I don't know about a Tarot SPECIFIC "angel" but, as a reader, I think of myself as ine who "serves the oracle". The oracle manifests in all oracular systems ( at least according to my UPG). Having said that, I should also say that I work a lot with Hekate and Hermes who both "show up" a lit around my divinatory work.
Verry interesting question which opens into broader ones about the nature and "taxonomy" of disparate entities.
Thank you for this, I appreciate your perspective. I've not really utilized any other oracular systems, at least not in any sort of focused or longer term way, so it hadn't crossed my mind that the same could be set over all operations of the sort.
I look forward to thinking about this further, and dusting off my geomancy dice and book!
Thank you for the invitation to comment on this. I'm still working out an invocation that feels right to me, because I think it is important to acknowledge that I am asking for access to information that is vast and from an indefinable source. In the meantime I borrow language from the invocation that begins "Angel who records, whose hand writes upon the book of remembrance . . . " which I learned from one of Benebel Wen's videos. I respect the idea of an angel as a being made visible in medieval art and in Smith's designs, but I search for something more aligned to my own pantheistic inclinations.
I too tend to believe that there is a source, something that we are communicating with when we are fully engaged with Tarot, but like you I see that as 'indefinable.' Or at least I've never been able to define it. And perhaps that isn't a bad thing, as dogma can certainly be the enemy of spirituality.
Personally, I don't use an invocation, but I do what I consider to be a little 'opening' before I do a reading, and a little 'closing' after a reading. Primarily through visualization.
Yes, dogma and strict adherence to exclusive systems can be the enemy of the spiritual. I think at a basic level, whatever we use as an opening and closing brings our selves into focus and then into alignment with the cards. What happens after that is the mystery. May I ask, do you visualize an intent, or an image?
I visualize an intent, but it's certainly based on things I've done for a very long time, and experienced, so I presume there is an image in there somewhere. To be honest, I'll have to pay more attention next time, see what really is in back of mind.
You mention focus, and I think that is the main thing for me. That brief moment of complete focus before I begin. And end. I do think that closing at the end is quite important for me.
I see the closing as a sort of release of the energies, in a respectful way. Not a cleansing of the energies exactly, but a release. I hope that makes some sense.
It makes a lot of sense, it's very much a release of the energies, so that once they've left a trace in our minds they can go back to their source. Experimenting with an invocation today, I noted that the bottom two cards on the deck before I shuffled it were the Queen of Wands which I often use for a signifier, and the Eight of Swords. I'd just read your post on that card, so it seemed appropriate to include. And at the end of the reading, I drew a card for a closing which was The Fool. It just fascinates me how often the Tarot does this sleight of mind.
I mostly read with the Smith Waite and the Marseilles decks, and variants. I do have the Thoth deck and I do use it, but I started with the others. Artistically, I find the Thoth deck is more powerful, but historically I prefer the Marseilles. I may, but only if sitting alone with my cards, ask aloud that Uriel, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael may oversee the deliberations for the North, the West, the South and the East as I consider the elements in a reading. Points on a compass. Each with their areas or departments. Or I may ask Hekate. If not alone, I will do this silently beforehand, asking to see, to understand, and to speak to the issue for the highest possible good while doing no harm. First, doing no harm.
I too find the Toth deck artistically amazing, and I've owned one for more decades than I'd care to admit, but I don't read with it. Despite my love of the art, it and I have never seemed to get along.
I also orient my readings to the points of the compass. East, West, South, North. I think that there is power in doing so. And, luckily I was born with a pretty good sense of direction! 🤠 Seriously though, religious traditions of all kinds, for thousands of years have found it important to orient to the cardinal directions in this way, and I think it quite similar for Tarot.
I've been fascinated with HRU since I read about them in Damien Echols' book High Magick. I do think we can connect HRU to the Waite Smith deck as one of the invocations of HRU refers to them as "Thou whose mighty hand is imaged in the clouds of Book T," which seems to be a reference to the four aces of the tarot. There's also quite the debate about whether HRU is a reference to the god Horus or a shortening of the angel's name (which the Golden Dawn often does). I do love Horus but I imagine it's probably the latter.
Parallel to HRU, there's Vassago if you'd prefer to summon a demon to help with divination. Perhaps I've seen too many B horror films, but I'll stick with the angel over the demon. More pleasantly, there's Hotei (the portly and joyous Buddhist monk/saint) who is renowned for his ability to tell fortunes to others.
What I most appreciate about the longer invocation of HRU is that it extolls the angel to purify and consecrate the cards and to make their images a reflection of divine wisdom. We're still doing the work, but with a divine boost from HRU. I was excited to see this post in my inbox today as I'm working on a new invocation of HRU for the 2027 Llewellyn tarot calendar.
I too tend to imagine that HRU is an abbreviation of an angelic name, not a reference to Horus. I'm not a member of any of the modern forms of Golden Dawn, but based on my experiences as a member of a couple other related Orders still existing from the OG Golden Dawn's time, I will say that we seem to love our abbreviations.
Personally, my envisioning of HRU is that of an egregore. But that of course is just my own shorthand attempt to somehow define the undefinable.
I look forward to reading your invocation in the 2027 calendar!
I don't know about a Tarot SPECIFIC "angel" but, as a reader, I think of myself as ine who "serves the oracle". The oracle manifests in all oracular systems ( at least according to my UPG). Having said that, I should also say that I work a lot with Hekate and Hermes who both "show up" a lit around my divinatory work.
Verry interesting question which opens into broader ones about the nature and "taxonomy" of disparate entities.
Thank you for this, I appreciate your perspective. I've not really utilized any other oracular systems, at least not in any sort of focused or longer term way, so it hadn't crossed my mind that the same could be set over all operations of the sort.
I look forward to thinking about this further, and dusting off my geomancy dice and book!
Thank you for the invitation to comment on this. I'm still working out an invocation that feels right to me, because I think it is important to acknowledge that I am asking for access to information that is vast and from an indefinable source. In the meantime I borrow language from the invocation that begins "Angel who records, whose hand writes upon the book of remembrance . . . " which I learned from one of Benebel Wen's videos. I respect the idea of an angel as a being made visible in medieval art and in Smith's designs, but I search for something more aligned to my own pantheistic inclinations.
I too tend to believe that there is a source, something that we are communicating with when we are fully engaged with Tarot, but like you I see that as 'indefinable.' Or at least I've never been able to define it. And perhaps that isn't a bad thing, as dogma can certainly be the enemy of spirituality.
Personally, I don't use an invocation, but I do what I consider to be a little 'opening' before I do a reading, and a little 'closing' after a reading. Primarily through visualization.
Yes, dogma and strict adherence to exclusive systems can be the enemy of the spiritual. I think at a basic level, whatever we use as an opening and closing brings our selves into focus and then into alignment with the cards. What happens after that is the mystery. May I ask, do you visualize an intent, or an image?
I visualize an intent, but it's certainly based on things I've done for a very long time, and experienced, so I presume there is an image in there somewhere. To be honest, I'll have to pay more attention next time, see what really is in back of mind.
You mention focus, and I think that is the main thing for me. That brief moment of complete focus before I begin. And end. I do think that closing at the end is quite important for me.
Closing at the end has been lacking in my practice. I’m changing that now.
I see the closing as a sort of release of the energies, in a respectful way. Not a cleansing of the energies exactly, but a release. I hope that makes some sense.
It makes a lot of sense, it's very much a release of the energies, so that once they've left a trace in our minds they can go back to their source. Experimenting with an invocation today, I noted that the bottom two cards on the deck before I shuffled it were the Queen of Wands which I often use for a signifier, and the Eight of Swords. I'd just read your post on that card, so it seemed appropriate to include. And at the end of the reading, I drew a card for a closing which was The Fool. It just fascinates me how often the Tarot does this sleight of mind.
I mostly read with the Smith Waite and the Marseilles decks, and variants. I do have the Thoth deck and I do use it, but I started with the others. Artistically, I find the Thoth deck is more powerful, but historically I prefer the Marseilles. I may, but only if sitting alone with my cards, ask aloud that Uriel, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael may oversee the deliberations for the North, the West, the South and the East as I consider the elements in a reading. Points on a compass. Each with their areas or departments. Or I may ask Hekate. If not alone, I will do this silently beforehand, asking to see, to understand, and to speak to the issue for the highest possible good while doing no harm. First, doing no harm.
Thank you for sharing these thoughts.
I too find the Toth deck artistically amazing, and I've owned one for more decades than I'd care to admit, but I don't read with it. Despite my love of the art, it and I have never seemed to get along.
I also orient my readings to the points of the compass. East, West, South, North. I think that there is power in doing so. And, luckily I was born with a pretty good sense of direction! 🤠 Seriously though, religious traditions of all kinds, for thousands of years have found it important to orient to the cardinal directions in this way, and I think it quite similar for Tarot.
I've been fascinated with HRU since I read about them in Damien Echols' book High Magick. I do think we can connect HRU to the Waite Smith deck as one of the invocations of HRU refers to them as "Thou whose mighty hand is imaged in the clouds of Book T," which seems to be a reference to the four aces of the tarot. There's also quite the debate about whether HRU is a reference to the god Horus or a shortening of the angel's name (which the Golden Dawn often does). I do love Horus but I imagine it's probably the latter.
Parallel to HRU, there's Vassago if you'd prefer to summon a demon to help with divination. Perhaps I've seen too many B horror films, but I'll stick with the angel over the demon. More pleasantly, there's Hotei (the portly and joyous Buddhist monk/saint) who is renowned for his ability to tell fortunes to others.
What I most appreciate about the longer invocation of HRU is that it extolls the angel to purify and consecrate the cards and to make their images a reflection of divine wisdom. We're still doing the work, but with a divine boost from HRU. I was excited to see this post in my inbox today as I'm working on a new invocation of HRU for the 2027 Llewellyn tarot calendar.
I too tend to imagine that HRU is an abbreviation of an angelic name, not a reference to Horus. I'm not a member of any of the modern forms of Golden Dawn, but based on my experiences as a member of a couple other related Orders still existing from the OG Golden Dawn's time, I will say that we seem to love our abbreviations.
Personally, my envisioning of HRU is that of an egregore. But that of course is just my own shorthand attempt to somehow define the undefinable.
I look forward to reading your invocation in the 2027 calendar!