I'm an iconoclast when it comes to cartomantic systems (except for the traditional Lenormand method because it works so well, at least as far as I choose to take it). I tend to cherry-pick what works for me and ignore what doesn't. The RWS tarot deck is a good example. When reading with it, I … Continue reading An Iconoclastic View of Systems
Esoteric Tarot
A Revealing Bit of “Magic”
I just tested my "Opening of the Key" alternative method for finding the focal point of a 21-card elemental panorama (see previous post). The technique produced a 13-card subset that proved to be too unwieldy to read as a line, so I rolled it up into a Celtic Cross spread with a three-card outcome series. … Continue reading A Revealing Bit of “Magic”
“A Little Magic” Prepared-Deck Spread
As a long-time user of the Golden Dawn's "Opening of the Key" method of reading (or at least the First Operation), I'm always looking for novel ways to apply the "four elemental sub-packs" model to other spreads. I've also been intrigued by the notion that the deck can be separated into four equal sub-packs with … Continue reading “A Little Magic” Prepared-Deck Spread
Zeroing In
There are times when the 78 cards in a tarot deck seem like a case of "information overload," even when pulling only a small number for a particular spread. Although I realize it's part of the broader question about how tarot works, I sometimes think "What am I missing here that's hidden in the rest … Continue reading Zeroing In
Cheap Shots #19: Dr. Doolittle on Rulerships
While putting together my table of active and passive affinities, I got to thinking about the sometimes schizophrenic relationship between the seven traditional planets and the sign(s) of their rulership. Not that there isn't an internal logic to all of the correspondences (as we shall see), but some apparent anomalies do crop up. For the … Continue reading Cheap Shots #19: Dr. Doolittle on Rulerships
Cheap Shots #18: Justice Restored
No, this isn't about the impeachment of Donald Trump. It alludes to the fact that Aleister Crowley returned the trump cards Justice and Strength (aka Fortitude) to the positions they held in the historical decks of Italy and France: Justice as the eighth in the series and Strength as the eleventh. For his part, A. … Continue reading Cheap Shots #18: Justice Restored
Confessions of an Incurable Thothie
By all reliable accounts, Aleister Crowley was not a nice man. Yet he fathered one of the enduring icons of modern tarot - the Thoth deck - along with its remarkable companion volume, The Book of Thoth or BoT. A revisionist attempt is afoot to give the lion's share of the credit for the excellence of … Continue reading Confessions of an Incurable Thothie
The Four Classical Elements
Students of tarot and astrology tend to take for granted the underlying influence of the four classical elements formulated by the Greek philosopher Empedocles - Fire, Water, Air and Earth - on the tarot suits and zodiacal signs. At their simplest, they represent action, initiative, enterprise and ego (Fire); emotions (Water); thoughts and ideas (Air); … Continue reading The Four Classical Elements
The Golden Dawn Factor
The contribution of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to our modern understanding and use of the tarot cannot be overestimated. Here is a link to a brief article on Biddy Tarot by Richard L. Palmer that lays out the fundamentals. https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-astrology-golden-dawn/ The esoteric concepts and structures devised by the Golden Dawn and its … Continue reading The Golden Dawn Factor
Correspondences: How Much is Too Much?
Funny thing about esoteric correspondences. Sometimes you don't need them at all, other times you can get nowhere without at least a cursory nod to them. They're especially useful when a spread serves up a disjointed mish-mash of contradictory meanings that resists all tactics of intuition, inspiration, imagination and ingenuity. The analytical skill required to … Continue reading Correspondences: How Much is Too Much?
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 