"Everything is not a subject about which anything of much interest can be said." - C.S. Lewis, in contemplating "a deity really believed in who, by being all things, is almost nothing." AUTHOR"S NOTE: I've been engaged in a stimulating conversation in the online r/tarot community regarding the topic "When we ask a question of … Continue reading Deep Fake: Everything, Something or Nothing?
Practical Mysticism
A Path Made by Walking
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Chinese aphorism "A path is made by walking it" that is associated with fourth-century BC Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi is perfect advice for 21st-Century tarot readers. The premise as I'm applying it is that one must learn to crawl before walking; walk before running; and run before attempting to fly, in this way … Continue reading A Path Made by Walking
Dogmatic Entropy in Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The idea of "dogmatic entropy" as I recently encountered it proposes that entrenched attitudes and beliefs (dogma) can put a metaphorical "Denver boot" (immobilizing entropy) on the imagination and hobble creative thinking. Progress grinds to a halt as we grapple with these irrational limitations and often succumb to them. Perhaps the most egregious … Continue reading Dogmatic Entropy in Tarot
“Four Roads to Paradise” – A Tarot Paradigm
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I'm not too familiar with the theological hermeneutics behind it, I just discovered the concept of the "four Pardes" (i.e. PaRDeS; the four-letter Hebrew acronym PRDS) that are described as "roads to paradise" in the form of spiritual enlightenment. These avenues are presented as "literal, allegorical, comparative and secretive" paths to universal … Continue reading “Four Roads to Paradise” – A Tarot Paradigm
The “Power Grab” Spread: A Personal Power Profile
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As inquisitive beings we are always looking for insights that will aid us in understanding our inherent strengths and weaknesses. Although I don't use the "Tree of Life" spread often, here is a version that employs tarot cards to create a "power profile" showing the relative potency of eleven different aspects of our … Continue reading The “Power Grab” Spread: A Personal Power Profile
“Wishing Won’t Make It So” – The Scholarly vs The Colloquial Tarot
"Your dream. It fadesBut truth. It staysAnd with truth you must live onFrom deep insideYour heart. It criesI wish that dreams lived onBut wishing won't make it soI proved it long ago"- from Wishing Won't Make It So by the Everly Brothers AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a result of my constant study of esoteric topics and … Continue reading “Wishing Won’t Make It So” – The Scholarly vs The Colloquial Tarot
The Eighth Nature: Beyond Patience
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay quickly became dense as I continue to draw inspiration from The Tao of Thoth, but it winds up with an exercise that you may find intriguing. Although there are seven tenets in Hermetic philosophy as presented in The Kybalion, an eighth metaphysical precept has been proposed that unifies them. One school … Continue reading The Eighth Nature: Beyond Patience
Tarot and the “Lust of Result”*
*"For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." - Aleister Crowley in The Book of the Law AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my study of Taoism I came across two concepts that have a bearing on the ethics of divination: the "conceit of silver" and the "conceit of iron," … Continue reading Tarot and the “Lust of Result”*
Natural Alignment: Separating the Cow from the Hamburger
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My opinion of Ethan Indigo Smith's imagination and sense of humor went up a notch while reading (in The Tao of Thoth) his discussion of the archaic Egyptian word "neter" (meaning vital energy or life-force), which he relates to the equivalent term "chi" in the Tao. He describes this organic animating principle as … Continue reading Natural Alignment: Separating the Cow from the Hamburger
Tarot As “Awareness Practice”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lately my head has been crammed with ideas from my informal study of Taoism as presented by Benebell Wen in I Ching The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes and Ethan Indigo Smith in The Tao of Thoth. (The former is polished and intelligent while the latter is much more … Continue reading Tarot As “Awareness Practice”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 