Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers

SATURN practices 9/6, 9/20(runthru), 9/27(costume check), 10/4 & 5(stage and set), 10/11(dress rehearsal), 10/13(full dress)...(415)549-0952 for information.
JUPITER rehearses at Merkabah 9/13, 9/28, 10/15(dress rehearsal), 10/17(full dress)...(415)537-3212. (unless you're a woman who wants to be a Maenad - call Lodge and ask for Agave.)
MARS practices 9/12(after Lodgemeet), 9/26 (8 pm) and needs an army or two...655-4942.
SOL rehearses at 10AM at the Lodge: 9/10, 9/24, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22 - Full Dress rehearsal 10/27..549-0952.
VENUS meets 9/8 at 7 pm at the Lodge; rehearsals 2 pm 9/16, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/21, 10/28; Full Dress 11/1 time TBA... Call 655-1746.
MERCURY invites you to call him if you wish to be a Probationer - 621-6717
LUNA will start announced practices again after the Equinox - or call him at 655-4942.
    More information as soon as I get it myself...even if an xtra mailing is in order.
    (a Pronunciation/Spelling Note:
          Eleusis = "Ee-loo-sis"
          Eleusinian = "El-you-sin-ee-an"
o friendly English-Language advisers, I was right the first time!)

THELEMA ABOUT TOWN went out on the town and will return in October...

The Center for Enochian Studies supplement didn't make press time this month, but it will return.

When is a Reading Difficult?

    Most readings present no unusual problems. Once the reader has gained a little experience, the usual fears and doubts that plague the beginner fade away. Sometimes these doubts return no matter how experienced the reader. It is in these special cases of difficulty that special methods must be used. There is a temptation for a reader to surround each divination with elaborate ritual. Such ritual can be pleasant in itself, but it should not be viewed as necessary all the time. To read the cards only with the greatest of lengthy warmup is to be like the person who refused to take the trainer wheels off his bicycle long after learning to ride.
    In the following pages, several distinct types of reading difficulty will be examined and solutions suggested. Some of these solutions are just common sense, but a few are ritual methods that reach below the mental levels of the self-aware mind.

Problem one: HOSTILE CLIENTS

    The solution here is simple. Don't read for the client! If you must read, read for yourself. Some people, especially at public gatherings and the like, don't want a reading so much as to inflict their prejudices sadistically upon the reader. Most people are impartial or even eager, but there are always going to be psychopathetic debunkers around. When you get one of these, you may not be able to contact them directly through the cards. All their energy is directed to and/or against you. So, read for yourself. The telepathic link to the hostile client will insure that most of the resulting reading makes sense to the client. If it is a fee situation, don't insist on payment; but look sad instead. You will probably feel that way automatically. The hostile client will be satisfied, and nice people nearby will come to console you by having their cards read. Mysterious are the ways of the god Thoth.

Problem two: SCARED CLIENTS

    There are several distinct types: Bashful --- no real problem, just suggest that they don't have to have a reading if they don't want one, and most of them will suddenly want a reading. Paranoid --- calm them down by gentle talk first. NEVER insist on a reading or on being paid for one. Just be kind; and if such people want a reading, they will eventually tune in. Worried --- if it's a case of the client "knowing" in advance what the cards are going to say, only the most formal and elaborate preparations will result in a true reading. The "knowledge" in the mind of the client will imprint itself on the reading in total disregard for past or future. See the methods recommended below for special types of blockage. It helps to find out what the client expects and talk it out. This last technique may remove the false "knowledge" for the time necessary to do the reading.

Problem three: INDIFFERENT CLIENTS

    Have them go through the deck several times to pick out a significator card. This will imprint the cards on the mind of the client or clients, especially if all the cards have interesting pictures like the Waite or Crowley decks. Try to scare the client a little by looking straight into the client's eyes or by making obscure eye movements and breathing oddly --- not too much, just enough to make the client unconsciously anxious enough to be more empathetic.

Problem four: ZERO FEEDBACK

    Many people expect the reader to do the whole thing. This is good in a way, because it is what separates the serious readers from the dabblers. A serious reader will find out what the client wants somehow. An awareness of body language helps. A touch of sadness in the voice will often get the client a little more involved. Don't read rapidly for such people and stay away from details. A client who asks no questions usually fails to concentrate on anything in particular. Such clients often fantasize vaguely, and their fantasies have a way of creeping into the reading as false leads. It is often best to explain to a client at the beginning that a verbally expressed question helps to establish rapport and frees the psychic powers of the reader to the task of doing the reading. In extreme cases say: "I can read to discover your question or to answer your question. Which do you wish?" If all else fails, ignore the presence of the client, do not look the client in the eyes, and lose yourself in the cards.

Problem five: "I ALWAYS GET THE SAME READING"

This means that the client has a definite problem with a definite and know solution. The person just isn't able to accept the message of the cards. A reading for such a person will automatically get the same result time after time like a scratched record. Redirect the question so that it becomes something like "how can this deadlock be broken?"

Problem six: READING FOR YOURSELF

    This is often the most difficult thing to do. Use the ideas below to elaborate your warmup rituals. Some people find that it helps to be slightly drunk or full to the ears with coffee, tobacco, etc. The best and simplest way to read for yourself is to read for other people. Every reading expresses the overlap of the aura of the reader and the client. What comes out always applies in part to the reader as well as to the client. Two readers can read for each other as a regular practice, providing they don't see too much of each other from day to day.

Problem seven: SOMEONE WHO DEMANDS TO KNOW THE REAL FUTURE

    For the amateur, this is a moral problem. The client obviously doesn't know what a Tarot reading is, that it can at best reach out toward a probable future and show the forces that are involved in the past and present. Such a client should be reasoned with until a better attitude comes out. If the client gets hostile, read or go away. Such a reading will usually summon in a little instant karma for all concerned. To attempt to tell someone their certain future is to attempt to enslave them.
    For a professional reader, this client thinks like a member of the bunko squad. Act accordingly.

Problem eight: VAGUENESS

    This is a case of poor concentration. Use a formal preparation ritual and a long reading layout (as many as all 78 cards). It's also a help to further define the reason for doing the reading.

Problem nine: A DEMAND FOR DEFINITE INFORMATION

    Next to problem six, this is the hardest type of reading. Warmup ritual and long reading layouts are helpful. Remember that a definite answer requires a definite question. This kind of reading is a sort of squeeze of the mysteries. If you don't ask a lawyer's question, you are apt to be given a lying answer. The worst of these are matters of personal identification, of time and of definite issue of certain events. For a matter regarding time, choose significators that have a Saturnian correspondence. For a thief, a Mercurial significator. For wealth, Jovian. For the significance of dreams, Lunar. To identify an innocent person, Solar significators are useful (Sun Trump, Strength Trump, 5,6,7 of wands, etc.)
    Avoid Delphic traps: e.g., don't just say that the next number card gives the time to the event. Pull a card for the tens of years, the years, the months, days, etc. An unnumbered card can be taken as zero.

Problem ten: "THIS IS MY FIRST READING"

This is no problem.

Problem eleven: RELIGIOUS ASSAULT

    There are misguided folk who seek to entrap others to their view of god. These may ask for a reading only to insult the intelligence of the reader by asserting a religious condemnation. Others will come forward bluntly with: "Do you know that those cards are the Devil's?" It is important to realize that these people are probably invincibly ignorant. Do not attempt to defend the cards or your practice beyond a few simple remarks. Amuse yourself with discussion of their religion from the standpoint of your religion if you are comfortable with that. In the extreme situation, "testify" for a god chosen at random in the style of the evangelicals. These cases can be a source of good stories: Once I was accosted by a "Jesus Freak" as I went into a store. He made some remark about going to Hell. I countered with; "I don't believe in Hell. I remember my previous incarnations." That stopped him until I finished my business and came out of the store. He accosted me again with; "You don't really believe in reincarnation." I kept on walking, but said; "Don't worry. This is only your first time ..."
    It is very important to realize that these people are often sincere. Some of them are very troubled, and need the prop of their faith. If an argument of yours makes them forsake their only strength and gives nothing in return, you have done evil. It is not morally acceptable to take away the little that one has.

SOME RITUAL AND PROCEDURAL TECHNIQUES

    Keep your Tarot cards in a special box or wrapped in silk. Don't let others touch them anymore than necessary. (This is an excess for most readers. Do it only if you must.)

    Always use the same cloth to read your cards upon. Use it for no other purpose. (This is also an excess, but it's nice to dedicate a piece of cloth as a sort of "portable magical circle".)

    Prepare through the use of breathing exercises, TM, Yoga, thoughts of home, a favorite deity or anything else that works for you. Experiment to get the right personal system.

    Avoid reading from the same deck too many times in a row. Have several decks and use them in rotation. (An excess, banishment and shuffling techniques can make this unnecessary.)

    Take a longer time to pick out the significator.

    Use a group of different reading layouts. Pick the one that fits the question.

    If you have several decks, ask the client to pick the one they like the best.

    Be friendly with the client. Talk about likes and dislikes to establish psychic contact and empathy.

    Use a complex shuffle and cut after each reading. This may include putting the cards from the old layout into the deck one by one.

    Use a formula of speech in a plain tone at strategic points before, during and after a reading. This may include orientation before the question: "You can ask a spoken question or a silent one. If you ask a silent question, the reading will merely reveal your question. If you ask a spoken question, the reading will focus on answering your question." Before shuffling: "Take these cards and shuffle them as much as you like. After you have finished, make three separate face down piles". At each card: "This card is what Crosses you. It shows the opposition you must face", etc. After the last card and the sum-up: "Is there any card here that you need more information about. I can expand the reading with more cards to clarify." It is best to give a micro reading for each card as it appears, a recapitulation over other cards at certain points and a projection to a card to come when some obscurity appears. The final summing up should take the form of stitching these "micro" readings together and of presenting a unified view. It is always best to lay the cards down with the bottom edges toward the Client, so that the picture can be seen readily by the Client --- you should be familiar enough with your cards to be able to read them when they face away from you. Inverted cards can be ignored or treated in a variety of ways. Always decide how to use inverted cards before you begin: no meaning, reverse of the usual meaning, diminished importance, etc.

    Use a prayer or other spiritual device before each reading.

    Use a formal banishment after a reading and before the next one. For example, trace a clockwise circle around the cards. Then trace a counterclockwise circle and finally another clockwise one. In the center of this pattern, trace a five pointed star with your hand and will the distracting influences on the cards to go away.

Events Calendar for September 1989 e.v.

    The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein are the responsibility of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OTO or its officers.

   Note to update: the addresses and phone numbers in these issues of the Thelema Lodge Calendars are obsolete since the closing of the Lodge. They are here for historic purposes only and should not be visited or called.