"Some folk rip and roar, some folk b'lieve in signs But if you want me, you got to take your time Because I'm built for comfort, I ain't built for speed" Built for Comfort (Willie Dixon/Howling Wolf) There is something (well, actually 40 "somethings") about the Tarot de Marseill that eludes a facile approach to … Continue reading Tarot de Marseille: Built for Comfort, Not for Speed
Pips
“Easy Come, Easy Go”
I'm not exactly "at war" with the narrative thrust of the Minor Arcana in the Waite-Smith (aka RWS) deck, but it often doesn't sit well with me because of my lengthy involvement with the Thoth deck and the Golden Dawn's system of esoteric symbolism. It's not just that the stories they tell are prosaic, they … Continue reading “Easy Come, Easy Go”
Useful Patterns: Trump Card Overseers
I'm always looking for useful patterns among the cards of the tarot to augment my spread interpretation. Lately I've been playing around with numerical convergence between the cards of the Major and Minor Arcana. But I like to go beyond the obvious into more oblique territory. For example, when the values of all of the … Continue reading Useful Patterns: Trump Card Overseers
The Fours, Fives and Sixes
In the realm of esoteric number theory, this is one of the most fascinating transitions in the entire "One-to-Ten" sequence. The Four represents the initial fulfillment of the evolving energy of an element; the One is self-contained and stationary, while the Twos and Threes are restless, one constantly oscillating between opposite poles and the other … Continue reading The Fours, Fives and Sixes
The Tarot Salad Bar
For those of us who use esoteric correspondences in reading the tarot, pulling cards for a reading is like ordering a "tarot salad" with special dressing This is especially true if there are several cards of a similar "flavor," whether elemental, astrological or numerical. Many writers have addressed what happens when you have an abundance … Continue reading The Tarot Salad Bar
The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 6 of Swords
Radiant Rider-Waite-Smith, © U.S. Games Systems, Inc. The RWS 6 of Swords is the last of the Swords pip cards that I consider ambivalent in their expression of opportunity. The rest of the suit - Ace, Two and Four - are essentially neutral in that regard, and the Six nudges the dial close to dead-center … Continue reading The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 6 of Swords
The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 5 of Swords
Radiant Rider-Waite-Smith, © U.S. Games Systems, Inc. The 5 of Swords is another RWS card in which Smith's image sends a mixed message that has caused a good deal of head-scratching. The man in the foreground appears to be victorious over his retreating adversaries (and even sports a small, self-satisfied smile), but the Golden Dawn … Continue reading The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 5 of Swords
The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 7 of Swords
Radiant Rider-Waite-Smith, © U.S. Games Systems, Inc. It's hard to tell just what this card is promising. Waite himself says "The design is uncertain in its import, because the significations are widely at variance with each other." Does it mean a chance to get away with something, like a "thief in the night?" A conflicted … Continue reading The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 7 of Swords
The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 10 of Swords
Radiant Rider-Waite-Smith, © U.S. Games Systems, Inc. This is the "scorched earth" card of the RWS deck - even more so than the Tower, which flattens the structure but doesn't necessarily raze it to its foundation and then poison the surrounding soil. The 10 of Swords gets personal, right down to the particulars. Here, there … Continue reading The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 10 of Swords
The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 9 of Swords
Radiant Rider-Waite-Smith, © U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Now things start to go downhill fast in the morose-looking 9 of Swords! By all accounts, Nine is a positive number; the Third Perfection of the Greeks, the fulfillment of the element of a suit (with the Ten as a fading postscript), the number representing return to balance … Continue reading The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 9 of Swords
