occult
The Empowering Symbolism Of The World Card
The World card in the Tarot remains one of my firm favorites. I am all for personal and spiritual growth, the completion of cycles, and new beginnings. The World represents exactly that: the ending of a cycle and pause in life, before the next major cycle begins with the fool.
The journey from the new beginnings of The Fool to the fulfilling endings of The World is a constant evolutionary process in our everyday lives that is represented by the sequence of the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. The World is the 22nd trump and therefore final card of the Major Arcana.
I have reflected on the imagery of the Rider-Waite version of this Tarot card in great detail. Rider-Waite is probably the most popular and universally recognized Tarot deck. The illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith at first glance appear simple, but the details and backgrounds feature abundant mystical symbolism.
The World pictures an empowered figure within a wreath – traditionally a symbol of victory, success, achievement, and eternal life. The figure holds a wand in each hand, which is reminiscent of the Magician card and the Two of Wands. However, while The Magician holds only one wand, the two wands in the The World card represents fulfillment, wholeness, balance and coming full circle.
The card is framed by four animals on the diagonal. The depiction of these four creatures parallels the four animal symbols used in Christian art to represent the four Evangelists, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The four animals also represent the zodiac signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, the four fixed signs in Western Astrology, which in turn represent the classical four elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
Three Laws That Determine Our Fate
Just like there are physical, mathematical, and chemical laws that govern the material world, there are also spiritual principles that direct the metaphysical realm. These spiritual rules are known as the Laws of the Universe and they play a significant role in our life, whether we realize it, or not. Becoming more consciously aware of these laws can make our everyday life much easier, and more joyful and prosperous.
The Universal Laws have been intuitively practiced by shamans, occultists, and metaphysicians since the dawn of time, but only entered mainstream awareness with the publication of the Hermetic philosophy book The Kybalion in 1908.
This classic book lists only seven fundamental Laws of the Universe. In time, other authors and teachers expanded the catalogue to 12 fundamental laws and 21 sub-laws. Together these laws are known today as the 33 Spiritual Laws of the Universe.
Although all these laws are equally important in spiritual practice, manifesting, and conscious living, I find the following three are most practically relevant in my work as a psychic reader.
The Law Of Perpetual Transmutation Of Energy
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only change form. Everything material or physical, including all living beings are at first subtle, pure energy. Only with time does it become a dense, materialized energy manifestations that are visible to the human eye.
So, if we want to change or manifest something significantly in our own life, we must understand that our fate and fortune starts with our own energy.
Remembering The Lost Wisdom Of Lemuria
In 2013, the scientific journal Nature pusblished a report that a long-lost continent had been discovered hidden under the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. This was furher confirmed by another study pusblished in 2017. What makes this unprecedented announcement especially interesting for the modern estoteric community is that it confirms the long-held belief that a lost continent called Lemuria, or the Land of Mu, did in fact exist, exactly as some scholars had speculated as far back as the mid-1800s.
Although not yet confirmed by modern science, it is also believed that this lost continent was once inhabited by an extinct race of prehistoric humans known as Lemurians. It is believed the Lemurians coexisted with the dinosaurs. They are even said to have had four arms and very tall, large, adrogynous bodies.
The legend of Lemuria and its inhabitants gained increased interest in the esoteric community when Helena Blavatsky, the Russian mystic and co-founder of the Theosophical Society, published her famous book The Secret Doctine in 1888. In the second part of the book, she describes how humanity originated and evolved from seven “root races” dating back millions of years. According to Madame Blavatsky the third root race was the first to be truly human and they existed on the lost continent of Lemuria, while the fourth root race is said to have developed in Atlantis.
“Occultism rejects the idea that Nature developed man from the ape, or even from an ancestor common to both, but traces, on the contrary, some of the most anthropoid species to the Third Race man,” writes Blavatsky.
A Brief History Of Astrology
The energies of the planets and stars affect us on many levels every day, whether we were aware of it or not. The earliest humans looked especially to the movements and phases of the Sun and Moon to guide them in their decisions about when to hunt, when to plant and harvest, and when to prepare for winter or migrate.
From this evolved the practice and study of Astrology. The early civilizations of Mesopotamia were the first to observe the patterns formed by stars in the galaxy as long ago as 3000 BC, while Indian astrology began to emerge as far back as 1200 BC.
The original astrologers identified five ‘wandering stars,’ which together with the sun and moon became the seven original ‘planets.’ More planets were of course identified over time, as technology advanced to introduce the telescope and other astronomical devises.
The Babylonians are generally credited for first developing formal Astrology, because they developed astrological charts to predict the recurrence of the seasons and certain celestial events. Centuries later, Ancient Egypt and Greece discovered Babylonian Astrology, where it soon became highly regarded as a science and was eventually also embraced by the Romans, as well as in the Middle East. In time, its popularity spread throughout the rest of the world. Today, we still use the Roman names for the zodiac signs.
Meanwhile, separate systems of Astrology also emerged in India, China, and Mesoamerica. It remains unclear whether the Babylonian, Indian (known today as Hindu or Vedic Astrology) and Chinese systems of Astrology evolved in isolation and independently, or whether they mutually influenced each other. There are many similarities between these systems, but also many distinct differences. Scholars have been studying and debating this for centuries, but the matter remains inconclusive.
Divination And The Element Of Air
Various ancient cultures, metaphysical traditions and mystical teachings identify five elements that constitute the world we live in. In Western occult traditions, these elements are typically arranged in the hierarchical order of spirit (aether), fire, air, water, and earth.
Spirit or aether is the nonphysical element (or ‘fifth element’) that serves as a bridge between the physical and the metaphysical realms. Spirit is the bridge between the body and soul.
Fire is the masculine element representing inner strength, transformative power, courage, protection, purification, and assertive action.
Air is the element associated with creativity, knowledge, learning, mental intention and the universal life force.
Water is the feminine element of emotion, intuition, inner reflection and the subconscious.
Earth represents grounding, stability, fertility, family roots, and the cycles of death and rebirth.
Air is my favorite element in spiritual practice, as is associated with ideas, concepts, inspiration, and innovative thinking. It is also the element of wisdom and divination.
Working with the air element sharpens ideas, enhances experiments, and paves the way for new inventions. Musicians and artists are typically inspired by the element of air. Air is however a fickle element as it can come as a gale-force hurricane, or a calm, soothing breeze…just like our thoughts.
How To Do A Fearless Tarot Reading
Each psychic reader has their favorite tools, and what suits one reader does not necessarily work well for another. In all my years as a professional psychic, angel oracle cards have always been my primary divination tool of choice. Nevertheless, I am also well-versed in reading the Tarot. Surprisingly, I have had a few clients over the years who have asked me not to use the Tarot for their readings, often because they feel uncomfortable with, and even fearful of some the occult symbols and imagery found in traditional Tarot decks.
In fact, just recently I had a very worried lady contact me about a Tarot reading she tried to do for herself. She attempted a four-card spread, and three of the cards she pulled now had her very worried: The Devil, Death and The Hanged Man. She was very anxious what this might mean and begged me to help her make sense of it all.
She confessed that she had considered reshuffling the cards and starting over, but I advised her against this. It is not at all wise to try and make a reading ‘fit’ simply because you don’t like the cards you drew. Instead, one needs to look at what the original cards are conveying.
I also explained to her that it is essential to consider the order in which the cards fall in a spread, as it often reveals a narrative or pattern of events. Furthermore, Tarot cards are directive, not simply predictive. The cards point us in the right direction or reveal the best path to take to arrive at a desired destination, and achieve the best possible outcome.
I then helped her to interpret her four-card reading as follows:
Modern Misunderstanding Of The Occult
I recently had an interesting conversation with a casual acquaintance about spirituality and the occult. She is new to metaphysics and mysticism, but since these topics are of great interest and intrigue to me, I needed no convincing to dive into it with her.
It soon became obvious that she had some misunderstandings, and even a few misgivings regarding these matters. For example, she believes a ‘spiritual person’ is someone who engages in some form of religion or spiritual practice, such as meditation or prayer. She also believes spirituality is the exclusive domain of humans, as animals do not practice any religion or spirituality – they merely exist in nature.
Many people confuse ‘being religious’ with ‘being spiritual’ – one does not necessarily imply the other. Living a spiritually aware or conscious life simply means ‘living in the truth’ of who you are – a spirit being in human form. One can be religious, but it is not a prerequisite to living your true spiritual identity.
I also explained to her that the creatures of this earth may appear to be ‘soulless,’ but all living, sentient beings, as well as nature at large, are all expression of Spirit, God, Source, Universe, the Divine. How the animals operate and survive in this world is what is inherently true of the inner being of who they truly are. The entire universe is an expression of its sacred origins. In fact, in my opinion animals live with much greater alignment to higher consciousness than most modern humans do!
It took her some time to evaluate these concepts, but she did eventually come to a conclusion that there must be some truth to it. However, the real fun began when I mentioned my life-long interest in the occult. She vehemently protested that everything relating to the occult is “evil and demonic.” I asked her what facts or personal experience she based this opinion on, but her only justification was that this is “what most people believe.”