Card 2: Big unknown This card represents the part of your personality that is known neither to you nor to the others. Same as for the card number 4, this card is hard to interpret. Card 3: Shadow This is something you know about yourself but you purportedly hide it from the others. It might be something you are ashamed of or what you think people wouldn't understand. Card 4: Blind spot This is the part known by others but you are not aware of it. The heart of this spread lies here. It can be very difficult to interpret the card on this position but when that happens it's a truly deep experience.
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Image 4: Blind spot
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The Cross Very simple spread with a variety of uses, it gives a general overview of the situation, tells what the next step should be or explains certain events. It is also used to explain other cards. For this spread pick 4 cards. Variation A: Card 1: This Card 2: This Card 3: This Card 4: This
is is is is
what's it about what isn't important important now where it leads to
Variation B: Next step Card 1: This is what it's about Card 2: This shouldn't be done Card 3: This is the next step, this should be done Card 4: This is where it leads to. Variation C: Card explanation Card 1: This is what's it about Card 2: This is what the card doesn't mean Card 3: This is what the card truly means, what it represents. Card 4: This is what the card is good for, where it leads to. Variation A is good for the general summary of the situation. Variation B is to ask what your next step should be to achieve something. Then the first card represents your desired goal, second card what you should avoid, third card shows what should be done and fourth card shows the best possible scenario that can take place if you follow the defined step. If card number 1 or number 4 is negative, maybe you should try to reconsider your goal. Variation C is used after other spreads. Let's say you have a Wheel of Fortune card on some weird position in some 12
spread and you want to know what it means. You then pick four cards with the intention to understand this card on this position and The Cross will explain what it means.
Image 5: The Cross
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The Relationship Spread An amazing spread to gain some insight into the current state of a current relationship. It can be a relationship between colleagues, friends, lovers, etc. For this spread you have to select 7 cards. The first card in the center represents the general summary of the relationship, the overview of the current state. Left column represents the querent and the right column represents the other half of the relationship (colleague, lover, friend, etc). Top row represents the mental plane of the relationship (what you think about the relationship and about each other). Middle row represents emotional plane (how you feel about the relationship). Bottom row represents the physical level (how you act). Now, a court cards have a special meaning in this spread. Opposite gender cards (female for a man or male for a woman) shows some sort of affection, either to another person or to some mental image of how the querent should behave (or behaved in the past). Such a court card in the top row of the partner's side means your partner thinks about such a person, in the middle row that he likes/loves such a person and in the bottom row he has a physical relationship with such a person (now, always remember to use e.g. The Cross spread for further clarification, don't just attack someone because you have doubts). Having a same sex court cards can mean your partner (or you, of course) are trying to thinking like someone else, 14
feel like someone else or look like someone else (depending on the row). It means you have some role model you want to imitate. This can also be the reason of a bad relationship situation.
Image 6: The Relationship Spread
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The Decision Game This spread seems to have a little unreasonable setup, it's because of its history (coming from the Two Cards spread and Three Cards spread). Let's say you have to decide if you should do something or what way to go if you are stick between two ways. This spread gives you an overview of the situation and also events that will arrive on either of these paths in the chronological order. Card number 7 shows the general summary of the whole problem, here you will learn if the whole situation is actually worth the consideration. Cards 3, 1, 5 show the chronological order from left to right of what will happen if you choose path A. Work with these the same as if they were the Three Cards spread. Cards 4, 2, 6 shows the chronological order from left to right of what will happen if you choose the path B. There are also special cards that have special meanings when they appear on either of the path (so everywhere except card 7).
Special cards The Decision Game also has a special cards. When one of these special cards appear on either of the path (so everywhere except card 7), it has a special meaning VI The Lovers: This means that decision was already made to follow that path X Wheel of Fortune: Means that querrent isn't free in the choice and at least in the beginning he should try to walk this path 16
XVII The Star: Shows the path of the future XX The Aeon: Same as XVII The Star XXI The Universe: Shows the real place where querrent belongs into.
Image 7: The Decision Game
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The Path This spread is very useful to find out what we should do to achieve our goals. Card number 1 is the significator, it is a summary of our goal in question. Left column shows how we behave and the right one how we should behave to achieve our goal, and from the top row to the bottom row on the mental, emotional and physical level (just like in the case of Relationship spread).
Image spread
8:
The
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Path
The Celtic Cross The most famous of all spreads, unfortunately also the most overused one. The Celtic Cross is a common-use spread, if you don't know what spread to use for the reading, use this one. This spread has qualities of many aforementioned spreads, plus it shows many tendencies we want to use or avoid. Unfortunately it also contains a great deal of relations between different card positions which normally isn't well taught. That's why I will teach you this spread traditionally, as I was taught. For this spread you need to select 10 cards. Meanings of these cards are as follows: Card 1: That's it Card 2: That crosses it Card 3: That's the crown of it Card 4: That's the base of it Card 5: That was before it Card 6: That comes after it Card 7: That's the querrent Card 8: That's where it takes place Card 9: Those are hopes and doubts. Card 10: This is the result, This is where it leads to. This explanation might look a bit confusing, but it's the one I started with and it's also probably the only one that shows the basic relations of cards to the card 1 (hence the bold it word). But let's give some a bit more extensive explanation now. Card 1 shows the current situation, Card 2 shows either positive or negative influences that cross the situation (sometimes the universe is on your side, and sometimes it pushes obstacles in your way).
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Card number 3 shows what consciously drives us into this situation, why we want to achieve what we want to achieve. Card number 4 shows what drives us unconsciously (that's the base of it). Fourth card is why we really are in such situation but it isn't apparent at the moment. Card number 5 shows what preceded this situation (the past) and card 6 shows what comes after (the future). From this sense cards 5,1,6 are The Three Cards spread and have the same relations as in that spread. Card number 7 shows the querent's take on the situation. How he behaves and how he feels about the situation. It can happen that the situation will be good according to the reading just this card will show bad signs, that means the querent is too pessimistic about the whole thing to see things as they really are (opposite can happen too). Card number 8 shows the surroundings of the querent, where it happens. This card can show the external influence regarding the situation and/or the querent (if you use The Celtic Cross instead of the Relationship spread, then this card represents querent's partner). Card number 9 shows hopes and doubts. Positive cards are hopes and negative one are doubts (or fears). This card shows the the querent hopes for or what he is scared of. Card 10 is the final result. We can say that card 6 is the near future and card 10 is the distant one. Once again we can do a Three Card spread comparison of cards 5,1,10 as we originally did 5,1,6. The difference between 6 and 10 is also important, as it shows the development of the situation in the future, so use these two as a Two Cards Of The Day spread. 20
Now, the reading of the spread has a bit different order. First cards you reveal are card number 5 and card number 9. You want to see these two first to find out what happened and what are expectations of the querent. The difference between these two should also give you some information about the current situation. Next card you reveal is card number 1, the current state of the situation. Then card number 2, what is crossing the current situation. Then cards 3 and 4 to check the background of the situation, then followed by cards 7 (querent) and 8 (surroundings). While revealing each of the cards you are checking all the relationship between the cards and you are trying to sort of guess what will happen next. Cards number 6 and 10, future related cards, are revealed as the last one. After you check all relationships between the cards you then should try to see the whole picture, to read the spread as the whole.
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Image 9: The Celtic Cross
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Astrology Circle The most general spread there is. This spread shows a basic summary of many different aspects of the life. It can be used either as the proof for a doubting querent or to help an unsure querent to find topics to further discuss with the reader. It is actually unfortunate, but readers usually use The Celtic Cross where Astrology Circle should be used instead, I am pretty sure you will understand why when we get through this spread. If no timelapse is given, then this spread shows the present and immediate past of the querent. Card 1 shows the basic mood of the querent. This card also influences all other cards in the spread as these are the goggles through which the situation is judged, this is the point of view of the querent. Card 2 shows the financial situation of the querent. Here you can read on how good the querent is in keeping his finances or earning new money. Card 3 shows querent's everyday reality and card 4 shows his reality at home. Card number 5 shows the fun part, how much the querent is able to enjoy himself and his life. It can also be associated with card 2 (finances - play with money). Card 6 is work related, situation regarding the job and the work environment. Card 7 shows a situation regarding a relationship, love life, marriage, generally a love related. Card 8 shows the background, taboos, occult experiences, sexuality, etc 23
Card 9 is about Higher understanding, morals, faith, often also associated as the result of endeavors described by card 8. Card 10 shows the Public Acceptance, especially a working related success or the future of the profession. Card 11 is associated with friends and friendship Card 12 is about hidden doubts and hopes of the querent.
Image 10: Astrology Circle Spread 24
How to read the astrology spread • • •
First of all, you uncover one card after the other to get a general understanding of the situation. You then compare cards on positions 1 and 7 for understanding me/you topic. Next comparison is between 4 and 10, meaning from where and to where.
Then we have house principles (also called elemental trisounds). • 1,5,9 is a Fire tri-sound, associated with temperament and self-realization. • 2,6,10 is an Earth tri-sound, associated with work and finance situation • 3,7,11 is an Air tri-sound, associated with ideas, thoughts, communications, contacts and conversations • 4,8,12 is a Water tri-sound, associated with emotions, feelings and moods.
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The Fool Game spread This spread is very good for finding out some more detail about a current situation, common questions are “What is my current situation in work” or “where am I on my path”. You pick 12 cards from the deck, then you add 0 The Fool between them and you shuffle. Then you spread these selected cards. From left to right they show the chronological progress of events and The Fool shows the current place in time.
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