I've always felt that the lowly Pages have more to them than conventional wisdom assumes. They are often described as youthful students or apprentices of either sex who have yet to attain mastery of their element, and are therefore of marginal potency in the hierarchy of the tarot court. Their function has sometimes been limited … Continue reading The Pages and the Priestess: Acolytes of the Mysteries
Esoteric Tarot
The Knights and the Empress: Fealty and Favor
Some writers make much of the fact that the court cards are unnumbered and therefore can't be used in any way associated with numerology. Personally, I consider them to be part of the suit sequence and to have an implied numeration, 11 through 14. I've been having some fun linking them through numerical correspondence to … Continue reading The Knights and the Empress: Fealty and Favor
The Queens and the Emperor: The Power Behind the Throne?
Continuing my thoughts on the veiled connection between the court cards and the "higher court" represented by the "noble" trumps, I'm now looking at the Queens and the Emperor. The Queens are the thirteenth card in each suit, which number reduces numerologically to Four, the number of the Emperor. This suggests that they can act … Continue reading The Queens and the Emperor: The Power Behind the Throne?
Useful Patterns: Trump Card Overseers
I'm always looking for useful patterns among the cards of the tarot to augment my spread interpretation. Lately I've been playing around with numerical convergence between the cards of the Major and Minor Arcana. But I like to go beyond the obvious into more oblique territory. For example, when the values of all of the … Continue reading Useful Patterns: Trump Card Overseers
The Kings and the Hierophant: An Unholy Alliance?
In historical times there was little separation between Church and State, with secular rulers relying on the sway that the clergy held over the pious to keep them tractable. When you're praying you can't be fomenting unrest (unless you're Martin Luther). The clergy, in turn, relied on the King's protection and largess. Tarot shows us … Continue reading The Kings and the Hierophant: An Unholy Alliance?
“The Oyster and the Sword” Eye-Opener Spread
There is a line from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor where the braggart Pistol obliquely threatens Falstaff when the latter refuses to lend him money: "Why then the world's mine oyster, Which I with sword will open" I figured this quote is a good inspiration for a spread aimed at exploring unknown territory that … Continue reading “The Oyster and the Sword” Eye-Opener Spread
Life After Intuition
I'm not a huge fan of purely intuitive tarot reading. There, I said it. It will probably be dismissed as mean-spirited literalism toward what is chiefly an elastic, visionary pursuit, but there is something too fatuously "squishy" about unmitigated intuition for my taste. I think the idea is fed to beginners as "The Way" because … Continue reading Life After Intuition
An “Astrological Lemniscate” Problem-Solving Spread
I've become rather bored with the traditional 12-position astrological spread; it often turns into a case of too much information, to the point that you "can't see the forest for the trees." But I do believe a good deal of interpretive mileage can be gained from blending the active and passive natures of the twelve … Continue reading An “Astrological Lemniscate” Problem-Solving Spread
A “Tarot Persona” Example Reading
This was too juicy an opportunity not to try out on myself, so here is a test reading for the "My Tarot Persona" spread. I used the Thoth deck for the esoteric line and the CBD (Conver Ben-Dov) Tarot de Marseille for the exoteric line. All images copyright U.S. Games Systems, Inc, Stamford, CT The … Continue reading A “Tarot Persona” Example Reading
The Tarot Gods Speak!
I've been having an interesting discussion with another tarot writer about the distinctions between the "esoteric" and "exoteric" branches of tarot practice. The former is commonly held to be the domain of serious study in occult symbolism and correspondences, while the latter is better suited to practical divination. Although I used the esoteric Thoth deck … Continue reading The Tarot Gods Speak!
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 