The OOTK or Opening of the Key tarot spread is part of the Golden Dawn teachings. The spread appears Under “The Behaviour of the Tarot” in the Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley and untitled in The Oracle of the Tarot by Paul Foster Case.
There are fives stages:
The situation of the Querent
Development of the Question
Further development of the Question
Penultimate aspects of the question.
Final Result
The divination techniques are:
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...
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...
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...
Deeper Analysis of the Abbey Theatre Reading The table below summarises an analysis of Annie Horniman's reading for the poet and leader of the Golden Dawn, W.B. Yeats. Annie Horniman was more or less following the rules of the Opening of the Key Spread, which meant...
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...
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...
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...
Fifth Operation: Conclusion of the Matter The Tree of Life Spread is the final stage of the Opening of the Key Tarot spread, and gives the Tarot reader the opportunity to analyse the depth of the situation, and point to potential solutions. The deck is shuffled but...
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...
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...
There is no tarot card that represents the Abyss or Daath, but if the Tarot is truly representative of spiritual and magical realms, we need to find a solution. First of all, does the "false sephirah" Daath exist? Magicians and occultists consider Daath as a...
The Tarot is perfect for conversing with your HGA or Holy Guardian Angel, for it is this entity that communicates to tarot readers when reading for clients. However, for this communication to work, your paradigm for the Tarot probably needs tweaking. For a start,...