Occultus Sanctum

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A question I get asked a lot is “What are the best Tarot card decks?” Well, “best” is a relative term. I don’t really think there is any such thing as “best” but I do agree that there are some decks that are more popular than others and maybe a little easier to understand. In this article, I’m going to briefly review the most popular and probably the most easy to learn Tarot card decks in the world today. Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Tarot card deck you will ultimately end up with.

Without a doubt, the most popular and easiest to learn Tarot card deck is the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. This deck was named after the very famous occult scholar, Dr. Arthur Edward Waite. The deck was first created in 1910. He had the designs drawn by a very talented lady by the name of Pamela Coleman Smith. Pamela was a member of the occult society group called the Order of the Golden Dawn.

The deck itself is Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever walked past a window and thought you saw something just beyond your sight? Something that made you stop and look again, only to discover there was nothing there? This form of divination has connections to crystal ball readings where the reader asks a question, and the seer looks into a ball of glass to find answers to their questions.

It works by scrying, or gazing into the reflective surface, and placing oneself into a trance-like state in order to find images or other signs within the tool. This helps the user define current events, or predict future elements within the life of the reader.

Many cultures have used this divining technique of crystallomancy for several years, although the use is not strictly confined to crystal balls, as water, smoke, glass and even the clouds have proven successful in finding images that are translated into the answers to questions, or receive messages about the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Your mind power is waiting for you to tap into it. Psychometry is one of the resources lying in wait. What is psychometry? Sometimes referred to as token-object reading, psychometry is a type of extra-sensory perception, or ESP. Basically, it is the ability to learn the history of an object by making physical contact with it. Sound familiar? You may have seen this ability on NBC’s Heroes as one of Sylar’s ill-gotten abilities.

Think about how a family heirloom brings back memories of grandparents, or how by picking up a favorite book you remember how you felt reading it. Many believe that objects have souls and memories, and that their pasts are contained within. This is the theory behind psychometry. In coining the term “psychometry,” Joseph Buchanan developed a theory that all things exude an emanation. He likened the studies of psychometry and its ability to tell us more about human history to geology’s ability to tell Read the rest of this entry »

The origins of Magick are unknown as is the origins of religion. There is much speculation about when humankind became aware of “supreme creation forces” and many a lengthy debate – bordering on academic wars – has been waged on this very topic. The same applies to Magick. Did Magick precede “belief” or did “belief” precede Magick. A bit of a chicken and egg question, and one we will not be able to answer unless some life changing discovery is made by archaeologists in the future.

What is notable is that there must have been shamans around some 50,000 years ago. The rock paintings found from that era have a religious overtone and the caves where these were discovered may well have been places of worship. The earliest artifacts around these sites were carbon dated to 27,000 years ago – during the Paleolithic period. Was Magick practiced then? Perhaps it was, but then perhaps not.

What we do know is that later Read the rest of this entry »

As Aleister Crowley defined Magick – “The Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.”

Low or Natural Magick evolved out of the lowlands where farmers grew crops. Many Solitary Witches and Wiccans practice Low Magick as well as many ancient Pagan (i.e., from L. paganus meaning “a countryman or country dweller”) cultures did. Low Magick utilizes natural objects such as crystals, herbs, rocks, fire, air, earth, water, animal parts (i.e., not from sacrificial means but from the use of feathers, pelts, skins, horns, entrails, or bones found by a practitioner in the forest, fields, or grasslands), the weather, seasonal changes, or anything found within our environment and nature. It can be looked at as taking care of your physical earthly wants, needs, and desires such as love and relationships, money, health, personal protection and is generally short term.

Sympathetic Magick (a.k.a. Primitive Read the rest of this entry »