AUTHORS NOTE: The seven days of the week all have a planet associated with them, and there are seven "planetary" trump cards in the tarot. Both the planetary energy-of-the-day and the related trump card create an environmental theme or situational backdrop against which the events of the 24-hour period play out. Thirty-six of the Minor … Continue reading Planetary Energies and the Tarot: Seven Daily Meditations
Astrological Techniques
“Parts is Parts” – Finding Unity in Multiplicity
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I was employed as a Purchasing Manager for a utility power-plant, the Maintenance team used to say that there was no wizardry involved in keeping the facility's operating equipment running smoothly as long as they had the right parts and the right skills. This attitude led to the adage "Parts is parts" … Continue reading “Parts is Parts” – Finding Unity in Multiplicity
Personalizing Taoist Cosmology: Natal Planets and the Five Agents of Change
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a previous post I explored the Taoist "Five Agents of Change" (Wu Xing) as encompassed by the twin cycles of creation and destruction in the order Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water. I decided to take the Minor Arcana cards associated with the five personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) of my natal horoscope and … Continue reading Personalizing Taoist Cosmology: Natal Planets and the Five Agents of Change
Trumps and Trigrams: A Syncretic Exercise
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my recent essay (linked below) on syncretism between Western astrology and the I Ching, I correlated the twelve Ptolemaic signs of the zodiac with the eight I Ching trigrams and, via synthesis between consecutive signs, with twelve of the 64 hexagrams. In doing so I resorted to a good deal of inspiration, … Continue reading Trumps and Trigrams: A Syncretic Exercise
Syncretism Unbound: The Octile Horoscope and the Trigrams
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been reading about the origins of the esoteric alignment between the 12-year Chinese zodiac/calendar and the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and I was struck by the notion that - with twelve "branches" and only eight trigrams resulting in an apparent ideological disconnect - there may be a more symmetrical formulation. … Continue reading Syncretism Unbound: The Octile Horoscope and the Trigrams
The “Moving Card” Idea-Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just come up with a notion that intrigues me quite a bit, and I credit metaphysical author and blogger Benebell Wen for taking me there via the discussion of "moving lines" in her book, I Ching, The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes. Its ideal application may be in … Continue reading The “Moving Card” Idea-Development Spread
Connecting Sky and Earth
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book on the history of the occult tarot (The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabalah), Ronald Decker ventures into astrological symbolism as it may have appeared in some of the early decks. In his discussion of the traditional planetary deities he cites a passage from the magical tome … Continue reading Connecting Sky and Earth
Ashley’s Disappearance: A Horary Perspective
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My third major effort in analysis of a missing-person case is usually a horary astrology chart that asks the question "What is the individual's current status and location?" Here is the chart for the disappearance of Ashley Turcotte, who vanished from Barnstead, NH on January 4, 2024. (Note that horary charts are always … Continue reading Ashley’s Disappearance: A Horary Perspective
Lost Tarot Card: A Horary Certainty
UPDATE: I was just going through my I Ching Pack looking for a card for one of my tarot/I Ching syncretism essays, and out popped the missing Devil card. I last used the pack in November of 2023 but there is no evidence that I combined it with my Conver Ben-Dov TdM at the time; … Continue reading Lost Tarot Card: A Horary Certainty
Something Borrowed, Something New
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In reading about the mythological history of the stars and their constellations, I came across the supposition that, in primitive cultures, the concept of a personal "guiding star" predated by millennia that of an individual "guardian angel." Everyone was aligned with a dominant stellar (or more likely planetary) force that governed their destiny … Continue reading Something Borrowed, Something New
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 