AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading Tarot and the Archetypal Journey, Sallie Nichol's remarkable Jungian treatise on the tarot, I came across the vivid phrase "impaled on words" to denote the inability of prose to capture the elusive nature of the Fool, a failing that might be ascribed less urgently to the rest of the allegorical images. … Continue reading “Impaled on Words”
General Tarot
“. . . By Any Other Name . . .”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Current divination culture shuns as unethical any attempt to forecast the death of an individual, even when it is clearly imminent due to a terminal illness. (After all, it doesn't make sense for amateurs to overstep the legal and professional bounds of a medical diagnosis.) The final "moment of truth" is usually the … Continue reading “. . . By Any Other Name . . .”
“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 Symbols Behind the Curtain
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Question of the Day - What do you feed a starving archetype? I pulled another quote from Sallie Nichol's Tarot and the Archetypal Journey that inspired this essay. In discussing the Empress and the Emperor, she observes that we can become like "puppets in an archetypal drama, manipulated by giant figures operating above … Continue reading The Symbols Behind the Curtain
Narrative or Descriptive Reading: A Cartomantic Divide
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my studies I occasionally see a distinction being made between a narrative "storytelling" approach to explaining the cards in a reading, in which a series of scenes is presented much like the panels of a comic strip, and a less-anecdotal descriptive style that defines the broader relationship among the cards, often in … Continue reading Narrative or Descriptive Reading: A Cartomantic Divide
A Recipe for Timing (or “Why Did My Cake Fall?”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is not about a Betty Crocker bake-off; it discusses certain event-timing techniques used in divination. But I couldn't resist the analogy! Modern bakers who use "fail-safe" pre-mixed aggregates (you know the hype: "just add water") won't have a clue what my subtitle is about and will only shoot me a blank … Continue reading A Recipe for Timing (or “Why Did My Cake Fall?”)
Don’t Accept “Maybe . . .”
. . . when "Yes" or "No" will do. AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a strong bias in the cartomantic community against putting simple "yes-or-no" questions to the cards. Such efforts are seen as no better than a coin-flip, an odd-or-even roll of the dice or any other 50/50 divination method, and when they do invoke … Continue reading Don’t Accept “Maybe . . .”
“Exclamation-Point” Cards (!)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just came across the notion that some cards in a reading can add an exclamation point or "Aha!" emphasis to whatever message the rest of the cards are trying to convey, in effect imparting some certainty to the forecast. (Thank you Lisa Young-Sutton for the inspiration!) In Lenormand readings this honor falls … Continue reading “Exclamation-Point” Cards (!)
The Nature of Truth (As We Know It)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "What is the truth?" (at least in the matter at hand) is one of the "big questions" along with "What is the meaning of life?" (usually "my life" when asked by a querent) that are often put to the tarot and other modes of divination. (Of course, both questions are aimed at discovering … Continue reading The Nature of Truth (As We Know It)
Filling the Cup
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a disclaimer. Although I'm unmoved by most pop-culture forms of psychological navel-gazing masquerading as spiritual enlightenment, I firmly believe that all legitimate attempts at fortune-telling embody an element of psychic sensitivity based on my own assumptions about "how divination works" (discussed ad nauseum in other posts). So I'm not an arch-enemy of … Continue reading Filling the Cup
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 