Deck Interview: Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn
I’m excited to be able to work with a deck in the tradition of the original Golden Dawn Tarot because one of the most popular pages on this site is my post on what I call the Golden Dawn Spread, which wasn’t even my creation; I just explain how I read it. (It’s a large but surprisingly useful and, at times, succinct spread.) This particular instantiation of that tradition, the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn by Pat Zalewski and David Sledzinski, is especially fun for me to work with because it uses the four Golden Dawn color scales as the basis for its coloring, just as my Color Outside the Lines edition of the Life Line Tarot does.
For those who are unfamiliar with the origins of the Golden Dawn Tarot, it can refer to either an individual (simply illustrated) deck based on the tarot teachings of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn or the more general practice of Order initiates creating their own decks based on the Order’s Book T as they worked through the different layers of initiation associated with the paths of the tarot.
I should clarify that that’s how I think of it. I don’t actually know how others think of it or how it’s supposed to be thought of because I’m not a member of the organization or deeply knowledgeable about their secret inner workings. I’m not one for dogma, and I often find myself discovering inconsistencies that don’t have obvious answers from people who are better read on the subject. Why, for example, is the vertical path on the Tree of Life from Tiphereth to Yesod associated with Temperance and not the Devil? It goes right, left, center above Tiphereth, but then right, center, left below. And why is the middle horizontal path associated with Strength/Lust and not Justice/Adjustment for the deck creators that have Justice/Adjustment as Key VIII? Those things would drive me up a wall if they were never addressed or explained.
But anyway, this deck or the process of creating it using the teachings of Book T is the basis for for the famous (and incredibly divergent) Rider/Smith-Waite Tarot and the Thoth Tarot. So it’s fun to see a deck that embraces that older tradition but isn’t a Marseille (or similar) deck. It’s “pre-Waite” but still esoteric, and that’s fun.
What that has to do with the colors is that as the initiates did in working through their tarot decks (again, from what I have read) was to use certain colors for each of the major arcana. These were organized into four color scales, each associated with the four elemental worlds and thus the four court ranks. So each major would have one representative color (or color combination) for each of the four scales, leading to four or so colors per card. The minors could then be colored using the associated astrological major correspondences, as M. M. Meleen did so fantastically with her Tabula Mundi Tarot, which inspired what I did with the Color Outside the Lines.
The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn is much more direct in doing that through its digital illustrations, and it’s powerful (and sometimes jarring) to see in such large swaths of color. But you can definitely get a sense of the energy of the cards, and that’s the magic of this kind of tarot.
That directness and energy are also an important part of the deck according to the interview I did with it using my own deck interview spread. Directness and focused action with the right amount of energy channeled to back it: these are the things I take from this deck, and I’m excited for that because I and many others need that. Obviously the deck thinks I need it!
Deck Interview with the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn
What major lesson are you here to help me learn? 7 of Swords
Through which divine energy can we best communicate? Princess of Swords
In what area can you aid me to help others? Strength
In what area could your guidance be easily misunderstood? Priestess
What can I do to keep our communication clear? 7 of Cups
How can I use your guidance for the highest good? Universe
How will I know when we’re ready for a new lesson? 9 of Disks
For the purposes of this interview, the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn is all about acting on clear ideas and drawing energy from the deck in order to act and do what is needed to resolve the concern at hand. I love that and need that, as evidenced by the first card, my lesson. While the 7 of Swords is often a card of cleverness or deception, the traditional Golden Dawn title of Unstable Effort comes into play for my current situation and for my interpretation of the rest of the interview.
In the 7s of the minor arcana, there is growth and experience, but there is not yet mastery of all elements, which is why they can turn bad so easily. But in the title of the 7 of Swords, Unstable Effort, there is an awareness of what is coming in the 8, Interference with its analysis paralysis. The mind is unfocused. There are ideas aplenty. There is cleverness. And the card is powered by intuition (the moon) and unconventional thinking (Aquarius). But it is undisciplined. It has raw power but insufficient structure. The Swords convene toward a single sword in the center, which is decorated with a white flower. This is often the state of my life, but it’s feeling more and more like self-sabotage these days. What’s fitting and comforting here is that the Princess of Swords, an Athena figure with her gorgon-decorated armor, is at the top of it all, offering guidance and activated intelligence. The Princesses, as earthy court cards, are the active element that actually does what the others can only conceptualize. And the Princess of Swords is here to direct thoughts into purposeful action.
The underlying drive sustains that action with fire. The mission for me with this deck right now is Strength, magnified by the Universe above. And that’s a clear sign to wield energy and power and a lust for life in clear and intentional ways. Strength cannot waffle, even if she sometimes goes slowly enough to seem as if she has given up. But she is just in a moment of pause, patiently working away at the thorn. With the Universe above, it’s a reminder to get to the core issue and solve that problem. From there new concerns might arise, but they’ll come through more directly without the interference of confusion or distraction.
On the other side of the central line, I have the Priestess and the 7 of Cups (the 7 of the heart instead of the head). Here, there’s a need to not lean too heavily on the intuitive inner balancing. While valuable, that kind of regular inner temperature check can lead to over-consideration and unnecessary extra inputs. If you’re looking for ideas, that’s super helpful. If you’re already full of ideas, then you need to pare them back, not add to them. That’s where we get into 7 of Cups territory. It’s a beautifully creative card, but it easily becomes untethered from reality. The Priestess, though a wise listener and counsel, won’t make your decisions for you: she listens and asks questions that you must answer yourself. The 7 of Cups is a reminder to not get overly abstract or lost in ideas and options. Keeping that in mind will help me know when it’s time to turn to the Priestess and when doing so is likely to just lead to unproductive daydreaming.
Last is the turn, when the lesson moves on. Here in the 9 of Disks, there are so many beautiful flowers bursting forth, such a celebration of earthly delights. Once the goal is achieved and the rewards are claimed, it’s time to move on to something else. Straightforward, like the deck itself.
The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn by Pat Zalewski and David Sledzinski is published by Aeon Books, who holds the copyright to it. I was provided with a free copy of the deck to play with and see what I thought. What I’ve written stems from that experience.