AUTHOR'S NOTE: In thinking about the observation of James Joyce that society ("the State") is concentric while the individual ("Man") is eccentric, I began toying with the idea that modern peer-pressure resembles a social "gravity well" that exerts a relentless pull on the iconoclast (at its worst an inexorable "black-hole" form of entrapment from which … Continue reading The Eccentric Tarot Reader: Reaching Escape Velocity
General Tarot
“Specialization Is For Insects”
from Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein (1973) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein was of the opinion that all human beings (to which I would append "who are physically and mentally competent to do so") should be able to accomplish anything to which they bring sufficient focus and commitment, and that specializing in … Continue reading “Specialization Is For Insects”
“Like Water to Fishes” – Instinctive vs. Stochastic Tarot Reading
instinctive: an entirely spontaneous, non-rational and automatic response to stimulus (cognitively related to "intuitive"). stochastic: "processes in which, out of a random series, some 'intelligence' or something that can be metaphorically conceived as an intelligence, is selecting a final outcome." (Robert Anton Wilson) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I wasn't aware of it from my previous studies … Continue reading “Like Water to Fishes” – Instinctive vs. Stochastic Tarot Reading
The “New Tarot” – Losing the Signal?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson presents semanticist Alfred Korzybski's principle of "time-binding" by which the passing of signals from one generation to the next assures that informational coherence is maintained in perpetuity (or at least until a major paradigm-shift disrupts the order of things, which used to happen once a century but … Continue reading The “New Tarot” – Losing the Signal?
The Past/Present/Future Tarot Reading in Euclidean Space
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson discusses three-dimensional "Euclidean space," observing that every human experience displays not only a perceived* temporal shift from the Past to the Future (conventionally graphed as left-to-right) and a non-temporal "chaotic-to-concrete" organizing principle that devolves from top-to-bottom (my Qabalistic take, not his), but also a psychological … Continue reading The Past/Present/Future Tarot Reading in Euclidean Space
Room with a View: Sublimating the Major Arcana*
*Sublimate: to refine or purify; to elevate AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been saying for several years that the Major Arcana (aka trump cards) are more about background themes than significant events. In my own practice over the last five decades I just haven't seen them amount to much when they appear in a routine fortune-telling scenario. … Continue reading Room with a View: Sublimating the Major Arcana*
The Self-Defining Diviner
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although my previous multi-decade retirement from public divination was a consequence of my rustic circumstances, this time I'm going back into relative hibernation by choice. I plan to continue blogging at my customary rate, but I've decided not to seek broader external exposure unless it finds me first. I suppose at this point … Continue reading The Self-Defining Diviner
Learning to Read the Tarot Cards: A Non-Mystical Guide
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Short of sitting in a classroom with them, I may not be the best person to teach beginners how to read the tarot cards because supervised "learning by doing" is far more effective than anything "canned" in the way of self-study (including YouTube presentations, which I don't do anyway). I developed my own … Continue reading Learning to Read the Tarot Cards: A Non-Mystical Guide
The Structured Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've never been one to approach a tarot reading as if I'm throwing darts at a dart-board. If I'm going to roll the dice (which I sometimes do, quite literally) it will be with focused intent and not entirely dependent on serendipity and its accomplice, intuition. I owe my sitters more "beef" than … Continue reading The Structured Tarot Reading
The Fatigue Factor
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm beginning to suspect from the recent lack of engagement that I've exhausted even my most ardent followers at the same time as I'm entering a new phase of expanded exposure. The increased popularity, although still minuscule, is gratifying but I value those who have been with me for the last nine years … Continue reading The Fatigue Factor
