Pathworking tarot.

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Sep 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

AmounrA	25 Sep 2003
For me, the real joy to be found with Tarot is not divination, but pathworking. The wonders I have seen when flying into the stars eye! The classic first step of the 22 meditations/visulisations/channelling is generally regarded as the fool. Studying the cards image, then closing the eyes and bringing the scene to life in any one of a million ways. You can be the fool, the dog, a blade of grass etc... it does not really matter. When playing the fool its good to be able to step of the cliff with no fear, its what happens next that brings the tarot to life. Backstage, behind the 'scene'. Little details may only make sense some time latter, which offers some interesting areas of thought in itself.....and makes writing up a report afterwards a useful record of progress. Are there any other pathworkers out there?

Teranar	25 Sep 2003
Your new and confusing concept of pathworking tarot interests and intregues me. I would like a fully detailed and illustrated brocure outlining this idea in completeness and wholeness so that I may expand my knowlege of this strange and different concept.

Mimers	26 Sep 2003
AmournA, I have done this with all the majors. It has been a very interesting experience to say the least. One interesting pattern for me is that in many of my meditations I end up with the High Priestess. I find this type of meditation to be very helpful, both as a tool for growth and for getting to know the cards more personally. It took me over a year to get through them all. I am contemplating doing it again using a different deck. Mimi

SongDeva	26 Sep 2003
I picked this up at a used bookstore: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=156718264X/ref=nosim/aeclectic/ It's Tarot Journeys: Adventures in Self-Transformation, by Yasmine Galenorn. There are a few books on this subject. Hers includes a CD for some of the journeying. This really is the same as shamanic journeying, and scrying I think, as described in an article on the Llewellyn website. Actually, I think what that author describes as scrying may have started out that way, but became a journey. Neat stuff!

Kiama	26 Sep 2003
Another Tarot Pathworker here, though I don't really call it Pathworking. Sometimes I use the term 'entering the cards', other times I simply call it 'Tarot Meditation'. I have found Tarot Pathworking to be immensely valuable in developing my understanding of the cards, especially the Major Arcana, and immensely valuable aswell in developing my spiritual understanding of the Universe and myself. With Tarot Pathworking, I find that I can experience the concepts within each card, instead of just theorising about them. Instead of just theorising about mystical experience and mysticism, I can go into the Hanged Man card and experience mysticism. I also think that Pathworking the Major Arcana can be part of one's spiritual/soul evolution, because when doing so you are experiencing the evolution from the Magician/Fool (depending on what order you do things in) towards the World: you are moving from a mundane state to a state of awareness. Kiama

Macavity	26 Sep 2003
I came across some material like: A Short Course in Scrying (sic!) Whereas this is perhaps more geared to those who would aspire to hold whole "worlds" in the minds... it nevertheless seems to have some interesting insights on how visualisation techniques might be approached? Intriguing anyway... ;) Macavity P.S. It does mention Tarot Pathworking some way through the article...

nexyjo	27 Sep 2003
i bought tarot journeys: adventures in self-transformation, by yasmine galenorn when it first came out a few years back. i especially like the CD that comes with it. i only wish it were longer, and covered the rest of the cards. the book is pretty good too. the tarot card i pull every morning - my card of the day - is also useful for meditation - though i hesitate to call what i do "pathworking", because i'm not sure i understand the reference.

Kiama	27 Sep 2003
AmounrA: I am interested to know if your Tarot Pathworking includes the Tree of Life at the same time? Do you use the Tarot to climb up the paths of the Tree of Life? I have heard that some people do this, but would like to know more about it. Also, does Tarot Pathworking link in any way to Enochian Aethers? A friend of mine said that Tarot Pathworking is basically the 32nd Enochian Aether, and I was wondering if there were any links? Kiama

Logiatrix	28 Sep 2003
I recall that Gareth Knight integrates pathworking into the "lessons" in at least a couple of his books, such as "Treasure House of Images." However, the first time I heard the word "pathworking" was in a book titled "How To Choose Your Own Tarot," by David Godwin. It is a part of a Llewellyn series, now OOP I think, but still pretty handy for an interested tarotphile if you happen upon it. Also worthy was the whole section on pathworking, because the author considered it a major use of the tarot deck. I recall that his method is Kabbalistically based, and that he is an author of other books on Kabbalah. But, I think that, after studying a few basic sources and a lot of practice, you will ultimately develop your own personal version of whatever-it-is: pathworking, meditation, or "stepping into the cards." Like several others, I don't apply the Kabbalah to my tarot meditation, unlike the very ritualized and disciplined practice of "pathworking" based on the Tree of Life. I just "enter" the cards by means of visualization, and I've tried to refrain from too many rules around the process, preferring to "go with the flow." All whom have experienced some form of this technique report that it is a good way to learn about your tarot cards, at the very least. :)

Macavity	28 Sep 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama Also, does Tarot Pathworking link in any way to Enochian Aethers? A friend of mine said that Tarot Pathworking is basically the 32nd Enochian Aether, and I was wondering if there were any links? To the first... Presumably! :D There are e.g. Tarot Major and Enochian correspondences of which this is one: http://www.supertarot.co.uk/magic/enoch.htm So: Pathwork one, and you pathwork them all (effectively)? Tarot pathworking(?) might create (according to PHB?) a safe way of exploring the Aethyrs, Goetia and Crowley's Book 231? See: http://www.rvmagic.com/products/rvtarot.htm Fwiw, I suspect there is some degree of overlap with e.g. DuQuette and his "Ceremonial Magic" deck/book? (which I might even buy sometime!) To the second: There are only 30 Enochian Aethyrs, so perhaps a bit of confusion? Kaballistic paths number: (0)1-10 (The Sephira) then: 11-32 (Hebrew Alphabet, Tarot Majors etc.) and then 32, 32 (bis). These latter (I seem to remember?) connect the Four Worlds in some extended Tree... or something like that? So certainly some sort of "superhighway", running right up the middle of spiritual progress? :) Anyway, I have been looking at various web sites and indeed, e.g. it seems to be possible to have a rough correspondance between Enochian Aethyrs and all sorts of things e.g. Sephira, A.'. A.'. grades etc. To be taken with the canonical grain of salt: http://www.wisdomsdoor.com/at/aethyr.shtml http://www.wisdomsdoor.com/at/aethyrmap.shtml There's some quite fun reading on exploring there Aethyrs too. ;) Macavity

Ravenswing	01 Oct 2003
Great book for anyone wishing to have hands on study of the tree of life. 'A Garden of Pomegranates' by Israel Regardie. The first section is a very clear and concise introduction to the tree of life. One of the better I've read. The second section is the practical work. Starting with Malkuth-- the bottom sephirah-- there is a set of 32 pathworkings that will take you up the tree of life. Well worth the trip... fly well Raven

Cerulean	07 Oct 2003
I'm a fan of the Gareth Knight visualization and imaginative exercises. I enjoy the beautiful meditations also in Yasmine Galenorn's book and the book by Alexandra Collins Dickerman using the 22 arcanas with alchemy, Marseilles and Rider Waite images. I've become a fan of certain decks that have the Fool at the end of the 22 majors. The few that I've looked at recently include the Ibis and Ancient Egyptien and the Stairs of Gold. Also, the booklet for the di Gumppenberg Neoclassical starts with the Magician and ends with the Fool (but it's mis-titled in the booklet). If you want to reference the Kabbalah/Tree of Life and Astrology assignments, even Etteilla numbering, Tavaglione is known for including this in his Stairs of Gold and Stella. I don't have his Egyptian Tarocco (as Enoil Gavat), but at a glance, he seems to reference this ordering as well.

The Pathworking tarot. thread was originally posted on 25 Sep 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.