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Eyes of the Tarot is a juvenile fiction novel written by American author Bruce Coville. The book is a mystical adventure made richer by accurate descriptions of tarot cards as well as techniques for utilizing the cards and Coville's suggested interpretations. In many ways, the heroine's experiences with the figures from the tarot mirror those found in Russian occultist P.D. Ouspensky's 1913 book The Symbolism of the Tarot.

One notable technique for utilizing the cards involves sleeping with a specific card inside your pillowcase in order to commune with the figure on the card while dreaming. The book's tagline is: “Death is in the cards.”

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Did you know...

Thoth

• ... that Egyptians credited Thoth as creator of the Egyptian calendar?
• ... that the Shem HaMephorash can contain 12, 22, 42, or 72 letters?
• ... that 17th century French poisoner La Voisin practiced sex magic?
• ... that Sefer HaRazim is the oldest known Kabbalistic text?
• ... that butterflies sometimes serve as witch's familiars?
• ... that poet W.B. Yeats was a major figure in Theosophy?
• ... that the angels from the Cherubim choir guard the Garden of Eden?
• ... that invoking Och allows you to be worshipped as a god?

This month in history Edward Kelley in a cemetery December - The Rider-Waite Tarot is published for the first time. (1909) 1 December - Czech occultist and author Franz Bardon is born. (1909) 1 December - Occultist and author Aleister Crowley dies of chronic bronchitis. (1947) 5 December - Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany. (1484) 6 December - Transit of Venus, second and last of the 19th century. (1882) 6 December - Birth of Dion Fortune, a Welsh occultist, psychologist, and author. (1890) 9 December - The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City. (1531) 9 December - Birth of Hélène Smith, a French psychic and occultist. (1861) 11 December - Author and occultist Damien Echols is born. (1974) 13 December - Occultist Johannes Trithemius is born. (1516) 17 December - The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome. (497 BC) 17 December - The tomb of Marie Laveau in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is vandalized by an unknown person. (2013) 19 December - Edward Kelley performs his first alchemical transmutation. (1586) 21 December - A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623. (2020) 21/22 December - winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. 25 December - A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian. (274) 30 December - Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin is murdered by a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov. (1916) 31 December - Birth of Simon Forman, an English occultist and astrologer. (1552)

Featured image The Celtic Cross is one of the most popular and enduring Tarot spreads. It is used as a practical method for divination by laying out the cards in a pattern that resembles a Christian cross of the style found in formerly pagan regions. The Celtic Cross spread was first mentioned in print by A.E. Waite in his 1910 book, A Pictorial Key to the Tarot as "An Ancient Celtic Method of Divination." Waite likely created the spread himself and ascribed it an "ancient Celtic" pedigree as an imaginative means for giving the spread some credibility as a divination tool. However, it is also possible the spread was utilized by magicians of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Waite discovered it through them. Artist: Travis McHenry (More Images)

Featured Quote "Without books, I would have gone insane long ago." - Damien Echols

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