"I'm a monkey, m-m-monkeyI'm a monkey, m-m-monkeyI'm a monkey, m-m-monkeyMonkey, monkey man"- from Monkey Man by the Rolling Stones AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm indebted to James Ricklef and Lon Milo DuQuette, in Tarot Reading Explained and Tarot Architect respectively, for bringing these concepts to my attention. (Oh, and to Mick Jagger for obvious reasons.) By way … Continue reading The Monkey Mind and the Meat Brain: Putting the Brakes on Mystical Excess in Divination
General Tarot
“Implements of Instruction”
" . . . shovels and rakes and implements of destruction . . . "- from Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is not for the softhearted or the soft-headed. It's another unapologetic critique of contemporary divination (specifically tarot-reading) with just a hint of ironic self-reflection. Proceed at your peril! As I … Continue reading “Implements of Instruction”
Expansion and Contraction in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE This essay has been in the "pending" queue for a while now and I've moved on from where I was when I wrote it to explore other topics, but I think it's still worth posting. It seems that I can't push even one page further into my renewed study of James Ricklef's Tarot … Continue reading Expansion and Contraction in Tarot Reading
“Stepping Back from the Brink” – Wisely Confronting Adversity
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's not uncommon during our life's journey to encounter major pitfalls that can only be described as steeply plunging cliffs barring the way ahead. Assuming the risks have been identified far enough in advance to allow for timely deliberation, we may have a number of choices for dealing with them. My focus here … Continue reading “Stepping Back from the Brink” – Wisely Confronting Adversity
Reversal as “Underdeveloped Potential”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the years I've formulated and applied my own style of reversed-card interpretation, and I finally concluded that inversion of the image doesn't materially alter the core meaning of the upright presentation, just redirects it in various subtle ways as detailed in my nearly two dozen previous essays on the subject. The required … Continue reading Reversal as “Underdeveloped Potential”
Metaphysical Entropy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During a recent conversation in the online tarot community, the questionable accuracy of long-range forecasts came up for discussion. The idea of intervening variables was mentioned, those unexpected changes in circumstances that can render a prediction invalid before it fully matures. I made the following observations (slightly edited for this essay): The main … Continue reading Metaphysical Entropy
Irrelevance in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of my unshakeable convictions about modern society is that there is nothing less relevant to my own life than the Hollywood actor, the professional sports figure and the online "influencer," all of whom seem to think that their social, cultural and political views matter. I rarely sit still to observe an entire … Continue reading Irrelevance in Divination
Status-Quo Cards (as in “Maintaining the . . . “)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent post I mentioned that the Hierophant, due to his conventional and conservative appointment, can be viewed as an example of "maintaining the status quo." (I've also called it the "don't-rock-the-boat" card.) There are a number of other cards that convey a similar sentiment. Because the Major Arcana represent an archetypal … Continue reading Status-Quo Cards (as in “Maintaining the . . . “)
The “Thematic Threads” of the Major Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More insights from Tarot Reading Explained by James Ricklef. This essay is a rehash of several previous posts on the subject, but I think the common tendency of tarot readers to exaggerate the impact of trump cards in a reading bears further scrutiny, and I received reinforcement for this assumption from my re-reading … Continue reading The “Thematic Threads” of the Major Arcana
An “AI Reckoning”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In online discussion groups I frequently encounter ill-tempered sniping over whether specific written content is an original creation or whether it was assembled via internet "scraping" by generative AI. Because of my admittedly literate writing style, I've been waiting for the day when I'm accused of such derivative chicanery. To see where I … Continue reading An “AI Reckoning”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 