AUTHOR'S NOTE: The practice of Taiji envisions eight "offering bowls" that enclose space and also present the contents of that space to the aspirant. Here I've created an eight-position tarot spread modeled on the taijitu (yin/yang) symbol of the I Ching to show situational progress from constructive input (yin as receptive and cooperative) to productive … Continue reading Tarot As “Offering Bowl” – A Situational Development Spread
Metaphysical Syncretism
Natural Alignment: Separating the Cow from the Hamburger
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My opinion of Ethan Indigo Smith's imagination and sense of humor went up a notch while reading (in The Tao of Thoth) his discussion of the archaic Egyptian word "neter" (meaning vital energy or life-force), which he relates to the equivalent term "chi" in the Tao. He describes this organic animating principle as … Continue reading Natural Alignment: Separating the Cow from the Hamburger
Tarot As “Awareness Practice”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lately my head has been crammed with ideas from my informal study of Taoism as presented by Benebell Wen in I Ching The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes and Ethan Indigo Smith in The Tao of Thoth. (The former is polished and intelligent while the latter is much more … Continue reading Tarot As “Awareness Practice”
No Flatfooting Allowed: Transcending Inertia and Leveraging Imbalance
"The fact of consultation implies anxiety or discontent."- Aleister Crowley in The Book of Thoth AUTHOR'S NOTE: The inspiration for this essay comes from an observation in Ethan Indigo Smith's book The Tao of Thoth about the martial-arts aspect of Taoist philosophy and the risk of standing flatfooted in the middle of the ring like … Continue reading No Flatfooting Allowed: Transcending Inertia and Leveraging Imbalance
“In Angles They Will Pursue Thee” – Angles Speak Louder Than Curves
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just came across the following quote (attributed to The Emerald Tablets of Thoth by Taoist author Ethan Indigo Smith) that brought me back to the subject of predictive vs psychological (or humanistic) astrology. "Know ye, the hounds of the Barrier move only through angles and never through curves of space. Only by … Continue reading “In Angles They Will Pursue Thee” – Angles Speak Louder Than Curves
Circular Numerology and the Revolving Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A large percentage of everything that goes on in our environment is cyclical rather than linear in nature (although some cycles like the 25,800 year "wobble" of the Earth's axis are so long that it's difficult to observe their periodicity). The alternation of day and night and the turning of the seasons are … Continue reading Circular Numerology and the Revolving Tarot
A 78-Card Geometric Mandala
"Devil inside, the devil insideEvery single one of us, the devil inside"(From Devil Inside by Inxs) AUTHOR'S NOTE: At the end of this essay is a numbering table I created several years ago for the sequence of 78 tarot cards that begins with the Fool as "1" and ends with the King of Pentacles as … Continue reading A 78-Card Geometric Mandala
Calling Forth Answers: A Mixed-Media Problem Solving Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a while since I last explored the technique of using a board-game spinner and an array of tarot cards to come up with a two-tiered approach to reading. In Benebell Wen's I Ching The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, I've been learning about an abbreviated yarrow-stalk method … Continue reading Calling Forth Answers: A Mixed-Media Problem Solving Spread
Where Is Carol? – A Missing-Person Case Study
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Carol Gemmiti, a 66-year-old Florida woman with dementia, went missing from Ossipee, New Hampshire on Friday, October 27, 2024. Numerous searches were performed over the week-end but nothing was found so further efforts were temporarily suspended on Monday, October 30. I decided to tackle this case by performing a horary astrology analysis and … Continue reading Where Is Carol? – A Missing-Person Case Study
A Monthly “Astro-Tarotscope” – Harnessing Horary Astrology and Tarot Insights
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not the first writer to use the term "tarotscope;" I've encountered it in various posts over the years. But here I'm applying it to a merger of horary astrology and tarot to come up with a monthly forecast that may well be unique. (I don't believe the hyphenated term in my title … Continue reading A Monthly “Astro-Tarotscope” – Harnessing Horary Astrology and Tarot Insights
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 