Ancestors on Call: A Spiritual Contact Spread
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve been reading about ancestor worship in Asia (which is not precisely “deification” but instead a ceremonial show of respect usually accompanied by ritual offerings and a sincere plea for assistance with one’s mundane affairs). I’ve created a couple of spreads in the past with the goal of ancestor contact, but this knowledge gave me fresh inspiration.
As Benebell Wen describes it in her Taoist discussion of “soul dualism,” spiritual existence is binary, being divided into two functions: the hun, which administers our personal karmic account as well as governing reincarnation, and the more ethereal po, which resides in the unseen energy of the cosmos. When called upon, our ancestors reach out to us from the po should they choose to respond. In my customary offbeat way, I was struck by the idea that the hun, which is yang in nature, is local and shows how we pay our karmic debts, while the po as yin is more remote and aloof; we basically “ride on its coattails” in performing this divination. It would make sense to me that, unless they’re up for reincarnation, our ancestors would want to stay as far away from the hun as they can and hang out in the po, so we have to lure them back through supplication that is astral in nature. (Hopefully we will reel in “sweet Aunt Mary” and not “grumpy Uncle Joe.”)
Note that as a secular Westerner I’m not qualified to judge whether this reading should be performed on any of the various religious holidays or other “special days,” so I won’t presume to recommend it. The Chinese lunar calendar is too convoluted for my brain anyway. I also don’t have a home shrine or altar for this purpose; I lay out my tarot readings on a bed (since either of these oracular installations could be a permanent piece of furniture, the bed should be considered my “Shrine to the God of Insomnia”). As far as offerings, I bring to the table only my honest interest in having a spiritual dialogue (although maybe a dram of whisky would be appropriate, and then I could drink it with due solemnity like a Catholic priest with his wine). In the unlikely event that I can stay up that late, I might even conduct this divination around midnight as long as I don’t burn the house down with candles and incense.
This spread uses both tarot cards and a hexagram in its structure. The idea is to first choose one card to represent the question and place it in the middle of the array. Then shuffle the rest of the deck and deal six cards (you’ll see why shortly) face-up in a circle beginning at the bottom of the pattern and going clockwise. (Reversals are not used at this point.) These cards represent the “veil” or interface between the seeker and the spirit world; one of them will be selected as the best opportunity to open a clairvoyant pathway leading to a “portal.”
Looking at the populated “veil” for the example reading below, I’m reminded of Russian roulette (only one chamber of the figurative revolver is “loaded”), or maybe Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: “You never know what your gonna get.” In using this spread, it’s crucial to state your purpose for initiating the contact as clearly and strongly as possible, either silently or aloud. If you have one, a photograph of the ancestor can serve as a visual focus.
Turn these six cards into an emblematic hexagram as follows. Starting at the bottom, determine the elemental polarity of each card and assign a line of the hexagram to it as follows:
If the bottom-most card is one of the 40 Minor Arcana, accord it a “younger” yang line if it is Wands or Swords and a “younger” yin line if it is Cups or Pentacles, inscribing this line at the foot of the diagram and proceeding clockwise around the circle, recording the succeeding lines one above the other until you have created the six-line hexagram; with no “moving” lines, this figure is considered “locked.” If not all are minor cards, see the next step.
If any card belongs to the tarot court or is a member of the Major Arcana, develop the hexagram by giving an “elder” yang line to a Wands or Swords court card or a Fire or Air trump card; ascribe an “elder” yin line to a Cups or Pentacles court card or a Water or Earth trump card. (Astrological sign-of-rulership associations should be used to identify the elemental polarity for the seven planetary trump cards.)
In I Ching terms, we might equate the court card with a minor “palace functionary” (an immediate ancestor who was particularly important to us), and the trump card with a high-ranking “sage” (an august spiritual forebear from a much earlier time). Move around the circle in the same way as before, recording the lines. These “elder” lines will be treated as “moving” lines that will change the hexagram to an alternate one, adding more detail to interpretation of the spread.
Next, deal six more cards face-down around the outside of the original circle. One of these cards will provide the spiritual “point-of-contact” and deliver the message the consenting party has for you. The deck may be reshuffled to introduce reversals at this point, which could suggest reluctance on the part of the individual to speak plainly. The message would then have to be read as symbolic or allegorical rather than literal.
Since psychic forays into the Astral Plane aren’t necessarily “guided tours,” these cards can also signify any disembodied entity that has something to say to us; there is no way other than their self-revelation to be sure that we’re talking to a deceased relative. As I learned early in my scrying days, not all denizens of the Unseen are inclined to be helpful (“Is that you, Uncle Joe?”)
Examine the six randomly-pulled “pathway” cards and determine which of them most closely aligns with the “question” card, thus offering the most direct route to the answer. (Another way to do this would be to roll a single six-sided die if you want to be completely neutral about it and assume that your hand is being “guided by spirit;” this would be the “box of chocolates” approach.) At the same time, identify the line of the hexagram that corresponds to this card.
Move to the outer circle and turn over the “contact” card adjacent to the identified “pathway” card and read it as the “message.” (This single card provides only a brief insight, not a full narrative unless we choose to deal more cards, we can’t expect “chapter-and-verse” from such a tenuous contact, particularly if the ancestor is a distant one who has little interest in expounding at length.) But feel free to pull a few more cards to flesh out the story if you like. Then examine the oracular statement of the related hexagram line and incorporate it into the reading (which should accomplish the same purpose).
Finally, determine whether any of the hexagram lines are “moving” and turn that line (or those lines) into the polar opposite, yang-for-yin and yin-for-yang. If one of these lines is an alternate for the line that was part of the above interpretation, read it as providing supplemental advice about the message.
Although not part of the formal divination, these hexagrams can be read in their entirety as the background theme or environment of the matter. But I believe they would be more general and not topic-specific, so I wouldn’t take the whole thing to heart.
Here is an example reading to illustrate the process.
What I wanted to know was whether my pursuit of Celtic mysticism would lead anywhere useful. I picked the Hierophant as the “question” card because of its connection to spiritual matters and placed it in the center before dealing the six cards of the inner circle. The only card that stood out was the Emperor, so I went with that. Using it as the “pointer,” I turned up the fourth card in the outer circle, the Prince of Wands reversed.
According to an extensive genealogical study of our Scottish-Irish origins performed by a cousin of mine, the ancestral Irish family name on my mother’s side can be traced back to Ir, who may have become a regional king in Scotland by right of conquest, and who was reputedly the fourth son of Milesius, the legendary progenitor of the vast majority of Irish Gaels (or “Milesians”). Even though this is almost certainly apocryphal, I decided I would call on Ir with the question, which was relatable to my Irish roots. Therefore, I appealed for Ir’s indulgence when I shuffled for the “contact” card pull.
I could tell even before I got to the hexagram that this was going to be a nuanced reading; I sometimes think of The Chariot (here it’s “a chariot”) as the mobile throne of the Emperor when he’s on a military campaign, so maybe Ir will “ride shotgun” with me on this adventure or send a “cohort” to my aid as intimated by the two hexagrams (although he might just be “slumming”).
But the reversed Prince of Wands implies that by following this course I will become only a “lesser light” and my efforts, while enthusiastic, probably won’t produce anything remarkable or enduring beyond satisfying my own intellectual curiosity. (I didn’t pull more cards because the hexagrams expanded the outlook for me.) It’s also possible that this “Air of Fire” Prince could be a “steward” (underling or son) of Ir, come to deliver the tidings, and it might even be offering a “role-model” for my consideration (but its reversal seems to indicate otherwise, depicting a “bearer of bad news” that hints at an uneventful future). Since my current interest in druidry is incipient, I guess I can expect to get out of it only as much as I put in.
The Book of Changes (according to the Wilhelm/Baynes translation) tells a slightly different story. The hexagram for the initial pull was 44, (Kou; Coming to Meet), and the hexagram produced by the “moving” elder-yang line (Emperor in the fourth position) was 57 (Sun; The Gentle/The Penetrating, Wind). I originally intended to quote extensively from the oracular judgment in each case but finally decided to just summarize the key guidance.
Regarding Hexagram 44, while restraint is advised, in this particular context the alternate meaning seems more relevant: “Although as a general rule the weak should not come to meet the strong, there are times when this has great significance. It is necessary for elements predestined to be joined and mutually dependent to meet one another halfway. But the coming together must be free of dishonest ulterior motives, otherwise harm will result.” The fourth line warns against alienating associates who might be needed by failing to meet them halfway; the result is that they will turn their backs and won’t participate. Although the verdict seems cautionary, the subdued posture of the reversed Prince of Wands suggests a willingness to cooperate for mutual advantage. Perhaps I can connect with a larger group of like-minded scholars (although to date I’ve had no success with that).
Hexagram 57 observes that “Small strength can achieve its purpose only by subordinating itself to an eminent man who is capable of creating order.” Here is another allusion to collaboration that will permit the Prince of Wands to rise above his limited potential; maybe I should seek a knowledgeable mentor (the teaching gig of the Hierophant comes to mind, although I have no use for religious orthodoxy). The advice of the fourth line is “Remorse vanishes. During the hunt/Three kinds of game are caught.” In other words, “When a responsible position and accumulated experience lead one to combine innate modesty with energetic action, great success is assured.” Sounds like a description of the reversed Prince of Wands at its best; now I need to figure out how to leverage those qualities. Maybe I will be pursuing three different mystical tracks in my study and practice (I already do some geomancy and lithomancy).
It seems that Ir has little encouragement to offer for a solo venture, but finding a sympathetic support group would yield much better results (assuming I can pull it off).
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on September 24, 2024.
