The Golden Dawn or Thoth Method

Difficulty: Complicated

Note: Tarot decks that use reversed cards such as the Rider-Waite do not work well with this spread, which was designed to be read using elemental dignity.

The Golden Dawn spread is best suited for use with the bifrost Tarot and especially the Book of Thoth, as these decks are meant to be read a certain way with the court cards. Princes and queens represent actual men and women connected with the matter, while princesses generally represent ideas; thoughts or opinions, and knights represent arrival or departure of a matter depending on the direction faced.

In this tarot spread, particular attention should be paid to a card's exact position in relation to its neighbours. Whether the neighbour cards bear the same energy (suit) determines whether a card is considered well-dignified or ill-dignified. Opposite suits ill-dignify each other, while other suits are considered friendly. Tarot cards of the same suit or element strengthen each other.

As with other tarot spreads, it is important to count the cards' tendencies, such as whether there is a lot of one particular suit or number pattern. The patterns reveal special messages. Having several majors present indicates higher forces at work, several cups suggest strong emotions, etc.

Card #1 represents the reader and the nature of the topic at hand.

Cards #2 & #3 are read in extension of #1 to further comprehend the nature of the topic.

The two sets of three tarot cards at the top of the spread represent chronological sets of events. The current path as it would unfold naturally is represented by cards #4, #8, & #12. The alternate path that could be taken is represented by cards #13, #9, & #5. However, if the reader gets the feeling these cards are telling them they go together, then the alternate path is to be considered an extension of the current path, and to be read chronologically in this order: #4, #8, #12, #13, #9, #5. Just keep in mind: this is only if the two paths seem particularly similar.

Cards #14, #10, & #6 shed light upon the psychological undertones of the current issue.

Cards #7, #11, & #15 represent the influences of karma and destiny beyond the reader's control. These cards suggest adapting to this, as fate.

Your Golden Dawn Reading

The Alternate Path (or Extension of Current Path)				Your Current Path
4 of Swords – Truce	Ace of Wands	Princess of Disks		4 of Cups – Luxury	3 of Wands – Virtue	5 of Cups – Disappointment
		The Querent
		3 of Disks – Work	8 of Swords – Interference	Prince of Swords
The Psychological Basis				Karma
The Magus	9 of Cups – Happiness	Knight of Cups		Queen of Wands	The Hermit	Ace of Disks

The Querent

cards represent the querent and the nature of the topic at hand. The first card (in the center of the spread) represents the very core of the matter, and the other two cards around it are added to it in order to further comprehend the nature of the topic.

Jupiter in Gemini

Two swords of one kind have gone on a power trip over six swords of different kinds. They have interfered with the natural chaos in establishing order.

Meaning:
Waste of energy in attention to details at the expense of the big picture. Restriction. Bad news, sickness, crisis, censure, distress, hardship, misfortune.

Mars in Capricorn

Three spinning wheels and the right eye of god symbolise the act of creation. A solid structure is being built.

Meaning:
Construction, business, commerce, employment, material gain, growth.
When ill-dignified: selfish, closed-minded, greedy individual who seeks the impossible.

2:00 – 4:00 Male
Aquarius

The Prince of Swords rides the sky in his cloudy chariot of air, pulled by three young men representing his thoughts and ideas. He symbolises purity of the intellect, but also instability. As he pushes forward with his sword, he is frustrated. His thoughts are all over the place. In his left hand he holds a sickle, symbolising his tendency to destroy his creations as quickly as he makes them, perhaps overly critical of his own ideas.

Meaning:
A pure intellectual, clever but unstable of purpose, a mind full of various contradictory ideas and opinions.

Your Current Path

Moon in Cancer

Four trophy cups filled with wine represent an excess of abundance.

Meaning:
Giving in to desire. Excess, luxury, insatiability.
When ill-dignified: gluttony and excessive indulgence, irritation.

Sun in Aries

This card represents the pioneer motivated by the spirit of goodwill. You do what is right in your eyes. There is also a tendency toward egotism in this card.

Meaning:
Realisation of hope. Noble cause. Pride and arrogance.
When ill-dignified: conceit.

Mars in Scorpio

In this card the water has turned to muck and the sky has gone pink. A scorpion is in the centre of the pentagram formed by the five cups, which are represented here as tridents. Hostility or aggression turned inwards.

Meaning:
Disturbance ending pleasure. Grief, misfortune, sadness, loss, treachery, bitterness, frustration, bad marriage, expectations unfulfilled.

The Alternate Path

Jupiter in Libra

Four swords come together in union. The square formed in the centre is a white flag. This card represents reconciliation. The Process.

Meaning:
Recovery from a period of trouble. An oasis. Authority in the realm of intellect. Establishment of dogma.

The Root of Fire

This is the initial spark without which there is no fire. It represents the spiritual aspect of energy and vitality at its initial manifestation.

Meaning:
Energy, natural force, strength, creation, invention, pioneer spirit, enterprise, source, beginning, birth.

A voluptuous young woman stands in an Autumn forest, plunging her sceptre into the earth, symbolising the union of masculine and feminine energy. Underground, her sceptre evolves into a diamond. She wears the skull of a ram and a coat of wool. Her disk is the yin-yang inside of a rose with golden petals. Represented here is the eternally pregnant spirit of the earth.

Meaning:
A generous, kind, caring young woman.
When ill-dignified: a wasteful young woman out of touch with reality, at war with herself.

The Psychological Basis

Mercury

The Magician stands on the mountain commanding the forces to obey his will.

Meaning:
Drive, willpower, skill, wisdom, craft, cunning, messages, business, creativity, wit, initiative, self-discipline. Sometimes occult wisdom or power.
When ill-dignified: knowledge interfering with the objective of the matter.

Jupiter in Pisces

The water level here is the highest in the suit. The perfection of water in Yesod makes this the happiest card in the whole deck. In an ocean of paradise two dolphins playfully leap between floating cups.

Meaning:
A feeling of perfect happiness and well-being.

Pisces

The Knight of Cups rides a black horse, symbolising the dark unconscious force of water. In his left hand he holds a gold cup filled with gold. His horse leaps above a wave, symbolising the element of water at its most active state. Two dolphins leap along with the horse, representing Pisces.

Meaning:
A very sensitive, yet shallow man, who is quick to respond to attraction.
When ill-dignified: a sensual, idle man, a liar and a loser, prone to drug abuse.

Karma

11:00 – 1:00 Female
Aries

The Queen of Wands sits on a throne of flames. She holds a torch in her left hand and grasps the horn of a white ram in her right hand. The ram's eyes glare forward, but her eyes are closed, with a look of contentment on her face. She represents a strong figure of feminine authority with a laid-back attitude.

Meaning:
A calm attractive woman. Strength relaxed. Persistent, adaptive, but intolerant of opposition.
When ill-dignified: a vengeful, domineering woman with an itchy trigger finger.

Virgo

Solitary time. Father Time retreats from society to be alone. The mirror represents reflection and inner self-discovery. Cerberus follows the lantern as the Hermit enlightens his dark side. Turned sideways, the hourglass represents a moment of timelessness, and at this juncture the Hermit realises the nature of eternity.

Meaning:
Divine inspiration, wisdom, finding one's guiding light, a period of time being out of touch with society, circumspection, self-knowledge.
When ill-dignified: loneliness, despair, loss of sanity, paranoia.

The Root of Earth

A coin toss. This card represents the very first beginnings of the process that leads to material gain.

Meaning:
Materialistic concerns, contentment, earthly power and success. A calculated risk with good chances.