Mystical Magickings and Manic Miscellany

Having finally just moved, and totally unable to find my Klahdagh set, or any of the Tarot, fairy and goddess reading cards I have, I’m just going to post here a little bit about how the Klahdagh came into being and hopefully do a reading the next time my turn comes around.

It was, really, a kind of accident in a way. My late wife, Teri, had been very gifted in her ability to read tarot and other things and the Klahdagh was spawned from one of her “moments”.

I remember the day well. An out-of-town friend had flown in to visit for the weekend, and this event always provoked, along with a flurry of fun activity, a tarot reading session or two. On this particular occasion Teri had me bring out her crystal ball, which was, for her, a very powerful thing and very rarely used.

It was during this time, (after managing to snap Teri out of yet another ball induced trance) that I noticed a diamond engagement/wedding ring on our guest’s finger.

Something about that ring oozed deceit.

I pondered on it for the rest of the day, up until the evening margharita’s, and then was promptly laid low the next day with pancreatitis. But the ring never left my thoughts for long.

Having had many years plying tarot cards, and other divination systems, and slowly becoming frustrated with all of them, an idea sparked that maybe I could marry my favorite systems (tarot and runes) into a new one and perhaps have a system which would be more suitable for my style of reading.

The next three weeks I sat down and began to think about what kind of system would be basic enough, like the runes, yet detailed enough to lead the reader into a defined reading.

So ideas, images and connections slowly popped into my head and the fundamentals of the Klahdagh were born. Firstly I found a need for four levels of tile. The Elder and most powerful of the tiles, the six tiles representing those events totally out of our control that can change and alter everything in our lives with one swipe of its claw. The Younger set to represent the minor dealings of our lives and living. The seasons tiles, for everything has a season and time, and our lives change along with the winds, snow and sunshine in our days. And then the Four Courts, for authority and laws hold a major sway over events and things we can do or say.

Loosely drawn from the tarot and the Viking runes the symbolic images representing sun, void, winter, and other more common things like cattle and tombs became the fabric of the divination. Each tile drawn and set in a pattern which interconnects and subtly changes the overall gist of the reading.

Still in a kind of infancy I’m occasionally fine-tuning the Klahdagh here and there. Yet some of the readings it has given have been with such clarity and accuracy it’s left the querent stunned.

The Klahdagh, at least for me, seems to be a success.

As for our guest with the ring who visited so, so long ago. Banil – the ring – held true. The deceit in her marriage, sadly, ran deeper than anyone at that time knew.

S.J.