The Fool
Courage, Ecstasy, Creative Expression, Risk-taking, Trust, Choice, Adventure Reversed Stagnation, Eccentricity, Folly, Thoughtlessness, Indiscretion The Faerie Clad in the vestments of mortal experience and spiritual awareness, the child of the Dreaming stands poised on the edge of physical reality, open to the embrace of all possibility. The sword of his manifest will rests easily upon his shoulder, for the time of choice has not yet come.
King of Pattern
Solidity, Prosperity, Harvest, Abundance, Practicality, Finances, Diagnostician Reversed Perversity, Misuse, Speculation, Waste At rest upon a throne carved from the ruins of the past, Montego Diaz-Quetzalcoatl oversees the progress of the New World Order's dominion. Crowned by his technological achievements, the King of Pattern monitors the interplay of wealth and industry. Protected by the twin guardians of knowledge and power, he has no need to step outside his sheltered enclave. All the...
Ace of Questing
Creativity, Self-realization, Questing, Truth, Uncontainable life-force, Awakening, Being Reversed False start, Setback Association Beginnings Ahl-i-Batin All things spring forth from the fires of the imagination. To the oft-forgotten mages of the lost Tradition, the union of the Spheres, the oneness of creation and the perpetual dance of opposing forces are matters of doctrine, not supposition. The burning bush, the ever-renewing phoenix and the celestial explosion that signaled the beginning...
Eight of Dynamism
Indecision, Restriction, Censure, Doubt, Mistrust, Over-analytical mind, Confusion, Interference Reversed Triviality, Censure, Freedom, Relaxation, Origins Surrounded by the weapons of violent change, captured in the twisted bonds of convoluted thought, she has become the victim of her own demented Inquisition. The mask of indecision blinds her. Although her mind has analyzed her options, doubt and mistrust undermine her escape. Overwhelmed by the crisis of her dilemma, she cannot break free of...
Page of Questing
Learning, Courage, Beauty, Self-liberation, Release of fear, Spontaneous expression, Freedom, New directions, Adventure, Spring, Nothing to fear Reversed Indecision, Unpleasantness Association Discovery The Apprentice stands upon the threshold of a new awareness. Below her lie the bones of past lives, past deaths, past fears and past awakenings. Within her stirs the call to adventure before her and behind her, strange horizons beckon. Clad in the brilliant robes of pure intent, she holds the...
The Linear Spread
Linear spreads are useful when determining long-range courses of action or progressive influences which affect the subject over a period of time. In a linear spread, the cards are arranged in a straight line. Each card drawn is used to clarify or comment upon the preceding card. The reading can continue until both querent and reader feel that a satisfactory answer has been achieved, or until no further elaboration seems to be forthcoming. Usually, cards placed to the left or above a subject...
Chapter Four Primordialism
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be bom W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming The raw materials of existence are present in the Primordial Essence. Attributing this suit to the Nephandi emphasizes the turbulent and often violent outpouring of unrestrained passion and instinct. The traditional Tarot assigns this suit to Cups, the vessels which contain the vital fluids of life. Water is the element represented by these cards, reflecting their multiple...
Queen of Primordialism Barabbi
Emotional integrity, Self-reflection, Unconscious, New form, New identity, New life, Expressing oneself without blame or judgment Reversed Perversity, Dishonesty, Immorality Jodi Blake, imagination's queen, salutes the riot of her cacophonous visions. Her perversity is the key to her freedom from all limitations. In her hands, the instrument of pain becomes the doorway to deliverance from mundane constraints. Through acting out her desires, she makes them real, and her goblet is filled with the...
The Text
Each card has a few meanings ascribed to it for both the upright and the reversed positions, and each has a paragraph or so of text which comments on the card. Unlike more traditional decks, the paragraph does not describe the card and give a possible interpretation instead, it creates a mood or paints a picture reflective of the World of Darkness. Some feature characters from various Mage The Ascension books. Those resources might provide more references for the user, but they're not essential...
The Celtic Cross
The most popular Tarot spread, called the Celtic Cross, consists of 10 cards, and focuses upon the short- and long-term pasts and futures of the reading's subject. Most standard guides to the Tarot contain directions for how to use this spread. Although it is recommended that the full deck be used with the 10-card spread, it is also possible to use only the Major Arcana for this purpose. Joel's character is a young Verbena named Angelo. In a prior game, Angelo encountered other Awakened beings...
Chapter One Using the Cards
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding Over the centuries, Tarot decks have become popular tools for fortune-telling, and in many minds the two are inextricably linked. Serious-minded students of Tarot look down on using the cards for such lowly purposes as predicting rising and declining fortunes in love, business and other personal affairs. Randomly shuffling and...
Suggested Readings
Books on the Tarot abound, occasionally taking up entire walls in occult and specialty bookstores. The following titles represent a sampling of the various approaches to the subject of the Tarot. Consider this a place to start. The Tarot a Key to the Wisdom of the Ages, by Paul Foster Case. This extended essay on the Major Arcana provides a wealth of detail on the symbology of the Greater Trumps. Mastering the Tarot Basic Lessons in an Ancient, Mystic Art, by Eden Gray. Written by one of the...
VThe Mierophant
Learning, Teaching, Wisdom, the Sacred, Initiator, Challenge, Commitment, Intention, Focus, Spirit, Remembrance, Resolution, Consultation, Counseling, Conformity, Society, Orthodoxy Reversed Gullibility, Unorthodoxy, Unconventionality Association Celestial Chorus Clothed in ritual and bound by orthodox traditions, the ruler of conventional faith translates the secrets of the cosmic mind into palatable forms. Enthroned at the balance point between all oppo-sites, the revealer of secret knowledge...
The Circular Spread
Another possible spread involves laying a predetermined number of cards in a circle around a central card. A circle of 12 cards might be used to suggest a course of action or a state of mind which will cover the span of a year, while a seven-card circle might indicate a week. The cards are arranged in a circle around a querent card. Crispin chooses the King of Questing to represent himself, as he leads the Chantry. He lays out seven cards to represent a week face down and starts at the upper...
King of Primordialism Gilledian
Emotional loyalty and commitment, Spontaneity, Ego, Generosity, Responsibility Reversed Violence, Scandal, Injustice, Weakness From his throne room deep beneath the seas, Galarius, Master of the Labyrinth of Drachus Vachor, watches the ripples of his power roil throughout his watery domain. For him, the sea of the subconscious is the font of all creation and destruction. Crowned with the symbol of the ocean s insensate life, he holds in one hand the scepter of his power to influence the world...
Ace of Dynamism
Conquest, Victory, Clarity, Inventiveness, Originality Reversed Disaster, Tyranny, Ignorance Association Innovation Emerging from the storm-filled skies to ground itself in the rippling sands of knowledge, the taloned hand of chaos and instability grasps the sword of activation. Driven by no quest save its own unmotivated energy, impelled by no emotion other than the desire to carve a mark upon the universe, the keen-edged symbol of the power of change severs the veil that hides the secrets of...
Queen of Pattern
Talent, Fertility, Health, Nurturing, Stability, Fulfillment Reversed Neglect, Dependence, Lack, Misuse Creation is the task at hand. Crowned with the mask of enlightened sight, intimately connected to the throne through which her power flows, the Progenitor Queen of Pattern manipulates the structure of life itself. Her fertile imagination conceives of possibilities as yet unperceived her disciplined will brings those visions into being.
The Suits
While they re analogous to the normal Tarot suits of Wands, Swords, Cups and Pentacles, the suits of the Mage Tarot correspond to the various sorts of Essences that color mystic Avatars. Each Essence is in turn associated with one of the four factions of mage society. The suits thus have the following correspondences Traditions Nephandi Marauders Technocracy