Question:
Whats my next step to be on my spiritual path?

Your question has been given to our guest reader- eRasputin. He works with the Thoth deck by Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris. If you’re happy with your reading please consider donating to his favourite charity, Shelter. Feel free to comment here, or privately using our contact form. We will only display comments from the original questioner and reader.

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Cards drawn in the 
‘Window Overlooking the Stairway’ spread
(read as drawn from bottom to top):
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Bottom: The Hermit
Step 2: Three of Wands
Step 3: The Tower
Step 4: Eight of Cups
Window: Princess of Swords
 

Interpretation:

I’ve used the Thoth Tarot, which is my speciality, and I use a technique known as ‘Elemental Dignity’ rather than reversed cards. This technique uses the elemental and astrological correspondences of the Tarot Cards to decide whether they have a good meaning or a bad meaning, which allows me to have shades of grey, instead of the GOOD/BAD system of card reversals (upsidedown cards shuffled randomly into the deck,) which I find silly and not representative of real life.

I put down five cards for you, in a spread I was taught by a Tarot reader from Osaka. The spread is called called ‘The Window Overlooking the Stairway’ (I’m told it sounds a lot better in Japanese.) Here we your four steps up, exploring the direction you need to go in, and the window overlooking it all, which is a card giving some advice that you might not have thought about before.

So, we start at the bottom of the stairs, with a card that represents your general situation at the moment – here we have The Hermit. He’s a major arcana, a card representing a general situation in your life rather than a set of specific choices you’ve made. I’d say that at the moment things you previously held dear are falling away and seeming less important, perhaps you’re reaching a new phase of life or some projects/commitments are coming to their natural end. Either way, you’re finding yourself withdrawn from things and feeling that the WHY of things is more important than the WHAT/WHERE. You’re seeking answers, and they’re taking you away from what you know.

The Next step up is what to increase. Here we have the Three of Wands. What to increase is your ambition and progress – take the new aspects of your life, the elements you want to enhance, and run with them. From this card I’d say that although you’re asking what your next step should be, there is a specific new path already open, and you’d be well advised to explore it.

Step Three is what to decrease. This step is The Tower. In Jainism, before someone can devote their life to the study of a spiritual path they have to achieve ‘right livelihood,’ the practise of creating an equilibrium in their daily life that gives them the stability to concentrate on enlightenment. I’d suggest this card is telling you the same thing – achieve stability so that you can advance. Remove the tensions in your life, make sure your incomings and outgoings match and balance yourself against emotional strife. Once you’ve got this balance you’ll be able to move on.

Step Four, the top of the stairs, represents the way forward. This card is the Eight of Cups, and it represents discipline and emotional objectivity. It isn’t an easy card, as doing what you know should be done, and having to obey rules instead of following your instincts can feel restrictive and joyless, but this is your next step. Here we have a card that shows now is not the time to indulge the self and follow your instincts. Now is the time to exercise self discipline and do what you know objectively should be done. Point yourself at the most difficult, restrictive path and head for it!

Finally, we have the window overlooking the stairway. This card is a piece of general advice to think about through all of the steps. This card is the Princess of Swords. She represents a young, undeveloped force with a lot of potential. She is the Earthy part of Air, and as such there is a little friction between the Airy and Earthy parts of her nature. When crystals and dust travel in the air, we get lightning and thunder. This is the Princess’ way of bringing the high concepts of Air into fruition by dragging them down to earth. Its advice to you is to seek your spiritual path in the difficult, the dull and the mundane. Seek the spiritual in your everyday troubles and obligations, at work, at home, with friends and family. That is the next stage of your spiritual path.

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The Necronomicon Tarot is a beautifully illustrated deck based on H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The artwork for this deck was created by Anne Stokes under the direction of Donald Tyson to fit in with his novels which are an expansion of and homage to Lovecraft’s mythos. As such, the artwork of this deck has very little in common with the more traditional decks.
Although this deck is accurate when the cards are read with the traditional meanings, they do (as with every deck) have their own unique way of speaking, and I have enjoyed learning their language.
This deck is published through Llewellyn, but don’t let that put you off. It does mean that the bag that comes with the deck is a bit flimsy, and the book is well printed, but not as informative as you might hope for if this is your first deck.
As this deck does tie into the Cthulhu Mythos, I recommend a good knowledge of both tarot and the mythos to really get the most from working with this deck.

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If you are looking for a professional  in-depth, face to face Tarot consultation in London we can highly recommend Diana Taylor and Suzanne Corby‘s Classic Tarot. You can book an appointment with them through Treadwells. Expect warmth and wisdom from these very experienced readers. Suzanne and Diana also offer formal Tarot training and workshops.

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You can buy her book, or if you really want to stalk her, check out Stella’s Myspace Page.

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