'Servants of the Light' logoThe study of divination, regardless of the system, is a valuable tool in the repertoire of the magician. Besides the more obvious advantages that studying divination brings the possibility for enhancing one's overall magical practice is enormous. Simply put, the study of divination is the study of magic. The study of divination in the hermetic arts is a long-standing tradition.
The tarot is the youngest of three major modes of divination, the first tarot cards appearing sometime in the fourteenth century. Today the tarot is perhaps one of the most popular forms of divination available; it is used not only by hermetic magicians but by pagans, psychics, ‘New Age followers’ and many others.
The study of the hermetic tarot is highly valuable to the modern magician. Each tarot card, in either the major or minor arcana, is full of hermetically and Kabalistcially based symbolism. The major arcana teaches of the Hebrew alphabet, astrological and elemental attributions, vast amounts of symbolism as well as an idea of how each path on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life functions within the hermetic arts. Taken together, a study of the tarot cards themselves can lead to a greater understanding of Kabbalah and the Tree of Life as well as the meanings of each card.
The tarot can be used not only to help divine future events but numerous other subjects. Through the use of tarot divination the magician can often better understand the circumstances surrounding their lives and discover hidden influences that may be affecting them. As many occult paths teach their students to first invoke the divine or a guide before doing a tarot reading, the magician's skills in such matters are also improved with each reading performed.
Each time a reading is undertaken the diviner, if he or she is to tap the fullest potential of the art, must at some point transcend their normal consciousness to reach the world where symbols are more than mere images but are realities in and of themselves. At a higher level still the diviner may tap into that part of the soul where the mind meets the divine and Truth is known or intuited. Reaching either of these levels within the divinatory arts can make each tarot reading a mini skrying session; each card opening up to give the diviner deeper insight into the question than its mere physical or pictorial symbolism could ever provide.
