Getting familiar with the Tarot
First things first. How to begin.

The first place to start is creating you deck. Many people believe you need directions on how to find the deck that's right for you. This shows a mind set that keeps you looking out there...somewhere to find a good deck. It's like finding time. You don't find time, and you don't find your deck. Sometimes a deck finds you, as a gift, or a friend may suggest a deck This is all well and good, but you still have to create it. You are a magician, not a seeker. You are a creator just like the maker who made you. You were made in the image of the maker. The maker didn't find you, you were made.

There are hundreds and hundreds of Tarot decks available to you. There are pretty ones, spooky ones, simple ones, complex ones, expensive ones, antique ones, new modern art decks, and very cheep ones. They all have one thing in common. They are made of paper or cardboard, with numbers and images painted on them. None of them are magickal, or special in any way until you make them magickal or special. In the lessons ahead I will refer most often to the titles and imagery of the decks which find their origin in the Golden Dawn tradition. There are several decks, i.e.; The Rider deck, the Waite deck, The Rider Waite deck (see, they are already getting silly). I make this choice because there is more information, research, and common sense available within this group. Oh, yeah, there is also a Golden Dawn deck. Pick anything you like.

Now you are ready to make the deck special. Buy a deck. With almost every deck sold in the free world there will be a booklet in the box with your deck. keep the booklet for a little while, but don't read it until you have created your deck. You will also need a piece of natural clothe or leather. This is to wrap the cards. please use natural materials like cotton, wool, leather, or silk. If you wove the fabric or if you dyed the fabric all the better. You will also need a box, one that your deck, when wrapped in it's clothe, will fit.

Now begins the magick. spread your clothe on a table, the floor, on the bed, or the trunk of your car, and stack your deck face down on the clothe. Light a smudge stick, or a stick of some pleasant incense. Smudge sticks are often made of sage, and sweet grass all tied in a bundle with grass or cotton twine. Light  a new candle, and the stick and place it in front of you in such a way that from where your are sitting, you look through the smoke and see the cards in the background. Pick up the top card and wave it softly through the smoke. This cleanses the card in the Astral plane where images get their meaning. Look at the card and smell it then place it face down on the clothe in another stack. By smelling the stick you create a strong trigger to remember the card. Then pick up the next card and do the same thing. Continue this ritual smudging until you have gone through the entire deck. When you are finished, wrap the cards in their clothe, put them into the new box, not the box the cards came in, and place the box under your pillow. Keep them there for six nights. Do not open the box or look at these cards until you have slept with them for the entire six nights have passed.

When you sleep a good night's sleep you will dream. When you dream your physical body moves out of you consciousness and your astral, or magickal body receives your consciousness. If you don't remember dreaming or you know you dreamed but can't remember the dreams don't worry. With practice you can train yourself to remember you dreams. The important thing is the images you placed in the smoke have been cleansed of illusions, and you have imprinted the cards into your' magickal body. Now your cards are special, and magickal. You did it, and they will serve you well.

During the six days that you sleep with your cards, you should be reading and rereading the little booklet as much as you can. After the six days are over, you can use your cards, force yourself to do readings for yourself, and friends without the book. Write down your results, then when you finished the reading, you can verify your readings. If you read something completely off the wall from what the book says, trust your gut. No book has all the answers but your creator self does. Instead of thinking you did it wrong, ask why you saw something different.


When you have completed the creation of your deck, email me and share some of your experiences.

Be happy
Sabazius