QABALISTIC EIGHTS

A game to be played with Tarot Cards I don't know who came up with this game, but it is one of my personal favorites and it is quite popular among the O.T.O. in the Midwest. It is highly entertaining, and is the best way I have yet discovered for learning all the various formal correspondences. Suitable for 2 to 5 players of whatever Grade. Rules: Basically, this is just the old card game of "Crazy Eights" played with a Tarot deck. As in the profane version, your goal is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. This is done by matching one card from your hand to the last one put down. With regular playing cards you just match by number or suit, but with a Tarot deck you can match by Number, Suit, Element, Planet, Astrological Sign, Qabalistic Symbolism, etc. In fact the only limit is your own ingenium and the willingness of the other players to accept your latest Revelation (things can get very interesting late at night after everybody's had a few drinks ... ) Qabalistic Eights seems to work best with the Thoth Tarot (the Crowley-Harris deck) as so many of the correspondences are printed right on the cards, and there is a convenient reference in the form of Liber 777. Naturally, there is no reason this cannot be played with any other deck as long as all players are conversant with the symbol system of that particular deck. It is poor sport to suddenly switch systems on people in the midst of the game. Sequence of Play:
1. Shuffle and cut one Tarot deck. Deal 8 cards to each player. Place the remainder of the deck face down in the middle of the playing surface and turn over the top card. 2. Play begins with one player (it doesn't matter who, though you may want to make some rule about this,) takes one card from his or her hand and lays it on top of the starter card. This must match the starter card to be valid. There are no "wild" cards. 3. It is customary when playing a card, to briefly explain why it matches the previous card. All players must accept the match as valid. One is allowed to cite reference works.

4. Play goes deosil (or widdershins if you're in the Black Lodge.) Each player must put down one card that matches the one put down by the previous player. 5. If the player cannot find a match in his or her hand, that player must draw a card from the remaining unused deck (from the top, now!) A player must keep drawing until a match can be made. Passing or sitting out turns is not allowed. 6. Play continues in this fashion until one player gets rid of his or her entire hand, thus winning the game. If all the cards of the deck have been drawn and no one has won, simply gather up all the played cards, reshuffle and continue to play (remember to leave the last-played card out.)

Example of Play:
We will follow a few rounds of a four-player game to give the reader an idea of the working of the game. Correspondences follow the Thoth deck, to which the reader is referred. Assume, if it be thy will, that the cards have been dealt and that the starter card is the Queen of Disks.

Player 1: Three of Disks (They're both Earth) Player 2: Atu XV, The Devil (It's referred to Capricorn, an Earth sign) Player 3: Five of Wands (It's Saturn in Leo, and Saturn rules Capricorn) Player 4: Atu XX, The Aeon (Like the Wands, it is referred to Fire.) P1: Atu VII, Adjustment (Because The Aeon is referred to the Hebrew letter Shin, which is 300, which reduces to 30 by Aiq Bkr, and 30 is Lamed which is referred to Adjustment.) P2: Ace of Swords (It's the Root of Air; Adjustment is referred to Libra, an Air sign.) P3: Ace of Disks (Another Ace. ) P4: Atu 0, The Fool (Because it's referred to Aleph, which is 1.) P1: Queen of Swords (She's Air, like The Fool.) P2: Five of Cups (Because Queens are the Watery parts of the Elements.) P3: Seven of Cups (More Water.) P4: Four oj Wands (The Seven of Cups is Venus in Scorpio, this is Venus in Aries.) P1: Nine of Swords (And this is Mars in Gemini, Mars rules Aries.) P2: Prince of Swords (More Swords.) P3: Six of Wands (Because Sixes pertain to Tipereth, as do the Princes.) P4: Atl! XlV, Art (Because it is referred to Samekh, the Path on the Tree of Life that leads to Tipereth. ) ... and so it goes 'til someone wins. For simplicity's sake, I have not mentioned the occasions where matches were challenged or where players had to draw cards to find a match. The reader may wish to layout the cards used in the example above in order to see how the matches work, and to see if there might be other ways the matches could be explained. Strategy: As Trumps are the largest suit, they are the easiest cards to match. My comrades have found this to be too easy, so we usually disallow Trump-to-Trump matches unless the cards in question also have other correspondences in common (like the Aeon-toAdjustment match above.) Aces are the hardest cards to match, and it may be a good idea to save your Aces until one player is close to winning. As can be seen in the examples, one generally relies on Elemental correspondences for most of one's matches. Zodiacal and Planetary matches are next in frequency and one can certainly use the various Dignities like exaltation, detriments, and falls to provide more matches. Naturally, the more you know about the Tarot, Alchemy, Astrology, Qabalah, Comparative Mythology, etc. the better you will play. The goal is presumably to be able to match any given card to any other card. It is still possible, however, for a bright Neophyte to beat a Magus if the Gods so will.