AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book on the history of the occult tarot (The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabalah), Ronald Decker ventures into astrological symbolism as it may have appeared in some of the early decks. In his discussion of the traditional planetary deities he cites a passage from the magical tome … Continue reading Connecting Sky and Earth
General Astrology
Personalizing the Princesses
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my previous essay on assigning tarot court cards to the Sun, Moon and Ascendant degrees of the natal horoscope, I promised to address how the multi-sign Princesses of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley can brought into the same model. Here goes! It is a traditional assumption that each King has mastered … Continue reading Personalizing the Princesses
Personal Court Cards: A Crowleyan Perspective
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm currently reading the court-card section of Michael Snuffin's Thoth Companion and came across the observation that Aleister Crowley chose the Prince of Wands as his personal court card due to its association with Leo, the sign on his astrological Ascendant, accompanied by the Queen of Swords to symbolize his Sun sign of … Continue reading Personal Court Cards: A Crowleyan Perspective
The Tarot Cosmology of Papus
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A couple of weeks ago I posted an essay in which I took issue with the Golden Dawn's arrangement of the Kings, Queens and Knights on the Chaldean wheel of the zodiac. Rather than the Queens being Cardinal (a dynamic and enterprising mode), I've always felt that they should be Fixed due to … Continue reading The Tarot Cosmology of Papus
Something Borrowed, Something New
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In reading about the mythological history of the stars and their constellations, I came across the supposition that, in primitive cultures, the concept of a personal "guiding star" predated by millennia that of an individual "guardian angel." Everyone was aligned with a dominant stellar (or more likely planetary) force that governed their destiny … Continue reading Something Borrowed, Something New
“Name Your Poison”
(For lovers of useless minutiae, June 8 is "Name Your Poison Day.") AUTHOR'S NOTE: Among modern tarot enthusiasts there exists a fundamental dispute regarding proper use of the cards that has been smoldering since the Jung-besotted 1970s. It typically surfaces in the divide between those who believe that a tarot deck should be employed solely … Continue reading “Name Your Poison”
The “Twitch Factor”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During a recent online conversation I mentioned the fact that, when provoked, the element of Earth in the sign of Virgo can be fidgety, rising one notch above in "twitchy" angst from Virgo's trademark anal fussiness. This got me thinking about how the elements of the Chaldean zodiac react with the Minor Arcana … Continue reading The “Twitch Factor”
A Sky Tutorial: Planets in Parallel
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This dramatic photograph from the evening of February 21, 2023 shows the alignment of the Waxing Crescent Moon, Venus (the brighter of the two planets) and Jupiter over Port Orange, Florida. The Moon was at approximately 25 degrees of Pisces in celestial longitude and 5 degrees of South celestial declination moving North, Venus … Continue reading A Sky Tutorial: Planets in Parallel
A Question of Houses
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is apparently an ongoing controversy among the upper echelon of professional astrologers regarding which system of house division came first, the "quadrant" system later popularized by Placidus de Titis or the Whole Sign system. In the time-based method of Placidus, the Ascendant is coincident with the 1st House cusp and the intermediary … Continue reading A Question of Houses
Tarot and the Nature of Desire
The tarot reader is often tasked with divining "what someone wants" in a situation. In natal astrology the answer is much simpler: Venus and Mars rule the realm of basic human appetites and their interaction goes to the heart of the matter. Boston astrologer Isabel Hickey once said "Mars goes out and gets what Venus … Continue reading Tarot and the Nature of Desire
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 