Astral correspondences

La'al quiet fella

I recently came upon this quote in Dion Fortune's 'the mystical qabalah':

'..it is of little use to go into a shop and buy a pack of tarot cards unless there is the knowledge necessary to build up the astral correspondences to each card.'

It the went on to say that 'when the great angel of the tarot has been contacted, the cards are remarkably revealing.'

I was hoping people might share how the quotes fit with their experiences of tarot?
 

JackofWands

I was hoping people might share how the quotes fit with their experiences of tarot?

For me, they don't. Don't get me wrong, I am an avid student of correspondences of all kinds, and I think they're an excellent place to go with advanced Tarot study. But I would never call those correspondences necessary. Useful, sure. Interesting, definitely. But there are plenty of professional readers who never use more arcane Tarot correspondences, and as for beginners? I certainly wouldn't agree with the claim that Tarot is useless to them until they learn a set of correspondences to go with it. (Well, I can see how a deck like the Thoth would be less useful without correspondences. But surely the Tarot of Pagan Cats doesn't require them.)

As for "the great angel of Tarot" whom we must contact, I'm not actually sure which angel that is. Is she referring to HRU? Regardless, angels and I tend not to get along very well. I occasionally read up on the 72 angels of the Shemhaphoresh on a whim, but as a general rule, angels have no place in my Tarot practice.
 

RiverRunsDeep

'..it is of little use to go into a shop and buy a pack of tarot cards unless there is the knowledge necessary to build up the astral correspondences to each card.'

Well, she is entitled to her opinion, but it is dismissive of the many other ways of reading tarot cards. I know nothing of astral correspondences (and don't really care to know), but it hasn't been a detriment to my readings.

It the went on to say that 'when the great angel of the tarot has been contacted, the cards are remarkably revealing.'

I guess this depends on who you think the "great angel of tarot" is. I do believe in a Higher Power and, occasionally, I feel that my tarot readings are inspired by that source. Only occasionally. Mostly, I think the great angel of tarot is my own intuition and Higher Self. And yes, when I get into the right frame of mind, "the cards are remarkably revealing".
 

witchofglass

Total bunk. The day I involve any kind of angel in my readings is the day when Gerald Ford shows up in my living room and dances the salsa.
 

JackofWands

Total bunk. The day I involve any kind of angel in my readings is the day when Gerald Ford shows up in my living room and dances the salsa.

Now that is something I would like to see. Care to do one angel reading, just for the sake of the spectacle that would ensue?
 

IndigoViolet

A general shape, color, and sense of symbology can get away without needing to acquire first the tool to use a tool. Or you acquire them together. On the other hand, general sense of knowing our surrounding, and how it correspond to the imagery is important. The first two, shape and color is easier, but the symbology is where things got stuck, bad. Eg what an Eagle or a scopion would mean in a card. Imo my advice is to just learn as you go. You will eventually get to know the tools you needed to acquire, since myself got no idea how to use an advance deck when I bought my thoth deck anyways, but got through with neither numeology nor astrology.

The only time that the shape and color method not work is when the -whole- tarot imagery are *pure* symbols. Symhol like that are like words. You will need to learn their language in this case.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I did get contacted, but this is not necessarily a prerequisite of using a tarot deck.
 

Nyx-Knits

Anyone can publish their thoughts and opinions on the tarot. Being published does not equate with truth, or even a fair understanding of the topic (not stating that this is the case here, just generally). This particular opinion is one that I highly disagree with.

Everyone reads tarot their own way. Even if we are using the same deck and have learned from the same source, tarot is always our interpretation of the cards at that moment, using our intuition, for that querent, regarding the question asked. If it works for you, and gives you reliable results, then what you are doing is right.

Tarot should be a life-long (or at least long term) learning journey. Some people are naturally gifted, and some decks really speak to us, so I believe that a beginner could absolutely be drawn to a deck in a store and get good results right off the shelf. Would they improve with study, of course. Should they put down that deck in the store and not even try because they have no experience, well that would be a damn shame.
 

La'al quiet fella

Thank you all very much for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

Jack of wands - I rechecked and I cannot find a reference to who the angel is that she refers too. Your comment about different decks made me wonder if her comments reflect the time it was written (1920's)?

It sounds like maybe tarot has developed since then?
 

JylliM

Yes, Fortune lived in a very different world, and held very particular beliefs. She would be gobsmacked to see people's collections of decks with different themes, and people getting online to ask the Internet 'How does he feel about me?' ;)
 

Babalon Jones

I recently came upon this quote in Dion Fortune's 'the mystical qabalah':

'..it is of little use to go into a shop and buy a pack of tarot cards unless there is the knowledge necessary to build up the astral correspondences to each card.'

It the went on to say that 'when the great angel of the tarot has been contacted, the cards are remarkably revealing.'

I was hoping people might share how the quotes fit with their experiences of tarot?

I wouldn't state it like Dion does as that is a bit dogmatic! In her defense, she was very knowledgeable and ahead of her time, plus she was a Sag and we Sagittarians *cough* do tend to pontificate, and it was the nature of her time and genre.

I'd not presume to tell anyone it is of little use for them to go out and get or use a pack of cards in whatever way they deem best, because I'm more live and let live, do your own will.

But I get what she means. There is a higher intelligence interwoven with the matrix of the tarot, and it is willing to be contacted, that's for sure. And, it is a teacher.