Although I'm a trained graphic artist with the skills to do so, I don't have the inclination or enthusiasm to tackle the monumental task of creating 78 individual works of art to populate my own tarot deck. But that doesn't prevent me from having opinions as to how I might go about it. It is … Continue reading Building the Perfect Deck
Esoteric Tarot
A “Turning-Point” Example Reading
We are on the verge of a major household move to the other side of the State, so I thought I would use that event as a test case for my "Turning Point" spread. I used the Golden Universal deck with reversals, and the RWS Centennial Edition for the one duplicate trump card that came up … Continue reading A “Turning-Point” Example Reading
The “Turning Point” Life’s Journey Spread
Most of us have had the experience of reaching a major turning point in our lives (a death, a divorce or break-up, the loss of a job, a relocation or other new beginning, etc.), with no idea what lies ahead. This spread is intended to explore that uncertain future from a "destiny" perspective - spiritual, … Continue reading The “Turning Point” Life’s Journey Spread
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Tens
Plato considered Ten to be a perfect number when viewed from a philosophical rather than a mathematical perspective (in the second case, the term has an entirely different derivation attributed to Euclid). In the qabalistic model of the Universe, Ten delivers the "last gasp" of an elemental energy in its increasingly encumbered progress down the Tree of Life. The original, largely spiritual, force … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Tens
The “Just Folks” Personality Profile Spread
I don't do much personality profiling with the tarot because I think it works best as an action-and-event-oriented approach to divination (the "situational awareness and developmental insight" thing I'm always on about). But when I do it, I tend to be comprehensive. Here is a spread that is aimed at examining the multiple personae that an … Continue reading The “Just Folks” Personality Profile Spread
“According to Dignity”
I've carried on at some length in previous posts about the concept of Elemental Dignity, which is a method of inflecting the meaning of a card according to the elemental influence of its neighboring cards in a spread (that is, the level of agreement or disagreement between the qualities of the classical elements [Fire, Water, Air and Earth] assigned to the … Continue reading “According to Dignity”
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Nines
The number Nine marks the end of the series of simple numbers; the Ten is more of a postscript, the "jumping-off place" for a return to Unity (Ten reduces numerologically to One: 1+0 = 1). As such it is considered the completion and fulfillment of the promise of the Ace of each suit. Zoroaster said it … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Nines
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Eights
I've said almost everything I have to say about the Eights in two previous posts, "The Eights and Anxiety" and "The Sevens and Eights" (links below). The one thing that bears repeating is Joseph Maxwell's idea that the simple even numbers Four and Eight are characteristically balanced owing to their roots in the binary Two, although the … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Eights
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Sevens
My favorite all-purpose definition for the Sevens comes from Elizabeth Hazel's The Tarot Decoded. Where Aleister Crowley considered them entirely negative ("The four Sevens are not capable of bringing any comfort; each one represents the degeneration of the element"), Hazel views the Sevens as showing an irresistible urge to take a step in a new direction, away from the idle complacency … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Sevens
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Sixes
According to Wikipedia, "(Greek) mathematicians, including the mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras, proposed as a perfect number, the number 6, (which) was believed perfect for being divisible in a special way: a sixth part of that number constitutes unity; a third is two; a half — three; two-thirds is four; five-sixths is five; six is the perfect whole." It … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Sixes
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 