"Mars goes out and gets what Venus wants." - Attributed to astrologer Isabel Hickey AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of my favorite ways to translate tarot cards into a compelling narrative is to apply their planetary energies across the board, whether they are assigned through direct correspondence or extrapolated from sign rulership. Here I'm going just a … Continue reading The Crucible of Desire: Mars and Venus on the Cube of Space
Elements
Thoughts on the Cube of Space and the Cardinal Directions
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been ramping up my study of the esoteric "Cube of Space" while reading Lon Milo DuQuette's Tarot Architect. It's a conceptual model that I've never fully appreciated nor had any practical use for, but that is about to change. In doing so I compared DuQuette's illustration to that of Robert Wang in … Continue reading Thoughts on the Cube of Space and the Cardinal Directions
Acceleration and Deceleration in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again I've received inspiration for a new essay from something tarot author and entrepreneur Marcus Katz said on the Tarot Professionals Facebook page. His wise counsel for those confronting a "Tower moment" is "May it bring about for you an Acceleration in those things which require Acceleration." It's common knowledge that those … Continue reading Acceleration and Deceleration in Tarot Reading
Death of a Dream: the Seven through Ten of Swords as a “Downward Spiral”
"I woke up this morningAnd I got myself a beer.The future's uncertainAnd the end is always near."- from Roadhouse Blues by The Doors AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my recent essay on the Minor Arcana of the suit of Swords, I mentioned that the 9 and 10 of Swords taken together could be construed as meaning the … Continue reading Death of a Dream: the Seven through Ten of Swords as a “Downward Spiral”
The Unpredictable Swords: Mental Agility or Mental Chaos?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the Golden Dawn's system of elemental correspondences for the suits of the tarot, Swords are assigned to Air, suggesting admirable fluidity, flexibility and agility. This despite the fact that, as A.E. Waite observed in his Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Swords "generally are not symbolic of beneficent forces in human affairs" … Continue reading The Unpredictable Swords: Mental Agility or Mental Chaos?
Cut to Fit: Existential Advice in Four Elemental “Flavors”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One problem with tarot spreads based on the four classical elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth is that there is often a significant qualitative mismatch between the elemental position meanings and the nature of the cards that land in those positions, requiring vigorous mental gymnastics on the part of the reader to … Continue reading Cut to Fit: Existential Advice in Four Elemental “Flavors”
Reversal as Introspection or Introversion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my rereading of Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, I frequently encounter his assumption that a reversed card points back to the previous upright card of the suit to suggest unfinished business relevant to its nature. Most recently, he described the reversed 5 of Cups as showing a need to go inward and retreat … Continue reading Reversal as Introspection or Introversion
Tension and Release in the Chaldean Counterparts for the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm constantly seeking innovative ways to extract more interpretive value from the set of esoteric correspondences devised by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for the Minor Arcana of the tarot. Here is my latest attempt. In musical composition and performance there is the concept of "tension and release" by which the … Continue reading Tension and Release in the Chaldean Counterparts for the Minor Arcana
Missing in Plain Sight? – A Local-Area “Search Envelope”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: What's to be done when one wakes up at 2:00 AM and can't get back to sleep? I don't know about you, but I think about tarot. Here's my latest insomnia-fueled spread. I normally use horary astrology when I'm helping someone look for a lost item, or when I'm examining a missing-person case, … Continue reading Missing in Plain Sight? – A Local-Area “Search Envelope”
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Card Meaning in Tarot Spreads
AUTHOR'S NOTE: At its finest, reading the tarot cards is a subtle art full of nuance and inflection that can't be shoehorned into a formula (or a TikTok algorithm). Ostensibly, I'm going to talk about the nominal influence of the cards in a spread, both individually and in combination, but I will also get into … Continue reading Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Card Meaning in Tarot Spreads
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 