Although it's a bit overstuffed with mythology and "armchair" anthropology (think "Golden Bough Lite"), I've been reading Barbara Walker's fascinating and frequently enlightening 1984 book Secrets of the Tarot: Origins, History and Symbolism. Despite the meticulous academic tone of much of her writing and its overarching themes of matriarchal culture and Goddess worship in antiquity, … Continue reading Barbara Walker and the RWS Suit of Pentacles
Pips
The Virtue of Simplicity
As time goes on I find myself drawn more and more to working with only the 56 Minor Arcana cards in divination. Granted, the 22 Major Arcana are where most of the philosophical "meat" lies in the tarot, but very few of my readings rise to that level of metaphysical complexity and intensity. Most of … Continue reading The Virtue of Simplicity
A Force Too Short (or Is It Too Long?)
Another curious phrase used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn describes the 8 of Swords as the "Lord of Shortened Force." To me, "shortened" implies too little of something, but in Liber T Macgregor Mathers had this to say: “Too much force applied to small things." I just can't see it in that … Continue reading A Force Too Short (or Is It Too Long?)
“Pleasure with Pain for Leaven:” Blended Satisfaction
I've often pondered what Macgregor Mathers intended by the description "blended pleasure" as a pejorative for the emotional state shown in the 4 of Cups. I had to stop and think "Blended with what, and to what end?" The purpose of blending two things is usually to improve the quality of one or both of … Continue reading “Pleasure with Pain for Leaven:” Blended Satisfaction
Why the TdM?
Why, you might well ask, after spending almost 40 years studying and divining with the Crowley-Harris Thoth Tarot and The Book of Thoth, and then nine more years striving to master the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (RWS), would someone want to take on the task of trying to fathom the Tarot de Marseille (TdM) and its non-scenic … Continue reading Why the TdM?
Temperance/Art and the Sagittarius Decans
Continuing with my exploration of the "meditation patterns" for the Minor Arcana from Jim Eshelman's Liber Theta, here are the patterns for the Sagittarius trump card, Temperance (Art in the Thoth deck), and the three decans of Sagittarius; I call this sequence "Art for Art's Sake." The Minor Arcana for Sagittarius are the 8 of … Continue reading Temperance/Art and the Sagittarius Decans
An All-Purpose “One-on-One” Relationship Spread
Relationship questions are the "bread-and-butter" of professional tarot reading, but most of them relate to romantic matters rather than to the more routine type of interpersonal contact. Here is a spread that examines one-on-one connections of any kind from five different perspectives: 1) the overall health of the relationship, along with its condition from 2) … Continue reading An All-Purpose “One-on-One” Relationship Spread
Meditation Patterns: Strength/Lust and the Leo Decans
Continuing my exploration of the "meditation patterns" for the Minor Arcana from Jim Eshelman's Liber Theta, here are the patterns for the Leo trump card, Strength (Lust in the Thoth Deck), and the three decans of Leo; I call this sequence "The Three Trials of Lust." The Minor Arcana for the Leo decans are 5 … Continue reading Meditation Patterns: Strength/Lust and the Leo Decans
Meditation Patterns: The Emperor and the Aries Decans
A Facebook friend of mine just reminded me that Liber Theta, the College of Thelema's Thoth-based rewrite of the Golden Dawn's Liber T, includes what author Jim Eshelman calls "meditation patterns" for each pair of Major Arcana that are considered "astrological counterparts" to the Minor Arcanum for the associated decan of the Chaldean zodiac. There … Continue reading Meditation Patterns: The Emperor and the Aries Decans
The Tens: A Lingering Farewell
A music critic once observed that Led Zeppelin seemed to be "emptying the vaults of every scrap of unreleased material" when they issued the Physical Graffiti album. I'm in a similar situation here; this post has been lurking in my drafts for a couple of weeks, waiting patiently as the rants of the last few … Continue reading The Tens: A Lingering Farewell
