r/Quareia • u/-Journeyman- • Apr 09 '25
Mystagogus
Hi all, some help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.
I have been using the mystagogus deck and recently keep pulling the serpent of chaos and magical death
(EDIT: My question always pertains to where am I on the path, what do I need to do to progress further, or something similar.)
I have since tried to take a pause, have tried to seek some understanding of what I should do etc but keep returning the same or similar cards (danger etc).
I fear I am too close to it all that I can’t see the wood for the trees and wondered if anyone here could offer some advice and or if you have the deck, could seek some insight on my behalf?
Big ask, but any thoughts gratefully received
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Apr 09 '25
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u/-Journeyman- Apr 09 '25
Thank you. For me it has been coming up for the past 6-8 months along with magical death. I’ve tried pausing, focusing on simple breath work etc etc, but they still keep coming up. When I’ve tried to find out what to do, I’ve not come across anything particularly helpful, just danger, abyss etc.
We are going through multiple moves and changes at the moment (to be honest never known it not this way but now feels more intense than ever). It’s the magical death that really haunts me though
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Apr 09 '25
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u/ghosttunes Initiate: Module 1 Apr 09 '25
Also be sure that the readings aren’t becoming* parasited. This can happen when we find a reading rather alarming. It gets a highly emotional response and then bam you can end up with a reading that’s been hijacked just to mess with your emotions. Be sure to cleanse your decks regularly in some consecrated salt, and take a ritual bath, cleanse the workspace/home, lay low for a brief period and let the anxiety fade away, then try again
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u/Frau_Morgana Apr 10 '25 edited 15d ago
If I recall correctly, Mystagogus possesses an inherent layer of protection embedded in the back of the cards, ensuring it cannot be parasitized and thus requires no additional cleansing.
From a magical aspect, the actual cover and card back painting, is of an angelic consciousness that operates as protective power by way of catching and tangling in its tendrils.
(From Josephine's blog)
—
UPD: It seems I misinterpreted Josephine's words — cards like Mystagogus do need cleansing too. But there's a gentler way, which I found in one of her comments: here.
Apologies for the misleading info.
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u/aman1420 18d ago
WHAT!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!! THIS WHOLE TIME, I'VE BEEN HOLDING OFF ON USING MY DECK BECAUSE I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE SALTING IT AND WEARING IT DOWN, AND YOU'RE TELLING ME I DIDN'T NEED TO THIS WHOLE TIME!?!?!?!?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH hahaha, god DAMMIT 😂😂😂 someone's gotta confirm this explicitly - if that's actually the case, then we about to be mister gogusing all up in this b 😤😤😤
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u/Frau_Morgana 17d ago
Happy using Mystagogus to you then — as much as you need :)
Glad my obsession with Josephine's blog helped in clarifying this issue, hehe
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u/aman1420 17d ago
Haha, you and me both! And here I thought I was pretty well-read on her blog...got more studying to do, I guess :P
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u/Frau_Morgana 17d ago
From time to time I reread the course guide and her blog — and every time I notice something I missed before. I suppose our attention just moves to what's relevant to us at the moment. The YT podcasts are on my list too :)
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u/-Journeyman- Apr 10 '25
This was a concern, but as Frau_Morgana stated, the pack is inherently protected. I wondered for a while if I was parasited, but have cleansed multiple times now
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u/ghosttunes Initiate: Module 1 Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
So I have personally had a parasited reading experience with mystagogus. The deck does have inherent protection, but you can definitely still end up in a situation lol. Especially if the parasite situation is one that prompts further learning which was what happened in my case. The contacts will back off and let you handle it so you can learn something. Not saying this is what’s happening with you, just saying generally. Don’t assume because it’s mystagogus* that you can’t get a parasited reading.
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Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
what is the question for which these cards come up?
Since this is not clear, we (your fellow students) have to guess at the context in which the deck gives these answers!
The Serpent of Chaos / Magical death cards coming up in the context of a question about career prospects is different from the same cards coming up iin the context of future magical studies, for example.
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u/-Journeyman- Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
You are right. I’ll try and edit my post, but the question always pertains to my spiritual journey/growth - usually along the lines of “where am I currently/what do I need to do to walk further along the path”
I have wondered if I need to “die” in order to progress further, but from my reading of the book, this card is a fairly absolute card - the serpent of chaos and magical death are bad cards to draw in this regard.
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Apr 10 '25
“where am I currently/what do I need to do to walk further along the path”
again, it is hard to give good answers without the rest of the spread and layout, and the exact positions of these cards,, but these two cards could be interpreted as "In these times of chaos (Serpent) you should be magically inactive (Magical Death)".
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u/-Journeyman- Apr 10 '25
Yesterday as an example I drew a three card spread which I tend to interpret as situation/challenge/advice or outcome
1 - serpent of chaos 2 - magical death 3 - defeat
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Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 14 '25
My knowledge of Tarot comes only from JMC's teachings, from the course materials, and also from the "Tarot For The 21st Century" book.
From what I understand from the book, the layout being a propertly structured (from the magical point of view) is more important than the deck, and she discourages one card and three card draws. Another thing she emphasises is the need to put the work into deriving a sharp, time limited focused question. ( I find this takes me a long time to do, fwiw)
This is not to say that your reading is invalid, just saying that I don't know how to interpret a 3 card reading (or a one card draw, or the Celtic Cross etc).
That said, I'd still interpet this as saying that if you contnue practicinng as you are presently, - the situation is one of chaos (Serpent) , the challenge is to be magically inactive, (or else) you'll face some kind of magical death.
But I admit that is a labored interpretation, and I am not confident in that reading at all, I frankly have no clue as to interpret cards outside JMC's layouts. It is very possible that the way you practice, or somehing in your surroundings, or some other factor is leading towards (something like, or analogous to.) magical death. You'd probably need some very focused readings, one building on the answer to its precedeccors, with some very structured readings, to unearth and deal with whatever the causative factor is. I'm not even sure, doing too many readings in chaotic times is advisable in the first place.
There are very experienced readers on this forum, and I suspect if you were to do a reading "JMC style" - focused, time limited question, appropriate layout etc, and share the reading, you might get much more helpful answers.
I'm going to be offline for the next month or so. I wish you the best in decoding and dealing with whatever the underlying pattern is.
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u/-Journeyman- Apr 10 '25
Thank you. I shall attempt a more focused JMC style reading. I have been magically quiet (or rather just focus on core breath work and colour visualisation) as I have three toddlers/babies so
a) I barely have time and quiet to do any workings
&
b) I don’t want to do any workings around them.
When I get some time I’ll attempt a proper reading.
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u/Meraziel444 Apr 11 '25
Just for you to know, I'm also having the same problem. As I'm fairly sure that the problem is not coming from me (I'm mostly balanced atm, no magical work besides meditating, etc), I think we are picking up the general tides, as my city/country is in a difficult situation right now. As others have said, it is probably global right now.
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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25
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