One thing to which any blogger pays at least casual attention is daily site traffic. In my own case I haven't monetized this blog so I'm not hanging on every minuscule fraction of a penny that changes hands over my contribution to the community. But, although I have slightly more than 300 followers now (a … Continue reading A Worthy Outlet?
General Tarot
The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn – A Deck Interview
This is Pat Zalewski's much-anticipated take on the Golden Dawn tarot. Its main selling point is that it is hyped as being faithful to the color scales of the Order, while in a less beguiling sense it looks remarkably like a color-corrected, minor artistic overhaul of the graphics created by Robert Wang in collaboration with … Continue reading The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn – A Deck Interview
Tarot Prediction and the “Eternal Now”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the last couple of years I've been toying with the increasingly popular theory that what we are looking at in a tarot prediction is not the foreseeable "Future" but just another face of the "Eternal Now" that has not yet presented itself to the querent's conscious awareness. In other words, every conceivable … Continue reading Tarot Prediction and the “Eternal Now”
The Reconciler
Over the past few weeks I've written at some length about the various ways to read a three-card tarot spread. One idea I didn't spend much time on is the aggregating power of the middle card: rather than merely being a transitional turning-point in the narrative or a "hinge" between the past and the future, … Continue reading The Reconciler
The Fool and The Tower: “Flirtin’ with Disaster”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was listening to Molly Hatchet while on my treadmill this morning and the Fool and the Tower jumped right out of the headphones. Now I know what to think when I see the two close together in a reading: "playing with fire." The rest of the cards pretty much fell into place. … Continue reading The Fool and The Tower: “Flirtin’ with Disaster”
“Pictures, Words and Numbers, Cardman”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is an old movie from the early '90s titled Eddie and the Cruisers that portrays Michal Paré as Eddie Wilson, the leader of a 1960s-era rock band, sagely advising Tom Beringer (as Frank "Wordman" Ridgeway, the group's lyricist) on the nature of the business: "It's about words and music, Wordman, words and … Continue reading “Pictures, Words and Numbers, Cardman”
The Lovers and The Devil: “I Double-Dare Ya!”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third in my series of essays examining the trump cards of the tarot as "numerological counterparts" that present "alike but different" versions of a common theme. This time I'm looking at two cards that express the number "6," those "strange bedfellows" the Lovers (VI) and the Devil (15=1+5=6). Esoterically, Six … Continue reading The Lovers and The Devil: “I Double-Dare Ya!”
The “Answer” Begs a “Question”
"Without a question, there is no answer possible" - Alejandro Jodorowsky AUTHOR'S NOTE: From time-to-time I revisit my long-standing preference for reading tarot cards without knowing the sitter's specific question in advance (something I've been doing since 1972). The above quote from The Way of Tarot has raised the subject once again and I couldn't … Continue reading The “Answer” Begs a “Question”
Only A Fool . . .
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I've taken another stab at creating one of my quirky "pop-culture" tarot tableaux, this time marrying Brian Williams' sly PoMo Tarot to Steely Dan's equally sly lyrics in "Only A Fool Would Say That" from their first album. It looks like a "match made in heaven" to me because the PoMo Tarot … Continue reading Only A Fool . . .
Dynamic Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This certainly isn't the only way to read the tarot cards with deftness and fluency, but it came to mind while I was contemplating the raised sword in the right hand of Justice as "barring the way" of the card to the reader's left, seemingly fending off a past that is trying to … Continue reading Dynamic Tarot Reading