AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a longtime student and practitioner of the esoteric arts, I progressed through several years of close contact with ceremonial magic back in the 1980s. This was a natural outgrowth of my investigation of the Hermetic Qabalah and the literature of its chief proponents that began in 1971, particularly addressing the contributions of … Continue reading Divination: A Step Away from Ceremonial Magic
Esoteric Tarot
The Nines and Tens: Perfection and Postscript
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As evident in the online tarot community, current practice reflects the general agreement that "if Nine is good, Ten must be better" (with the obvious exception of the suit of Swords). The genesis of this idea most likely goes back to the assertion of Pythagoras that Ten is the "perfect" number, as symbolized … Continue reading The Nines and Tens: Perfection and Postscript
The Bane of the Tarot Neophyte
"Coherence is the sole quality demanded of us."- Aleister Crowley in Magick AUTHOR'S NOTE: In The Eye in the Triangle, his biographical study of the life of Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie referred to a quote from Crowley's Liber 185 that, with a little paraphrasing, has a direct bearing on the title of this post:"One may … Continue reading The Bane of the Tarot Neophyte
A Foot Soldier in the “Light” Brigade
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not long ago I started following an online conversation about Israel Regardie's development of the material for his first volume of Golden Dawn knowledge (dubbed "the brick," I assume for its impressive girth and density). I had just begun re-reading Regardie's Eye in the Triangle when this exchange grabbed my attention. During his … Continue reading A Foot Soldier in the “Light” Brigade
The Tarot Threes: Sidling, Then Circling
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a three-deck comparison of the Threes similar to the one I recently posted for the Fives. When applying esoteric number theory to the forty Minor Arcana of the tarot, the number One represents the Point and the four Aces that describe the "prelude" to the action signified by their suit but … Continue reading The Tarot Threes: Sidling, Then Circling
“Enough is Enough!” – A Critique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been wearily wading through Joe Monteleone's Tarot Mysticism: The Psycho-Spiritual Technology of the Thoth Tarot. I'm not quite one-third of the way into it but I've run out of patience with his superficially profound verbosity. I mean, I've been accused of being an over-the-top "word guy" myself, but there are big words … Continue reading “Enough is Enough!” – A Critique
Zero = Two/Two = Zero: A Null Outcome Proposition
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm nibbling around the edges of Aleister Crowley's magickal formula, "0=2," which I've always assumed to be purely Qabalistic, but that I now realize is more analytically rigorous (and just a bit beyond my college-level calculus). Hermetically, I've understood zero (or "nothing") to be represented by the three "Veils of Negativity," but … Continue reading Zero = Two/Two = Zero: A Null Outcome Proposition
Sitting with Ourself: A Thoth Perspective
"If I had the chance, I'd ask the world to danceAnd I'd be dancing with myself"- from Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I began reading Joe Monteleone's Tarot Mysticism: The Psycho-Spiritual Technology of the Thoth Tarot, I came upon his premise that one of the three primary uses for the tarot … Continue reading Sitting with Ourself: A Thoth Perspective
“Weaving Differences into Harmony”
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”
The Story in the Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Tarot Mysticism, The Psycho-Spiritual Technology of the Thoth Tarot, Joe Monteleone observes that the ego "moving through time and space and acting on circumstances . . . gathers a story." In the realm of tarot divination, I submit that the story revealed by the cards in a spread serves as … Continue reading The Story in the Cards
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 