I wrote a book on the Tarot having eleven chapters, eleven being the number of tarot and goetia. My publisher suggested pairing up the Major arcana and I would write a commentary. I was not too enthused by the idea, but actually it worked out very well. We had also...
OOTK techniques
OOTK Techniques
The OOTK or Opening of the Key Tarot spread uses three divination techniques.
Elemental Dignities
Elemental dignity is a system using the four elements to determine relative strengths and weaknesses of the cards.
Card Counting
Card counting is a divination method for telling a story in a tarot reading.
Pairing
Pairing compares pairs of cards in a string working from the outside to the centre.
Astrology
The astrological attributions of each card are an extra aspect to reading the tarot.
Elemental Dignity Summary
The meaning of a single card will depend on what the reading is about, not necessarily what the standard divinatory is. The true secret of interpretation is that there have to be a minimum of two cards, using Elemental Dignities. Twins Twins have a relationship...
A New Theory of Elemental Dignities
The theoretical understanding of Elemental Dignities has been sadly lacking so far. That Elemental Dignities is by Adepts of the Golden Dawn is proven - we have documented readings by Annie Horniman for the Head of the Golden Dawn, W.B. Yeats, and we have various...
Elemental Dignity and Spirit
For those of you who are comfortable with using Elemental Dignities and feel the need to be stretched, here is one way the system can be developed. The truth is, there may well be five categories of Tarot not four. The Golden Dawn hints at such but does not give...
Traditional elemental dignity – three card readings
Analysing three Tarot cards at a time is the basic skill in Elemental Dignities. Use the building block of three cards many ways as you work through the system. We will start with a traditional reading of Three Cards. Please note that this method is an example -...
Elemental Dignity Rules for Tarot
Now that you are familiar with the Tarot cards, you have some knowledge of the individual cards, and you can see various patterns made by the four elements, and variations in the ratios between the Major, Minor and Court cards. You can make some judgements about what...
OOTK Example Annie Horniman Pairing
Pairing the Cards The last stage is pairing the cards in the Abbey Theatre Tarot tarot reading, starting from the extremities and working to the centre. Taking into account the Elemental Dignity rules: the Air cards are excessive in the Air position, therefore...
OOTK example Annie Horniman Card Counting
Abbey Theatre Reading using the Opening of the Key Spread The counting technique creates a story when reading Tarot in a sequence using the Opening of the Key Spread. This video describes the method. The Counting Technique The method is to look at the tarot in groups...
OOTK example – Annie Horniman
Abbey Theatre Tarot Reading for W.B. Yeats One of the most famous Tarot readings is by Annie Horniman for W.B. Yeats, head of the Golden Dawn, documented on October 9th, 1903. Annie Horniman used the Opening of the Key Spread to analyse the first stage of the Opening...
OOTK Tarot Spread Stage 1 – Four Elements
The first stage of this tarot spread involves cutting the deck into four piles as shown below. These four piles represent the four elements and the four Qabalistic Worlds, Atziluth, Briah, Yetsirah and Assiah. Apart from the use of Elemental Dignities, Counting and...
Opening of the Key Tarot Spread Introduction
Introducing the Opening of The Key Spread The Opening of the Key Spread lies at the heart of the Golden Dawn system, and using Elemental Dignities really brings the whole system to life. This spread really is the greatest, the most powerful of all Tarot spreads. If...
Elemental Dignities Explained
Elemental Dignities is a very simple and powerful method of tarot divination. I love elemental dignities. I use the system in every tarot reading reading I do for clients. Court cards can be scary for tarot students and some tarot teachers, but with ED’s the court...