There is a spell to help you develop extrasensory perception and open up channels of higher awareness. The awakening of psychic abilities will give you personal guidance, comfort you with the assurance of spiritual existence, and enable you to see and explore the fabric of the universe.

This layout takes the shape of a crown. As a crown sits atop the head, it symbolizes expanded consciousness, awareness outside the senses, and glory in knowledge.

The Star represents inspiration and guidance from supernatural and cosmic forces. It complements and gives power to the High Priestess, the card of focusing the mind, developing intuition, and listening to inner voices. The Hermit stands for the revelation and interpretation of knowledge. It is used here to aid your understanding of the dreams, visions, and intuitions that will come to you.

As a necessary accessory for this spell, have a candle that will be placed just a few inches beyond the High Priestess card. (Do not light this candle until told to do so.) Plan to lay the cards out on a table where you can pull up a comfortable chair, so you can be at ease while you do the meditations and visualizations. If you wish to use other accessories for this spell, choose additional candles, or flowers, crystals, and gemstones, and cloth (in shades or combinations of white for concentration of divine light and pure psychic energy, blue for looking inward, and/or purple for psychic experience and spirituality) upon which to lay the cards.

It is best to perform this spell either very early in the morning or late in the evening when the world is quiet and you are unlikely to be disturbed. It is good to take a lustral bath beforehand and to be dressed magically. For maximum benefit, perform this spell or a shortened version of this spell every day, at the same hour each time.

To perform this spell, you may combine it with an improvised ritual of your own, or just proceed by laying out the cards and doing the following meditation, visualization, and affirmation.

Meditation and Visualization
When ready, light the candle that has been set aside for this purpose. For a duration of between thirty seconds to three minutes, focus on the candle flame, putting everything else out of your mind. For a time between thirty seconds to three minutes, close your eyes and hold the image of the flame in your mind.

After you are through concentrating on the flame, set the Star in place. For a few moments, visualize yourself walking alongside a lake under a star-filled sky. From time to time you pause to dip your feet in the water. Feel the coolness and pleasantness of the water as it laps around your feet. Feel that you are at one with the lake and the land and the stars that glow with ever-increasing intensity in the sky above you. Then, spread your arms outward (both in visualization and in actuality) and say aloud:

Next, set the High Priestess in place, as indicated on the diagram. Imagine that you continue to walk along the lakeshore until you come to a temple. The temple will take whatever shape your imagination wants to give it. Visualize yourself going up to the door of the temple. You pull on the doors, but you find them locked. You try again; this time just touching your hand to the door handle. Surprisingly, the door swings wide open. You enter into the foyer of the temple. Now, pause and say out loud:

Now, set the Hermit in place. Envision yourself going deeper into the temple. You pass through several rooms (allow your imagination to furnish them as it desires). Finally you pass through a door into a large but darkened room. Two pillars are standing there—the ones pictured in some versions of the High Priestess card. Between those pillars stands an altar, and on that altar is your candle! You walk up to the candle, hold your hands above it, feeling the warmth of the flame (both in visualization and in actuality) and say:

At this point, visualize that you are no longer in the temple. You have been magically transported back home, and are sitting in your own comfy chair, with the cards and the candle before you.

Now, as you sit quietly, make yourself very aware of your physical body. Then, do the following visualization exercise.

Start expanding your conscious mind outward in a spiral pattern. Start with your body, and make your senses circle around, taking in all the sights and sounds. Scan in an ever-widening spiral, taking in the room that you are sitting in, sweeping through your house, scanning your yard and the street outside, reaching even farther out to take in the houses and buildings of your neighbors, ranging farther still, spiraling through your neighborhood, your town, your country, the world, and outward into space. Then, reverse the process, and bring your consciousness in closer and closer, retracing the spiral until you have pulled back into yourself, sitting in your chair.

At this point, carefully, and with as much feeling as you can, recite the following affirmation.

Affirmation

Now, sit back, relax, and let go of all your thoughts. Empty your mind, but open your awareness. Spend several moments waiting to see if any interesting impressions pop into your mind. After you feel enough time has passed, write down any impression you've received. If you feel you haven't received any worthwhile impressions, don't worry—you have started the process in motion, and you'll be surprised to find hunches and insights coming to you at unexpected moments.

If you wish, this is a good time to pursue any other psychic work you're interested in, such as automatic writing, I Ching, casting rune stones, and, of course, Tarot.

When you want to complete your session, you may close the spell simply by extinguishing the candle and putting away the cards, or you may close as desired.

Excerpted from Tarot Spells, by Janina Renée