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”
Numerology
“Midpoint Numerology” – A New Name for an Old Idea*
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As an astrologer I spent a lot of time in my early years exploring the importance of the "midpoint" between two planetary positions as another sensitive degree in the horoscope that can`become a "trigger" for predictive transits or directions. For the last decade I've been applying the same theory to tarot cards by … Continue reading “Midpoint Numerology” – A New Name for an Old Idea*
The Chariot and The Tower: “Risky Business”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second essay in what may become a series where I take a structured look at "numerological counterparts" among the trump cards as "alike but different" expressions of a common theme. Here I'm tackling The Chariot (7) and its counterpart, The Tower (16=1+6=7). In approaching this subject, I recognized that both … Continue reading The Chariot and The Tower: “Risky Business”
High Priestess and Justice: The Quest for Perfection
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my studies I often come across the opinion that the High Priestess and Justice display two faces of perfection, one natural and the other imposed. Although I'm mainly a Thoth and Tarot de Marseille guy, here I'm using the numerological structure of the Waite-Smith Major Arcana, which places Justice in the eleventh … Continue reading High Priestess and Justice: The Quest for Perfection
Departing the “Goldilocks Zone” A Multi-Path Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a teenage science-fiction fan in the mid-60s I was fascinated by rocketry and the theory of space-flight in general. Here is a spread that uses some of that terminology to show three potential paths that a situational-development reading might take: short-range, long-range or open-ended. It will take some study for the user … Continue reading Departing the “Goldilocks Zone” A Multi-Path Situational Development Spread
Active and Passive Dynamics
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The next major milestone on the road to mastery for the neophyte tarot reader after internalizing the card meanings (as opposed to merely memorizing or looking them up) is to begin synthesizing the interpretation of all the cards in a spread to form a seamless narrative. (I often describe early efforts in this … Continue reading Active and Passive Dynamics
Any Convenient Excuse
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I can't seem to escape gathering a fresh crop of intriguing notions every time I open Alejandro Jodorowsly's The Way of Tarot (at least on this, my second time through; the first adventure into his thinking felt more like an overwhelming tsunami of oddities). Somewhat like Aleister Crowley (although both would likely deny … Continue reading Any Convenient Excuse
An Alternate Take on the “Shadow” Card
It is a common practice among modern tarot readers to look at the bottom card of the deck after the rest of the cards have been dealt, with the purpose of discovering hidden aspects of the matter; this is variously called the "base" or "shadow" card. Personally, I want none of this in my own … Continue reading An Alternate Take on the “Shadow” Card
The Tens: A “Holding Pattern”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I won't regale you with where I got the raw material for this essay; suffice it to say that it's "of a piece" with my last dozen "sourced" ideas. The Tens of the Minor Arcana have been described as representing a "cessation of effort" while awaiting new information or a fresh impulse to … Continue reading The Tens: A “Holding Pattern”
The “Active Witness” and the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another interesting observation from Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Way of Tarot. In it he notes that, when a "pip" card of the Tarot de Marseille exhibits a red dot or figurative "eye," the symbol represents an "active (that is, actively involved) witness" to the action signified by the card. This idea inspired … Continue reading The “Active Witness” and the Minor Arcana
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 