My efforts to apply the Yin and Yang principles of Chinese philosophy to the monthly cycle of the Moon via the Major Arcana of the tarot proved to be more difficult than anticipated. I suspect this is due mostly to the fact that the Moon is a quintessential symbol of the feminine Yin, and the … Continue reading A “Yin-and-Yang” Monthly Pattern
Elements
Barbara Walker and the RWS Suit of Pentacles
Although it's a bit overstuffed with mythology and "armchair" anthropology (think "Golden Bough Lite"), I've been reading Barbara Walker's fascinating and frequently enlightening 1984 book Secrets of the Tarot: Origins, History and Symbolism. Despite the meticulous academic tone of much of her writing and its overarching themes of matriarchal culture and Goddess worship in antiquity, … Continue reading Barbara Walker and the RWS Suit of Pentacles
A Twist on Elemental Dignities
As a continuation of my work in blending the influence of the astrological modalities into the sign-and-planet meanings of the 36 minor, or "decan" cards of the tarot, I thought it would be interesting and possibly revealing to bring this idea into the use of Elemental Dignities (EDs). Melding the various elements and modalities of … Continue reading A Twist on Elemental Dignities
Jungian Typology and the Four Elements
Twentieth Century psychologist Carl Gustav Jung subdivided the discriminating faculties of the human personality into four general "types:" sensation (encounters with the physical world that trigger our five bodily receptors); thinking (the intellectual function by which we process the evidence of our senses); feeling (the emotional ways in which we do the same thing); and … Continue reading Jungian Typology and the Four Elements
Reversals and “Chaldean Mirrors”
I've been considering a different way to handle reversed cards that I call "Chaldean mirrors." The concept may not be new, but I haven't encountered it before. Most of the cards were associated with the “decans” of the Chaldean zodiac by the Golden Dawn's Macgregor Mathers, bringing the nature of the card together with the … Continue reading Reversals and “Chaldean Mirrors”
Friends, Enemies and Accomplices
A couple of years ago, while preparing a presentation on the subject of Elemental Dignities, I had a small epiphany. In the Golden Dawn system designed by Macgregor Mathers, Fire and Air are considered mutually friendly because one works hand-in-hand with the other in the act of combustion, just as Water and Earth are entirely … Continue reading Friends, Enemies and Accomplices
The “Elemental Crossing” Decision-Making Spread
Here is a decision-making spread that uses Elemental Dignities and the compatible or incompatible divinatory nature of cards in combination to identify which of four resolution modes appears to be the most favorable. The central "focus" card for the decision can either be selected intentionally in advance or pulled randomly during the deal. Reversals may … Continue reading The “Elemental Crossing” Decision-Making Spread
A “Moving Finger” Example Reading
This example reading involves a couple I used to know whose relationship can best be described as more than a little dysfunctional. The question was "What is going to become of them?" I performed the spread in two ways, first considering reversals, and then turning all of the reversed cards upright and applying Elemental Dignities. … Continue reading A “Moving Finger” Example Reading
Numerological and Archetypal Counterparts: A Visual Tableau
I decided to turn my previous post on trump-card counterparts into a graphic display. In addition to visually aligning the cards according to their numerical and archetypal values (both natural and derived), this tableau allows for drawing more imaginative correlations between cards that answer to the same number. In the case of the court and … Continue reading Numerological and Archetypal Counterparts: A Visual Tableau
Daily-Draw Tones and Overtones: Variations On a Theme
I've found over many years of working with them that single-card daily draws are more useful for showing the background "tone" of the upcoming day than for trying to pinpoint specific activities or events. They are too limited in scope to effectively convey all of the ramifying "overtones" that can accompany the main theme, which … Continue reading Daily-Draw Tones and Overtones: Variations On a Theme
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 