Sometimes ill get into a flow state and start writing in my notebook, it often feels more like the words are conjuring themselves through me rather than me writing them out of my own will, and when im done with the process ill have a new page in my notes that helps me understand the concept im busy thinking of at that time. After i am done writing ill “coincidentally” see something online or in real life that confirms and adds onto my original notes, following this i will see many of the same set of triple numbers which i always intuitively know the meaning of, and when looking up their meaning its always completly resonant with my situation at that time. Ive also gotten experiences like these from dreams and active imagination sessions but most of the time it comes from writing and meditations. By the way i love the way you explain this process as it makes more sense in your words than most peoples writings ive read on divination/constellating.
Thanks, I'm glad the explanation was helpful. I know these topics can be pretty tricky, finding the right wording is something that requires careful thought on my part.
I can relate to that feeling of flow state, it's very interesting! I think it comes in part from allowing the ego state to lower, straddling that boundary, so you can tune in/channel unconscious insights.
Often i think to myself if the brain is a supercomputer than it must contain software as well as hardware and after discovering divination/synchronicity/constellating its clear to me that this is true. Consciousness can be altered through these processes in a way that literally “raises our vibration.” By bringing together consciousness and unconsciousness our mind compresses all the meaningless noise and were able to extract real meaning from absolutely everything we interact with, meaning that transcends our own ego conscious, meaning that transcends linear time. Without these processes i feel like a dog eating its own vomit but when im in this state it truly feels like ive become the main character in my own story, humbly of course.
I have also found the bridge between conscious and unconscious to be key, they balance and inform one another. So important for navigating life, and as you say, it humbles the ego perspective, which is really important!
Something to mull over for sure! I find myself stopping once I feel I have seemingly triumphed over my future, forgetting to set the ego aside for a moment and look deeper.
Precognitive dreams can be tricky! They hold a lot of important information, but the symbolic quality and representation can sometimes be misconstrued. I think caution and discernment in those cases makes a lot of sense.
I remember a few years ago I was reading Descent to the Goddess—the part about the seven levels—and I looked up at the sky and saw a cloud shaped exactly like a seven, alone in that part of the sky. It was uncanny. This happened around the time I was ready to move on and return to London after spending some time back in my home country. It was synchronicity, rather than divination, but it made me aware that indeed, you can “read” anything.
I think so. It really stopped me in my tracks. It felt like the end of a period lived in the underworld. Dreams around that time took me back to London and whenever I realised I was back there I would start sobbing and kissing the earth. It was time to return for sure.
love this. the lunar eclipse in libra prompted me to begin recording my dreams again, and i love hearing from others who gather the symbolism of their dreams into bouquets of subconscious flowers. i've learned so much about myself already just from recording dream material.
i use tarot &astrology as divination tools as well. these frameworks for seeing the world give a richness to my daily life that was missing before i discovered them. im always amazed at how insightful my daily energy tarot card pulls can be!
i was thinking about the mystery of eggs last night, in relation to the movie Possession, actually, and it's interesting that you mention a dream about eggs, &egg divining? i had no idea oomancy was a thing people can practice. very cool!
i've definitely entered a flow state when doing tarot readings for others, but i find that there are parts of my ego that resist the flow, actually. leaning into my psychic abilities &spiritual nature still feels foreign to my brain, so sometimes i'll pull myself out of my flow because i'm like, 'oh no, something is happening &i don't know what it is!' lol. seems like it's part of my spiritual growth process. i definitely came to the divination party later in life, but i'm glad i did!
Dreams are such a rich source for inner work and seeking insight. It's probably been the most profound of all practices that I work with. There's something really incredible about working with your own personal symbols!
I was aware of eggs being used in certain spiritual traditions, but had never really considered oomancy before. It's so interesting how the psyche draws these images in and uses them in the dreamscape. The egg is a really potent symbol, in mythology, dreams, etc. I'm not familiar with the movie, but perhaps there is an interesting connection between those themes and the potential symbolic meaning of the egg for you currently?
As far as the flow state goes, I found that an ease with the process built overtime. It can be a little jarring at first, especially if you're still building a relationship to the divinatory system you work with. It is a good spiritual practice, though :)
I do a semi-daily three card spread, reading them left to right and/or with the center card framed. I use the same deck as you. I think it’s the most rich in symbols compared to other decks. The ritual is calming.
There are so many ways to read them. I use pretty simple basic interpretations and sometimes Elemental assignations. There are Qabbalistic correspondences of course. Idon’t ask questions of the cards. I cast them and let their patterns weave in with my life story.
But I know there is more than all that to them. There is a secret language hidden in them, according to one occultist I follow, based on reading dignified cards. I have to look into that sometime.
Dignities were originally developed by MacGregor Mathers for the Golden Dawn system of casting Tarot. It gets a little complicated so I'll let someone better informed than I explain it:
I think it essentially comes down to the proximity of complementary or non-complementary cards, hinging on the Elemental assignations. If I recall correctly the basic GD system layout was a set of sets of three cards. Say you cast three cards and there were two Swords/Air in a row. Those cards would shape the meaning of that reading more powerfully than the third card, perhaps even neutralizing it.
There are antagonistic Elements of course, like Fire and Water, so a Wands card in a reading would be dominated by a pair of Cups. There are neutral readings like Fire/Earth. There are also gendered assignations to consider.
If you are interested in a more in-depth discussion of the Golden Dawn system of Dignities, and a lot more, here is a video by the wonderful historian and occultist Dan Attrell, host of The Modern Hermeticist:
I use a different but related technique of my own to assign Dignities in my personal readings. It follows all the Elemental assignations with Trumps as Spirit. When I cast three cards, if the suits of the left and right card are the same it's a Dignity. So a center card of Wands/Fire is dignified by being surrounded by two Air/Swords. But two Cups/Water would quench that Fire, an Indignity. Getting all Wands/Fire supercharges the reading. Getting all Spirit is the most powerful reading one can get.
That makes sense. Naturally, I map cards that seem to affirm/strengthen or contrast one another. For example, a spread of all the same suit or number would draw my attention to those particular themes. Or, if one suit is completely missing, it makes me wonder if that's a needed element, etc.
I love getting nuanced with the cards in that way. It can feel a bit advanced, but the extra combinations and considerations help you draw even further insights. Perhaps I'll consider doing more mini lessons for the paid member classes that cover these sorts of topics (similar to: https://alyssapolizzi.substack.com/p/reversals-in-tarot).
I'll be sure to check out that link. I also love digging into the cards as well. It's why I love the Rider-Waite deck, there is so much going on there.
I've come up with a decent list of what I call Synchronicities, sets of the cards that have shared meaning. For example, I use 0 The Fool, XII The Hanged Man, and IX The Hermit as the stages of life, youth to middle age to old age. I'm not saying I'm the first person to spot these connections, to be clear, but it was a fun journey going through the deck and picking them out. I believe I got every card into a Synchronicity except for X The Wheel of Fortune, which I was fine with as it is in a class by itself.
It implies a different way of using the cards. Rather than shuffling them, you could just lay out the Synchronicity and use it as a kind of parable with which to analyze questions or experiences. You can also just shuffle as usual and when one or two cards of a particular Synchronicity come up you can use the synchronous meaning in addition to the Elemental etc. In general, I'm for a broad use of the Tarot, I once read it being described as the "Swiss Army knife" of ritual Magic and I think that description is apt.
Agreed, I first learned with the Rider-Waite deck, and use it exclusively. I haven't found other decks comparable to the level of intuitive symbolism and archetypal representation.
Sometimes I see certain cards from the Major Arcana as reflected in the Minor Arcana. For example, Death and 10 of Swords. It's fun going through and finding these different relationships, it really challenges you to see the many ways the cards can shift and take new form.
Your idea of the synchronicity is an interesting one. I can see how that opens up a lot of creative use of the cards. Indeed, it is the Swiss Army knife of inner work tools! I've done a lot of classes blending tarot and other archetypal modalities (tarot and alchemy, tarot and mythology, etc). It's a lot of fun.
Dreams, tarot, and astrology have always been fun, but clouds are really great too. Von Franz and Jung draw archetypes as stratigraphic layers and fractals -- finding these in nature can help prompt that mode of thought
Psychedelic induced visions might qualify... animal behaviors too, Jung saw a bird catching a fish in the black books which he felt was a sign: conscious diving into and securing treasure from the unconscious; psychic wholeness..
Do you notice when that shift happens or why? For me, it’s usually a little later in a reading when I’m weaving multiple cards together, feels like all the pieces start falling into place.
Yes this! I sometimes start a reading thinking - oh God, how is this going to make sense. But every time I had over control and it starts to make sense.
I had a friend reflect to me the changes she witnessed when I was in flow state. It was beautiful- my energy was calmer, different. My voice was lower, paced. When I closed the boundaries of the reading I felt my girlish “I” identified energy come whizzing back in. As if the self had a seat over there and created room. To witness that was very cool.
Sometimes ill get into a flow state and start writing in my notebook, it often feels more like the words are conjuring themselves through me rather than me writing them out of my own will, and when im done with the process ill have a new page in my notes that helps me understand the concept im busy thinking of at that time. After i am done writing ill “coincidentally” see something online or in real life that confirms and adds onto my original notes, following this i will see many of the same set of triple numbers which i always intuitively know the meaning of, and when looking up their meaning its always completly resonant with my situation at that time. Ive also gotten experiences like these from dreams and active imagination sessions but most of the time it comes from writing and meditations. By the way i love the way you explain this process as it makes more sense in your words than most peoples writings ive read on divination/constellating.
Thanks, I'm glad the explanation was helpful. I know these topics can be pretty tricky, finding the right wording is something that requires careful thought on my part.
I can relate to that feeling of flow state, it's very interesting! I think it comes in part from allowing the ego state to lower, straddling that boundary, so you can tune in/channel unconscious insights.
Often i think to myself if the brain is a supercomputer than it must contain software as well as hardware and after discovering divination/synchronicity/constellating its clear to me that this is true. Consciousness can be altered through these processes in a way that literally “raises our vibration.” By bringing together consciousness and unconsciousness our mind compresses all the meaningless noise and were able to extract real meaning from absolutely everything we interact with, meaning that transcends our own ego conscious, meaning that transcends linear time. Without these processes i feel like a dog eating its own vomit but when im in this state it truly feels like ive become the main character in my own story, humbly of course.
I have also found the bridge between conscious and unconscious to be key, they balance and inform one another. So important for navigating life, and as you say, it humbles the ego perspective, which is really important!
Something to mull over for sure! I find myself stopping once I feel I have seemingly triumphed over my future, forgetting to set the ego aside for a moment and look deeper.
Do you use any particular forms of divination?
Yes! Tarot, and I have occasional precognitive dreams (although I have to be very careful with those!)
Precognitive dreams can be tricky! They hold a lot of important information, but the symbolic quality and representation can sometimes be misconstrued. I think caution and discernment in those cases makes a lot of sense.
Most definitely 🌀🌀🌀
I remember a few years ago I was reading Descent to the Goddess—the part about the seven levels—and I looked up at the sky and saw a cloud shaped exactly like a seven, alone in that part of the sky. It was uncanny. This happened around the time I was ready to move on and return to London after spending some time back in my home country. It was synchronicity, rather than divination, but it made me aware that indeed, you can “read” anything.
Ahh, this is an interesting one. What did it mean for you? Perhaps you were moving through the seven gates, reaching the end?
By the way, I loved that book!!! It inspired a whole class I taught on the High Priestess card and the Descent of Inanna.
I think so. It really stopped me in my tracks. It felt like the end of a period lived in the underworld. Dreams around that time took me back to London and whenever I realised I was back there I would start sobbing and kissing the earth. It was time to return for sure.
Beautiful, quite incredible how we can have those impactful moments through the seemingly mundane world around us.
love this. the lunar eclipse in libra prompted me to begin recording my dreams again, and i love hearing from others who gather the symbolism of their dreams into bouquets of subconscious flowers. i've learned so much about myself already just from recording dream material.
i use tarot &astrology as divination tools as well. these frameworks for seeing the world give a richness to my daily life that was missing before i discovered them. im always amazed at how insightful my daily energy tarot card pulls can be!
i was thinking about the mystery of eggs last night, in relation to the movie Possession, actually, and it's interesting that you mention a dream about eggs, &egg divining? i had no idea oomancy was a thing people can practice. very cool!
i've definitely entered a flow state when doing tarot readings for others, but i find that there are parts of my ego that resist the flow, actually. leaning into my psychic abilities &spiritual nature still feels foreign to my brain, so sometimes i'll pull myself out of my flow because i'm like, 'oh no, something is happening &i don't know what it is!' lol. seems like it's part of my spiritual growth process. i definitely came to the divination party later in life, but i'm glad i did!
thanks for sharing yr thoughts
Dreams are such a rich source for inner work and seeking insight. It's probably been the most profound of all practices that I work with. There's something really incredible about working with your own personal symbols!
I was aware of eggs being used in certain spiritual traditions, but had never really considered oomancy before. It's so interesting how the psyche draws these images in and uses them in the dreamscape. The egg is a really potent symbol, in mythology, dreams, etc. I'm not familiar with the movie, but perhaps there is an interesting connection between those themes and the potential symbolic meaning of the egg for you currently?
As far as the flow state goes, I found that an ease with the process built overtime. It can be a little jarring at first, especially if you're still building a relationship to the divinatory system you work with. It is a good spiritual practice, though :)
I do a semi-daily three card spread, reading them left to right and/or with the center card framed. I use the same deck as you. I think it’s the most rich in symbols compared to other decks. The ritual is calming.
There are so many ways to read them. I use pretty simple basic interpretations and sometimes Elemental assignations. There are Qabbalistic correspondences of course. Idon’t ask questions of the cards. I cast them and let their patterns weave in with my life story.
But I know there is more than all that to them. There is a secret language hidden in them, according to one occultist I follow, based on reading dignified cards. I have to look into that sometime.
Thanks for the article!
What does dignified cards refer to in this context?
Dignities were originally developed by MacGregor Mathers for the Golden Dawn system of casting Tarot. It gets a little complicated so I'll let someone better informed than I explain it:
https://marykgreer.com/2008/02/05/24/
I think it essentially comes down to the proximity of complementary or non-complementary cards, hinging on the Elemental assignations. If I recall correctly the basic GD system layout was a set of sets of three cards. Say you cast three cards and there were two Swords/Air in a row. Those cards would shape the meaning of that reading more powerfully than the third card, perhaps even neutralizing it.
There are antagonistic Elements of course, like Fire and Water, so a Wands card in a reading would be dominated by a pair of Cups. There are neutral readings like Fire/Earth. There are also gendered assignations to consider.
If you are interested in a more in-depth discussion of the Golden Dawn system of Dignities, and a lot more, here is a video by the wonderful historian and occultist Dan Attrell, host of The Modern Hermeticist:
https://youtu.be/JDV58S8mVeQ?si=coUlSq6-Lhn2lTsc
I use a different but related technique of my own to assign Dignities in my personal readings. It follows all the Elemental assignations with Trumps as Spirit. When I cast three cards, if the suits of the left and right card are the same it's a Dignity. So a center card of Wands/Fire is dignified by being surrounded by two Air/Swords. But two Cups/Water would quench that Fire, an Indignity. Getting all Wands/Fire supercharges the reading. Getting all Spirit is the most powerful reading one can get.
That makes sense. Naturally, I map cards that seem to affirm/strengthen or contrast one another. For example, a spread of all the same suit or number would draw my attention to those particular themes. Or, if one suit is completely missing, it makes me wonder if that's a needed element, etc.
I love getting nuanced with the cards in that way. It can feel a bit advanced, but the extra combinations and considerations help you draw even further insights. Perhaps I'll consider doing more mini lessons for the paid member classes that cover these sorts of topics (similar to: https://alyssapolizzi.substack.com/p/reversals-in-tarot).
I'll be sure to check out that link. I also love digging into the cards as well. It's why I love the Rider-Waite deck, there is so much going on there.
I've come up with a decent list of what I call Synchronicities, sets of the cards that have shared meaning. For example, I use 0 The Fool, XII The Hanged Man, and IX The Hermit as the stages of life, youth to middle age to old age. I'm not saying I'm the first person to spot these connections, to be clear, but it was a fun journey going through the deck and picking them out. I believe I got every card into a Synchronicity except for X The Wheel of Fortune, which I was fine with as it is in a class by itself.
It implies a different way of using the cards. Rather than shuffling them, you could just lay out the Synchronicity and use it as a kind of parable with which to analyze questions or experiences. You can also just shuffle as usual and when one or two cards of a particular Synchronicity come up you can use the synchronous meaning in addition to the Elemental etc. In general, I'm for a broad use of the Tarot, I once read it being described as the "Swiss Army knife" of ritual Magic and I think that description is apt.
Agreed, I first learned with the Rider-Waite deck, and use it exclusively. I haven't found other decks comparable to the level of intuitive symbolism and archetypal representation.
Sometimes I see certain cards from the Major Arcana as reflected in the Minor Arcana. For example, Death and 10 of Swords. It's fun going through and finding these different relationships, it really challenges you to see the many ways the cards can shift and take new form.
Your idea of the synchronicity is an interesting one. I can see how that opens up a lot of creative use of the cards. Indeed, it is the Swiss Army knife of inner work tools! I've done a lot of classes blending tarot and other archetypal modalities (tarot and alchemy, tarot and mythology, etc). It's a lot of fun.
Makes sense…Death and 10 of swords are usually both read as endings.
Dreams, tarot, and astrology have always been fun, but clouds are really great too. Von Franz and Jung draw archetypes as stratigraphic layers and fractals -- finding these in nature can help prompt that mode of thought
Admittedly, I've never worked with nature (clouds, etc) for divination. Have you used any other nature-based methods?
Psychedelic induced visions might qualify... animal behaviors too, Jung saw a bird catching a fish in the black books which he felt was a sign: conscious diving into and securing treasure from the unconscious; psychic wholeness..
Animal behaviors would be a fun one to experiment with. I think elementals as well, scrying in water, noticing a wind pattern, etc.
My favorite is dreams but active imaginations as nature naturing to become self conscious and aware of itself as such and not-that too :)
Especially when dreams get meta like the example in this post :D
I Ching is also an easy thing to do :)
Yes, this is a good one as well! I've also played around with a pendulum and simple coin flips.
The flow you speak of and change of voice are experiences i have also. Great article x
Do you notice when that shift happens or why? For me, it’s usually a little later in a reading when I’m weaving multiple cards together, feels like all the pieces start falling into place.
Yes this! I sometimes start a reading thinking - oh God, how is this going to make sense. But every time I had over control and it starts to make sense.
I can relate! Haha
I had a friend reflect to me the changes she witnessed when I was in flow state. It was beautiful- my energy was calmer, different. My voice was lower, paced. When I closed the boundaries of the reading I felt my girlish “I” identified energy come whizzing back in. As if the self had a seat over there and created room. To witness that was very cool.