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
Princess of Cups	The Empress	Knight of Wands		Queen of Disks	2 of Cups – Love	The Wheel of Fortune
		The Querent
		6 of Disks – Success	The Hanged Man	8 of Wands – Swiftness
The Psychological Basis				Karma
9 of Cups – Happiness	The Moon	3 of Cups – Abundance		The Black Hole	6 of Swords – Science	Prince of Swords

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.

Water

Like The Hermit, The Hanged Man contemplates existence, but on a different level. He hangs from the crucifix and mirrors the scene above in the shape of an ankh. This card is about understanding sacrifice.

Meaning:
Enforced sacrifice, self-sacrifice, suffering, redemption. Progress through using a different perspective. A waiting period.
When ill-dignified: punishment, loss, death, more of the same.

Moon in Taurus

Understanding is represented in this card by the colouration of the stained glass in the form of a rainbow spiral. The six moons revolve around the swastika-sun, each also representing a day of the week. Everything is in order here, as you achieve what you set out to do.

Meaning:
Success, accomplishment, gain. Influence, philanthropy, nobility.
When ill-dignified: conceit in success, insolence.

Mercury in Sagittarius

A sudden burst of energy causes eight arrows to explode into action. This card indicates that something is about to happen fast.

Meaning:
Action, explosive energy, electricity, fast communication, gain of rapid speed, light, quickness.
When ill-dignified: Too much too fast, a flash in the pan.

Your Current Path

8:00 – 10:00 Female
Capricorn

The Queen of Disks sits on her throne between two rivers. She holds in her right hand the symbol of the sign of Capricorn crystalised. Her horns encase the full moon, her crown. The sun emerges from her loins. Her body shape is like the Willendorf Venus. This woman is an ancient fertility goddess in human form.

Meaning:
A practical, kind, domesticated, affectionate, charming woman. Prosperity, abundance, fertility, generosity, security.
When ill-dignified: a dull, servile, capricious fool, prone to debauchery and mood swings.

Venus in Cancer

One heart fills both the gold and silver cups. Two vessels bound by one soul are the perfect match.

Meaning:
Perfect harmony between male and female radiates warmth and ecstasy. Love, union, friendship, warmth, comfort, passion, affinity, intercourse.

Jupiter

Who knows what the Wheel of Providence has in store for you? Deep down inside, you do.

Meaning:
Providence, fate, karma. A change in fortune, generally a good change.

The Alternate Path

A voluptuous young woman steps from the water onto land. Crystals form at her feet, symbolising ideas taking shape. Her crown is a swan. In her right hand she carries a bronze cup with a tortoise inside it, and in her left hand she has a lotus. She is gentle, kind, and caring. This is a card of creation and formative energy.

Meaning:
A voluptuous, kind, romantic, dreamy young woman.
When ill-dignified: indolent, selfish woman.

Venus

The Empress is queen of queens, the wife archetype. Radiating warmth, she gazes at the dove, symbolic of holy love. Two cherubs overlook her and two overlook the other half. The pelican feeding her young her own blood symbolises the self-sacrifice of motherhood.

Meaning:
Graciousness, elegance, love, gentleness, beauty.
When ill-dignified: wasting time, debauchery.

Sagittarius

The Knight of Wands rides a white horse charging forward. The white horse symbolises the conscious side of awareness. It also symbolises the purity of fire, the vital energy and passion that boldly drives the organism. The Knight has his torch in his right hand and arrows on his back; bow and arrow being the weapon of Sagittarius.

Meaning:
A man of action, generosity, pride, and impetuousness.
When ill-dignified: A cruel, bigoted man without mercy.

The Psychological Basis

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.

18-Moon.jpg|Pisces

The Moon reflects the overbearing light of the sun. Sunlight is a hot commodity at night. Where does the long, dark road lead? Let your inner light guide your path through the unconscious dreamscape.

Meaning:
Illusion, dreaminess, voluntary change, bewilderment, hysteria. An important change that is difficult to foresee.
When ill-dignified: egotism, self-deception, delusions of grandeur, counter-productive pride, demiurgos, ignorance, denial of the master.

Mercury in Cancer

Two cups combine their essence into a third cup, their offspring. This card is about creation, fertility, and pregnancy. A collaborative effort. The process of reproduction.

Meaning:
Fulfilment, conclusion, plenty, fertility, hospitality, bounty, kindness, creation.

Karma

Saturn

As the counterpart of the Tower, this card represents the journey to the centre of the Universe, the quest for the Devil's Hole. The Black Hole is the portal to the other side. A place beyond the Universe, but also a critical component of the Universe, it is the hub of the wheel and the eye of the storm. It is total darkness. Non-existence. The unknown. This is the gateway to another dimension.

Meaning:
?

Mercury in Aquarius

Six swords in the form of a hexagram converge in the centre of the rose cross. There is wisdom in the symbolism of this card, a multifaceted intellect that goes straight to the heart.

Meaning:
A goal realised.
When ill-dignified: selfishness, conceit, intellectual pride.

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.