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Paul Huson - Mastering Witchcraft - Corgi - 1972

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On “The Devil’s Picturebook”, by Paul Huson

I haven’t really shared anything at all about this book since I’ve been caught up in between my daily life and it’s ever constant responsibilities, but I’m nearly through it (reading through his words on the Major Arcana) and wow I’m in love.

It doesn’t subscribe to your usual Tarot book that gives you words of encouragement, some definitions, and so on, but instead dives into several historical facts that have surrounded the Tarot for centuries along with giving my little occultist heart food for thought amongst its thought provoking connections between the cards and witchcraft, folklore, and even giving a few spells and charms to boot. This book came before Huson’s Mystical Origins of the Tarot (which I need to re-read, I loved it the first time around but failed to make any proper notes so I can’t remember much on it at the moment), so it’s not as fully fleshed out as that one, but even so there’s a lot to gain from The Devil’s Picturebook.

Some of the spreads he gives in the book are: a nice variation of the past/present/future spread; one that goes in depth with the Celtic Cross and ways to read it; and a few others that give you an outlook of the week, month, or overall life of the querent. However, some spreads are different than the ones I’ve seen in other books (and online), showing you techniques that work by laying the cards and them being read seamlessly and together rather than abscribing each position a specific question. And I LOVED that. It feels more sensical to the Tarot’s symbolism and overall way of being. It doesn’t restrict it to answer to a specific format, instead giving it a more comfortable space to work with that allows it to speak volumes rather than simple sentences or paragraphs. They’re by no means beginner workings, he says so a few times not to start right away with the more complicated spreads if you’re a beginner. They call out more to your intuition and knowledge of the cards more so than strict definitions and go up to 42, or 66, or even the use of the entire deck (Le Grand Jeu, I’m looking at you. And the Pyramid.). How is that not exciting? It sounds like an amazing way to see how each and every card can exist in a spectrum rather than a fixed position, and I’m just— gods, I love them. I haven’t given them a try just yet, need a willing subject to come forth and allow me to explore their world through my cards, but I am so excited to try every single one he wrote out.

Besides this, what also makes it stand out is how he connects a lot of the tarot’s Trumps to Orphic Dyonisus’s myth, as well as bringing in the other Greek gods to paint a really unique picture of this curious pack of cards. It took me by surprise, honestly, because a lot of the things he explains are things I had yet to learn or familiarize myself with, but all in all I REALLY love this look into the tarot.

I won’t say much more because otherwise I’ll start sharing screenshoots and entire passages, and if any of this caught your attention you’d be better off actually getting the book and reading it rather than relying on some tumblr blog to put out bite sized pieces of it. It’s just a good book. I’m really enjoying it, and I can confidently say that I’ll have loved the time I gave it to read through once I’m done. It’s a good change of pace that ties the Tarot with occult roots rather than those of shadow work, self improvement, or simply its divination factor and gives it a whole other level I like.

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"you as a witch

must never break your word. If you do not think you are going to be able to fulfil a promise, do not make it, even if there is only the faintest possibility that you may not be able to come through...You are trying to cultivate a state of mind which you can switch on at will, whereby it is absolutely natural and in accordance with the nature of things that whatever you say is going to come true. In this case, the words of the spell. Each and every time you break your word, whether the reason for it be outside your control or not, you chip away a little of that assiduously worked for faith in yourself, which you are trying so hard to cultivate."

Paul Huson Mastering Witchcraft

The elemental power tides of the universe are marked by the movements of the stars, the sun, and the moon, but chiefly the latter two. Though these heavenly bodies are not the actual sources of the power, they are the main indicators of its ebb and flow in our universe.

‘Mastering Witchcraft’ by Paul Huson, Chapter 1 - ‘First Steps’

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The operations of divination have always been conducted by means of contact with a power which is symbolized by the astrological symbol of Mercury. The Greeks called this power Hermes, the Egyptians Thoth, the Scandinavians Odin, the early Anglo-Saxons Woden. This power has generally been connected with the starry sky, the air, storm winds, and also the crossroads. Indeed in the voodoo pantheon the power of Mercury is often known at Maitre Carrefour or Master of the Gross-roads. He is the great mediator between the worlds and is also known as Psychopompos or Guide of Souls. The Saxons knew him by the name "Earendel, the Morning Star." The witch knows him by the name "Herne."

Paul Huson. Mastering Witchcraft. Page 48