Israel Regardie - The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic.pdf

THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN SYSTEM OF MAGIC
It may be interesting for the reader to attempt to acquire intuitive knowledge
on any matter without the divinatory aids first, and it will be seen how extremely
difficult it is to get started, to pick upon any one fact or incident which shall act as a
prompt or a start of the interior mechanism. Having failed in this way, let him see how
much further he really may go by the judicious and sensible use of one of the Order
methods. There is no doubt that the opening of the mind to an intuitive perception is
considerably aided by these methods. And this is particularly true with regard to the
rather lengthy Tarot method which was given to the initiate while engaged in the
fulfilment of his Adeptus Minor curriculum. Like all magical techniques, divination
is open to abuse. This fact, however, that abuse is possible does not, as again and
again must be reiterated, condemn the abused technique. The application of common
sense to the magical art is as necessary as it is to all else.
Originally, Astrology was taught as part of the regular routine. All instruction
on this subject seems now to have been thoroughly extirpated from the Order papers.
In this particular instance, the omission is just as well. Recent years have seen a
great deal of meticulous attention paid to this study by sincere and honest researchers,
and many first rate books have been published explaining its intricacies. All that the
Order demands of the Adeptus Minor is that he should understand the underlying
principles of this science and be able to draw up a map showing the position of
Planets and Signs preparatory to certain operations requiring the invocation of
planetary and zodiacal forces.
So far as the general topic of divination is concerned, the Outer Order had very
little to say. The formal teaching of Astrology was abandoned because, as stated
above, the market was now replete with many fine works on the subject, and thus
there was really no need to teach what was readily available.
1 he Tarot technique that it recommended was the Celtic method, a ten card
layout popularized by A. E. Waite in his Pictorial Ke_i' to the Tarot from which
later writers have drawn extensively. The method is very simple and direct; thus its
advantage to the student in the Outer Order. It had however one major disadvantage.
There was no way to determine whether any one particular card in the layout was well
aspected or otherwise. Under these circumstances, the novice diviner would be most
likely to pick out the most favorable interpretation to suit his fancy. The Golden
Dawn method, as taught in the Inner Order, was a horse of another color, having a
superb method of aspecting each card to be read.
The Celtic or Gypsy method, as it is called in the Leigh Gardner papers, has
been made useful by resort to a simple device. As one shuffles the pack in order to
infiltrate it with one's own magnetism or aura, it is a good idea to drop a card
periodically. When inserting it back into the deck, make sure it is replaced upside
down. Or, half the number of cards in a deck may be deliberately pulled out at
random, turned upside down and then inserted back into the pack. Then shuffle very
thoroughly to make sure they are randomly well distributed.
The notion involved here is that the upside down position provides the basis
for the negative reading of some of the cards as they turn up in the divination. In this
manner it is likely to answer more accurately to the facts in the case, yielding of course
a more pragmatic reading.
2