Tarot Magick Question

I received a nice little note from a reader that hails from the UK. She wrote, "I have recently been going through your back posts and noticed you mentioning working with the tarot cards (particularly the Ace of Pentacles) to affect your day to day life, and I was wondering how you went about that? Was there some sort of meditation or visulisation or a path working of sorts?" While I am not sure of the post she is referring to, I will give this a shot.

This is one of those questions that could get a very basic answer. Tonight, I don't feel like giving a basic answer.

In order to perform this sort of thing, I needed to become proficient at a few skills.

Skill One: Debullshitification

From very early on, I could see and hear thing on the astral.  However, my early group beat all confidence in that skill out of me. They were both right and wrong. They were right in that what I was hearing was often, but not always, flattery. They were right in that I was not very good at discerning the meaning of what was said. For instance, I'd take metaphor literally. They were wrong in that I was actually reaching the lower astral. My engagements were not delusional but they were approached with a lack of discernment.

So, overtime, I learned to perform a bullshitectomy. Slowly, I built myself up so that I'd attract spirits of a higher order and took what they said with a grain of salt. I also learned to keep my mouth shut about messages that I knew others would disagree with. I simply let the correctness or incorrectness make itself apparent over time.


Skill Two: Reverse ADD

I cannot speak for our UK friends but your modern American has the attention span of your average house fly. This is doubly true when you're communicating with the better parts of yourself in a meditation or magickal working. One has to be able to stay in contact with whatever it is you are working with.

I developed this longevity through meditation and energy work. The latter took the form of a lot of middle pillar exercises.

Skill Three: Getting it Rite

Developing ritual skills is paramount for the magician. I don't care if you can write them. Sooner or later that will come. However, you must know how to perform a ritual in whatever area you're working in. Tripping over your own robes, especially while sitting down, is not only embarrassing but it gets you out of the proper mind set. Know what you are supposed to be doing. Know each step. Have it fully memorized and if that isn't possible, have things so organized that finding what you need isn't a distraction.

Skill Four: Match Game

Read more than one book on topic with your goal. These books should be written by people of the same general perspective. I tend to stick with folks that use the qabala. The trick is to find specific sub-topics and compare each author. You can find patterns that give you huge clues to understanding. Read this stuff side by side. Compare their exact words. Compare what they hint at and ask. Reading between the lines is a hugely underrated skill.

Skill Five: What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG)

Learn proper visualization techniques. If you can't close your eyes and see your card, you'll have a harder time doing this.

Skill Six: Get Way Down Low

Come up with one idea that exemplifies the card you're working with. One idea. Be able to state this idea in one or two words. It doesn't matter if it is more complicated than that. If it is, you don't know it well enough yet but no matter. Hang on to one idea.

Skill Seven: Nike

Just do it! Find a situation in your life where you need that one idea to manifest. While you're amongst people that can make it happen or whose minds you need to convince visualize the card between you and them. Speak so your words go through the card. See them doing so. Let their words flow through the card as well.

Magick is easy.

Edit: There was a follow-up to this post: Follow-up to Tarot Magick