AUTHOR'S NOTE: Except for the traditional block-printed Marseille decks, I get very little mileage out of color symbolism in the tarot. Even then, I stay mainly with the three primary colors red, blue and yellow (along with black and white), scarcely noticing the uncommon secondary hues of green, orange and purple, and even less so … Continue reading Red and Blue: “Living and Knowing”
Elements
The “Compleat” Celtic Cross
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Compleat" is an archaic English spelling that I'm using here to characterize my advanced approach to the considerably less-archaic Celtic Cross (CC) spread. (My "completely" irrelevant point-of-reference is Izaak Walton's 1653 "fish-tale," The Compleat Angler.) Almost forty years ago I spent some time modifying Eden Gray's version of A.E. Waite's venerable Celtic Cross … Continue reading The “Compleat” Celtic Cross
The “Golden Dawn Swap” – Strength and Justice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written about the relocation of Strength and Justice before, but not in terms that strayed so far from the beaten path as this essay does. I have no clue what (if any) use I will make of this, but it's an intriguing philosophical study. (The framework shown in the graphic could be … Continue reading The “Golden Dawn Swap” – Strength and Justice
Chasing Fate: Pulling the Thread on Trends
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a well-worn cliche that nothing presented in a tarot reading is carved in stone; any outcome is subject to adjustment by timely action (and, it must be said, negligent inaction) of the seeker. However, there are cards that lean toward a fortunate outcome no matter how ill-favored they are by surrounding cards, … Continue reading Chasing Fate: Pulling the Thread on Trends
Numerological Oddities
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently encountered a mathematical term that is new to me (not something that happens every day), although the concept isn't: that of numerical aliquots, as in "the sum of the aliquot parts of an integer." I came across this in a discussion of the number Six as being an "aliquot sum" in … Continue reading Numerological Oddities
Paired Trumps and Astrological Counterparts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn assigned astrological correspondences to all of the Major Arcana, a group comprised of twelve zodiacal trumps, seven planetary trumps and three "primary" elemental trumps (Air, Water and Fire). The zodiacal trumps were placed in the Chaldean zodiac such that each card has a diametrically-opposite counterpart of … Continue reading Paired Trumps and Astrological Counterparts
Waiting For The “Drop” – A Situational Response Spectrum
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Serving as a (welcome?) bit of relief from my relentless Lenormand commentary, here is an approach to situational awareness and response based on the idea that a particular activity described as a set of circumstances or facts can be foreseen to precipitate a "second act" of a countervailing nature (a divinatory parallel to … Continue reading Waiting For The “Drop” – A Situational Response Spectrum
The “Twitch Factor”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During a recent online conversation I mentioned the fact that, when provoked, the element of Earth in the sign of Virgo can be fidgety, rising one notch above in "twitchy" angst from Virgo's trademark anal fussiness. This got me thinking about how the elements of the Chaldean zodiac react with the Minor Arcana … Continue reading The “Twitch Factor”
The “Mandala of Revealing” Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is another "mixed-media" spread that uses tarot cards and a single six-sided die as a "pointer." Instead of just posting the spread and following up with an example reading tomorrow, I combined the two in this post. (The images are from the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn by Pat Zelewski and … Continue reading The “Mandala of Revealing” Decision-Making Spread
The Tarot Reading As “Mind-Map”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been juggling so many interesting essay topics lately that I had to look at the planets transiting my natal horoscope to see what's going on. As I might have guessed, it turns out that just as the Sun makes its ingress into dramatic Leo, transiting Mercury is also in Leo in the … Continue reading The Tarot Reading As “Mind-Map”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 