Tarot Magic

Guest blog by  Chloë McCracken

“Low Magick: it’s all in your head… you just have no idea how big your head is.” ~ Lon Milo DuQuette

Starting with a quote like that, you might think that I wouldn’t advocate doing spells that involve other people.  And in some ways, you’d be right.  Trying to make other people do something with magic doesn’t feel ethical to me personally.  And I believe magic is most powerful when you focus on what you can do: on changing your own subconscious in ways that then ripple out into your thoughts, words and deeds.  People will respond to these changes, and that’s how I go about influencing others, rather than casting a spell specifically on a third party.

Constellation Magic

Despite not focusing on changing other people through magic, one of the techniques that I teach for using tarot cards in magic is specifically about looking at lots of different people involved in a situation you want to improve.  I call it constellation magic, and it can be done with both tarot and Lenormand cards.  I gave an example on the Celtic Lenormand blog a few months ago.

Above is another example, using cards from the Angel Tarot (Lo Scarabeo, 2007).  An older businesswoman, a Virgo, had a tricky negotiation coming up.  She had a supporter in the form of the Queen of Swords, another sharp-minded woman.  On the other side of the table, there was a rather impetuous, sharp-tongued and argumentative younger man trying to prove himself.  And a third side to the situation was an old patriarch, the company founder.  There was tension between all three sides, and so the client wanted to bring some calm, balance, and a willingness to find a solution that would bring a mix of what each party needed.  We chose Temperance to represent that.

Summum Bonum, Not Manipulation

In this spell, therefore, she was calling on the energy of Temperance.  Most specifically, she wanted to draw this energy to herself and her interactions with these people.  She was also calling on spirit to bring some of this positive energy into the whole situation.  It isn’t a spell that tries to coerce anyone: it seeks the highest good for all involved.

This kind of magic also works very well in family situations.  And of course, you can change the layout of the cards to match the particular situation.  You can also choose different cards as the energy needed by each person involved, rather than just one energy for everyone.  There’s lots of room for creativity and allowing messages from the universe to guide you in creating your spell.

Finding Balance

The very fact of thinking things through in this way is powerful, even before working a spell to cement the desired changes.  The act of taking time to consider who each person is at their core (at least in the given situation, as we’re all many things at different times), and of exploring what each person needs or has to offer can shed a lot of light.  And calling on spirit to help guide you to reach a solution that is in the best interests of everyone opens you up to the magic of the Universe.

Using the tarot in this way encourages you to think about the situation from a place of love and harmonious balance, rather than getting caught up in the emotions or petty thoughts that such constellations can evoke.  After all, the tarot images and archetypes are all about understanding life and finding a healthy, spiritual balance.  Combining this with magic is a way to speak to your higher self in the manner it best understands.  Altogether, it’s a powerful practice!

Webinar – Learn How to Use Tarot in Magic!

If you’d like to explore this more or learn other ways of using tarot in magic, I’ll be running a two-part webinar on this subject later this month (October 2015). 

Chloë McCracken is the creator of the Celtic Lenormand Oracle, and the author of two ebooks on magic. You can find her blog and many other tarot and magical offerings at innerwhispers.co.uk.