Tarot, Ritual, and Magic
(Note: If you’re interested in learning tarot, please read to the end for a special limited-time offer on The Art and Magic of the Tarot: Fundamentals class, which I truly believe is the most comprehensive tarot course available).
I spent the weekend of October 14th in Nashville at the Strange Realities Conference talking about tarot and magic. And what a great gathering it was — unlike most conferences focused on anomalous and so-called paranormal phenomena (UFOs, cryptids, ghosts), it’s not about people with answers.
Instead, it’s about asking questions, skepticism, and a focus on the mystery and commonalities behind these provocative and elusive phenomena.
And, like all conferences, the best part is after all the presentations are done and you get to hang out and swap stories. I finally got to meet the legendary John E.L. Tenney in person, and if you’re into the strange and weird and not following him, you should fix that.
My presentation at the conference was also a test run for my next class in The Art of Magical Living series, (and I hope to have the full hour-long video of my talk posted soon on my YouTube channel).
It showed me that people are not just ready for this material, but eager to explore it. Because once you get a taste of tarot’s power as a divinatory system — as a means of insight, self-awareness, and guidance — it quickly becomes apparent that it can do much, much more.
But what do I mean by magic?
Magic is a creative, experimental, personalized, and practical approach to increased awareness, growth, synchronicity, and self-improvement that uses art, ritual, meditation, visualization, play, and imagination to make our lives more rich, connected, and, well … fun.
In my presentation, I talked about the ways tarot can be used for:
- Dream enhancement
- Generating and working with elemental energies (earth, air, fire, and water)
- Meditation and visualization
- Portable magic: charms and mojos
- Archetypal objects of focus to fix ourselves and help others
- Sharpening our intuition, psi capacity, and creative imagination
It’s all very practical, not at all new-agey woo, and stuff you can put to the test — and get results — immediately. And even science is coming around to admitting there’s something to it.
Not only can incorporating rituals and magic bring more artistry and meaning to our lives, it can improve our relationships, our work, and our art (see above journal paper) — but even better, it can do all that while helping us reduce our fears and anxieties, as noted in this excellent book.
Here’s a very simple ritual incorporating The Star tarot card to bring more brightness, hope, and joy into your daily life. It’s particularly useful when you’re feeling down, depressed, or just generally blah and lacking energy and optimism.
Invoking The Star 🌟
Instructions:
- Place your favorite Star card on your dresser, bedside table, or somewhere you will see it when you wake up in the morning and right before you go to bed. Prop it up against something, do not leave it lying flat. I also recommend placing a white candle next to the card and lighting it at the beginning of this ritual. Fill a small glass of water and place it next to the Star card and the candle.
- Each morning, pause before the Star. Light the candle if you’re using it. Take a few deep breaths to calm and center yourself.
- Gaze softly at the card. As you continue to breathe deeply and slowly, let your imagination bring the card to life, as if it is not a flat piece of cardboard, but a window. Can you hear the water pouring from the jugs into the gently flowing stream? Can you hear the bird in the background? Let the scene come alive using all of your senses.
- Bring your attention to the person in the card. Feel her as a carrier of light, and joy, and hope. Use your creative imagination to experience her as a real entity. Know that she wants to bring her light and joy to you.
- Now gaze lightly and softly upon the largest star. It is the symbol of hope, of joy, of clarity, insight and illumination.
- Now say a little invocation. You can use your own words, or something like this:
•••
Oh Star, light of the heavens
Shining brightly in the darkness of night
Infuse me with your divine light
Fill me with your joy, your energy, your clarity
Chase away all darkness, fear, and worry
Pour the light of your healing wisdom into this water
And be with me through all my days
So mote it be
•••
To end the ritual, blow out the candle. Drink the glass of water, savoring it, feeling the Star-infused energy spreading through you.
Repeat in the evening before you go to bed, and for as many days as you wish.
And now that you see how simple a tarot ritual can be, can you imagine how you might use other cards as objects of focus (or talismans), too?
Need Strength for a trying situation?
Seeking Justice in a complicated legal manner?
Working to find Love or deepen a romantic connection?
Give it a try, and please let me know what you think! This may seem deceptively simple, but sometimes the simple rituals carry the most power.
And don’t forget: if you purchase The Art and Magic of the Tarot: Foundations course before midnight on November 15th, you become a Founding Member of The Art of Magical Living Community.
And as a Founding Member of this magical community, you get:
Unlimited access to ALL upcoming classes (including Tarot Magic and Going Pro with Tarot), workbooks, downloads, lifetime community membership, access to live events, and more.
For free.
In perpetuity.
Go here to sign up before this offer ends (and it won’t ever run again).
Michael M. Hughes is a writer, speaker, and magical thinker. He is the author of Magic for the Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change as well as numerous other works of fiction and nonfiction, and he speaks and teaches classes on magic, tarot, occultism, and more.
His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, CNN, The L.A. Times, Rolling Stone, Comedy Central, Wired, Elle, Vox, Cosmopolitan, and even the ultraconservative The American Spectator, which wrote: “He may play footsie with the devil, but at least the man has a sense of humor.”
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