Lux Occulta Press - The Occult Gateway: The Tarot Library

Order of Nine Angles

”Septenary Tree of Wyrd”

Sphere of Jupiter

The Sinister Tarot

By Christos Beest

.:0:.

The power within is great
The eagle eats
Its human offspring
Cold music here
Blue woman hold the horse’s head
While the Seer weaves

PHYSIS - GA WATH AM

The gradual unfolding of nature; the source of Evolution, that which creates Wyrd. The essence behind the appearance of things. Ga wath am: the Power within me is Great.

From Mercury to Sun

Headless
The white angel impaled
By Seven.
Seven bells rung,
The cortege from a black hill
Passed the squatter’s cottage.
Black flame engulfed
Black flame ate the ‘holy’.

MAGICKIAN - BINAN ATH

Empathy; a flowing with natural forces that are consciously understood. An integration becoming (part of) a greater Wyrd; an awareness that spans Aeons. Actions that prepare the way.

From Mercury to Mars

She rows a boat in a black pool
From Her steps :
The Hermaphrodite,
The body drowned.
The Planet of Them
And the first drop
In a white desert
Into clear Waters
Aktlal Maka.

HIGH PRIESTESS - MACTORON

Beyond the Abyss: the crossing over and Initiation (in terms of awareness whilst still partaking of a causal existence) into the Lands of the Dark Immortals. A self-awareness that transcends temporal understanding - becoming the essence; beyond opposites.

From Venus to Jupiter

III

From a mountain of skulls
Blue trees
A rose garden cracks
Two women walk through;
The corpse in a wedding dress
No longer guides
Four waterfalls flood the Earth
And books become ash …

MISTRESS OF EARTH - DAVCINA

Empathic manipulation (such as ‘enchantment’) to create Change via causal structure - amoral acts that may conventionally be seen as ‘evil’. Actions provoked by unfettered passions and a reveling in the physical pleasures and challenges of life. “Ruthless ambition”. Creativity and Change via destruction - ie. War, culling.

From Mars to Jupiter

The Elixir of Recalling
Flows into clear water
The contracting of the Dark Star
The severing of the attractant
The Pool is opened
Go deeper
Against all other
And ever Darker, Recall.

LORD OF EARTH - KTHUNAE

The nature of the changes in the causal, beyond the actions of those who initiated them; how the acausal relates dynamically to the causal and vice-versa (‘Sinister Dialectic’). The flowing of energies according to the greater Wyrd and Destinies of those directly and indirectly involved - thus, the presence of unforeseen factors and the pitfalls implicit in this which may create errors of judgement. The maintaining of an ethos or ‘tradition’ via ‘timeless’ acts.

From Sun to Mars

The depths of the sea
A tunnel of knives
There is a union here
While he directs the Chosen
Rage in the Eye
Of the Goat-
The golden triangle
Stands against a sky of fire

MASTER - ATAZOTH

Manipulation - actions based on a knowledge of the Sinister Dialectic as revealed by practical experience: a rational, to some ‘cold’, observation beyond the stage of Adeptship/Individuation. Control of all the many and varied factors within a situation - in other words, the achievement of a stage in individual evolution that goes beyond the personal, and thus implies the ability to initiate Change on a large-scale, perhaps of a civilization.

From Sun to Jupiter

Sappho dance in still Water
Chains and roses in blue
Invoke the Sun
To an arch of fire
Gravestones, butterflies
And rivers of Snakes.

LOVERS - KARU SAMSU

The double tetrahedron a nexion created via the union of balancing forces. The sowing of the seed of Change that which may transform and carry evolution beyond the Abyss, and thus beyond ‘self-image’ - or that which may destroy. The invoking of energies that coerce to create something beyond ‘self’.

From From Venus to Sun

VII

The ruby is the password
She of the white robe
Rides the transparent horse
The maiden closes.
On broken legs he steps forth
He becomes the Dragon …

AZOTH - SATANAS

The Menstruum - the Sinister aspect implicit within the ‘homogenous metallic water’: the explosive factor in the delicate balancing of life-enhancing elements. Change by adversity - the ‘Accuser’. The brutal realities that threaten to devour the abstract, the romantic. Insight and control via the understanding of the Primal - or destruction by it.

From Moon to Sun

VIII

Their Name …
Inside the room of Sacrifice:
White flowers.
A garden, dry, of dead Roses.
The masked Lady
Holds Her new child.

CHANGE - NEKALAH

The earthing and spreading of energies. The hard truth of Nature - the dying time of one form to give way and birth to another. A causal form created to act as a focal point/channel for the fulfillment of Wyrd - the beginnings of a practical realization of strategies and aims. The Sinister Dialectic in action: by its dynamic nature a prelude to - and when realized a creator of - insight.

From Mercury to Mars

A crippled boy
A tunnel of bone
A Star descends into a forest
Faces are removed
And She sits in the stone house
Unheard.

HERMIT - SAUROCTONOS

Withdrawal and a revealing; the lying between two stages of alchemical Change. Intimations of the Abyss. The culmination on a personal level of energies created by Change - the surfacing of individual factors hitherto only known on an unconscious level. A process of discovery that will lead to insight, (further) knowledge of Wyrd; or madness, death.

From Mars to Saturn

In red desert
Three fingers and a Skull
Are laid on fur
The stones of a circle
Turn to frogs
The skeleton of a Child
The birth of an army
A Nexion is opened.

WYRD - AZANIGIN

That which is beyond personal Destiny. That which causes expression of itself via the implementation or provocation of acts which in their design achieve long term aims beyond the causal death of an individual; changing aspects of a society by significant creations and thus changing a whole race of people - fulfilling the destiny or Wyrd of the ethos of a civilization. Acts that inaugurate a new Aeon. The causal nature that is dictated by the essence of things - ‘fate’ etc.

From Moon to Saturn

Autumn –
A marriage beneath the Earth
In Elixir
She washes Her hands
A Black Eagle
A Palace of Light
She becomes the snake
Who offers the sword
To sever the arm …

DESIRE - LIDAGON

Alchemy: the union of two balancing forces that, as a nexion, create Change through Sinister Intent - the energies in action as earthed and affected by that which is re-presented by atus VI, VII and VII.

From Mercury to Jupiter

XII

Two horses
Fight within a circle of trees
(The Sun at Night)
Two angels
Laughing in a room of sacrifice
Two
In a haze of gold
Beyond the Door

OPFER - VINDEX

Entrance/transition to the Lands of the Dark Immortals. The individual becoming that which s/he created - a transferral of consciousness to the acausal to be in essence part of the greater Wyrd. A reverberation across Aeons of the causal acts of an individual, gradually leaving the essence behind the appearance to haunt the psyches of others. The altering of the astral shell; that which ultimately cannot and need not be described. The deliberate removal of that which is detrimental to Wyrd.

From Sun to Saturn

XIII

A canal route lined
By white Griffins.
A vortex of grey starless space.
The chalice spills its
White blood
And the Herdsman’s light shines
In the Chamber of the Sphinx.

DEATH - NYTHRA

That which follows hubris; the consequence of attempting to escape that which is ill-fated by Destiny. Personal destruction from self-delusion and the cessation of self-evolution. Energy vortex in the Abyss. The stripping away of the self-image that, if successful, will produce a genuine Master/Mistress; confronting the Chaos within and without.

From Moon to Venus

XIV

The Bleeding Earth
From the throats of fools,
in brooks
From the Gate
A red bird
This, the corn needs
Containment of Winter :
The Maiden is ready

HEL – AOSOTH

Self-possession; knowledge that allows one to consciously improve/evolve and use natural abilities (or ‘gifts’) - such as sexual charisma - to the advantage of personal Destiny and Wyrd, and to confront and resolve those qualities within character which are detrimental. Self-honesty. In early stages of development, such an individual causes unforeseen disruption and resentment amongst others. Beginnings of that which is re-presented by atu III.

From Moon to Jupiter

The Moon wraps itself
Around the Savage God;
Impaled on a throne
As the wheel of skulls turns.
The jewelled Lady
The crone …
Winter in the wildest of woods.

DEOFEL - NOCTULIUS

Sinister awakening - Nature as it is, raw and unaffected. That primal awareness of the vibrance of life that possesses and creates the ‘accuser’, that provokes acts that challenge the existence of the ‘sacred’. The real meaning of liberation unchained by temporary abstract ideas; the laughter of the savage, wild god. Terror to the uninitiated.

From Moon to Mercury

XVI

In a dungeon, a bed of fire
From an exploded sphere
Red butterflies
With a look
The war is begun
A sexless mask
In the caves of the sea.

WAR - ABATU

Conflict; the clashing of vision and destinies. The attempt by others to wrest away the Destiny of one individual and thus disrupt the greater Wyrd. A clouding of vision that creates doubts, lack of direction, susceptibility to outside forces and possibly, if insight is lost, the renouncing of a quest. The hardship imposed by the consequences of actions, but by the suffering such striving imposes, Wisdom - and Destiny - may be attained. Awareness of those factors - such as other people - that may fulfill Destiny, and the hard practical realities of striving to create this fulfillment. Sadness and wisdom and creativity through loss.

From Mercury to Saturn

XVII

The blue statue
His red eyes survey the maze
Bringer of wisdom
The perfect child
And the tetrahedron
Bathing hair in the Dark Pool
Successor …

STAR - NEMICU

The maturity and bringing to fulfillment of that promise re-presented by atus VI and VIII. Knowledge of identity, of Wyrd and what needs to be done. A coming of age; the seed of Change blossoms. Domination: the successful establishment of a causal structure; a process, the effects of which are irreversible once the cause is triumphant on whatever level. The beginnings of Imperium.

From Venus to Mars

XVIII

A frog reveals human heads
Within its mouth
Furrowed white fields
White, snow laden trees –
Her face, caught by the Moon;
Her eyes come to know the Pool,
Take the spiral staircase to the Blue room …

MOON - SHUGARA

That which has not yet been confronted within the psyche of the individual; that which is strange, which lies outside the scope of any world view; that which lies within the Dark Pool beneath the Moon and threatens to devour, create madness. A stage which cannot be ignored if further development is saught, requiring a descent to draw out that which is obscure, fearfully hidden: the gateway to the Abyss. A point from which there is no turning back: that which leads to rebirth via death.

From Moon to Mars

XIX

Now in the desert,
A jester
Greets the transparent horse
On hill Golden folk
Become fire
The snow melts
The faces of Mountains
The raven with
The woman’s face,
Her gold begets the Blood …

SUN - VELPECULA

The finding of the Aeon: the height of Imperium - causal structure altered in accordance with long term aims, bearing its own fruits of Change. But these fruits are the final product of a grand age, the final works of the ethos of a race fulfilled. The brink of new possibilities; storm clouds gather with promise of the blood of birth, of the heralding of a Higher associated civilization. The fulfilling of personal Desires and potential, creating intimations/hauntings of further progression. Disatisfaction causing aspirations to something ‘higher’/beyond - ‘reaching for the Stars’

From Venus to Saturn

The Woman beneath the Water
The Temple within
Of War torn landscapes, black hills
Grab the lightening and hold it
Shell shocked
The Giving within Her arms …

AEON - NAOS

A nexion fully opened: greater Wyrd causally fulfilled now dynamically giving expression to new forms of itself via Physis; new challenges, new expressions of a continuing ethos – the Chaos of birth: the Dark Gods returned, shape-shifting, creating new possibilities. An ethos that is alive and evolving, defying all that challenge its vision; to constantly redefine limits, Prometheus-like and insatiable. The cycle of creative evolution. The Aeon of Fire.

From Jupiter to Saturn

This text containts archetypes in the Major Arcana of the Sinister Tarot for Meditation along the Pathways of the Tree of Wyrd, and is laid out in a schematic way to enable selfstudy where the prime objective is selfdevelopment for the individual reader. View the image of the Septenary Tree of Wyrd below, and use it together with the septenary schemeatic list to gain insight on the Sinister Tarot. This should help you to grasp the idea of the septenary way.

In the Tree of Wyrd there are only twenty-one pathways and twenty-one Sinister Tarot images, the Major Arcana (0 - XX). Thus, each Dark God together with its linked Atu Card represents a pathway on the Tree of Wyrd, and does not leave anything unconnected as found in the Qabala Tree of Life. It is simpler really and more practical that the Qabala Tree of Life, as essentially the Tree of Wyrd is to be used as a “gateway” to our consciousness. Whereas the Qabala Tree of Life does NOT act as a gateway in the same sense, since it does not help gain insight to the personal psyche adequately.

Caelethi, The Black Book of Satan II contains the symbols for each of the Dark Gods, and these are also recommended to use during the meditations.

***

READING of THE SINISTER TAROT [More observant initiates/adherents might take notice of some differences between the descriptions of the tarot in herein and the images as drawn by C. Beest. The tarot here is described in terms perhaps somewhat impertinent to the realm of internal magick, but nevertheless practical for various applications. -- V. Thornian]

The Major Arcana has twenty-one cards, and there are eleven cards in each suit - the four ‘Court’ cards (High Priest, High Priestess, Warrior and Maiden), the ace and six others numbered two to seven.

There are four suits: Wands, Pentacles, Swords and Chalices, each having many attributions, some of which are listed below.

High Priest	High Priestess	Warrior	Maiden
Sylphs	Gnomes	Salamanders	Undines
West	South	East	North
Air	Earth	Fire	Water
Capricorn	Cancer	Libra	Aries
Wands	Pentacles	Swords	Chalices

These four are symbolized, in each suit, in the same general way (see table below) - the variants depending on the suit. For instance, the card the High Priest of Wands would depict the Priest holding a wand, while the card the High Priest of Swords he would bear a sword. The predominant color of the card would depend on the planetary attribution-

Wands is Mercury,

Pentacles is Moon,

Swords is Sun

And Chalices is Venus.

This means that for Wands the color is Yellow (the Unconscious aspect),

Merging to Black (the Ego aspect) And Blue (the Self aspect).

For Pentacles the colors are Blue, Silver and Green;

For Swords, Orange, Gold and Red;

For Chalices, Green, White and Silver.

Priest	Priestess	Warrior	Maiden
Bearded man	Beautiful woman	Young man	Young woman
Barefoot	Throne on Earth	Horse	Near water
Cloak	Robe	Naked	Naked
Wolf	Leopard	Eagle	Owl
Mountains	Glade	Desert	Altar
Staff	fruit	Sword	Crescent moon

Thus the High Priest for all suits is depicted as a bearded man, standing/walking barefoot wearing a cloak. He carries a staff, a wolf is near or beside him and he is set in or against a background of mountains.

The impression given by the cards of the High priest should be of wisdom, that of the High Priest fecundity (and veiled sexuality - i.e. sexuality suggested rather than obvious); that of the Warrior, strength and courage; and of the Maiden, overt youthful sexuality.

The Four Aces:

These represent the base of the Elements

Wands	White brilliance combining through indigo and black into the shape of a wooden wand.
Pentacles	Green molded into a tetrahedron enclosed by a pentacle (a circle inscribed with an inverted seven pointed star). Around the pentacle - swirling violet and blue.
Swords	A red/orange sword plunging into a golden chalice. Around – yellow stars on background of purple. The stars include the constellation of Orion.
Chalices	A blue/green chalice overflowing with blue/red/green liquid. Around - blue and white mist-suggesting trees.

Two-Seven:

These are increasing emanations of the element containing the number of symbols appropriate - e.g. the seven of wands, seven wands.

The number of the card gives the appropriate colors - 2 is Jupiter, 3 Mars, 4 Sun, 5 Venus, 6 Mercury and 7 Moon. Thus the colors for 7 are Silver, Blue and Green.

Every initiate should draw and paint (or at least commission such from a good artist)their own Tarot pack, using the guidelines given later in this chapter.

To read the cards for an individual, the individual cards are seen and interpreted in relation to the others around them. This is done because the cards are symbols of how certain energies have, are and maybe influencing the person for whom the reading is being done - and these energies are never static, or in isolation.

The essence of initiated readings is empathy: an awareness of the energies within, around and external to the individual, and the cards are used to ‘focus” these energies in consciousness. To aid this, the setting of the reading should be imbued with magickal anticipation. This is easily achieved - for example by using one candle - having no other persons present than the individual foe whom the reading is being done, laying the cards out on a black cloth kept for this purpose, burning one particular incense whenever you do a reading (and never using that incense for any other purpose). Ideally, the room/area where the reading is undertaken should be quiet and calm.

Two types of card layout may be used. These follow you shuffling the cards in a mindful, calm way after which the client cuts the pack three times, laying each cut beside the other. Choose which cut you feel is appropriate and use the cards in that pile, starting with the top card. The first layout is the ‘Celtic’, the second the ‘Septenary’.

Celtic In this, the second card is placed across the first.

Represents the client.
The predominant influence which is acting against them, ‘crossing’ etc.
Is what is in the distant past (which may be an unconscious influence over the present).
The recent past (and also the subconscious energies).
The present.
The immediate future.

7, 8, and 9 the future at intervals, and 10 the outcome.

There are also other influences which must be considered. 4, 6, 9 and 10 are how positive energies flow (via 2) - 3, 6, 8, and 7 the negative ones. 3-2-10 are how the unconscious influences can be made conscious (i.e. controlled or circumstances altered) in a positive way. 5-2-7 is how the present will evolve to enable 10 to arise - or conversely, how to prevent 10 arising.

In undertaking a reading two important principles should be understood. First, the interpretation of each card is not rigid - the meanings suggested by each card should arise in your mind naturally, that is, they should be intuitive and spontaneous. For this reason, ‘book’ interpretations and of particular cards must be avoided. This intuitive approach enables the cards to be used correctly - as mediums to awaken he psychic faculties.

The second principle, is to have all the cards upwards: there is no meaning in ‘reversed’ cards - because what is ‘reversed’ is covered by the ‘unconscious’ patterns/flow considered in each reading.

75 642 31 Septenary Here the cards are related to the planetary/sphere aspects - e.g. 5 is the sphere associated with Mars. These relations (in terms of energies) should be consider as well as the following:

1 Are unconscious factors,

2 and 3 the past (and the unconscious becoming more conscious);

4. The present,

5 and 6 the immediate future and beyond, and 7 the outcome.

In addition, 1 - 2 - 5 are negative elements/energies; 1 - 3 - 6 positive. 1 - 4 - 7 what needs to be done to bring 7 (or, again, prevent it from arising).

In both this and the Celtic pattern all combinations should be seen as how energies flow and change, or become altered through the other influences present. Intuition should enable the practical manifestation of these energies to be understood - e.g. a particular influence might represent an actual person or event in the client’s life.