In the Future, You Will Be Raped by Brigands! or How Not To Interpret For Your Client

‘In the future, you will be raped by brigands!’  is probably the worst line ever to fall from the lips of a cartomancer into his client’s ears.

These deathless words make us wonder what was the reaction of the lady for whom Etteilla was reading? He uttered them  as part of his interpretation of the Petit Etteilla cards in the Dovetail Spread in his book of 1773.* 

Dispute des Brigands after Alexandre Marie Colin, 1829

 Etteilla reports this spread at breakneck speed, summarizing his findings from the cards like this: ‘In brief, it says in the future you will be raped by brigands. You will decide to change your behaviour, but this won’t succeed. Among those who have made this attack on you will be a light brown man. Advantage for your husband.’ Even if you or I saw such a thing in a spread, today we would not speak this aloud so baldly!   

When you read for others,  you also  have to express what you understand in words to a client and that means you need to become fluent in interpreting cards aloud as well as for your own benefit on paper or in your mind.  As you read for others, each client’s own needs and concerns bring you to engage with areas of interpretation you had not previously considered. 

Not only do you have to read the cards in context with the question, but you also have to express what you understand in suitable language. If you read for an engineer you will use very different metaphors than when you read for a young English student or an elderly artist.  It’s helpful to keep your metaphors and comparisons general and understandable, without jargon.

The way we read is not only about presenting what the cards say,  it is about the tone and tenor of your interpretation too.  You will communicate the import of the cards more sensitively with a man still reeling from being dumped by his girlfriend than you might with a tough businesswoman who wants you to tell her the absolute truth about her trading prospects this month.   It isn’t that you will hold back on the truth, just that you will handle and express your findings in well chosen language without brutalizing, spooking, bewildering or upsetting your client.

         

What you do not say aloud is also responsible cartomancy. Sometimes you see things in a spread that should not be disclosed unless the client first speaks about it. Only the other day I was reading Lenormand for a female client who was worried about her husband’s long absences: when  I discovered Man on the house of Woman and Bear on the house of Lilies in the same Grand Tableau,  my immediate impression was that her husband could be a secret cross-dresser but, since this was information that might cause offence and had not been flagged up by her as a possibility, I kept my own council. These combinations could equally indicate that she and her husband simply cross-polarise the usual male and female roles between them.

         

You may get a sense that there is an undisclosed matter hanging over a reading that might be revealed, but creep up on it, introducing a topic only if it is appropriate for the client.  Crashing in with, ‘I see that you were raped,’ or ‘your clandestine affair is revealed here,’ is not what someone comes to be told; however, if they come in order for you to read about the rape or about their affair, then that’s another matter.  

Very few of us would get away with a pronouncement like, ‘in the future, you will be raped by brigands!’ But sometimes you may indeed read something troubling that is coming up or has already happened to the client.  Predicting future difficulties for a client may make him fearful or superstitious, while lingering on past problems may retraumatise him. So what do you do?

Here is a line of Petit Etteilla that would suggest such a possibility:

            

My own Petit Etteilla cards with the Joker as the Etteilla or Significator card :   K♥  + A♠ +r8 ♣+ 8♠ + Etteilla  ←

 It literally reads, right to left, ‘In solitude while abroad enjoying yourself, a striking man…,’ as a line and then the two meeting cards at either end (King Hearts and 8 Spades) complete the sentence with ‘ …is abusive.’  The sense is clear: the woman is abroad and lets down her guard while enjoying herself.  Etteilla (the Significator card) pairs with the 8 Spades to give us ‘Solitude,’  and 8 Clubs gives us ‘distant or abroad.’ The Venus card of Ace Spades is one of sexuality, so while it might be about her general enjoyment, it could equally be about a sexual assault.  King Hearts has some physical characteristic and could well be a blond or fair-haired man as well.

           

In terms of reading about the past, my rule of thumb is, has the client already mentioned a traumatic issue like being sexually assaulted abroad?  If she hasn’t, I don’t go into detail but merely say, ‘there was some kind of attack while you were abroad.’  If the client confirms this, that’s enough. If she wants to say more, she can. Otherwise, we pass on without more comment.

But in terms of a predicted future event, like an assault while on holiday, that is shrieking on all frequencies to you, the responsibility is to warn or caution. Let’s say the client is a woman of the world, with good confidence,  I might say, ‘When you go abroad, I’m sure you’re going to have a pleasurable time, but you need to watch out for a particular guy, especially when you’re alone. He might be someone who looks like he would be a good lay, but he’s got an abusive streak in him. Just be careful.’

Had the client been someone who couldn’t receive that news without going into a melt-down, or a much younger woman whose confidence isn’t so great, then my approach would be different. I might say, ‘When you go abroad, it would be best to go round the sights and the shops with another woman. Avoid being alone, especially in remote places or down-town.’  This would invariably bring up a question from the client, in response, ‘What do you see?’ To which I would reply, ‘the cards are saying you should be careful not to be alone in case of some opportunistic man taking advantage of you while you’re out enjoying yourself.’  So she asks, ‘What kind of man?’ I reply, ‘He’s got some facial or other characteristic that makes him distinctive – could be a scar or a tattoo or a broken nose, something like that nature.  He’s the kind of guy who’s out for a good time, but at your expense.’ She is warned, but less explicitly.

When it comes to broaching the full extent of a reading, we cartomancers have to avoid becoming the brigands ourselves. Cartomancy is not about shock and awe, or scoring points, it is service of guidance along a path that the client is currently walking, sometimes rather shakily.  The job is not to knock them off the path or to lose them, or make them fearful of their journey, but to orient them until they come to the next clear signpost or into familiar regions again.

WAYS TO AVOID THE BRIGAND’S PATH WHEN READING

Il Sentiero dei Briganti or the Brigand’s Path is a mountainous route stretching from La Monaldesca to Vulci in North West Italy

Ask these questions of yourself while you read:

- What kind of client are you reading for? What is their state or condition?

- How are you conveying the information of the cards?

- Is your tone of voice appropriate to your client?

-Are you using language that they understand?
- Can they hear and receive the difficult messages that you read from their current standpoint?

- What are the most important points to summarise from the reading for the client to implement?
- What in the reading enables the client to go home with some hope and confidence?

Kindness and consideration for your client is the respect by which you honour them.  Speaking intelligently and in context to their condition enables their understanding of what you find, however hard the message.   

*Etteilla’s La Seule Manière de Tirer Les Cartes of 1773, has finally been translated into English as part of the One and Only Etteilla Course which will be available in September from http://www.cartomancy.net/en/courses/petit-etteilla

The One and Only Petit Etteilla Course

by Caitlín Matthews

Features of this course include:

• The first complete English translation of the revised 1773 edition of La Seule Manière de Tirer Les Cartes by Etteilla, fully annotated
• Side by side original Etteilla and modern applications of the meanings
• Learn to read using Etteilla’s meanings and spreads
• Practise your skills using case histories 
• Learn cartomantic combinations
• Gain confidence in reading for clients
• Create your own Petit Etteilla Deck
• Illustrations of Etteilla’s Original Spreads, including The Wheel of Fortune, the Spread of Twelve, Spread of Fifteen, Etteilla’s Spread, The Dovetail Spread, Spread of Thirty-Three, Horoscope Spread.
• New, shorter spreads for everyday divination

CHOOSING A LENORMAND DECK by Caitlín Matthews

WHICH DECK?

What is the best kind of deck to learn from? There are so many on the market that it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the choice: painted, photoshopped, photographic, thematic, traditional packs, clip-art and trade-advert packs. With such a range of decks to choose from and with some of these being produced privately and more expensive than the commercially available ones, you want to spend your money wisely and well.

(Just a selection of decks: L-R, from top: Lilac Lenormand, Blue Owl, Melissa Lenormand, Britta’s Wahsagenkarten, Postmark Lenormand; bottom: Magisches Lenormand, Victorian Lenormand, Ryder’s Lenormand)

Everyone has their own aesthetic response to artwork, of course, and this is often how beginners proceed: by appearance alone. But if you use the same criteria as for choosing a tarot, you can soon lose the plot in Lenormand. Tarots often have a lush imagery, so that it’s like choosing 78 very beautiful or charming pictures for your art gallery, but sheer proliferation of loveliness or whimsy will not help you in Lenormand. Think of Lenormand decks as you do of font that you read. If I switched to italic script, the clarity is immediately lessened: it might be fine for a short greeting, but pages of this would do your head in. However, if I chose to write for you in Walbaum FrakturEF, which is a thick historic German font, I wouldn’t blame you for leaving this page immediately. We need unfussy Lenormands just as we need clear font.

The criteria for leading your search include these questions:

• Are the cards crystal clear so that you can understand the image quickly?
• Can you easily distinguish Bouquet from Lily, or House from Tower?
• Do the cards come with a clear playing card or suit and number?
• Do the cards have a running sequence of numbers 1-36 printed on them?
• Are they are a good size for laying out all 36 in a Grand Tableau (regardless of the fact that you aren’t reading one of those just yet?)

1. Choose a deck where the images are clear at a glance.
If it is overwhelmed with astrological emblems, words, lush images or heavily loaded with photo-montaged cut-outs, you will never be able to steer your way through a Grand Tableau without confusion. Simple images enable your mind to make the connections between cards: complex cards delay that process. Here are two decks that show what I mean. The top one is Dream Inspires Lenormand by Flick Merauld who is a great photographer: I like the art a lot but, for a beginner, these two cards are unclear. The flower, if you know your horticulture, is a Lily, but because the number 30 has faded away into the white background, you can’t see this quickly enough. The card beside it is the Star, but it also depicts an owl, which could easily confuse a beginner with the Birds card. It’s also got a fire in it, which might take your mind elsewhere, away from the essential clarity and precision of Star’s meaning.

                            

In the row beneath, we have a Russian Lenormand which gives us few clues as to the cards’ identities. I chose these three cards purposely, because they are only identifiable by their suit which, if you don’t speak Russian, could be problematic in itself on the first card. The first card is a diamond, but what does it signify? This is the Paths card and the Russian D is for Dama, Lady or Queen, in this instance. The middle card shows a cross but, no, it isn’t the Cross, because the suit tells us it’s a 9 Diamonds – so it’s actually the Coffin card, but it doesn’t actually depict one! The last card is 9 Hearts, so we know it’s the Rider, but because the horse is stationary, it could be mistaken for the Gentleman card. These cards are confusing to read with and, even though I’ve read for years, I cannot use this Russian one at all except in small layouts!

2. Do They Have a Playing Card or Suit Symbol on them? Some people feel that the playing card part of a Lenormand card is just extraneous, because they themselves haven’t ever used them. The traditional packs came with them because Lenormand or Petit Jeu (Little Oracle) decks derive from piquet (reduced 32 card) cartomancy. When Lenormand cards received a pictorial image, it was the playing card that helped people remember what the card’s divinatory meaning was about. But it was the German values of playing cards and not the French ones that ended up on Lenormand cards: in the German system it is Clubs which is the challenging suit and not the more usual French Spades.

Above we have, on the left, the Cartamundi Petit Jeu cards of Child, Sun and Mice; this is a later 20th century version of the c1860s Belgian Daveluy cards on the right.

 Here is a  larger card from the Daveluy: it has the playing card of Queen Diamonds, the text that enables the reader to interpret it and the actual image of the Paths below. Knowing that the Paths is also Queen of Diamonds is helpful to the modern reader who can indeed read the card as ‘choices, decisions, crossroads in your life or alternatives’ but it can also be read as ‘an ambitious or career Woman who knows (or thinks she knows) where she is going.’ As we saw in point two above, sometimes knowing the suit and number of the card is simply helpful for identification purposes. Combinations of cards which we read by juxtaposition with each other can also be read, as a secondary process, as combinations of suits, telling us a lot more about our cards. I will be teaching this in my forthcoming book, the Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook, see below.

3. Do they have a Numerical Sequence of 1-36?
The traditional numeration of Lenormand cards is the same whatever you pack you choose. Some packs will often have a title as well as a number, but some will have just a number. Those without numbers are less quickly read when you are learning. There are some fine decks without any such numbers, but they are less easy to read or identify. The pack below is one of my first non-traditional Lenormands, the mini Postmark Lenormand by Melissa Hanney. I have the ordinary sized deck and know it well, but when she made the mini, Melissa left off any numeration or suit-designation because of space considerations – as you can see, I’ve included my own notation here. For me this is fine, for a beginner it would be another story, perhaps? It is clear deck to work with at the ordinary size.

4. Is it Possible to lay out a Grand Tableau with them? In your considerations, bear in mind that when all 36 cards are laid out in a Grand Tableau, it is the cards’ simplicity that will count. If you have chosen the lushly illustrated Hawaiian Pineapple Lenormand (I just made that deck up!), it won’t matter how beautifully painted it is if you can’t, at a glance, tell the difference between the Tree and the Garden, or between the Dog and the Fox, or if you aren’t certain which equivalent Lenormand cards the Volcano (The Mountain?) or the Surf-Board (Ship?) are supposed to represent! I’ve seen many people try to read a GT and heard them say, ‘the Bouquet is over Lady card so that means you have a gift on your mind – oh, sorry, that’s the Lily, isn’t it? So - is your dad ok? This is not the kind of impression you want to give!

This is also why size is a consideration: you will notice that most Lenormand decks are very small, some even smaller than poker size playing cards. Don’t be put off! There is a good reason for this: if the pack you choose has very large cards, then you will need an enormous table when it comes to laying out all 36 of them in a Grand Tableau! I bought a pack a couple of years back which was nearly as big as an original Visconti Sforza tarot card (for which you need jazz pianist, Fats Waller, hands!) To have spread 36 of these cards, I would have needed a double bed-sized table and arms like an orang-utan! I gave them away finally as impossible to work with.

My personal choice for laying a Grand Tableau is a traditional mini deck, because I have a small table and am often travelling to teach, so that I’m reading cards on a small hotel table for clients. 36 mini cards still make a square of about 18 inches or 45cms. As you can see from this picture, the cards of this facsimile Game of Hope (the first Lenormand from 1800) entirely fill my small table. I can easily navigate between the cards because of the pale backgrounds.

TRADITIONAL DECKS
I personally use a range of cards that are variations of the traditional packs, with both the playing card and the traditional image upon them, or with the playing card marked in the corner and the images in the centre. If you are learning, then you will need at least one such traditional style deck to start with. People ask me all the time what is my favourite deck and it’s very easy to say the Mertz, which is super clear and unfussy. It’s the deck that lives beside my computer and when I’m skyping with someone, I can take it in hand and ask it anything. As you see, it ticks all the boxes: against the white background, we have numerical sequence number, playing card and clear image.

                                

Here is the Purple Dondorf deck, a facsimile made by Lauren Forstel, taken from Le Fanu’s collection. (You can get ordinary editions of the Dondorf very easily for a small cost.) It’s slightly less clear than the Mertz because it has painted backgrounds to the subjects, but it’s still very good to work with.

Below is a Grand Tableau using the c. 1890s Stralsunder Lenormand: again, this is a mini deck that hasn’t been cleaned up in any way, so it’s not as clear as a new Stralsunder I’m currently expecting in the post, but you can see immediately how each card has to really do its work if you are to read along the lines and make a joined up interpretation. The pale background enables smaller objects to leap out clearly: the cards with more painted backgrounds are not as easy to see unless you are sitting close to the cards. Unfortunately, many of the antique decks are very rare and mostly unavailable, although Lauren Forstel, see below, has brought some wonderful decks back into circulation by her clear reproduction.

But what if you don’t want to read cards with old-time people on them? Well, there are still very clear, bright modern decks that you can read with also, like the Magisches Lenormand by Gabriele Büttner and Sandy Plütsch. You still get numeration, playing card and a very clear image. Some clients like this deck because it has a very friendly, open feel to it and isn’t full of serious,or historical subjects.

THEMATIC DECKS
Thematic decks are ones that follow a particular theme, mythos or concept. You can go onto using these after you have laid down the basics of learning the meaning and order of the cards. Once you have your bedrock of skills, a thematic deck isn’t going to throw you. Like learning basic acoustic guitar, within time you’ll be able to pick up another kind of guitar and learn what it can show you, because you already have that skill in your hands. Cultural decks are very nice if you have already laid down a base line by learning all 36 cards, but they can also mislead beginners into reading Lenormand more like a tarot card again. If the (non-existent) Hawaiian Pineapple Lenormand has assigned a circle of hula dancers to the card of the Ring, your mind will create associations with the Ring that are symbolic of dancing rather than of ‘agreements,’ which is one of the keywords of this card. In this way you will inevitably bring a whole host of cultural and metaphorical associations that finally detract from or cloud the core meaning.

Here we have Nepher Khepri’s Egyptian Lenormand which shows a sarcophagus for Coffin, the god Thoth for Moon and the Djed Pillar for Cross – I can read this pack without any problem because I have a knowledge of Egyptian myth and symbology: it doesn’t give me problems, but you might be tempted, as a beginner, to fuse the thought ‘Mummy’ with Coffin or ‘writing’ with the Moon, which wouldn’t help you. Below it are the mini deck version, to give you a sense of scale, of Carrie Paris’s excellent Lenormand Revolution, which is based upon the French Revolutionary theme: Lady is manning the barricades, Tower is the Bastille being stormed on 14th July and Gentleman is Louis XVI, still with his head on. These are not so easy to distinguish when all the cards are down, but, as a deck that a strong theme it works for me. A beginner is going to struggle to see the images quickly enough until they have the basics down.

Paris de Bono’s Japanese Lenormand deck pursues a cultural theme: the images are clear and the only point of unclarity for a Lenormand reader is that he has also intended them to have an alternative playing card use as well as a Lenormand one, so there is an upsidedown keyword which has nothing to do with Lenormand interpretation, but everything to do with the playing card meanings. Most beginners would find this off-putting. Tower has nothing to do with escape, of course! But if you wanted a ‘two for one’ deck, this might be helpful to you.

My own deck, the Enchanted Lenormand Oracle, with art by Virginia Lee, is somewhere between a traditional and thematic deck, as it is largely based upon themes in folk stories. Although the frame - by which the cards join up with each other - is busy, the central image is clear and the crystal ball images stand out when set side by side in tableau.

MAKE YOUR OWN
A lot of people decide make their own Lenormand: for your own use, a self-made pack is fine but, unless you have fine art skills, it may not be to everyone else’s taste. I’ve seen many home-made and marketed Lennies that I would rather not use because they are artistically not to my taste nor clear enough in execution.

One of the most charming self-made decks that still ticks all the boxes for me is by the youngest Lenormand creator: Ryder, the 8 year old son of Lenormand teacher, Rana George. It is eminently clear, well-drawn and identifiable. I use the mini deck myself and it’s lots of fun.

Every December I receive a lot of Christmas cards; a couple of years back I made my own Lenormand by cutting up the cards: you may recognize Ship. Tower, House, Rider, Lily and Scythe, but I made these just for fun and won’t be inflicting these upon you at any point, I assure you!

The cards I’ve selected here reflect my own preferences and tastes, of course, and I’m sure your own aesthetic is very different. But I’ve also chosen them to reflect the difficulties and help that cards can bring to the beginner who is taking up Lenormand for the first time. Every deck I’ve mentioned by name is usable and I mean no slight to any creator: I trust they understand that I’m not slating their work, just showing what is helpful or not so helpful for beginners. Lenormands, like cars, are vehicles and you want to chose the best model for the job. My first car had a racing engine and absolutely no insurer would insure me to drive out in it, as a new driver: you might also want to consider the CC of your engine power and find a good run-about Lenormand that will serve you while you are learning how to drive as well as navigate at the same time! You can aspire to faster, sleeker models as you learn.

Many of the traditional antique decks on this blog can be obtained from http://gameofhopelenormand.bigcartel.com/ This will include the forthcoming new and cleaned up edition of the Daveluy Lenormand, from the original cards in my possession, coming soon. Some decks will be easily available on Amazon, but others will have to be bought from overseas. Some self-published decks are no longer in print.

Coming in October 2014: The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook; Reading the Cards, their Symbols and History is a generic book on learning Lenormand. It has 416 pages and over 100 pictures, and includes a progressive way of learning based on practices, spreads, case histories. It is a stand-alone book and quite separate from the Enchanted Lenormand Oracle.

Plough Monday

Plough Monday is the first Monday after Epiphany, traditionally the day that agricultural labourers returned to the land after the festivities of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  They knew that unless you sought a blessing on the beginning of your working year, that you not doing yourself any favour.  In Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, the Straw Bear goes around the streets with the ploughwitch teams. Before the Reformation, the plough teams collected money to maintain the 'plough lights' or votive candles in the local church where the work was blessed by their patron saint.

We all need a helpful spirit to bless our work, which is why I am not getting on so well today,  perhaps?  I have set lights in front of my Black Virgin and on my Epona shrine for a  better beginning tomorrow.

This is a poem I wrote for Plough Tuesday, the day after Plough Monday, a few years ago.  It was colder then than it is now, but some parts of the world are still pretty cold and in other parts, many of us are having difficulty getting back to work in a concerted way. It ends with a little charm for the year that is born but not out of swaddling bands yet. The image is from my trip to Northern Iceland in 2012 and shows the Svarfadalur range with some empty play frames in front of it: we are also from our play and back to work, but westill need the blessing to start us back up.

                 INCANTATION FOR PLOUGH TUESDAY

                       by Caitlín Matthews

It is the bird-quiet hour,

The midday contemplation of the sun.

On this bleak day, when no sun shines,

What wraps the birds in silence,

What power blankets their song?

They neither sing nor eat,

The shrouded blackbirds.

Crows cluster on chimney-tops

In sad communion.

Wrens roost, gulls wheel,

Even the starling tribe

Have ceased their stuttering.

For what purpose are they still?

Clutched by a grief or memory

Too potent to be borne?

Is it a mourning for the absent sun,

Too long circling from its zenith?

The unkind kiss of ice

Weakens their wings.

The pin-wheeling prick of snow

Steals their song.

They shelter in death's shadow

This new-born year

As the plough turns a fresh and icy furrow.

So it is for them I sing

This tight-folded Tuesday,

When the earth's iron-hard

To my heart's coultar,

When the white and unremitting page

Echoes the ice-sheets

Clamping the green world grey.

Out of need,

From heart's glead,

Kindle the gladness,

Banish this sadness.

Turn back the glebe-land,

Plough of my screed-hand.

Make glad their feathers,

In bright, warmer weathers;

From midwinter's burrow

Send light down the furrow;

Come forth, hidden sun,

For the year's work's begun!

Whittlesey Straw Bear on Plough Monday

May your year begin with a blessing and continue with a song!

The Omen Days: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Christmas Eve has come and now I can truly rest. Every year we try to have the Twelve Days of Christmas as a complete holiday, though a copy editor came near to spoiling that this afternoon by giving me work ‘to be handed in on 6^th January.’ I’m afraid I just turned it round very quickly, completely unwilling to extenuate a piece of rewriting through my precious quiet time. 

As we approach the next few quiet days from work, this is a good time to refresh how we can really prepare for the year ahead of us through the medium of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which in this household are well kept. 

In the medieval liturgical calendar, the festival of Christmas Day stood alone by itself as a supreme holy day, and so the counting of the twelve days began from 26 December which is the 1^st day of Christmas until the 6th January which is Twelfth Night, or the 12^th day of Christmas.  What has this got to do with anything?

Well, in Brittany and in Wales, the Twelve Days of Christmas, which mark the intercalary days of the year, are called ‘the Omen Days,’ and they have a special purpose. ‘Intercalary days’ are really the days left over from reckoning up the solar year and, in calendars throughout the world and at different times, they are special because they are considered to be ‘the days out of time.’  It is in this interval between the ordinary count of days that gods are born or conceived in many different mythologies, including the Irish one, where Oengus Og, Young Angus, is conceived, grown and born at Brúg na Boinne within this time, all in one day, by the magical workings of the Dagda.

Brúg na Boinne

Within these twelve days lies a wonderful secret that those dismissive of the Christian tradition might well miss, for each of the twelve days is assigned to a month of the coming year, with the first day of Christmas the 26^th December as symbolic of January, the second day or 27^th December representing February and so on, right through to 6^th January which represents the December yet to come.  It was the custom of many to go out on each day of the Christmas festival to observe the signs in nature and divine from them the state of the year to come. The omens experienced on each of the Omen Days indicate the nature of each month in the coming year.

The divining of oracles from nature has a long tradition in Celtic lore.  The Scots Gaelic tradition of the frith or the augury from the signs of nature is well established. The listening to bird’s calling was a critical part of druidic lore, as was the movement and behaviour of other animals.  Some of these auguries have come down to us, like the little white book of meanings in a tarot pack: some people used them, but others did not.  The real skill is to read the signs in accordance with your understanding at the time, and as it relates to the question that provoked the augury in the first place.  I’ve been teaching this skill for over 25 years and not yet found anyone who couldn’t do it, as long as they first asked a well-framed question.

                                        Omen in the Sand, Bay of Scail, Orkney

In this case, you treat each day of Christmas as the opportunity for an augury for the month it represents in coming year.  This might be experienced during a daily walk, or perceived in the nature of the day itself and how it falls out. Personally, I like to make a frame for each Omen Day, by asking to be shown an augury from nature and allowing the next thing I experience, see or hear to be the sign I am expecting.  It helps to find the right place to do this on a walk, to close your eyes, to spin around on the spot and then be attentive.

Many of my students have been doing this for a while and last year I shared it with an online group of Lenormand Card readers, who are now using the Omen Days to divine for the year ahead, choosing one or more cards each day to discover the nature of the months of the year.  There is no right way to do this, only by the unique interaction you have between the world that is seen and the world that is unseen, but just as real.

That the Twelve Days of Christmas have kept their assured place at the heart of Celtic divination is one of those wonderful instances of double-decker belief that are scattered throughout folk tradition worldwide. The Russians have a good word for this kind of thing, naming it dvoverie  or ‘double-belonging,’ a word originally coined to cover those who had an earlier belief running alongside a later one.  Wherever a newer tradition has come into a country, the older one doesn’t just die or go away, but becomes fused with the newer one, so that the traditional continuity can be enjoyed by us all.

Whatever your beliefs, the Omen Days continue to offer the opportunity to understand the year ahead so, forget the ‘year’s round up of news’ and the ‘look-back specials’ on the tv this Christmas and look ahead to a year full of promise!

I wish you and yours joy, health, love and peace! 

The Green & Burning Tree from 

Celtic Book of the Dead by Caitlín Matthews, 

art by Danuta Meyer

Caitlín will be teaching Celtic methods of divination from nature on 15-16 February 2014 Celtic Visions: Seership, Omens and Divination from Nature  This non-residential course explores the realm of Celtic divination and vision that was once the preserve of the druidic seers of the Celtic world who used subtle perception to reveal nature's truth and the soul’s knowledge.  Caitlín has made a special study of the oracular and sacred traditions, finding simple, practical ways by which these methods can illuminate the present moment. Participants will learn how to read the omens of the natural world, using traditional seership methods, including 'the Three Illuminations' - ancient Irish modes of oracular divination by incantation, resonance and shamanic incubation - and 'the Augury of Brighid' which was employed by the ancestral freers of Gaelic Scotland.  There will be opportunities to give and receive oracles and auguries, by means of the dha shealladh or 'the two seeings' and by other traditional methods.

Participants need to bring a wooden staff or wand, OR a small smooth stone, a covering for their eyes, and a small personal object which should be one whose history is known to them and that they don't mind other people handling – it will return home with them. NOTE: we will be spending short periods outside regardless of weather.

Fee: £175, send £75 deposit payable to the Clophill Centre, or directly into the account of Richard Diss, sort code 09.01.28 a/c 40762541 Enquiries to Clophill Centre, Shefford Road, Clophill, Beds. MK45 4BT. richarddiss1950@tiscali.co.uk or 01525 862278

If you can’t come, then this course generated a book on Celtic seership called, Celtic Visions: Omens, Dreams and Spirits of the Otherworld is available from her at www.hallowquest.org.uk or from all the usual sources.

KEEPING THE HERMIT’S LANTERN SHINING AT HAWKWOOD

This year John and I celebrate our 28^th annual December gathering at Hawkwood College, which has become our midwinter mystery school, open to anyone who wishes to deepen their experience.  Hawkwood College is a gracious Cotswold house in the limestone hills above Stroud in Gloucestershire. It has been an adult college since 1948.  With its own grounds, mature trees, and a spring, it has a wonderful atmosphere, with comfortable rooms and nourishing food. It is our second home and the place of gathering for many of our friends and students because it has been the venue for an eclectic mystery school over many years.

Hawkwood College 

Every midwinter here we present a different topic on a never to be repeated weekend, so it becomes a unique experience for everyone.  We do this every year, honouring a trust that passed to us in 1985 by Gareth Knight. 

  

Gareth Knight

From the late 1970s onwards, the writer and ceremonial magician, Gareth Knight, held open magical weekends at Hawkwood College for anyone to attend. Looking at these events from the perspective of 2013, it may not seem like a big deal, but back in the 1970s, any rituals were generally performed in private and only among the initiated.  Ritual work creates a container where the spirit of these mysteries is focused and then mediated out:  normally performed by people who have trained in the mysteries, rituals that were open to all attenders at these early courses offered everyone a chance to encounter the spiritual heart of the Western mysteries. Gareth Knight explored many aspects of the mysteries, including the work of Dion Fortune and Charles Williams,  Atlantis, Alchemy and the Rosicrucian mysteries. Just as the Rosicrucian Manifesto specified that members meet together once a year, rather like the knights at Camelot, so too it has been the tradition for those who are on the path of the Western Mysteries gather here.  So it was that Hawkwood College became a beacon that, like the hermit’s lantern, shines so that others can follow their spiritual path.

                                                R.J.Stewart & John Matthews c.1980

These early weekends were a proving ground for many notable magical teachers,  including R.J.Stewart whom Gareth invited to share his foundational work for the first time in public.  No-one who was present at R.J.’s Underworld Initiation would ever forget the sound of his unique 80 string psaltery.  Friendships that we made at Hawkwood continue to this day, making us colleagues in the Great Work with many wonderful teachers, singers and artists.  In 1985, Gareth handed over his December weekend over to us to continue the work, which we have striven to do: keeping an open mystery school for anyone to attend, as well as working at a deeper level with the myths and mysteries of the land.   We have explored both the hermetic and earth traditions, opening doors and exploring pathways that lead to the threshold of the mysteries and beyond. 

Left: Brian & Wendy Froud, who joined us for Within the Hollow Hills in 2004.

Below: Caitlín & John Matthews with Rev. Mark Townsend at the well after the gnostic ritual that concluded Jesus and Myth, 2011.

We have been very fortunate in our special guests who have helped us, including Brian and Wendy Froud,  Professors Ari Berk & Ronald Hutton, Philip Carr-Gomm, Marian Green, Mark Townsend, and this year, actor and tarot-creator, Mark Ryan, who will bring his own woodland skills with bow and tarot to Hawkwood. 

Mark Ryan

This December we will be exploring the different traditions of tarot – how it is read, what wisdom it has to reveal to us, how we carry the flame of its mysteries onward -  from the perspectives of the court, the temple and the wildwood, with lots of opportunities to play with your tarot cards.  Tarot has survived in all these ways and places as gaming cards, oracle and window for meditation.  It is an evolving living tradition that many practice. The images below are from the Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan, John Matthews & art by Will Worthington, but we will be working through the medium of whatever tarot you bring along.

The Hooded Man 

                  

                        The Wanderer 

The Seer

The underlying purpose of our Tarot Landscapes weekend is to acknowledge that everyone who uses tarot keeps alight the lamp of the Hermit, pursuing as seeker the path of the Fool in order to arrive at the unlocking of wisdom that the High Priestess offers. Each of the 22 figures of the tarot is a living archetype who invites us to look through the window to otherworlds. Whichever tarot you use, you will find their wisdom.

          

What happens at our Hawkwood weekends?  After dinner on arrival, there is an opening ceremony and introduction, where we set the scene and get to know each other. Then on Saturday, we  teach the chosen topic, with lots of interaction and dialogue, practical implement of our divination skills, as well as touching base with the underlying principles of tarot.  Saturday is the day where we assemble what needs to be mediated on Sunday, but before that, on Saturday night, we have a ceilidh where everyone who wishes to takes a turn to sing, read, recite or perform around the fire, while refreshments are served. On Sunday, we conclude our work by a group ritual in which everyone takes part: it is especially written for the course and never repeated. This year we are walking the Paths of the Wildwood where the cards will give their own oracles and where everyone will have a chance to mediate what they have gained in the ritual to both the seen and unseen world.

          

                                                             

Card from Christmas Stories Storyworld

You are very welcome to join myself, John and Mark for this special midwinter gathering for an unforgettable weekend.  No special skills are needed: it is open to all people who enjoy the tarot.The atmosphere is friendly, relaxed and celebratory, since it is so near midwinter, where many people come to reconnect with their spiritual family, the Company of Hawkwood.  Please bring at least one tarot pack, an optional robe/garment for the ritual, and some nibbles & drinks to share at the ceilidh. 

Tarot Landscapes: Court, Temple and Wildwood,  runs from  6.30pm on Friday 13 December - 1pm on 15  December.

BOOKING: Please send your non-returnable deposit of £90 payable to Hawkwood College, Painswick Old Rd., Stroud, Glos GL6 7QW (01453 759034)  or info@hawkwoodcollege.co.uk  quoting course  491. http://www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/courses/tarot-landscapes-december. 

SHARED £270, SINGLE £300, NON-RES £225. Fees include fees, handouts, ritual and full accommodation. Note that single rooms are limited and that most rooms accommodate 2 people sharing.  Please send your non-returnable deposit of £90 payable to Hawkwood College, Painswick Old Rd., Stroud, Glos GL6 7QW (01453 759034) quoting course Tarot Landscapes. Enclose an SAE for map & confirmation.  Stroud is on a mainline train station, and the college only 5 mins drive from the station.