AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was listening to Molly Hatchet while on my treadmill this morning and the Fool and the Tower jumped right out of the headphones. Now I know what to think when I see the two close together in a reading: "playing with fire." The rest of the cards pretty much fell into place. … Continue reading The Fool and The Tower: “Flirtin’ with Disaster”
Cultural & Social Commentary
The Sixes as “Solar Centerpiece”
I recently reconnected with an idea I had forgotten about from my previous studies: adding together the integers of certain sets of three consecutive numbers from One to Nine (and, if necessary, refining the sum through "Theosophical reduction") will always yield the number Six. The same is true of the double-digit trump cards, and actually … Continue reading The Sixes as “Solar Centerpiece”
The Devil: Gateway to the Shadow
Alejandro Jodorowsky, in his decimal approach to the numbering of the Major Arcana (described in The Way of Tarot), notes that the "5" that is subsumed in "15," the number of the Devil, is connected as a "numerological counterpart" to the "5" of the Pope/Hierophant. Where the latter aspires to spiritual sublimation, the former seeks … Continue reading The Devil: Gateway to the Shadow
Nature vs. Nurture in Tarot Education
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I may not be the ideal person to comment on this subject since there were no local teachers or mentors back in 1972 when I began my tarot journey and since then I haven't needed any, so my awareness of what is available in the way of tarot education (outside of self-study via … Continue reading Nature vs. Nurture in Tarot Education
Universal Love: Magnetism, Gravity or Wishful Thinking
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Consider this the "curmudgeon's-eye-view" of the subject since, philosophically speaking, I find most exhortations of unconditional, universal love at the spiritual level to be debatable at best and improbable at worst. But don't take this too seriously (except the anti-religious part); my goal is as much sly humor as criticism. (For the record, … Continue reading Universal Love: Magnetism, Gravity or Wishful Thinking
A Measure of Self-Protection
With the current increase in litigation over the use of licensed Creative Commons material on public sites without proper citation, I thought it wise to state my monetization status for this blog. For those who don't read sidebar pages, I decided to bring this notice front-and-center on the main feed. If you like my writing … Continue reading A Measure of Self-Protection
A Matter of “Reach”
I'm constantly chiding my wife over the perfectly reasonable assumption that talking to someone is best performed face-to-face, not by shouting from two rooms away and expecting to be understood. (On the other hand, getting up and trotting over to her desk every five minutes is great exercise!) As I see it, this premise also … Continue reading A Matter of “Reach”
Necessity, Convenience or Just Plain Ignorance?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The "curmudgeon" has entered the building! "Snowflakes" should find the exit A few years ago, not too long after the fateful day when character limits were imposed on messaging by Twitter, I began to observe what seemed like a steep decline in the grammatical proficiency of English-language users. Punctuation appeared to have gone … Continue reading Necessity, Convenience or Just Plain Ignorance?
We Can But Should We?
Lately I've been thinking about the unchecked acceleration of two trends in modern life that speak to the title of this essay: the thoughtless advancement of technology for its own sake, and the equally unthinking embrace of social and cultural directives for their own sake. As a devotee of the ancient mystical arts, I often … Continue reading We Can But Should We?
The Curmudgeon’s Tarot
In this volume I've compiled 180 not-particularly-worshipful essays on the state of the divinatory arts culled from the more than 1,400 posts I've written since 2017. It's only available as an e-book on Lulu, and it won't work on Kindle. My next project will be "Hermetic Tarot Fundamentals" drawn from my Tarot 101 esoteric beginner's … Continue reading The Curmudgeon’s Tarot
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 