AUTHOR'S NOTE: These four words jumped out at me from Sallie Nichols' text in Tarot and the Archetypal Journey as a perfect summary of how we must engage with the tarot if we're going to get the most out of its metaphysical abstractions. Tarot is a language but it isn't necessarily one with which we're … Continue reading “Teach It To Talk”
Cultural & Social Commentary
The Solitary Way
"Who has vocation hears the voice of the inner man; he is called." - Carl Gustav Jung AUTHOR'S NOTE: In recent years I haven't been much of a "joiner" since I usually find both the quality and the availability of the communal experience to be lacking. This wasn't always the case, since at one time … Continue reading The Solitary Way
Old Wine, New Wine, Wrong Bottle
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I've been studying and working with tarot for over 50 years, I still occasionally dip into the literature. My chosen subject matter is most often from the traditional canon but once in a while the material is of more recent vintage just to assess how the world of tarot is evolving in … Continue reading Old Wine, New Wine, Wrong Bottle
“Owning the Mystery” – Personal vs. Collective Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading about Carl Gustav Jung's process of individuation as it applies to the Major Arcana of the tarot, I came across this intriguing quote: "To own a mystery gives stature, conveys uniqueness, and assures that one will not be submerged in the mass. Mystery is essential to the experience of oneself as … Continue reading “Owning the Mystery” – Personal vs. Collective Tarot
Virtue and Vice in the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've placed "virtue" first in my title because, when we receive a tarot reading, we will ideally discover evidence of worthiness in ourselves and our affairs and, unless we're entirely dishonest or avoidant, we will also acknowledge any incursion of vice with an eye toward subduing it, whether it is our own or … Continue reading Virtue and Vice in the Tarot
The “Ex-Partner” Dilemma: Abandonment and Avoidance
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm currently following an interesting sub-reddit thread in which the conversation centers on ex-partner reconciliation and the broader issue of "soulmate/twin-flame" connections, two areas of concern that are frequently brought to a diviner's attention. Then it broaches the subject of "attachment style," which I didn't realize has become an area of formal study … Continue reading The “Ex-Partner” Dilemma: Abandonment and Avoidance
Pop Metaphysics and the “Spirit Guide Mentality”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Following up on my previous post about "scrying in the spirit vision," I have a few more critical observations to share about the "spirit guide mentality." I'm not sure where the notion of spirit guides first cropped up in the practice of Western occultism. Although it apparently made its earliest appearance in the … Continue reading Pop Metaphysics and the “Spirit Guide Mentality”
Flagrant Faking: Real or Imaginary?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent sub-reddit thread, someone asked whether it is possible to spot a "fake" tarot reader, and how that might be done. The person was understandably nervous about paying for a poor-quality reading by an incompetent practitioner. Many of the negative comments were aimed at YouTube readers, and I was inspired to … Continue reading Flagrant Faking: Real or Imaginary?
“Death Becomes Him” – Thoughts on Mystical Rationalism
AUTHOR'S NOTE: You may remember the old Bruce Willis-Meryl Streep-Goldie Hawn film Death Becomes Her. I'm paraphrasing the title to support my introductory premise but there is no intended plot connection. In the occult tarot lexicon, the Death card corresponds to the enigmatic and remorseless Water sign Scorpio. In a previous essay I mentioned that, … Continue reading “Death Becomes Him” – Thoughts on Mystical Rationalism
“Grow, Grow . . .”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My title is an allusion to a quote from the Talmud mentioned by Sallie Nichols in Tarot and the Archetypal Journey: "Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow!'" One of my favorite semi-truisms about the tarot is "Every time I perform a reading for another … Continue reading “Grow, Grow . . .”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 