The Serpent's Path

 SCOPE: This Manipulation & Abstraction Exercise is a training technique for Night Office field operatives who have demonstrated sensitivity to the magico-temporal vibrations of the space-time continuum. This exercise allows an Adept of the Way to practice attunement to and anticipation of the random perturbations and excitations of the Way without exposing their psyche to extraneous compression, eradication, time-shifting, or dimensional tessellation.

PREPARATION: The Serpent’s Path may be explored with a standard deck of fifty-two cards. The deck should be simple in its presentation and iconography. Cards that are intended for oracular, divinatory, or other psychically-reactive environments should not be used, due to their additional sensitivity to influence from the Way.

Prepare the deck by removing the jokers and shuffling the cards thoroughly.

Check your current sensitivity to the Way by picturing a card from this deck. Cut the deck twice, making three smaller decks. Verify the card you have imagined is not on the bottom of any of these three decks.

If the card is present, reassemble the deck with this card on the top. Place the deck within a container that has been lined with a Barrier of Active Discordance. If, after twenty minutes, the deck still exhibits elevated levels of psychic sensitivity, please burn the deck and try a different one.

You are now ready to explore the Serpent’s Path.

PLAY: Once you have prepared the deck for use, draw your first card. 

If the first card is a speckled card, it must be placed in your hand (the Void). Otherwise, place it on the table. This is your Anchor in the Way; it is the point from which all perception starts. It calls the rest of the Universe into existence. All successive card orientations are based on this card’s placement. 

This card’s numeric value is the starting value of the Serpent.