from Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein (1973) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein was of the opinion that all human beings (to which I would append "who are physically and mentally competent to do so") should be able to accomplish anything to which they bring sufficient focus and commitment, and that specializing in … Continue reading “Specialization Is For Insects”
Practical Mysticism
The “New Tarot” – Losing the Signal?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson presents semanticist Alfred Korzybski's principle of "time-binding" by which the passing of signals from one generation to the next assures that informational coherence is maintained in perpetuity (or at least until a major paradigm-shift disrupts the order of things, which used to happen once a century but … Continue reading The “New Tarot” – Losing the Signal?
The Past/Present/Future Tarot Reading in Euclidean Space
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson discusses three-dimensional "Euclidean space," observing that every human experience displays not only a perceived* temporal shift from the Past to the Future (conventionally graphed as left-to-right) and a non-temporal "chaotic-to-concrete" organizing principle that devolves from top-to-bottom (my Qabalistic take, not his), but also a psychological … Continue reading The Past/Present/Future Tarot Reading in Euclidean Space
Consider the Source: Crafting A Personal Tarot Philosophy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Near the beginning of Robert Anton Wilson's book Prometheus Rising there is a drawing that shows a man contemplating a model of his private universe at its narrowest cross-section, completely ignorant of the sweeping, sidelong view that would have given him a much broader perspective on its true size. It's as if he's … Continue reading Consider the Source: Crafting A Personal Tarot Philosophy
“Midpoint Mash-up” – The Role of Mediation in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently began reading Robert Anton Wilson's Prometheus Rising. I've dipped into his published work sporadically and randomly over the years with no clear chronology in mind, but as the old advertising slogan goes, you "can't eat just one," and in Israel Regardie's introductory comments I encountered the food for thought that inspired … Continue reading “Midpoint Mash-up” – The Role of Mediation in Tarot Reading
Tarot Reading As Ritual (Not Only As Its Focus)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The topic of ritual preparation for a tarot reading comes up frequently in the online community, and there is a wide range of practices from which to choose. It's fair to say that my own opinion diverges substantially from the mystical assumptions of the average diviner. (For the more rational cartomancer, this essay … Continue reading Tarot Reading As Ritual (Not Only As Its Focus)
UFOs, the Multiverse and the Irruption of the Paranormal*
*Irruption: a sudden, forcible, or violent breaking into a place, a sudden invasion AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one is more ambitious than most. Let's see where it goes. Years ago I read a pair of cosmology books by science author Timothy Ferris, and in one of them (it was either 1988's Coming of Age in the … Continue reading UFOs, the Multiverse and the Irruption of the Paranormal*
Deep Thoughts on Participatory Divination: People, Not Process
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is an unusually abstract theory in speculative physics (one that is dismissed out-of-hand by the mainstream scientific community) that all objects - whether in concrete form or as massless "packets of energy" - have their origin in the primordial raw material of information that is defined as binary data-bits operating in the … Continue reading Deep Thoughts on Participatory Divination: People, Not Process
“Eyes That Are the Windows, Eyes That Are the View” – Tarot and Quantum Mechanics*
*Lyrics quoted are from the Dave Mason song Sad and Deep as You. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Quantum theory in modern physics holds that until an elementary quantum object is observed (by direct measurement according to mainstream scientists and in response to conscious attention in paranormal circles), it is in an "indeterminate state" and has "no definite … Continue reading “Eyes That Are the Windows, Eyes That Are the View” – Tarot and Quantum Mechanics*
Distant Intention: An Alternative Approach to Remote Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My long-time followers know that I'm skeptical of remote tarot reading because the querent has no direct contact with the cards for the purpose of subconscious induction, my fundamental understanding of "how tarot works." But with a little tweaking of the parameters, that attitude may be shifting. Recently, while reading about experiments in … Continue reading Distant Intention: An Alternative Approach to Remote Divination
