AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Dawn Jackson's "Hedgewytchery" system of playing-card divination, one general keyword for the number Six is "paths," which ideally means "a way forward" and not merely the avoidance of stagnation by retracing one's steps or traveling in circles. But this progressive advancement should really be considered in light of the following sequence of … Continue reading The Sixes: Pathways of Progress
Numerology
“Passing Through Zero:” Transcending the Victim Archetype (A Tarot Spread)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As an astrologer I've long been familiar with the "victim mentality" as revealed in the natal horoscope. (I once called it the "doormat syndrome" exemplified by the Virgo-Pisces axis: people who become accustomed to being walked on.) Now I see that it has been elevated to the status of an "archetype" and decided … Continue reading “Passing Through Zero:” Transcending the Victim Archetype (A Tarot Spread)
“Absence of Strain” – Managing Esoteric Correspondences
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In The Discarded Image (a seemingly bottomless source of inspiration for this blog), C.S. Lewis describes the insertion of astrological principles into Medieval literature and architecture as, in the best cases, being "woven into the plot," while in the less salutary examples the addition amounts to an "overload of philosophy." These observations offer … Continue reading “Absence of Strain” – Managing Esoteric Correspondences
The Virtue of Numbers: Contrast vs Polarity
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Esoteric number theory is an important part of divination with the tarot cards. Aleister Crowley wrote in the Book of Thoth: "Ultimate reality is best described by numbers and their interplay." Since revealing objective truth through subjective engagement with the cards is one of the main goals of serious prognostication, number associations will … Continue reading The Virtue of Numbers: Contrast vs Polarity
Modality and Sensitivity: A Fourfold Response Pattern
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been reading about the practice of Taiji with its yin-and-yang duality and the need to balance our psychological condition with our physical state of well-being. Two terms - modality and sensitivity - started me thinking about similar qualities in tarot reading, where there are four elemental modalities that separate naturally into two … Continue reading Modality and Sensitivity: A Fourfold Response Pattern
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
The Integrated Way: Moral Judgement in Tarot (A Self-Development Spread)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While I prefer to "just read the cards" and typically shy away from offering moral advice in my tarot readings, use of the cards for self-analysis and self-development invites its consideration in making value-based decisions about one's life. The cards themselves are neutral on that score, so it's a context-specific call the querent … Continue reading The Integrated Way: Moral Judgement in Tarot (A Self-Development Spread)
Incentivizing the Shadow: A “Numerical Synthesis” Pros-and-Cons Spread with Resolution
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A while back I came to the realization that the so-called "quintessence" calculation is anything but when applied to a group of input cards that doesn't consist of the traditional four-card "cross." (Quintessence in tarot terms simply means "fifth expression," not "without equal"). I came up with alternative nomenclature for the numerical synthesis … Continue reading Incentivizing the Shadow: A “Numerical Synthesis” Pros-and-Cons Spread with Resolution
The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some tarot readers (notably Europeans) prefer to read with only the 22 trump cards, ignoring their exalted metaphysical archetypes and allotting them no more significance than the rest of us assign to the pip cards. They also frequently use the "quintessence" calculation to derive a fifth "synthesis" card from the four-card tirage en … Continue reading The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
The Joint-and-Several “Relationship Fishbone” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The "fishbone" of the title refers to the Ishikawa (aka "fishbone") diagram that is sometimes used in manufacturing problem-solving to pin down the various causes that led to an off-normal condition (typically called "root-cause analysis"). All of the inputs are streamed diagonally into a main stem that, when fully populated, resembles the skeleton … Continue reading The Joint-and-Several “Relationship Fishbone” Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 