The Western Gate

The Psychic Art of Tarot
Mat Auryn
Llewellyn Books

Llewelyn Books, the Walmart and Acme trading company of Mind Body and Spirit, annoying calendars and diary’s that, as I last recalled, gave moon times in pacific time or eastern standard or something other than GMT. Mountains of books, many produced by authors with names like Amethythyst Jackal or Zephyrus Fireblade. To which extent I have tended to avoid Llewellyn publishing like an elitist discerning pompous braggart.
“They have some good books” I was told by people whose names didn’t read like the baptism from a 60’s merry prankster shindig. “Give this a go…” they said, ” read this…”, and one look at the glossy cover and magazine type layout convinced me to turn the other cheek, my arse cheeks. I had become Pip from Great Expectations when Joe turned up to visit in London, Pip now a gentleman recoiled at seeing his old dear friend, the humble and innocent Joe… Pip amongst his leatherbound and richly decorated limited edition books had become a snob.
I opened this book, it was recommended, I don’t have many books on Tarot. My learning process with Tarot consisted of studying a single card each day, learning about it, absorbing it, right way up and reversed, colours, imagery, association, correspondence etc, after 78 days I began to merge cards, two at a time, then three, over the course of a year I began to feel the connection, the psyche. It was a purposefully slow self training. It was then that I actually read the small booklet that came free with the tarot deck, many of the themes I had picked up on concurred with the cards description and meaning.
A few years after I purchased my first books on Tarot, The Book of Thoth- Crowley, 78 degrees of wisdom – which had just been released, I then found a few years later- the Mythic Tarot by Juliet Sharman Burke, a marvellous book that incorporated themes of classical mythology and one which I absorbed totally. Since then, there have been scarce if any books, many seem to be rehashes of that little booklet that came with the deck.

In this book, Mat Auryn gives us examples and exercises, and ways to reconsider Tarot, its possibilities, how we view them and connect to them. I am loathe to follow exercises, but a few caught my imagination, and like a cautious dog ready to snap I took the bait tenderly from the feeding hand. Some exercises and ideas were so well thought that I wondered why hadn’t I thought of this before, of course !
I could, easily give examples here, I don’t think that’s fair, these books aren’t that expensive- they’re Llewellyn and therefore can be bought from Amazon, and as a tutorial and exercise book, its worth buying to scribble notes and get that highlighter pen out. Its a book that can be read start to finish, or breezed through, then re-read things of note, flicking backwards and forwards, studied.
Tarot, is not just a tool or aid, and certainly not a party game, it is a discipline inherent in life. Regardless of your viewpoint into its correspondence with the qabalah, each card is a method of analysis, each spread an option, permutation, different viewpoints, obscure or obvious. It is very easy to take the easy way out, digest the little booklet in your tarot pack, rush headlong and learn all 78 cards and their reversals in a few weeks, or you can be patient. We can paint a canvas easily or allow the canvas to speak to us, drawing our brushstrokes into its mystery.
In my small nook of half a dozen books on Tarot I’ll keep Mat Auryns book. I probably wouldn’t get on with him, he’s far too handsome and dresses like a Svengali lothario, but yeah, despite the magazine type language it was a welcome read, a surprising informative guide with different ways of viewing and I welcome that.
Am tempted to digress into my viewpoint on tarot, but even as I contemplate ….the paragraphs are turning into many chapters. For me it’s not about the 78 images, with reversed there are 156- the number of Babalon- Mystery of Mysteries, but this is archetypal, not apocalyptic.

…I might go so far as to add, I might have a look and see what other books Llewellyn have (!) wonders ne’er cease.