In my ongoing (and lately intermittent) attempts to transform classic English-language poetry into visual narrative via the tarot cards, one work stands out as the "Holy Grail" of my lofty aspiration: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. It is one I have been reluctant to tackle because it is so heavily laden with metaphysical imagery (the … Continue reading “Better a Live Sparrow”
Esoteric Tarot
Earth Abides*
(*Thanks to George R. Stewart for the title of his 1949 science-fiction novel and its main character "Ish," the word for "Man" in biblical Hebrew.) For most of us, at any given moment the one thing we can rely on in our experience of objective reality is the ground beneath our feet. The element of … Continue reading Earth Abides*
Air Apparent
I put the Book of Thoth's slant on elemental Air under the microscope next. In his discussion of the Ace of Swords, Crowley called Air "all-embracing, all-wandering, all-penetrating, all-consuming." He also said "In nature, the obvious symbol of Air is the Wind, 'which bloweth whithersoever it listeth.'" Taken together, these observation could be seen as … Continue reading Air Apparent
Water, Water Everywhere
Expanding on my analysis of elemental Fire as described in The Book of Thoth, I examined Crowley's observations regarding the other two "primal" elements ("completely spiritual forms of pure energy"), Water and Air, and the special case of Earth, which represents a "crystallizing out" or coalescing of the other three in order to effectively impinge … Continue reading Water, Water Everywhere
Love at First Insight
A comment I encountered on Facebook recently caused me to revisit and reaffirm my reasons for working with the tarot. The woman was arguing against its use for divination, and said "We all know that the original purpose of the tarot was self-improvement." Well, no, actually we don't. Clearly this person doesn't have a clue … Continue reading Love at First Insight
The Inner Flame
In re-reading The Book of Thoth for what is now the fourth time, I'm constantly being enriched by fresh insights and epiphanies regarding the esoteric underpinnings of the modern tarot. I've long appreciated Crowley's statement regarding the Hebrew letter Shin (relative to Judgement in the Golden Dawn system of trump-card correspondences) that "The element of Fire … Continue reading The Inner Flame
Puttin’ on the Rex
As an American with strong ancestral ties to Scotland and Ireland, I have more than a passing interest in the outcome of the Brexit controversy. I realize that the term is a conflation for "British Exit" from the European Union (EU), but I latched onto the subsumed fragment "Rex," which was a title once given … Continue reading Puttin’ on the Rex
My Favorite Things
A subject that is usually approached piecemeal in the tarot forums is "What is your favorite card?" More pragmatic readers (and maybe those who don't want to think too hard) almost invariably reply "all of them," since every card makes a unique contribution to any reading it appears in and, depending on the context and … Continue reading My Favorite Things
The Gift
When I hear a skilled diviner described as having "the gift," I usually think of it in its more complete form as "the gift of second sight," or precognition, regarding future events and circumstances. This technical definition - which comes from a Gaelic phrase translated as "two sights" - is commonly lumped in with similar … Continue reading The Gift
The Seeker and the Spirit
Spiritually, I tend to define myself by what I'm not: that is, not religious in any conventional, monotheistic sense. Not Christian, Jewish or Muslim (although my ancestry is almost certainly Middle Eastern by way of southern Germany), not Hindu and not Buddhist (although Buddhism definitely has its appeal). After reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, … Continue reading The Seeker and the Spirit
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 