{"id":18836,"date":"2018-11-01T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T06:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=19441"},"modified":"2018-10-28T09:46:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T14:46:53","slug":"seeing-the-signs-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/11\/01\/seeing-the-signs-42\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing the Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Madame Pamita: <\/b><\/u>H<\/b><\/u>er <\/b><\/u>B<\/b><\/u>ook, <\/b><\/u>W<\/b><\/u>ebsites, <\/b><\/u>M<\/b><\/u>usic, and <\/b><\/u>V<\/b><\/u>ast <\/b><\/u>S<\/b><\/u>torehouse of Tarot <\/b><\/u>W<\/b><\/u>isdom<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I received a copy of Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot: Using the Cards to Make Your Dreams Come True<\/a><\/u> this past Ostara, and in the past eight months, this wonderful book has become one of my favorite tarot books. Published by Weiser Books, earlier this year, it\u2019s a powerhouse of information and magic. I wanted to write a review of this fabulous book months ago but personal events in my own life got in the way. However, this only gave me more time to become acquainted with Madame Pamita via her website and monthly emails. I was really sad that I wasn\u2019t able to get down to New York City to meet her in person earlier this month \u2013 I would have asked her to autograph my copy of her book! \u2013 but maybe sometime in the next year, she\u2019ll be somewhere in my vicinity. She seems to travel quite a bit! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as you open the book, there are two pages of recommendations for Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot<\/a><\/u> \u2013 and from some of my favorite Tarot scholars, like Rachel Pollack and Mary K. Greer. As far as I\u2019m concerned, that\u2019s like getting the \u201cGood Housekeeping Seal of Approval\u201d as they used to say back in the day. Just reading what these eminent Tarot authorities have to say about Madame Pamita and her \u201ccomplete manual\u201d, as Elhoim Leafar puts it, is an affirmation of the book\u2019s positive value.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the very first chapter, Madame Pamita talks about the Law of Attraction \u2013 how \u201clike attracts like\u201d and that \u201cour thoughts and beliefs will attract the thing we focus on.\u201d (Palmita, 1) She quite logically reasons that when we are focused on loss, afraid of the future, and other depressing outcomes, then that is what we are going to be attracting to our lives. Therefore, we need magic \u2013 the \u201critual that focuses your attention on the things that you want to influence.\u201d (Pamita, 1). She refers to the Tarot as a \u201cmap that shows you what steps to take, what to avoid, and what changes are necessary to manifest all those good things you want.\u201d (Pamita, 1). By laying out the cards, you can see where you need to go \u2013 quite literally, or should I say visually <\/i>\u2013 in Madame Pamita\u2019s words, the Tarot shows the questioner:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026where they should be positively focusing their intention, what action they should take to support this aim, and even what ritual <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

would be most helpful for supporting their objective. Tarot is the key to making your wish come true.<\/i> (Pamita, 2)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She presents the simplest of all Tarot spreads, the Three-Card Reading. Card One is the Past \u2013 Card Two is the Present \u2013 Card Three is the Future. Acknowledging that \u201cwe can go to amazing depths in a reading\u201d by starting with the questing and then adding \u201cthe meaning of each of the cards that we turn up\u201d and then adding \u201canother layer of meaning with the position of the cards in the layout\u201d and the final layer of meaning \u2013 \u201clistening to what our own intuition has to say in the matter.\u201d (Palmita, 3). She doesn\u2019t say what to do when the cards don\u2019t seem to make any sense at all but she does admit that learning all this may be \u201cintimidating\u201d but that this is going to be an \u201cexciting adventure\u201d and a \u201cwonderful journey\u201d. (Palmita, 4). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Before she gets into the nuts and bolts of reading the Tarot, card by card, Madame Pamita discusses the history of the Tarot, divination and the occult. It\u2019s a very short chapter \u2013 only two pages long. It ends with her recommendation of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck as the best deck for beginners. I have to say that I do agree with her on that assessment. While it may not have been the original Tarot deck ever used, it has become the \u201cbasic text\u201d for the Tarot and the one most identifiable. It\u2019s the deck that is used in the illustrations of Madame Pamita\u2019s book. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the chapter titled, \u201cYour Mystic Training Begins\u201d, Madame Pamita once again refers to learning the Tarot as a \u201cjourney\u201d (Pamita, 7). She says that the \u201ckey\u201d is spending time with them \u2013 as the saying goes, \u201cpractice, practice, practice!\u201d She also stresses \u201cthe beauty in being that beginner\u201d (Pamita, 7). She writes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There is joy in the journey toward gaining knowledge. I look at it as an amazing exploration. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I know that going down the road is going to bring me such profound experiences and that <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

eventually, if I take the time to really learn and absorb and apply myself, I can get to the <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

place where I become master of that skill.<\/i> (Pamita, 7)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The next few pages are dedicated to starting a Tarot journal and how you should keep it. She recommends picking a card a day and spending time with it and writing about it \u2013 every aspect of it \u2013 from the people in the card to the symbols depicted to the colors used. She says to step \u201cinto the scene in the card\u201d and imagine what would happen or \u201cput yourself into the role of one of the characters in the card\u201d and then write about your feelings. She also says to pay attention to the \u201cenergy\u201d of the card. She says you should pull a card every morning, meditate upon it, write about it, and then review what you wrote in the evening. (Pamita, 8-9) Quite honestly, if you do this, not only will you learn important lessons about the Tarot, but you will also learn important lessons about yourself. Years later, you can open your Tarot journal and read your progress as a Tarot adapt as well as an enlightened human being. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The next chapter is another two-page shorty that is nonetheless packed with power. Entitled \u201cMagic Words\u201d, it covers affirmations, \u201cone of the most powerful spiritual disciplines that you can incorporate into your life\u201d (Pamita, 11). As Madame Pamita insists, <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Affirmations are positive power words that we can say to ourselves to rewire our brains,<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

making us magical receptors for good things\u2026Words create magic. Magic is the act <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

of shifting reality through our will. Therefore, magic spells are words that create our <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

reality. <\/i>(Pamita, 11).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Two paragraphs down, she again insists, \u201cYour thoughts create your beliefs and your beliefs are infinitely powerful.\u201d (Pamita, 11).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She includes affirmations with each description of every Tarot card \u2013 she calls them \u201cMagic Words\u201d. Like the diary journal, Madame Pamita outlines how to use these \u201cMagic Words\u201d and Tarot affirmations on a daily basis. I like the idea of taking a photo of the card of the day with your phone and making it your phone\u2019s background so you have it with you all day long. I also like the suggestion of recording the day\u2019s affirmation as an alarm on your phone so that you hear it at various times during the day. The thing with affirmations and rewiring the negative thoughts in your brain is that you really <\/i>do have to repeat the chosen affirmation over and over again or else it doesn\u2019t work. I find Madame Pamita\u2019s instructions to be founded in logic and common sense. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The next chapter \u2013 which is the last chapter before she delves into the mystery of the Minor Arcana \u2013 is about \u201cMaking Magic with the Tarot\u201d. Again, Madame Pamita has one good suggestion after another! I have often used various Tarot cards on my altar or in meditation but I have never put a Tarot card in my shoe! (Pamita, 13). That\u2019s a new one on me! I am not at all sure that would even be comfortable. I think placing the card of the day in the pocket of my coat or in the front pocket of my hoodie might be a better idea. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Before she gets into the Minor Arcana per se, she covers Roman Numerals. She even provides a chart so that the beginner knows how to read the letters as numbers. I guess I\u2019m showing my age \u2013 I remember learning Roman Numerals in second or third grade \u2013 back in the 1960\u2019s. We even had to do sums using Roman Numerals! However, I do realize that this is something that is no longer taught in school \u2013 perhaps hasn\u2019t been taught since my own childhood. I know my own son \u2013 who is now twenty-five years old \u2013 was never taught Roman Numerals in school \u2013 I taught him myself. This chart is a handy guide to those of us who may not have been taught this simple way of reckoning numbers or may have perhaps forgotten it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, in some Roman Numeral systems, 4 is written as IIII and not as IV, and 9 is written as VIIII, and not as IX, and 14 as XIIII, and so on. But generally, her chart is correct. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first suit she covers is the suit of Swords \u2013 \u201cThe Airy-Fairy Swords\u201d, she calls them. (Pamita, 20). She tells us to \u201cthink about the qualities of air\u201d whenever one of these cards show up in a reading. Air is the lightest of all the elements. Winds \u201cwhip around quickly\u201d and an opened window \u201cto let in a breeze can freshen up a room.\u201d (Pamita, 20). She also points out that,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Air is breath and the word \u201cinspiration\u201d literally means to breath in. The element of air and the<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

suit of Swords represent all these qualities. How did Swords end up representing air? Well, you<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

can imagine the sword waving cleanly and precisely through the air as it\u2019s being wielded by a <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

skilled fencer. It\u2019s sharp; it\u2019s fast; it\u2019s defined. <\/i>(Pamita, 20).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Madame Pamita writes that in the world of magic and making your dreams come true, thoughts are the beginning. \u201cEverything that has ever been created was first a thought.\u201d (Pamita, 20). So it makes sense to start the Minor Arcana with the suit of thinking and the intellect. But as she reminds us, the suit of Swords not only represents our thoughts and what happens in our brains but all forms of communication \u2013 verbal, written and electronic. The suit of Swords is an important suit when we are doing spell work or considering any kind of magic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After she covers the Swords, Madame Pamita moves onto the \u201cFun and Fiery Wands\u201d. She writes, \u201cWhile the Swords are meant to define and cut with the precision of clear thought and ideas, the Wands are the realm of action, passion and will.\u201d Therefore, the Swords are the first step of manifesting magic and the Wands are the second step. She directs us to think about \u201cthe essence of fire: it can be the warmth of a fireside, the light shed by a candle, or the raging destruction of a forest fire.\u201d (Pamita, 50). She says that mastering the control of fire was an \u201cevolutionary shift\u201d for humans and that mastering the suit of Wands will be a similar spiritual shift for the Tarot initiate. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The third step is the Cups \u2013 what Madame Pamita terms \u201cThe Watery Depths of the Cups\u201d (Pamita, 80). She writes that after the inspiration of the Swords and the passion of the Wands, the Cups is where we put our \u201cheart and soul\u201d into our magic. She writes,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see where Cups correspond to the element of water. Water itself flows to fill in <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

whatever space surrounds it, so that the Cups is what holds water together. Water represents<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

those parts of us that seem to some from that inner vessel: spirituality, intuition, and psychic<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

awareness. The Cup is the center of the heart. <\/i>(Pamita, 80). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Madame Pamita also points out the differences between the suits of Wands and Cups. They can say the same thing but in different ways \u2013 for instance, happiness for a Wands is jumping for joy and shouting aloud while with Cups, it\u2019s a secret smile and a romantic sigh. Wands are sexual passion whereas Cups are romantic love. It\u2019s good to know the difference between the two \u2013 in the Tarot and in life. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After the Cups, we come to \u201cThe Grounded Earthiness of the Pentacles\u201d, which according to Madame Pamita, represents \u201cthe end result\u201d of the cycle of magical manifestation. (Pamita, 109). Although Pentacles are earth, they are also,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026gold discs, reminiscent of gold coins, which can often refer to issues regarding money, financial<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

stability, jobs, or other means of income. They also have another meaning. That five-pointed star<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

represents the human body with a head and arms and legs outstretched. So, Pentacles also represent<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

physical issues of the body and its health. However, that star is also something even more magical.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond being just a physical body, we are made up of stardust. <\/i>(Pamita, 109).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Another thing she wants us to remember is that Pentacles are \u201cslow-moving and long-lasting\u201d. Unlike the suits of Swords and Wands, which have the quality of quickness about them, Pentacles make a person think of \u201cmight and strength\u201d and \u201croots\u201d and \u201cprotectiveness\u201d \u2013 all qualities of stability and longevity. (Pamita, 110). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She splits the Court Cards from the rest of the Suits, addressing each of the four members of each Suit as a \u201cfamily\u201d and giving their characteristics as those belonging to that particular family \u2013 for instance, the Swords family \u201care the intellectuals, thinkers, and communicators\u201d (Pamita, 142) while the Cups family are \u201cthe dreamers, the psychics, the creators of the imaginative and introspective art, and the spiritually connected, metaphysical ones\u201d (Pamita, 164) and so on. She suggests taking the court cards out of the deck and \u201cplaying\u201d with them to get to know them better. Some of the ideas she has are: choosing a card that you most closely identify with; choosing cards that show the different roles that you play in your life; choosing cards to represent people close to you; choosing a card that \u201cembody the qualities of something going on in your life\u201d, such as your work situation, your love life or your health. (Pamita, 188). It is all too easy to look at a court card and think that it represents an actual person in our life, when it would just as easily represent a situation or an emotion. Working with the cards in the way that Madame Pamita suggests will help break the urge to look at the images on the cards in a literal fashion and be able to truly read them as fully as possible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After fully examining the Minor Arcana, Madame Pamita moves onto the Major Arcana \u2013 \u201cthe big leagues\u201d \u2013 she calls them. She says that they are sometimes called \u201ctrumps\u201d from when the Tarot was a card game \u2013 the original name of the cards were actually \u201cTriumphs\u201d. (Pamita, 189). The images on these cards are \u201callegorical archetypes meant to teach us how to navigate life in the best way possible.\u201d (Pamita, 189). About the Major Arcana, she writes,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Major Arcana starts at zero and ends at twenty-one. While the Minor Arcana pips represent<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

circumstances in our life that are more mundane, and the court cards represent people or personalities,<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the twenty-two Majors represent big, powerful, and even more esoteric themes. When they show up<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

in a reading, you can expect them to have a stronger influence and impact on the situation. They may<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

be the underlying energy that permeates the cards that surround them or offers an irresistible pull in<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

a certain direction. <\/i>(Pamita, 189). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then she examines each card. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I did not write about her examination of each of the Minor Arcana cards or the Court Cards, because she uses the same format as her exploration of the Major Arcana cards. It seemed superfluous to talk about the specifics of her approach to learning each card, when it was the same for every card. So this is why I waited until this point to discuss how she talks about the cards. I have to say that I love <\/i>her approach! It\u2019s consistent with her theme of the Tarot being a \u201cjourney\u201d and a \u201croadmap\u201d to \u201cadventure\u201d. Indeed, she titles each card as \u201cYour Adventure with \u2026\u201d whatever card it is. If you\u2019re picking a card to work with on a daily basis, thinking about the card as an \u201cadventure\u201d is a heady way to deal with the concepts embedded within the card! And while some cards might be more adventurous than others, each and every card in each and every Tarot deck is an adventure of its own. All you have to do is pick a card and begin!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She describes each card thoroughly. She writes about each card as if we are sitting in the scene of the card, whether we are in the fertile sundrenched field of the Empress or sitting in the busy workshop of the industrious VII of Pentacles or hanging out with the bored youth under the tree in the IV of Cups. Reading her descriptions of each card puts you firmly in that card. <\/i>No matter what the card is, she presents it as an adventure<\/i> and a lesson. <\/i>Every word is a gem. I can\u2019t stress this enough. I am on my third close reading of this book \u2013 as opposed to opening it up for regular use \u2013 and the more I study Madame Pamita\u2019s use of language, the more I admire her. It\u2019s not just her depictions of the cards \u2013 it\u2019s her lush, poetic voice that I love. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After the description of the card, Madame Pamita includes four short sections which I think are most helpful for the beginner but also for anyone who is interested in the finer points of the Rider-Waite-Smith system of divination. The first section is called \u201cThe Keys to the Treasure Chest \u2013 Key Symbols\u201d, where she lists every symbol of the card she is describing. The second section is called \u201cThe Wizard\u2019s Words of Wisdom\u201d, which is her take on what the card means in a reading. The third one is journal questions, which she calls, \u201cBehind the Mysterious Door\u201d. And the fourth and last one is \u201cMagic Words\u201d \u2013 Affirmations for that particular card. I scanned the page for the X of Pentacles to give an example of this. The card shown is out of my own collection. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The last chapter in the book is called \u201cWhere Do I Take My Adventure From Here?\u201d Madame Pamita exclaims, \u201cYou did it! You have had seventy-eight adventures \u2013 one with each other of the tarot cards\u2026Where do you go from here?\u201d (Pamita, 251) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I find it interesting that she does not include any spreads in her book. In fact, she advocates using a One-Card reading when you first start reading for your friends and family and then, <\/i>when \u201cyou\u2019ve mastered one card readings, you can move on to larger, more complex spreads, such as past\/present\/future three cards readings or even a ten card Celtic Cross reading.\u201d (Pamita, 251). How refreshing! Most tarot books present the Celtic Cross as the default spread \u2013 it\u2019s like trying to learn a Chopin Mazurka on the piano without ever learning your scales or proper finger training. She writes that it\u2019s most important just to \u201cenjoy spending time\u201d with the cards. Again, I cannot agree more! If you are not taking the cards out on a daily basis and shuffling them and laying them out, then you are never going to learn their language. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have to say that I can not recommend Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot: Using the Cards to Make Your Dreams Come True<\/a><\/u> more highly. Whether you are a beginner with Tarot cards or have been studying them for over thirty years like I have, this book is a GEM. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So who is Madame Pamita? This is Madame Pamita! This is a picture from one of her emails. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She is from Los Angeles, and has a spiritualist\u2019s shop there. I went to Google and found her website. Click here to find out more: https:\/\/madamepamita.com\/<\/a> There\u2019s a <\/span><\/span>lot <\/i><\/span><\/span>there, so plan to spend some time! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she is a musician as well as a spiritualist! If you click on the \u201cMusician\u201d side of the website, it\u2019ll take you to some really cool links \u2013 her music, her photos, press releases \u2013 she is really doing some <\/span><\/span>very <\/i><\/span><\/span>cool work! Listen to \u201cMadame Pamita\u2019s Theme Song\u201d \u2013 it sounds like something out another time \u2013 like a voice from one hundred years ago. I could barely hear it \u2013 I think that\u2019s by design \u2013 but still, her voice spoke to me in a most appealing way. I\u2019m telling you all, if she comes <\/span><\/span>anywhere <\/i><\/span><\/span>in my vicinity, I am <\/span><\/span>definitely <\/i><\/span><\/span>checking out her show \u2013 whether it\u2019s spiritual or music \u2013 because everything I have read or heard about Madame Pamita is totally and completely intriguing. I mean \u2013 I would stay up past my bedtime to see her. For an old woman like me, that\u2019s really saying something! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I also joined her mailing list. She sends out monthly emails with information on where she is appearing that month, information on how you can study with her online, a spell for that month, and where to follow her on social media \u2013 yes, she in on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram <\/a>and Twitter<\/a>, if you wish to friend or follow her! Isn\u2019t the modern world fabulous? So many ways to connect! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway \u2013 between her book, her presence on social media and the world-wide-web, and her live appearances across the United States, Madame Pamita is moving beyond her LA occult shop \u2013 and I for one, am happy about that! I hope someday to meet her in the flesh but until then, I will content myself with her books, her website, her music, and her vast Tarot wisdom. I hope that you do the same!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Until next month, Brightest Blessings!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot: Using the Cards to Make Your Dreams Come True<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

References<\/u><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Madame Pamita. Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot: Using the Cards to Make Your Dreams Come True<\/a><\/u>. Newburyport, MA: Red Wheel\/Weiser, LLC, 2018. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/madamepamita.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.parlourofwonders.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/madamepamita.com\/music<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Polly MacDavid<\/b>\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan and she is solitary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>She blogs at\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>silverapplequeen.wordpress.com<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Madame Pamita: Her Book, Websites, Music, and Vast Storehouse of Tarot Wisdom I received a copy of Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot: Using the Cards to Make Your Dreams Come True this past Ostara, and in the past eight months, this wonderful book has become one of my favorite tarot books. Published by Weiser Books, earlier this year, it\u2019s a powerhouse of information and magic. I wanted to write a review of this fabulous book months ago but personal events in my own life got in the way. However, this only gave me more time to become acquainted with Madame Pamita via her website and monthly emails. I was really sad that I wasn\u2019t able to get down to New York City to meet her in person earlier this month \u2013 I would have asked her to autograph my copy of her book! \u2013 but maybe sometime in the next year, she\u2019ll be somewhere in my vicinity. She seems to travel quite a bit! \u00a0 As soon as you open the book, there are two pages of recommendations for Madame Pamita’s Magical Tarot \u2013 and from some of my favorite Tarot scholars, like Rachel Pollack and Mary K. Greer. As far as I\u2019m concerned, that\u2019s like getting the \u201cGood Housekeeping Seal of Approval\u201d as they used to say back in the day. Just reading what these eminent Tarot authorities have to say about Madame Pamita and her \u201ccomplete manual\u201d, as Elhoim Leafar puts it, is an affirmation of the book\u2019s positive value. In the very first chapter, Madame Pamita talks about the Law of Attraction \u2013 how \u201clike attracts like\u201d and that \u201cour thoughts and beliefs will attract the thing we focus on.\u201d (Palmita, 1) She quite logically reasons that when we are focused on loss, afraid of the future, and other depressing outcomes, then that is what we are going to be attracting to our lives. Therefore, we need magic \u2013 the \u201critual that focuses your attention on the things that you want to influence.\u201d (Pamita, 1). She refers to the Tarot as a \u201cmap that shows you what steps to take, what to avoid, and what changes are necessary to manifest all those good things you want.\u201d (Pamita, 1). By laying out the cards, you can see where you need to go \u2013 quite literally, or should I say visually \u2013 in Madame Pamita\u2019s words, the Tarot shows the questioner: \u2026where they should be positively focusing their intention, what action they should take to support this aim, and even what ritual would be most helpful for supporting their objective. Tarot is the key to making your wish come true. (Pamita, 2) She presents the simplest of all Tarot spreads, the Three-Card Reading. Card One is the Past \u2013 Card Two is the Present \u2013 Card Three is the Future. Acknowledging that \u201cwe can go to amazing depths in a reading\u201d by starting with the questing and then adding \u201cthe meaning of each of the cards that we turn up\u201d and then adding \u201canother layer of meaning with the position of the cards in the layout\u201d and the final layer of meaning \u2013 \u201clistening to what our own intuition has to say in the matter.\u201d (Palmita, 3). She doesn\u2019t say what to do when the cards don\u2019t seem to make any sense at all but she does admit that learning all this may be \u201cintimidating\u201d but that this is going to be an \u201cexciting adventure\u201d and a \u201cwonderful journey\u201d. (Palmita, 4). Before she gets into the nuts and bolts of reading the Tarot, card by card, Madame Pamita discusses the history of the Tarot, divination and the occult. It\u2019s a very short chapter \u2013 only two pages long. It ends with her recommendation of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck as the best deck for beginners. I have to say that I do agree with her on that assessment. While it may not have been the original Tarot deck ever used, it has become the \u201cbasic text\u201d for the Tarot and the one most identifiable. It\u2019s the deck that is used in the illustrations of Madame Pamita\u2019s book. In the chapter titled, \u201cYour Mystic Training Begins\u201d, Madame Pamita once again refers to learning the Tarot as a \u201cjourney\u201d (Pamita, 7). She says that the \u201ckey\u201d is spending time with them \u2013 as the saying goes, \u201cpractice, practice, practice!\u201d She also stresses \u201cthe beauty in being that beginner\u201d (Pamita, 7). She writes: There is joy in the journey toward gaining knowledge. I look at it as an amazing exploration. I know that going down the road is going to bring me such profound experiences and that eventually, if I take the time to really learn and absorb and apply myself, I can get to the place where I become master of that skill. (Pamita, 7) The next few pages are dedicated to starting a Tarot journal and how you should keep it. She recommends picking a card a day and spending time with it and writing about it \u2013 every aspect of it \u2013 from the people in the card to the symbols depicted to the colors used. She says to step \u201cinto the scene in the card\u201d and imagine what would happen or \u201cput yourself into the role of one of the characters in the card\u201d and then write about your feelings. She also says to pay attention to the \u201cenergy\u201d of the card. She says you should pull a card every morning, meditate upon it, write about it, and then review what you wrote in the evening. (Pamita, 8-9) Quite honestly, if you do this, not only will you learn important lessons about the Tarot, but you will also learn important lessons about yourself. Years later, you can open your Tarot journal and read your progress as a Tarot adapt as well as an enlightened human being. The next chapter is another two-page shorty that is nonetheless packed with power. Entitled \u201cMagic Words\u201d, it covers affirmations, \u201cone of the most powerful spiritual disciplines that you can incorporate into your life\u201d (Pamita, 11). As Madame Pamita insists, Affirmations are positive power words that we can say to ourselves to rewire our brains, making us magical receptors for good things\u2026Words create magic. Magic is the act of shifting reality through our will. Therefore, magic spells are words that create our reality. (Pamita, 11). Two paragraphs down, she again insists, \u201cYour thoughts create your beliefs and your beliefs are infinitely powerful.\u201d (Pamita, 11). She includes affirmations with each description of every Tarot card \u2013 she calls them \u201cMagic Words\u201d. Like the diary journal, Madame Pamita outlines how to use these \u201cMagic Words\u201d and Tarot affirmations on a daily basis. I like the idea of taking a photo of the card of the day with your phone and making it your phone\u2019s background so you have it with you all day long. I also like the suggestion of recording the day\u2019s affirmation as an alarm on your phone so that you hear it at various times during the day. The thing with affirmations and rewiring the negative thoughts in your brain is that you really do have to repeat the chosen affirmation over and over again or else it doesn\u2019t work. I find Madame Pamita\u2019s instructions to be founded in logic and common sense. The next chapter \u2013 which is the last chapter before she delves into the mystery of the Minor Arcana \u2013 is about \u201cMaking Magic with the Tarot\u201d. Again, Madame Pamita has one good suggestion after another! I have often used various Tarot cards on my altar or in meditation but I have never put a Tarot card in my shoe! (Pamita, 13). That\u2019s a new one on me! I am not at all sure that would even be comfortable. I think placing the card of the day in the pocket of my coat or in the front pocket of my hoodie might be a better idea. Before she gets into the Minor Arcana per se, she covers Roman Numerals. She even provides a chart so that the beginner knows how to read the letters as numbers. I guess I\u2019m showing my age \u2013 I remember learning Roman Numerals in second or third grade \u2013 back in the 1960\u2019s. We even had to do sums using Roman Numerals! However, I do realize that this is something that is no longer taught in school \u2013 perhaps hasn\u2019t been taught since my own childhood. I know my own son \u2013 who is now twenty-five years old \u2013 was never taught Roman Numerals in school \u2013 I taught him myself. This chart is a handy guide to those of us who may not have been taught this simple way of reckoning numbers or may have perhaps forgotten it. For what it\u2019s worth, in some Roman Numeral systems, 4 is written as IIII and not as IV, and 9 is written as VIIII, and not as IX, and 14 as XIIII, and so on. But generally, her chart is correct. The first suit she covers is the suit of Swords \u2013 \u201cThe Airy-Fairy Swords\u201d, she calls them. (Pamita, 20). She tells us to \u201cthink about the qualities of air\u201d whenever one of these cards show up in a reading. Air is the lightest of all the elements. Winds \u201cwhip around quickly\u201d and an opened window \u201cto let in a breeze can freshen up a room.\u201d (Pamita, 20). She also points out that, Air is breath and the word \u201cinspiration\u201d literally means to breath in. The element of air and the suit of Swords represent all these qualities. How did Swords end up representing air? Well, you can imagine the sword waving cleanly and precisely through the air as it\u2019s being wielded by a skilled fencer. It\u2019s sharp; it\u2019s fast; it\u2019s defined. (Pamita, 20). Madame Pamita writes that in the world of magic and making your dreams come true, thoughts are the beginning. \u201cEverything that has ever been created was first a thought.\u201d (Pamita, 20). So it makes sense to start the Minor Arcana with the suit of thinking and the intellect. But as she reminds us, the suit of Swords not only represents our thoughts and what happens in our brains but all forms of communication \u2013 verbal, written and electronic. The suit of Swords is an important suit when we are doing spell work or considering any kind of magic. After she covers the Swords, Madame Pamita moves onto the \u201cFun and Fiery Wands\u201d. She writes, \u201cWhile the Swords are meant to define and cut with the precision of clear thought and ideas, the Wands are the realm of action, passion and will.\u201d Therefore, the Swords are the first step of manifesting magic and the Wands are the second step. She directs us to think about \u201cthe essence of fire: it can be the warmth of a fireside, the light shed by a candle, or the raging destruction of a forest fire.\u201d (Pamita, 50). She says that mastering the control of fire was an \u201cevolutionary shift\u201d for humans and that mastering the suit of Wands will be a similar spiritual shift for the Tarot initiate. The third step is the Cups \u2013 what Madame Pamita terms \u201cThe Watery Depths of the Cups\u201d (Pamita, 80). She writes that after the inspiration of the Swords and the passion of the Wands, the Cups is where we put our \u201cheart and soul\u201d into our magic. She writes, It\u2019s easy to see where Cups correspond to the element of water. Water itself flows to fill in whatever space surrounds it, so that the Cups is what holds water together. Water represents those parts of us that seem to some from that inner vessel: spirituality, intuition, and psychic awareness. The Cup is the center of the heart. (Pamita, 80). Madame Pamita also points out the differences between the suits of Wands and Cups. They can say the same thing but in different ways \u2013 for instance, happiness for a Wands…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}