CuBiC
January 8th, 2010, 01:45 PM
Hey.
I've been working on an idea for a spread the last few days, based on Peter Carrol's eight colours of magic (http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos/texts/octarine.html) and the corresponding "selves". It is not intended to be a divinatory spread, but more of a self-discovery thing where each card represents things on that particular self's mind, or external influences pertaining to that particular self.
As I'm really more of a mage than a tarot reader (in fact, I got my very first deck this Monday), the spread is designed to be used with a procedure a bit closer to a magical work, and as a result it is strictly introspectively (so no reading for other people).
Each card is meant to be drawn by the corresponding self, so the shuffle procedure is a bit more complicated. You invoke the self responsible for the given colour (however complicated you want to make that), then shuffle the deck until it feels right, and lay down one card. Break that invocation and invoke the next self for shuffling up another card, and so on. This goes for all the cards, aside from the center position which should be done as normal.
The actual spread pattern looks as follows, with each card position coloured according to the "self" it represents, with the central position used sort of like a Significator position. As is obvious, it draws heavily upon the chaostar in its formation.
http://stuff.ircubic.net/chaospread.png
Of note is that the top position, which is here given in purple is really supposed to be Octarine, but that's a bit hard to draw. :) Consequently, the Sex Self position is given here in Silver, the colour of the moon, which is only one of the possible colours (Carroll calls it Purple magic).
As you can see I have underlaid two other diagrams below, which indicates two possible routes for interpretation (and also could dictate drawing order, with the Subjective self always going first). The one time I tried a reading with it, I followed the octagram method, starting at the Octarine/Magic tip, then onto the Green/Love tip, and so on.
The octagram can be used for interpretation as such: Each Self is connected to two other cards, which I interpret as that Self drawing upon the two other Selves. For instance the Wealth Self draws upon the Sex Self and the War Self, the War self in turn draws upon the Wealth Self and the Ego Self, and so on. Some of these connections don't seem to work at first glance, but with a little deliberation they can make an odd amount of sense, and sometimes serve as eye openers as to the nature of the self.
The double rectangle, on the other hand can be used to split the selves into two distinct "realms". The War/Death/Love/Sex realm (which could be called the body realm), and the Magic/Wealth/Ego/Thinking realm (which could be called the mind realm, if you consider Wealth as the collection of experiences, not material goods). These could be considered connected so that congruences in suit or numbers count within one realm, but not across realms.
Some definite issues I have is creating a bit clearer definitions of the selves, and my current list looks as such, but there are some weird points.
Magical self = The pure spiritual/magical pursuits
Death self = Experiences pertaining to destruction and death? Could also be considered the Self of Change, as per the Death card.
Wealth self = collection of experiences and power over others(?)
Love self = Things pertaining to relationships, both romance and friendships
Ego self = Not just ego, but all things Solar (Charisma and Dominance, for instance, could be considered the Male Self)
Sex self = Well... sex life, but also sexual attraction. Also other things Lunar
Thinking self = The rational self (Carroll makes note that this is particularly suited for "quick wit", in areas such as gambling or sales)
War self = Conflict (note that this does not cover the killing/hurting part, that's the Death self's area), opposition of all kinds - even something small such as a bargaining or haggling match
So, I offer this (still sort of in draft status) spread design both for your use, as well as for discussion. I would really love to hear what experienced tarot readers think of this spread, and perhaps help me reconcile some of the difficulties I'm having with connecting the eight colours to the Tarot world, and giving me a reader's view of the whole thing. :)
I've been working on an idea for a spread the last few days, based on Peter Carrol's eight colours of magic (http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos/texts/octarine.html) and the corresponding "selves". It is not intended to be a divinatory spread, but more of a self-discovery thing where each card represents things on that particular self's mind, or external influences pertaining to that particular self.
As I'm really more of a mage than a tarot reader (in fact, I got my very first deck this Monday), the spread is designed to be used with a procedure a bit closer to a magical work, and as a result it is strictly introspectively (so no reading for other people).
Each card is meant to be drawn by the corresponding self, so the shuffle procedure is a bit more complicated. You invoke the self responsible for the given colour (however complicated you want to make that), then shuffle the deck until it feels right, and lay down one card. Break that invocation and invoke the next self for shuffling up another card, and so on. This goes for all the cards, aside from the center position which should be done as normal.
The actual spread pattern looks as follows, with each card position coloured according to the "self" it represents, with the central position used sort of like a Significator position. As is obvious, it draws heavily upon the chaostar in its formation.
http://stuff.ircubic.net/chaospread.png
Of note is that the top position, which is here given in purple is really supposed to be Octarine, but that's a bit hard to draw. :) Consequently, the Sex Self position is given here in Silver, the colour of the moon, which is only one of the possible colours (Carroll calls it Purple magic).
As you can see I have underlaid two other diagrams below, which indicates two possible routes for interpretation (and also could dictate drawing order, with the Subjective self always going first). The one time I tried a reading with it, I followed the octagram method, starting at the Octarine/Magic tip, then onto the Green/Love tip, and so on.
The octagram can be used for interpretation as such: Each Self is connected to two other cards, which I interpret as that Self drawing upon the two other Selves. For instance the Wealth Self draws upon the Sex Self and the War Self, the War self in turn draws upon the Wealth Self and the Ego Self, and so on. Some of these connections don't seem to work at first glance, but with a little deliberation they can make an odd amount of sense, and sometimes serve as eye openers as to the nature of the self.
The double rectangle, on the other hand can be used to split the selves into two distinct "realms". The War/Death/Love/Sex realm (which could be called the body realm), and the Magic/Wealth/Ego/Thinking realm (which could be called the mind realm, if you consider Wealth as the collection of experiences, not material goods). These could be considered connected so that congruences in suit or numbers count within one realm, but not across realms.
Some definite issues I have is creating a bit clearer definitions of the selves, and my current list looks as such, but there are some weird points.
Magical self = The pure spiritual/magical pursuits
Death self = Experiences pertaining to destruction and death? Could also be considered the Self of Change, as per the Death card.
Wealth self = collection of experiences and power over others(?)
Love self = Things pertaining to relationships, both romance and friendships
Ego self = Not just ego, but all things Solar (Charisma and Dominance, for instance, could be considered the Male Self)
Sex self = Well... sex life, but also sexual attraction. Also other things Lunar
Thinking self = The rational self (Carroll makes note that this is particularly suited for "quick wit", in areas such as gambling or sales)
War self = Conflict (note that this does not cover the killing/hurting part, that's the Death self's area), opposition of all kinds - even something small such as a bargaining or haggling match
So, I offer this (still sort of in draft status) spread design both for your use, as well as for discussion. I would really love to hear what experienced tarot readers think of this spread, and perhaps help me reconcile some of the difficulties I'm having with connecting the eight colours to the Tarot world, and giving me a reader's view of the whole thing. :)