"How long do I have to wait?Can I get it nowOr must I hesitate?"("Hesitation Blues," early 1900s, attributed to various songwriters) I just came across a description of the tarot Pages as "hesitation between doing and not doing" according to the nature of their suit (Alejandro Jodorowsky in The Way of Tarot). The implication is … Continue reading The Pages: “Hesitation Blues”
Courts
The Court Cards as “Decimal Equivalents”
I've been working with the concept of "Theosophical reduction" (adding together and reducing the digits of a composite number to produce a simple, one-factor sum) for so long that I've been more than a little skeptical of Alejandro Jodorowsky's notion of "decimal equivalency" between the double-digit and single-digit cards of the Major Arcana. His premise … Continue reading The Court Cards as “Decimal Equivalents”
The Overturned Cups: Half Full or Half Empty?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a wonderful metaphor that speaks directly to our attitude about life's occasional downturns and hints at whether we are naturally optimistic or pessimistic in our outlook: "Is the glass half full or half empty?" As a lifelong skeptic, my first thought when confronted with this conundrum is "What's in the glass?" … Continue reading The Overturned Cups: Half Full or Half Empty?
Knights as “Messengers”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I continue to pick apart Alejandro Jodorowsky's thinking while wading through The Way of Tarot a second time, I encountered another instance of differing opinion among the general tarot population. I should probably mention that the book is so crammed with ideas that each successive page threatens to crowd out what I … Continue reading Knights as “Messengers”
The King of Swords: A Study in Impartiality
Once upon a time I was doing a deep dive into the subject of the "facing" (aka "gaze" or "regard") of the human figures on the tarot cards. Facing is often seen as showing where the focus or attention of a card falls outside of its normal span of control, usually conveying an impulse to … Continue reading The King of Swords: A Study in Impartiality
Court-Card Hierarchies: An Interesting Comparison
I've just rediscovered Alejandro Jodorowsky's unorthodox sequencing of the court cards and, although I still don't fully agree with him, I now find more sense in his thinking. I decided to compare his vision side-by-side with Waite's historical hierarchy and the Qabalistic premise of the Golden Dawn/Thoth model. All images are copyright of U.S. Games … Continue reading Court-Card Hierarchies: An Interesting Comparison
The Power of Ten in Four: The Court Cards and the Decimal Paradigm
Along with a few other tarot authors I've encountered, Alejandro Jodorowsky makes much of the fact that the court cards have no numbers on their faces and therefore shouldn't be given them for any purpose whatsoever. His specific argument is that the organic "base-10" structure of the Minor Arcana doesn't support the practice of assigning … Continue reading The Power of Ten in Four: The Court Cards and the Decimal Paradigm
“Blondness” as Perfection?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's a lightweight bit of fluff with a serious undertone. While many statements in The Grand Etteilla compilation that I recently finished reading are outdated to the point of being irrelevant to the modern practice of divination (if not actually laughable), this one stands out as particularly ludicrous. It definitely falls into "Gimme … Continue reading “Blondness” as Perfection?
Knights and Streetcars: “Coming and Going”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My wife dismisses blues music as "whining man" music (as in "My baby done left me and I'm feelin' lowdown and mean." But there is a bawdy old "whining woman" blues song from the early 20th Century that complains: "Men are like streetcars/They keep coming and going." (A similar modern version would be … Continue reading Knights and Streetcars: “Coming and Going”
Do the “Loosen Up”
While writing my recent post about the the ability of the court cards to receive "inspiration and support from Above," I stumbled upon an epiphany that deserves further exploration. At the end of the essay I wrote: "I will continue to see tarot royalty as hobbled by their inability to “loosen up;” in practical reading … Continue reading Do the “Loosen Up”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 