AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across the concept of "weaving differences into harmony" that is a perfect expression of the tarot reader's art. The relevant post disappeared from my Facebook feed immediately after I viewed it so I'm unable to cite the inspiration for this essay other than to recall that it was related to … Continue reading “Weaving Differences into Harmony”
Elements
Qabalistic Mercury and the Tarot Trumps
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my theoretical reworking of the Golden Dawn's astrological correspondences for the Major Arcana a few years ago, I realigned Mercury with two of the four trumps - Temperance and the World - via sign rulership and left it in place with the Magician, which represents the archetypal personification of its energy. Here … Continue reading Qabalistic Mercury and the Tarot Trumps
Dynamic Tension: “Secret Paths” on the Tree of Life
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm currently reading T. Susan Chang's Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers, and I'm at the point where she talks about the indirect connections between sephiroth on the Hermetic Tree of Life that aren't joined by established "paths" along with their associated trump cards. In baseball terminology, we could say that she … Continue reading Dynamic Tension: “Secret Paths” on the Tree of Life
Affinity or Dignity? – Elemental Compatibility in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In its Liber T tarot curriculum, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn presented elaborate and prescriptive rules for the analysis of elemental associations between cards of different suits in a tarot reading, an interpretive technique known as "Elemental Dignity." The classical premise was that Fire and Air are "friendly" to one another, … Continue reading Affinity or Dignity? – Elemental Compatibility in Tarot Reading
Zodiacal Segmenting of the Court Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written about this subject before, but I've just been reading T. Susan Chang's very precise description of it in her book, Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers, that brought me back to my own assumptions. In the Golden Dawn's Chaldean model of zodiacal associations for the tarot, all of the court … Continue reading Zodiacal Segmenting of the Court Cards
You Tell Me!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of the directives of the Golden Dawn's "Opening of the Key" (OotK) method and its five-step progression is to abandon the reading if the cards pulled fail to accurately identify the seeker's unspoken reason for pursuing the divination. This is the "tell the Querent why he has come" stipulation that must receive … Continue reading You Tell Me!
Vetting the Significator
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the past 15 year I've largely eliminated the use of a "significator" card to represent the client in my public readings after recognizing that it adds little or nothing to the story shown by the rest of the spread. But I've recently experienced an epiphany regarding the subject. When performing the initial … Continue reading Vetting the Significator
The Delusion of Perfection
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hate to say it, but far too many of the tarot readers I encounter online are convinced they've attained the pinnacle of tarot mastery and make sage pronouncements based on that assumption, when it's clear to this seasoned observer that they're still finding their way and may in fact be going in … Continue reading The Delusion of Perfection
The “Best-Case/Worst-Case” Situational Priorities Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although this spread is set up for a specific set of priorities and a single, narrowly-framed question, it is adaptable to almost any kind of analysis. Just change the header titles and the "Query" entry to suit the topical focus. It includes a "response" row; an "advantages" row; a "disadvantages" row; and a … Continue reading The “Best-Case/Worst-Case” Situational Priorities Spread
Wringing Out the Meaning at Three Levels
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The hierarchy of cards in a tarot reading is one feature that can be used in crafting a narrative, but it isn't always clear how they interrelate for that purpose since there can be a considerable gap in their perceived significance. The nature of an exalted trump card may have little or nothing … Continue reading Wringing Out the Meaning at Three Levels
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 