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Angel Tarot, by Travis McHenry

Angel Tarot, by Travis McHenry
Rockpool Publishing, 1925924206, 72 cards, 122 pages, April 2020

Many angel oracle or tarot decks feature sweeping images of light, splendor, and magnificence, along with a comforting affirmation of the angels’ eternal love and devotion. While Angel Tarot by Travis McHenry does facilitate this sacred connection to the power of the angels, the deck is unique because it also offers sigils, seals, and ancient grimoire knowledge to invite the angels into your life. Working with the Angel Tarot allows you to do more than just your standard tarot reading; the energy of the angels is yours to evoke, meditate with, and conjure for magical purposes.

Travis McHenry is a seasoned occultist that has had a varied career. He has an academic background in anthropology and has studied a variety of religions; he was even ordained as a deacon in the Baptist church at one time. McHenry also served in the United States Navy as an intelligence specialist. Afterwards he became a recruiter for the largest telephone psychic company in the world.1 Previously to publishing this deck, McHenry created The Occult Tarot, which is a 78-card deck featuring daemons of the 17th century with guidance on demon conjuration according to Solomonic principles.

It is McHenry’s incorporation of high magic that makes Angel Tarot very different from the usual New Age angel oracle cards or tarot decks. Every card features the tarot correspondence, the angel’s divine name, angelic number, few word description of the meaning of the name, astrological meaning of the card and angel, the angel’s abilities, summoning sigil, and magical seal. I realize this may not make sense to someone who doesn’t have much experience with high magic, but McHenry offers enough guidance that even a novice would be able to effectively use the cards to summon angels.

The guidebook introduction describes Cornelia Agrippa’s doctrine about every human being born with three guardian angels. McHerny describes the difference between each guardian angel, but leaves it up to the deck user to figure out which angels are their guardians. Then there is a brief overview of the hierarchy of angels. I have written a series about the different angels, so if you’re interested you can read a general overview here.

From here, McHenry provides succinct and straightforward directions to conjure angelic spirits. He even includes an image of the Grand Pentacle of Solomon to keep practitioners safe while using the deck. For those who wish to evoke an angel using one of the cards, there is a script for before and after the evocation. McHenry’s directions make it very easy to choose an angel from the deck to petition, connect with the angel, state your request, and then formally end the ritual. I absolutely love the ability to use the cards as a focal point while summoning angels. Angel magic has been what I plan on devoting my studies to this year, and the Angel Tarot is the perfect accompaniment for this undertaking in a safe, contained manner.

Other ways to use the cards suggested by McHenry are meditation and divination. Meditation can attune someone to the angel of your choice’s energy if they do not feel up for doing the full evocation ritual, and is what I would recommend from someone just getting used to the system of this method of working with angels. Then for those doing divination, McHenry writes, “When reading with this deck your answers may come from the tarot connection, the angel’s astrological connection or the angel’s ability.”2 This gives a lot of versatility with this deck, along with plenty of room to explore the different angel correspondences for study and oracular purposes. So far I’ve enjoyed working with the cards more for meditation than divination.

The rest guidebook is the description of meaning for each card. Fair warning, it is not in the style of a usual guidebook that will explicitly state what the card means. Each description has a biblical verse, photograph of the card, and information about when the angel is the soul, mortal, or physical guardian (excluding the six archangels, which have almost the exact same description on their card). This information is how one can find out who their three guardian angels are if they are interested in fostering a relationship with them in particular. The guidebook also shares the intonation for each angel’s name, which is important for ritual evocation, and rank in the angel hierarchy. I learned my moral and soul guardian are the same angel!

There are no specifics given about how the cards relate to the tarot other than this card is this tarot correspondence and guidance on how to do some common tarot spreads. Therefore you should already be familiar with the energy of tarot, otherwise you will not be able to make the associations as easily. Even without knowing the tarot correspondence though, there’s still value in this deck as a method to work with angels. I say this to ensure that someone who sees the title Angel Tarot knows that the main focus is on the 78 angels.

The cards in the deck are gorgeous. They are all coated in gold trim and have The Grand Pentacle of Solomon on the back and in the background of the front of the cards as all. The color scheme of gold, grey, and white hues give the deck a sleek, classical feeling. The images on the front of the cards look like Renaissance sketches. There’s a complexity to the simplicity to the cards, for they all look clean-cut but are filled with sigils, seals, imagery, and words that all seem to attract the eye at once. Red and black emphasize the imagery on some cards, making them more pronounced and striking as one looks through the deck.

I highly recommend Angel Tarot to anyone looking to establish a practice of summoning angels, enhancing their high magic practice, or learn more about the kabbalah hierarchy of angels. While it seems more suited for an experienced occultist, this deck is absolutely user-friendly for people to work with at a beginner level. As I delve into my year of dedicated study of the angels, I am very grateful to have this deck as an enhancement to work I plan on doing. McHenry has done a wonderful job of synthesizing arcane grimoires, occult knowledge, and magical practice to create an outstanding deck.

Forbidden Fruits, by Joscelyn Godwin and Guido Mina di Sospiro

Forbidden Fruits: An Occult Novel, by Joscelyn Godwin and Guido Mina di Sospiro
Inner Traditions, 9781644111574, 288 pages, December 2020

What happens when Mexican Gothic crosses with The Da Vinci Code? You get the spellbinding novel, Forbidden Fruits: An Occult Novel by Josecelyn Godwin and Guido Mina di Sospiro. This  thrilling mystery kept me guessing “who dun it” until the near end. I mean, a book that weaves together the magic of alchemy and entheogens, turning history on its head, in order to prevent the spread of evil in present times. Needless to say, I was hooked from the get-go and read the whole thing in 24-hours because I couldn’t put it down.

Godwin and di Sospiro have previously co-authored another book, titled The Forbidden Book. Keeping with the theme of forbidden, the authors continue to use their background to unveil information through fiction once again. Godwin has written extensively about spiritual connection fostered through music in his books which include Harmonies of Heaven and Earth, Cosmic Music, and Music, Mysticism & Magic . Di Sospiro also has a background in music as a classically trained guitarist, but is most well known for the short film he wrote and directed If I Could Do it all Over Again, I’d Do it All Over You. He’s also published the books Leeward and Windward, which also has an alchemical theme, and The Metaphysics of Ping-Pong, which focuses on philosophical topics.

I’ll admit I was a bit leery at the start of Forbidden Fruits that it would be too much of a thriller for my taste, as there are violent scenes interspersed throughout. However, the action scenes are tempered by plenty of nuanced character interaction and dialogue that keep the story intriguing from start to finish. While the plot is centered upon a murder mystery, which can easily become run of the mill, there were many distinguishing features that set this book apart from others.

To begin, the main character, Monica, is an archeologist who is funded by a very eccentric man named Sebastian. After years of searching, they have just happened upon an ancient find that has the potential to change the perception of history. However, this plot thread is only one of many. There’s also the oracle predictions warning an ancient secret society of evil on the island, neo-nazis who are wreaking havoc and murdering innocent people, and a huge immigration problem of Africans flocking to the coasts of Malta. With Sebastian being a noble and respected figure in Malta, he finds himself smack dab in the middle of the turmoil.

I won’t give away the climax of the book, but a turn of events forces Monica to team up with Sebsatian’s elusive son, Raphael to solve the case, all while assassins are out for them as well. There are endless twists and turns in the book that don’t come together until the very last pages of the book. I really enjoyed the variety of possible ways the story could go and watching the storm brew, wondering how things would play out.

There were many modern social justice issues raised, from the growth of hate groups to widespread immigration. While I am not very familiar with the current socio-political climate of Europe, specifically in Italy and Malta where the story takes place, I can see the current global trends happening in the United States as well with the rise of hate groups and human rights issues at the borders. The integration of present world problems heightened my ability to connect to the story, as I could easily understand and relate to the challenges the characters faced.

The best part about this book is how it incorporates alchemy, archeology, and entheogens into the plot. While there are countless stories of wizards, magicians, and occult societies dabbling in labs trying to find the Elixir of Life or the Philosopher’s Stone, I had never seen alchemy from the lens portrayed in Forbidden Fruits. Godwin and di Sospiro have done a wonderful job of illuminating the alchemy through Raphael and his journey to uncover the mysteries hidden within; readers get to experience firsthand the character’s perspective of ritually consuming the sacred soma.

Alchemical drawings and apocalyptic texts sprung to life when viewed from the perspective of entheogen consumption. Godwin and di Sospiro create a whole new paradigm through which to understand Jesus Christ’s message and the words of the Bible by linking it to the ritual consumption of entheogens. While Carl Jung’s Red Book never seemed much more than imaginal pictures to me, I suddenly understood through the writing of the authors how these images can in fact truly mirror archetypal energies.

In our technologically and secular world, the idea of demons and maleficent forces seem arcane. However, reading Forbidden Fruits spurred on my investigation into demonology, helping me to see the value in knowing these energies that could potentially still be within the world. By blending the supernatural with occult knowledge, I feel as though Godwin and di Sospiro elucidated the value of alchemy, beyond the personal plight of truth, knowledge, and life essence often perpetuated in the mythos.

What I enjoyed the most was the humility of the alchemists. With trust in their order and dedication to the natural law, one’s station in life was not as important as the legacy of the alchemical wisdom they protect. With the rise in conspiracy theories, secret societies seem to be all the rage in popular culture, and often to the detriment of these sacred orders. I appreciated there was no self-effacement on the order’s part to assert their will, but rather they used their tools to assist the protagonist Raphael in his own mission quite discreetly. Forbidden Fruits accurately captures the true nature of the groups that protect esoteric knowledge with dignity, respect, and loyalty — a concept that could use some reviving in modern times.

I highly recommend Forbidden Fruits to anyone looking for a good mystery novel, especially if you have an interest in the occult. Godwin and di Sospora have created an illuminating novel that makes the reader question the true nature of Christianity, while also demonstrating and offering insight into how the use of entheogens may be one of the oldest sacred rituals. The characters ultimately must decide for themselves how far they are willing to go to find the truth, and following along in their journey is absolutely fascinating.