The Deck of Shadows | Guest Post – Rob Lupine

Every now and then, I am contacted with someone’s personal experience with The Deck of Shadows. It is always exciting to hear how the cards have taken on a new significance for some. So . . . I share the following from Rob Lupine with you (and with his kind permission) –

INTRODUCING: THE DECK OF SHADOWS!

A few weeks ago I attended a meeting of mages, necromancers and other practitioners of the dark craft that I indulge so much of my passions in.

Such meetings are a great way to network, catch up with friends and share new ideas in the workings of the art, and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.

I always set myself a rule not to buy anything that I will not use, (no matter how pretty or attractive it may seem, the last thing the wife needs is another “Unusual” conversation piece to explain away in the living room!)

So when I saw the deck of shadows on one of the stalls I barely gave it a second look. After all, it was just another deck of oracle cards and I have loads of them. It was in one of those nasty little net bags that I hate so much- they rip so easily in the pocket!

It wasn’t even a respectable size- no bigger than a deck of common or garden playing cards! However that is the only time I will use the word “common” in respect to them!*

A little while later I was talking to the man running the stall, a man who I have a lot of respect for in the field- Dr. Todd Landman. We spoke of various routines and techniques and tools, and the conversation turned to psychic readings.

A few years ago Todd produced some amazing cards based around the Rorschach ink blot tests of the late 19th century. I was complimenting him of these cards and telling him how I used them in my psychic readings. Dr. Todd smiled and asked me, “If you liked them, have you seen the deck of shadows?”

Well not wishing to appear rude, I smiled politely while he reached for a deck and proceeded to open them and show me the cards themselves. At first glance the black and white imagery does not leap out, it has to be said. But this little deck doesn’t need to brag.

Each card has one key word and three secondary words to have meanings  in four directions if the user so wishes. The centre of the card displays a piece of classic art that reflects the words surrounding it, and at the top there is a playing card value. For those of us that know how to read playing cards, you will observe a lot of care has been taken to line up the right card value with the right image. To round everything off there is a different symbol at the bottom of each card.

There are 54 cards in all- the 52 standard cards, a “Yes” card and a “no” card. The latter two would be great on their own to work a pendulum reading!

One of the things I look for in a tool of divination is something that will “Speak” clearly to the reader, with a new meaning every time you look at them. This deck seems to achieve just that. I love the fact that I am still discovering new aspects and probably will continue to do so for some time yet.

The deck comes with a booklet that contains a description of each card and suggested spreads. It has to be said I seldom do more than flick through the book, preferring to get to know the cards in my own way and work in a style that seems right to me, however the book does make good reading.

The thing I love about these cards is that I was able to read with them right away- I was working with them on Psychic World TV the Monday after the meeting, and the answers practically leaped from the cards at me. A lot of the time I was able to do a full reading only using one card, however recently I have been using a three card spread.

The first card answers the question, “Where am I?”  and looks at where you are at philosophically speaking, the situation before you at the moment.

The second card looks at what action is needed to improve and progress the situation forward.

The third card will show the person having the reading what is around them to help them achieve the action described in the second card.

I have found this spread will answer most questions effectively, but as always would urge the user to discover their own spreads and work in their own way!

The Deck of Shadows is an amazing deck and I am delighted that Todd introduced me to them. He was selling them on behalf of a gentleman named Scott Grossberg, who was kind enough to allow me to use them on television.

I will say that these cards, while not the most flamboyant in the world,  have the ability to surprise, and impress. and being the size they are makes them easy to have on your person if you are put on the spot to do an impromptu reading!

If you are a reader and interested in getting your own deck of shadows they can be bought from this link (I’m not getting anything from Scott for doing this, I just believe in giving credit where it’s due.)

*Well- and also here, but that can’t be helped

SCOTT’S FINAL THOUGHT

Thank you again, Rob, for your kinds words. I look forward to hearing of your further adventures with the cards.

And thank you, Todd, for introducing Rob to his new friend!

If you enjoyed this, I’d be grateful if you click below to share this with others. That’s right, go ahead and help spread this information by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. Thank you!

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© 2012 by Scott Grossberg. All Rights Reserved. thinkingmagically.com

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The Vitruvian Square | Clearing, Cleansing & Balancing

During my recent appearance on Beyond Worlds I mentioned an energy clearing/cleansing ceremony you can do with The Vitruvian Square matrix. If you click on the Beyond Worlds link, you can listen to me go through the technique with co-host Ginny Hunt. I’m going to explain the process in a little more detail here so you can instantly and easily use this terrific way to feel better and more focused.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with The Vitruvian Square layout:

In particular, pay attention to the 9 squares that make up the primary matrix (Numbers 1 through 9). Number 0 is at the very top. We will be using these 10 locations for our clearing/cleansing strategy.

STEP 1:  Sit comfortably in a chair or restfully lie down. Take a few deep, freeing breaths, and close your eyes.

STEP 2: Visualize The Vitruvian Square and its 9 Places of Power (Squares 1 through 9). Bring the three squares at the top, three squares in the middle, and three squares at the bottom clearly into focus. Continue breathing deeply as you begin to notice that each of The Vitruvian Square positions is filling with bright, white light.

STEP 3:  Bring your inner vision to focus on Square Number 1. See that square infused with white light. As you breath in and out, the light almost seems to pulse with your breath.

STEP 4:  Shift your inner vision to focus on Square Number 2. Now, see Square Number 2 infused with its own white light. This square, too, seems to have a rhythm of its own . . . yet, it is in tune with your own, deep breathing.

STEP 5:  Continue advancing your inner vision to the remaining 7 squares (Square Numbers 3 through 9). Each time your point your inner vision to a new square, fill that square with white light and notice its throbbing brilliance.

STEP 6:  When you have finished paying attention to each of the 9 Places of Power, widen your inner vision so that you are now seeing all 9 squares at one time – kind of like your inner camera has moved from a close-up of each square to a wider, larger, all-inclusive shot. See The Vitruvian Square, in its entirety, lit up with white light; the glow of each square touching on its neighbors.

STEP 7:  Now, start to notice whether there are any dark areas in your Vitruvian Square; areas that feel gloomy, or unlit, or dingy. When you discover such places, make a mental note of which numbered squares are impacted (we’ll use them later). For each shadowy area, narrow your attention, once more, and now bring your intention to bear and begin to fill any dark areas you have noticed with white light until the darkness is obliterated.

STEP 8:  Finally, widen your inner vision and zoom out one last time until you can see the entire Vitruvian Square, yet again. You begin to notice, for the first time, that there is a ball of light above the 9 square (at the Number 0) position. This ball of light is so bright and so powerful that it s sending rays of light into the 9 squares below it. Just take all of this in and notice how you feel.

STEP 9: Open your eyes and finish with a some more cleansing breaths.

STEP 10:  Take a few moments and notice how you feel now, compared with how you felt when you first started this technique. Are you more relaxed or full of energy? Are you more focused or more aware?

STEP 11: Finally, go back to The Vitruvian Square image, above, and find the correspondences/meanings for the areas that you noticed were dark and gloomy. These are areas that needed your focus and which you have now cleared and bolstered and reinforced. Be sensitive to any internal messages that these squares and their meanings hold for you; knowing that, by clearing them with white light, you have added new balance to your inner harmony.

Just some thoughts. If you enjoyed this, please click below to share this with others.

And make sure to sign up for my blog mailing list so you get all future postings delivered directly to your inbox.

© 2011 by Scott Grossberg. All Rights Reserved. thinkingmagically.com

The Vitruvian Square | Sacred Music for Hallowed Doorways

Most of you know that my book, The Vitruvian Square: Discoveries in Divination, explains a very special way of looking at things, and people, and patterns. In this article I want to eagerly hand over to you a wonder-filled technique to easily intensify your use of The Vitruvian Square matrix, in general, and the distinct Places of Power that burn within that secure framework. So, today, we are going to create naturally irresistible and inherently seductive soundtracks for each of our Places of Power; music that, not only synchronizes with your understanding of each location within The Vitruvian Square, but that instantly calls forth for you all the elements of each Place of Power, each Plane of Existence, and each Axis of Influence.

I’ve written before about the obvious strength and ready vitality of music to summon up emotions, inner awakening, and memories. Music can seduce us, it can inspire us, and it can truly work magic – in other words, it can change the way we feel and see things in an instant! Imagine, then, how your experience with The Vitruvian Square will become even more unprecedented when you discover that there is a signature tune or song – for you – for each of The Vitruvian Square‘s Places of Power.

The whole idea behind finding your own, individual theme songs within The Vitruvian Square is to establish a congruent state of mind and an audible cue for each of the locations within our matrix. Your Vitruvian Square theme music can be used to underscore and even stimulate your current condition and state of development. Above all else, you want to establish theme songs that are significant to the importance of each of The Vitruvian Square’s 10 Places of Power.

So, how do you do this? It’s easy!

1.  Look at each of the 10 Places of Power that comprise The Vitruvian Square. This includes the “0” location.

2.  Find a particular Place of Power that seems to call out to you, or just go in numerical order. Be haphazard, or be systematic. It doesn’t matter the order in which you complete this.

3.  Once you have a starting place, ask yourself a variety of questions, like:

• How do the attributes or correspondences of this particular Place of Power make me feel?
• What is the true nature of this Place of Power for me?
• What is the rhythm I sense from this Place of Power? Is it upbeat or slow? Is it dramatic or whimsical? Is it serious or lighthearted?

4.  Now, expanding on my prior discussion of Ancient Magic | Modern Tools™, look through your iPod songs and find just the right tune to link with the Place of Power you are working with. Which songs have just the right mixture of lyrics and melody that, when you hear them, instantly will link with the Place of Power you are focusing on?

5. Complete this exercise so that all 10 of The Vitruvian Square’s Places of Power now have a unique theme song.

6.  Change your theme songs as new tunes make themselves known to you and if they seem more appropriate. It’s perfectly alright to refine your Vitruvian Square playlist from time to time!

If there is a particular musician or artist who inspires you, feel free to take his or her entire catalog of music and focus only on that for creating your Vitruvian Square playlist. The fact that you are using one performer can further intensify the overall meaning of the songs you use – kind of like a higher intention to the whole pattern.

There is, of course, another way to reach your final goal; make a list of your 10 favorite songs and then spend some time meditating on which one best fits in each of The Vitruvian Square’s 10 Places of Power.

So you have an example of what you can ultimately accomplish with this, here is what I am personally using at the moment:

PLACE OF POWER “0” : Being/Remembering

SONG: Highwayman (Jimmy Webb)

The Highwaymen Performance

PLACE OF POWER “1” : Beginning/Renewing

SONG: The Quest (Bryn Christopher)

Bryn Christopher Performance

PLACE OF POWER “2” : Connecting/Reconnecting

SONG: Glitter in the Air (Pink)

Pink Performance

PLACE OF POWER “3” : Creating/Re-Creating

SONG:  The Prayer (Tony Renis/David Foster/Alberto Testa/Carole Bayer Sager)

Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli Performance

PLACE OF POWER “4” : Building/Rebuilding

SONG:  Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

K.D. Lang Performance

PLACE OF POWER “5” : Changing/Replacing

SONG:  Show Me the Way (Dennis De Young)

Styx Performance

PLACE OF POWER “6” : Uniting/Reuniting

SONG:  Unchained Melody (Alex North/Hy Zaret)

Elvis Presley Performance

PLACE OF POWER “7” : Defeating/Retaking

SONG:  I Want it All (Queen)

Queen Performance

PLACE OF POWER “8” : Moving/Removing

SONG:  I’m Movin’ On (Phillip White/Vincent Williams)

Rascall Flatts Performance

PLACE OF POWER “9” : Completing/Refinshing

SONG:  I’ve Been This Way Before (Neil Diamond)

Neil Diamond Performance

Whether my song choices speak to you or not is not the issue. Rather, you can now see how readily each of the Places of Power takes on a new fierceness, importance, and intention by adding your own, intimate soundtrack to the mix. Relish the adventure you are about to embark upon!

Oh, one more thing – if you know the Tarot or Deck of Shadows attributes for The Vitruvian Square, not only will my song choices have more vibrant expression, but your own choices will be effortless.

Just some thoughts. If you enjoyed this, please click below to share this with others.

And make sure to sign up for my blog mailing list so you get all future postings delivered directly to your inbox.

© 2011 by Scott Grossberg. All Rights Reserved. thinkingmagically.com

The Vitruvian Square | The Karma Spread (Guest Post)

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

– Albert Gyorgyi

Well, The Vitruvian Square Casting Cloth (a natural deepening of my book, The Vitruvian Square) has sparked an incredible amount of interest and lead to new creations in the way people use the system. Because of the really terrific responses, I have decided, for the first time, to periodically post guest content so that you can see how others are using both The Vitruvian Square and The Deck of Shadows. Today, then, I want to share with you The Karma Spread from Craig Rovinsky. It uses The Deck of Shadows in conjunction with The Vitruvian Square and is something I think you will truly enjoy.

THE KARMA SPREAD

(using THE VITRUVIAN SQUARE)

by Craig Rovinsky

What follows is a very easy, very interesting way to do a card reading using both The Deck of Shadows and The Vitruvian Square.  I came about this approach indirectly.  A friend, Sebastian Black, told me about an idea with a three card reading.  Sebastian uses The Deck of Shadows and has praised it in many conversations with me.

Sebastian suggested a small addition to a three card spread . . . add another card above the three main cards.  This fourth card is The Unknown.  This additional unknown card easily added to the depth of the central reading.  While I have known of variations of this before (looking at the bottom card of the Tarot deck after a deal) it seemed to work incredibly well with The Deck of Shadows.

Then one day I was looking at The Vitruvian Square and I noticed the spot for zero . . .  above the cards . . . just like Sebastian had suggested.

One recommended meaning for the zero Place of Power is the concept of Karma – and so The Karma Spread was born.  Simply, the card in the zero position is the lesson you must learn at this time in your life.  The other three (or however many cards you choose) expand on this lesson.

So let me demonstrate this for you by giving an example reading using The Karma Spread.  It has been mentioned that The Vitruvian Square and The Deck of Shadows almost do the reading for you.   I will follow this approach and construct my reading pretty much straight off the key words of the cards and the square.

If you have Scott’s Vitruvian Square and his Deck of Shadows, you can follow along and will see exactly where I got the things I said.  We will start with the Karmic lesson to be learned, expand on it with three cards, and then find out what action to take by looking at The Vitruvian Square.

So I have dealt out three cards from The Deck of Shadows:

1.  Seven of Diamonds

2.  Eight of Diamonds

3.  Jack of Clubs

I have the rest of the deck face down on the zero position (at the top of The Vitruvian Square) . . . I turn it over and the bottom card now facing me is:

4.  Five of Diamonds

[SCOTT’S NOTE: When the cards are placed in The Vitruvian Square matrix, the formation looks like the diagram, below. Remember that the cards are placed on the numerical equivalent of their value. So, the Seven of Diamonds goes on the “7” square, the Eight of Diamonds goes on the “8” square, and the Jack of Clubs equates to “2.” Jacks = 2, Queens = 3, and Kings = 4.]

The Karmic lesson that you need to learn at this point in your life is to keep a sense of adventure about life.  To some degree you have lost the ability to risk, to seek variety in life.  There just hasn’t been enough movement in your life and things have gotten stagnant.

I can’t help but notice that three of the four cards are Diamonds; a clear indication that the field of adventure you need to address is in your personal finances.  While this doesn’t mean being a financial fool, it does suggest you might look at spending a bit of money in a way you hadn’t expected to, just because it is fun.

What has happened is that time has snuck up on you.  It seems many opportunities have passed you by and you find yourself wondering if those are all of the chances you will get.  It is clear from this card though that, if you go with the flow, things will begin to happen . . . much more quickly than you thought possible.

In a way, this change now is due to a maturation . . . doing adult things for adult reasons.  It makes you savor the moment  and just expand the present to forever.  This change is your destiny.  It is something you have deserved for a long time, your Karma.  Serendipity will present more challenges and opportunities but you must do a couple things first.

If you look at your Vitruvian Square you will see you are only one quality away, in each direction, from from having two powerful planes (Squares 5 and 9).  First, you are just short of completing your Plane of Values . . . finally finding out who you are.  To do this you need a little Heirophant time (Square 5) – spending some time with your own inner judge, your value system and looking at it honestly.

Once you have done that it is time to complete your Plane of Action and make a difference in the world.  To do this you need to complete the emotional work you started when you worked on your Plane of Values.  This requires you to spend some Hermit time (Square 9) to balance your values and you will be there. It is only your thoughts that are stopping you, and you will complete this phase by trusting your inner moon.

The result of all this will be the completion of your Karmic lesson for this time of your life . . . adventure.  Do these things we talked about here, and a fun and interesting life will be yours!

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊

Thank you, Craig, for sharing this with all of us. It’s always exciting to see how others extend my creations. If anyone else is interested in providing some guest content, let me know.

Just some thoughts. If you enjoyed this, please click below to share this with others.

And make sure to sign up for my blog mailing list so you get all future postings delivered directly to your inbox.

© 2011 by Scott Grossberg. All Rights Reserved. thinkingmagically.com