"If I had the chance, I'd ask the world to danceAnd I'd be dancing with myself"- from Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I began reading Joe Monteleone's Tarot Mysticism: The Psycho-Spiritual Technology of the Thoth Tarot, I came upon his premise that one of the three primary uses for the tarot … Continue reading Sitting with Ourself: A Thoth Perspective
Practical Mysticism
Embracing the Cards as a Matter of Choice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If we are savvy in the self-empowering ways of practical magic, our encounter with a given tarot card in a reading won't invariably deliver a foregone conclusion. We can choose how much of its influence to let into our life and how to engage it. The fundamental energy won't change, just our handling … Continue reading Embracing the Cards as a Matter of Choice
Probability Management: Divination as Agent of Destiny
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the "magical practices" section of her book, Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers, T. Susan Chang offers "probability enhancement" as one definition of practical magic. It involves creative visualization (a more assertive type of creative imagination) in the form of a consciously-scripted aim to manifest what we want for the future. … Continue reading Probability Management: Divination as Agent of Destiny
The Meaning(lessness) of Life: An Appreciation
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After chasing the esoteric implications of various forms of metaphysical practice for over five decades, I've finally concluded that, despite determined efforts to find the "meaning of life" therein, all of them nibble around the edges but never really deliver on the promise. First off, don't hand me any religious nonsense; I'm just … Continue reading The Meaning(lessness) of Life: An Appreciation
Space Invader: What’s Up With 3I Atlas?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: With all the buzz surrounding the supposed "comet" 3I Atlas, I decided to perform a tarot reading to see what it might tell me about the mystery. For the sake of argument, let's suppose that it is some kind of alien intrusion into our solar system, a (probably) unmanned spacecraft rather than a … Continue reading Space Invader: What’s Up With 3I Atlas?
The World: Final Destination or “Jumping-Off Place?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The World card is generally interpreted to mean successful completion of the matter at hand (although it may entail some delay). In her book Holistic Tarot, Benebell Wen describes it as showing the "final state of cosmic consciousness" for the querent's Higher Self. A few years ago I formed a slightly different opinion … Continue reading The World: Final Destination or “Jumping-Off Place?”
The “Spiritual Tribunal” Astral Contact Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: All of the spirit-contact methods I'm aware of assume that we're going to encounter precisely the entity we're seeking (ancestor, god-form, elemental figure, spirit guide, etc.) whenever we ask. But I've never been convinced that disembodied beings are lurking at the threshold of the Astral Plane, just waiting for us to reach out, … Continue reading The “Spiritual Tribunal” Astral Contact Spread
Spiritual Housekeeping: “Releasing” and “Banishing”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was conversing with someone online who is apparently dealing with an "earthbound spirit" in the house, one that is feeling a bit annoyed about being "stuck" although to date there have been no outward signs of this, just a general atmosphere of psychic malaise. My suggestion was that perhaps some kind of … Continue reading Spiritual Housekeeping: “Releasing” and “Banishing”
Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Golden Dawn's alignment of the tarot cards with the astrological (aka "Chaldean") decanates (36 ten-degree segments of the zodiac beginning on the Vernal Equinox) has intrigued me since I first picked up the tarot in 1972 to complement my practice of astrology, but I have never been satisfied with its customary application … Continue reading Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
The Star as “Organic Nurturing”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: File under "Fanciful and Farfetched Philosophical Finagling." Forgive me for having a little fun with this one, but I just came across a remark in Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class about the Star bringing "nurturing" that sent me down this path. A great deal has been written about the fact that the woman in … Continue reading The Star as “Organic Nurturing”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 