The Occult Tarot is a 78 divination card set by Travis McHenry. McHenry previously released a set called the Demon-Possessed Tarot which was limited to 1,140 copies and was sold out. Through an exclusive arrangement with Rockpool publishing, the Demon-Possessed Tarot has been re-released as The Occult Tarot.
The cards are printed on thick card stock, and come with a soft touch booklet, and a nicely designed storage box. The deck features the 72 demons of the Goetia that King Solomon summoned and the 6 Grand Prices of Hell: Baphomet, Lucifer, Moloch, Beelzebub, Lucifuge Rofocale, and Azazel. Primary sources in developing the deck were the Testament of Solomon, The Key of Solomon, The Grand Grimoire, The Lesser Key of Solomon, among other medieval texts.
McHenry suggests that the conjurer should not perform more than one ritual of summoning or divination per daily. Ideally, only one per month. To use the Occult Tarot, the conjurer must create an infernal circle of aligning five red candles in a rising crescent formation, with the center candle that is closest to the West being the tallest. Incense is placed in holders on the south and north side of the circle. Once you choose which demon you wish to summon, you place their card in the middle of the circle and make several conjuration statements and place an offering in a metal dish. While you shuffle the cards, you are instructed to gaze upon the demon’s card and its sigil. Once you have thoroughly shuffled the cards (the instructions are in the booklet), you can began questioning the demon by laying the cards out in a version of the Celtic cross spread. The goal is questioning is to ask for favors or divination. Once the ritual and your questioning of the demon has finished, you would state the License to Depart, and extinguish the candles.
The Seal of Solomon is featured on the back of the cards. On the front of the cards, we get: an illustration and the name of the demon, the name of the ruling angel, tarot correspondence, the goetic number, the demon’s abilities, seal, sigil, and astrologica seal.
I missed my opportunity to pick up McHenry’s The Demon-Possessed Tarot deck before it was sold out, so I’m glad it was re-released by Rockpool, and I’m very pleased to have this tarot deck. I did manage to purchase a copy of the Oracle of Heaven and Hell before it was sold out, and I will be providing my thoughts on that deck in a future article.
~ Danny Stygion
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