Ride the Lion Read online

  TAROT LIFE

  MONTH 5

  RIDE THE LION

  Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin

  Authors Note: This is Month 5 of our 12-booklet Tarot Life series; you will require the previous Months 1-4 booklets to follow the sequence over the year. Most of the exercises in each booklet may be carried out as stand-alone pieces of self-discovery or re-purposed for use in daily, personal or client readings.

  Published by Forge Press (May, 2013)

  1 Wood Cottage, Old Windebrowe, Keswick,

  Cumbria CA12 4NT

  Cover: ‘5 of Wands’, Tyldwick Tarot © by Neil Lovell

  http://www.malpertuis.co.uk/tyldwick/

  Tarot Life © Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin, 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without written permission from the publisher.

  Tarosophy® is a registered trademark

  Join your national Tarosophy Tarot Association for support and learning at www.tarotprofessionals.com including subscription to Tarosophist International Tarot magazine, immediate access to 1,000+ pages of the previous issues and Tarot support at all levels.

  Also check out the Tarot Review at www.thetarotreview.com and the Tarot Book Club at www.tarotbookclub.com.

  For further Tarosophy education, the 2-year Hekademia Tarot course is open for enrolment at www.tarosophyuniversity.com.

  We also offer Tarosophy Certificate and Diploma courses, Lenormand Courses and much more at our main site www.tarotprofessionals.com.

  If you would like to meet us face to face in the company of the wonderful Tarot world, learn incredible new Tarot approaches, and discuss the art of Tarot, check out our annual Tarosophy Tarot Conventions worldwide from the main site at www.tarotconvention.com.

  The private Facebook Tarot Life group to share your experiences and gain further insight from Tarot Life Companions is linked at the back of this booklet.

  INDEX

  Introduction 4

  Riding the Lion 5

  A Simple Method for Beginners 8

  The Seven Days of Cybele 9

  The Secret Tarot Agent 13

  Your Mission Cards 15

  Conclusion 29

  A Reading List on Alchemy 30

  Bibliography 34

  Websites & Resources 35

  TAROT LIFE: 12 STEPS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

  A linked series of Gated Spreads to be carried out over a full year.

  Introduction

  In this series of Kickstart books of Tarosophy teaching, we take a break from the reference work of Tarot Flip, the seventy-eight innovative Tarot methods in Tarot Twist, and the spiritual considerations of Tarot Inspire to offer a unique practice of our work.

  You are about to change your life with Tarot, and whether you are a newcomer to tarot or experienced reader, you are about to do something totally new. In using what we call a Gated Spread – a linked sequence of tarot readings whose questions are determined by the results of real-world activities – you are going to fundamentally alter the way you experience your life.

  We have combined here the wisdom of the Tarot with years of practical testing and the latest research in psychology and the biology of willpower, belief, habit and other aspects of our being.

  This series is designed to be experienced a month at a time, and in the sequence given. You can start at any time, although New Year, your Birthday, or the Spring Equinox are all powerful starting times.

  This series is accompanied by a private Facebook group for discussion and questions about your experiences as you make this journey. We look forwards to your engagement of tarot with your life – it is about to become a truly Tarot Life.

  Marcus Katz, The Tarosophist &

  Tali Goodwin, TaliTarot

  Riding the Lion

  Hic Leo, quas plumas non habet, alter habet.

  ‘This Lion has no feathers, the other has”, Michael Maier, Emblemata XVI, Atlanta Fugiens, 1618

  Illus. Plate XVI, Atlanta Fugiens

  In this fifth month of Tarot Life we encounter the Lion of the Strength card corresponding to the astrological sign of Leo. It is at this stage we take a moment to establish the strength to continue on with our great work of transformation. We will accomplish this by acts of secret service in a form of living alchemy. By working for the greater good, we will strengthen our own inner reserves.

  As we have made good progress through our gates so far, and are approaching half-way, we also provide as our “beginners method” a gated spread in itself – the Seven Days of Cybele. This can be performed during this month or as a separate exercise.

  Illus. Strength card from the Waite-Smith Tarot (1909)

  In the card of Strength we see a perfect balance of energy between the woman peacefully holding the Lion and the strength of the animal. There appears to be two forces at work – the active and passive, the male and female, and the symbolic colours of white and red. This is a notion from alchemy, as we saw in our first illustration of two lions, taken from Atlanta Fugiens, a series of alchemical images.

  In Alchemy, the prima materia, the “first material” was put through a series of processes or stages in order to refine it, spiritually. This is the equivalent of the so-called “Fool’s Journey” to enlightenment in the Tarot major arcana. There were various descriptions of this alchemical process, sometimes with 7, 12 or more stages.

  We are working through that same process in Tarot Life, with the advantage of using our tarot sequence to bring in other systems, such as numerology, psychology, astrology, and mythology.

  We will also see in this month how we can produce a method from the correspondence of the Strength card with a goddess.

  Illus. The Goddess Cybele, on a Chariot pulled by Lions.

  For this purpose, the goddess of the Strength card and Leo is Cybele. Whilst there are other leonine deities, such as the lioness-headed Sekhmet of ancient Egypt, we use Cybele for two specific reasons. The first is that she was often depicted as being drawn on a chariot by two lions, which follows on from our previous zodiacal card of the Chariot (Cancer). The second is that she was a goddess associated with mystery religion, sometimes in association with Attis, so provides us a model for our mini-gated spread following.

  A Simple Method for Beginners

  When you find yourself in a situation of great emotional impact, whether positive or negative, we have provided here a method to discover the higher aspects of the situation. If you are working this for yourself, you can conduct it over a seven-day period as given, or for a client you can lay it out at once, requesting they contemplate it further for a full week.

  The method is based on the festival of Cybele, which was conducted over seven days. It also uses as a template the shape of the Naiskos, or temple – in which Cybele was worshipped and often depicted in sculpture.

  Illus. Naiskos Method (“The Temple of Cybele”)

  The Seven Days of Cybele

  To perform this tarot working, take a Court Card to represent yourself – one of those you have determined for yourself from month three of Tarot Life. This working can also be considered a mini-Gated Spread, for yourself or to use with a client.

  Place this chosen court card (C in the illustration) down in a place where it will be undisturbed for at least one week. This is the Candidate Card.

  Contemplate your question or situation, and shuffle the rest of the deck.

  Lay out two cards either side of the Candidate Card (Cards 0 & 0 in the illustration). Read these in the light of the context given below for Day 1 of the ritual. You may decide to take a small action (devotion) in response to these two cards as
suggested in our text.

  Do not disturb or shuffle your deck further.

  The following day, lay out the next two cards (1 & 1) above the first pair, and move your candidate card upwards to be level with this second pair. It is as if you are walking as a candidate up between the pillars of the temple of Cybele.

  Read these two cards again in the context of the second day, and again, you may wish to take action during the day to respond to or honor these two cards.

  Repeat this for all seven days of the working until your candidate card is placed at the top of the temple, between the final pair of cards (6 and 6).

  If you feel that you have met the words of the Goddess, and your Candidate card is purified, you may turn over a final card as the Initiatory card (position I). This will provide further resolution to your situation.

  If you feel that the Goddess is not answering your call, simply abandon the reading until another time.

  Day 1: Canna Intrat – The Reed Enters (cards 0)

  The two cards in this position dictate how your situation appears to be on the surface. It shows the reason it has entered your life on the most obvious level. In response to these two cards, you may wish to do something active today which reduces their negativity, or promotes their positivity. These are the foundations of the pillar. In the ancient mystery, the “reed enters” meant that offerings were brought to the temple entrance in preparation for the festival ahead.

  Day 2: Arbor Intrat – The Tree Enters (cards 1)

  These two cards give us the deeper elements of your emotional situation, the roots of your response. Perhaps they tell you what old wounds or gratitudes the present situation is calling up. They may suggest how you can face up to the situation in real action today.

  In the days of the festival, “the tree enters” referred to the cutting down of a tree which symbolized death and rebirth. These two cards show the “switch” in your life which you can accomplish through this time.

  Day 3: Tubilustrium – Beating the Shields (cards 2)

  This third day was sacred to Mars, and celebrants of the rite would blow horns, beat their shields and make noise in any way they could. These two cards show what you can demonstrate outside about this situation – what you might say, protest, or shout to the rooftops! These two cards really do require action today!

  Day 4: Dies Sanguinis – the Day of Blood (cards 3)

  Whilst not wishing to revive the original whipping frenzy of the mystery schools of antiquity, this day should involve a form of sacrifice. The two cards in this part of the reading show the nature of that sacrifice – something to let go in response to your situation.

  Day 5: Hilaria - Rejoicing (cards 4)

  Following sacrifice, we may move onwards a day with our next pair of cards. These two cards show the best elements of the situation – something to re-joy, to recognize as joyful. You may wish to make time today to reflect upon these cards or engage in an activity which invokes the nature of these two cards.

  Sometimes, the Hilaria cards may not be obviously related to your issue, but the activity which they suggest may lead to surprising outcomes, or synchronicities. They may be so far-fetched as to be literally “hilarious”.

  Day 6: Requietio – the Day of Rest (cards 5)

  The two penultimate cards site just underneath the room of our temple so must not be disturbed. You may see in them suggestions for how to best recover in times of emotional upheaval, but allow them to sit in your mind, do not do anything active. In fact, in resisting the urge to activate the cards, you will evoke a unique response.

  Day 7: Lavatio – Washing (cards 6)

  The final two cards reflect the first pair, in that they suggest how you can “wash yourself” finally of the situation – given that you now understand why it was present in your life from the first pair of cards. As you have moved your Candidate card up through the two pillars of the temple, you might be surprised just how powerful a working this has become. Take action with these two cards demonstrating a method of thinking about or resolving in behavior, the situation with which you entered the temple. Then you will be purified.

  Outcome: Initium Caiani – Initiation (card I)

  As your Candidate card reaches the uppermost part of the Temple, you may draw a final initiation card. This shows how you can now – having learnt the lessons of the two columns and taken action on each day – initiate a new current in your life. This initiation is possible as you have used this gated spread to elegantly incorporate and utilize a significant event in your life.

  Having presented this method, we now move on to the core work of this month’s gated spread, in which you will start to “ride the lion” by becoming a Tarot Secret Agent.

  The Secret Tarot Agent

  The Tarot shows not just how, and who, we are, but also tells us something of what we have been and what we will become. This is actually beyond the scope, remarkably, of many theories of personality, as we shall see.

  Carl Sargent, Personality, Divination and the Tarot (1988), p. 6.

  In this month’s gate, we draw on the results of the third gate to provide an alchemical balance in your life. We incorporate the idea of Strength/Leo as right relationship to others, and strengthen our dedication to the great work of transformation by providing service to others. We do this by taking on secret missions throughout the month, guided by the Court Cards.

  The first card you should take on as a mission suggestion is simply the one you felt most closely resonated with you during the third gate – your decision-making Court card personality.

  Accept the mission of that card from the descriptions which follow, and perform it as a “secret change agent”. You may of course share it with your fellow secret tarot agents on the Tarot Life group at any time.

  If you need ideas with regard how to go about your mission, consider the keywords below. The Knight of Wands will perform his mission with active energy and imagination. The Queen of Cups will go about her mission with enduring flexibility – perhaps performing her task slowly over a longer period of time.

  Pages Crystallizing, Absorbing, Counterbalancing

  Knights Active, Manifesting

  Queens Receptive, Fermenting, Transmitting, Enduring

  Kings Swift, Violent, Transient, Rushing

  Pentacles/Earth Practical Sense

  Swords/Air Mentality (Thinking)

  Cups/Water Flexibility (Emotions)

  Wands/Fire Dynamic Energy (Imagination)

  When you are satisfied that you have carried out a mission in the guise of your main decision-making card from the third gate, you must then look up the OPPOSITE card in the table below and conduct a mission according to that card. These opposites are chosen based on the respective energies of the cards.

  If you wish to take on other missions during the month – you only need to perform the first two to continue to the next gate – then choose the next card as the one somewhat in-between your original and opposite cards, or select from any of the sixteen Court Cards.

  Page of Pentacles … King of Swords

  Knight of Pentacles … Queen of Swords

  Queen of Pentacles … Knight of Swords

  King of Pentacles … Page of Swords

  Page of Swords … King of Pentacles

  Knight of Swords … Queen of Pentacles

  Queen of Swords … Knight of Pentacles

  King of Swords … Page of Pentacles

  Page of Cups … King of Wands

  Knight of Cups … Queen of Wands

  Queen of Cups … Knight of Wands

  King of Cups … Page of Wands

  Page of Wands … King of Cups

  Knight of Wands … Queen of Cups

  Queen of Wands … Knight of Cups

  King of Wands … Page of Cups

  General Practice

  This practice can be conducted over the month with just one or two missions, although you may see more dramatic changes in your life if you are conducting missio
ns almost all the time throughout the month. The practice is one of directed change, for no other reason than to work to a card and a script.

  This will have its own subtle change as you engage with the exercise, which, as all those in Tarot Life, is deeper than it might first appear.

  Your Mission Cards

  In performing these secret missions, you will come to experience the nature of the Court Cards in real life. In doing so, you will recognize their activities in other people more in future – and their relevance in a reading. This exercise brings the Court Cards to life and you will also see further patterns; the Wands for example work by motivating using values and beliefs towards ambitions; the Pentacles work through various levels of practical assistance.

  Each of the cards contains a slightly tongue-in-cheek mission name, a code-word for clarity as to the objective of the mission, a briefing and a de-briefing. The de-briefing question provides a prompt for your personal Tarot Life journal and/or for discussion on the Facebook group.