We've all seen the Hollywood version of the investigative psychic: the brow furrowed in concentration, the eyes squeezed shut, the hands to the temples, proclaiming "I think I see the letter 'B' . . ." One thing I've learned during my pursuit of missing-person situations is that the number of unsolved homicides far outweighs incidents … Continue reading The Skinny End
Esoteric Tarot
What’s In a Name?
Samuel Liddell Mathers was one of the seminal figures in the annals of modern esoteric tarot, having co-founded and eventually dominated the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, single-handedly penning a large portion of the tarot curriculum that was compiled in Liber T. (Hmm, why does spellcheck keep trying to substitute "single-underhandedly" and "single-highhandedly?" Maybe … Continue reading What’s In a Name?
One Is The Loneliest Number . . .
. . . until it becomes a catalyst for change. In the song of the title, Harry Nilsson was talking about the stifling torment of emotional rejection, but French tarot writer Joseph Maxwell had a different idea. Maxwell considered the number One to be the primal unity, perfect in its indivisibility and needing no amplification. … Continue reading One Is The Loneliest Number . . .
Temperance, the Star and the Water of Spirit
The thing that is most obvious when examining the two cards of the title is that the figure on each is manipulating a fluid that has been symbolically linked to the ethereal elixir of Spirit. Temperance is sloshing it back-and-forth between two chalices (and much has been made of the fact that, in the Waite-Smith … Continue reading Temperance, the Star and the Water of Spirit
“Mirror of the Soul” Karmic Message Spread
The Pythagoreans held that Number is sacred and embodies the root of all Existence; the measure of anything whatsoever can be taken in its ten formative principals, which ascend from an embryonic origin in the Monad or Point (1) to mature perfection in the Decad (10). (Note that this isn't the mathematical perception of Pythagoreanism … Continue reading “Mirror of the Soul” Karmic Message Spread
Brexit Redux: A “B&B” Reading
The title alludes to "Boris and Brexit," not "bed & breakfast," "bread & butter" or "Benedictine & brandy." My last reading on Brexit was November 26 of last year and it predicted that Theresa May wouldn't have "a chance in Hell" as her "support surges away from her" amid "stubborn divisiveness." https://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com/2018/11/26/puttin-on-the-rex/ For this reading … Continue reading Brexit Redux: A “B&B” Reading
What About Those Sixes?
In keeping with my previous post about perceived weaknesses in the Waite-Smith deck, I want to talk about a telling example that fully demonstrates the questionable wisdom of Waite's and Smith's departure from their Golden Dawn roots: the Sixes of the Minor Arcana. In the Qabalistic system of the Golden Dawn (later adapted by Aleister … Continue reading What About Those Sixes?
The “Light-and-Shadow” Decision-Making Spread
The "Holy Grail" of decision-making advice is the simple, straightforward "yes-or-no" answer: "Should I or shouldn't I? Will she or won't she? Is it or isn't it?" There are numerous short spreads that strive for this goal; this isn't one of them. It recognizes that every sunny street has a shady side, and a ray … Continue reading The “Light-and-Shadow” Decision-Making Spread
The “Hot-and-Cold Running Commentary” Problem-Solving Spread
Here is an intricate 12-card spread that uses elemental temperaments to determine which course of action will produce the best solution to a problem. The moderate traits of "warm" and "cool" are applied to suggest an integrated approach rather than the absolute qualities of Fire, Water, Air and Earth (which are considered background forces here … Continue reading The “Hot-and-Cold Running Commentary” Problem-Solving Spread
An Elemental Dignity “Short Form” Example Reading
As I've mentioned before (I know, more than once!), we moved into a newly-constructed home last December and are now working (well, struggling) to get a lawn going. But the tide seems to be turning (I refuse to succumb to that old Bobby Fuller lament, "I fought the lawn and the lawn won"), and now … Continue reading An Elemental Dignity “Short Form” Example Reading
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 