AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Qabalistic Tree of Life presents three triangles in its symbolic architecture, one with the apex pointing upward and two pointing down. Here I've adapted these triangles to the three-card tarot reading. In the cases of Fire and Air I introduced the "hidden knowledge" of Da'ath (to which I've assigned the nebulous planet … Continue reading Qabalistic Triplets: Adapting the Triangles of the Tree of Life to the Three-Card Tarot Reading
Golden Dawn
A Multi-Path Elemental Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this spread, the card or cards that reflect the most cooperative elemental fit between the position and the card drawn will identify the most effective approach for dealing with a decision-making scenario.
Tarot and Astrology: Convergence or Collision?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was already a natal astrologer of the "psychological" school and had been for a couple of years before I began pursuing tarot study and practice in a systematic (primarily esoteric) way. So I have an abiding appreciation for astrological principles even though … Continue reading Tarot and Astrology: Convergence or Collision?
The Birth Card: A Matrixed Approach
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The subject of birth cards sometimes comes up in online discussions. Many people use a numerological approach, adding together the numerals for the day, month and year, reducing "Theosophically," and coming up with a Major Arcanum as a symbolic avatar that can be used as a "significator" in tarot readings. Here I'm looking … Continue reading The Birth Card: A Matrixed Approach
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
The Problem of Pronunciation
" . . . the relationship among letters, words and reality is potent, magical and central to human life." (Isabel Kliegman, in Tarot and the Tree of Life) The truth of this quote is apparent in the lives of those for whom the spoken word seems to be vital to their sense of self-identity beyond … Continue reading The Problem of Pronunciation
The Withholding
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always had reservations about the prevailing opinion of the Waite-Smith 6 of Pentacles that advocates "charity and generosity" as its core premise since I believe this is social commentary that Smith grafted onto Waite's basic divinatory meanings of "gifts, presents and gratification," objective ideas that present no moral argument (although he does … Continue reading The Withholding
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 DIY “World-View” Self-Realization Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across an observation on one of the qabalistic pages that merits quoting for my purpose in developing this spread: "All along the way you make the definitions, the container, the parameters of your being." I realize that "You make your own reality" is a rather tattered bromide (and apparently a … Continue reading The DIY “World-View” Self-Realization Spread
Numerological Counterparts and the “Blueprint for Perfection”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mirroring the principles of natal astrology, it could be said with some justification that the basic "blueprint for self-realization" resides in the planetary correspondences for the first four numbered trumps of the tarot: the Magician (1) as Mercury, the High Priestess (2) as the Moon, the Empress (3) as Venus, and the Emperor … Continue reading Numerological Counterparts and the “Blueprint for Perfection”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 