AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently performed a tarot reading for a fellow student of the esoteric arts (a rare treat, I might add), the conduct of which encouraged me to relaunch my neglected experiments in linking tarot cards to classical poetry by verse and stanza. Here I'm taking on The Tyger by William Blake with its … Continue reading Thoth, Tabula Mundi and “The Tyger”
Non-divination
Necessity, Convenience or Just Plain Ignorance?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The "curmudgeon" has entered the building! "Snowflakes" should find the exit A few years ago, not too long after the fateful day when character limits were imposed on messaging by Twitter, I began to observe what seemed like a steep decline in the grammatical proficiency of English-language users. Punctuation appeared to have gone … Continue reading Necessity, Convenience or Just Plain Ignorance?
We Can But Should We?
Lately I've been thinking about the unchecked acceleration of two trends in modern life that speak to the title of this essay: the thoughtless advancement of technology for its own sake, and the equally unthinking embrace of social and cultural directives for their own sake. As a devotee of the ancient mystical arts, I often … Continue reading We Can But Should We?
Where Have All the Masters Gone?
Folk singer Pete Seeger once wrote a poignant song titled "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" that lamented the transitory flowering and fading of youth and also, obliquely, the folly of war. In contemplating the unfortunate demise of the stimulating forum that was Aeclectic Tarot in 2017, I often wonder where the council of highly … Continue reading Where Have All the Masters Gone?
The Teaching Way
Back in the mid-70s my brother and I had an esoteric teaching gig in Connecticut. He was an accomplished astrologer and I was an up-and-coming tarot reader with the Thoth deck. We had several lively study groups going on simultaneously and were busy with them a large part of every week. Unfortunately, it didn't last … Continue reading The Teaching Way
Atypical, Eh?
I like to joke that I'm the only whisky-drinkin', pickup-drivin', ball-cap-wearin', blues-music-listenin', guitar-playin', fly-fishin', alpine skiin', kayakin', art-and-poetry-lovin', Monty-Python-quotin', horoscope-castin', tarot-card-readin', ex-Mensan, half-Canadian geomancer you're ever likely to meet! But seriously, those new to this blog might want to know a little more about the author than the "About" thumbnail delivers. So here it is. … Continue reading Atypical, Eh?
The Curmudgeon’s Tarot
In this volume I've compiled 180 not-particularly-worshipful essays on the state of the divinatory arts culled from the more than 1,400 posts I've written since 2017. It's only available as an e-book on Lulu, and it won't work on Kindle. My next project will be "Hermetic Tarot Fundamentals" drawn from my Tarot 101 esoteric beginner's … Continue reading The Curmudgeon’s Tarot
Another Milestone
I have now passed 1,400 posts on this blog. I want to take a moment to thank those regular readers who make doing this stuff worthwhile (even if I don't hear much from you, the stats tell the tale). This has turned into the "training ground" for my book-publishing aspirations. My goal has been to … Continue reading Another Milestone
Footprints in the Sand
I've been pondering just how ephemeral online content can be. Unless the material we discover through our internet searches is downloaded and saved for future use, we may never be able to find it again (particularly if the source goes down). I was brought to this conclusion by noticing that someone in Japan has been … Continue reading Footprints in the Sand
“Set the Table, Doug”
As my revisionist thinking on the significance of the Major Arcana in a tarot reading continues to churn up fresh ideas, I entertained the notion that the functional relationship between the minor cards, court cards and trump cards might be likened to the experience of dining out. The minor cards provide the "meat-and-potatoes" of the … Continue reading “Set the Table, Doug”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 