ANNOUNCEMENT: Post No. 2,200. Yay! AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm a former member of the r/seculartarot sub-reddit, where the term "fortune-telling" is a dirty word among the gatekeepers, who are Jung-besotted and staunchly anti-woo (for that, at least, I applaud them). But they are too enamored of their own pet theories to condone an intelligent dialogue about … Continue reading The “Reasonable Man” Premise in Fortune-Telling
Spirituality
The Diviner as Sage and the Curse of “Voodoo Metaphysics”
"And if I claim to be a wise man, well/That just means that I don't know." - from Carry On Wayward Son, by Kansas AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize that I already used this quote casually in a recent essay, but I wanted to bring it front-and-center in this one as a reminder that even a … Continue reading The Diviner as Sage and the Curse of “Voodoo Metaphysics”
Does It or Doesn’t It?
( . . . or to be less opaque, does "shit happen" randomly or not?) AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you gag on a bit of good-natured barnyard naughtiness, you can give this one a pass. But scratch the surface and you’ll find a substantial, divination-based discussion of fate versus causality. Those who tout the legitimacy of … Continue reading Does It or Doesn’t It?
Playing to Strength, Caving to Weakness: Aspiration and Temptation in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that offers a "high road" and a "low road" for approaching the outcome of a reading; these are parallel routes, each with an itinerary that features either optimism for a successful arrival or pessimism over the risk of being detoured into failure. It could be useful when contemplating whether … Continue reading Playing to Strength, Caving to Weakness: Aspiration and Temptation in Tarot Reading
The Awakening: A Spiritual Transformation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a tarot spread that uses the concepts of entrenched inertia (pip cards), personal make-over (court cards) and mystical transformation in the form of both transcendent opportunities and spiritual pitfalls (trump cards). It is one of my "mixed-media" spreads that employs both tarot cards and dice in its execution. Begin by separating … Continue reading The Awakening: A Spiritual Transformation Spread
Sympathetic Magic: The Secular Side of Spellworking
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's fascinating how dreams can unearth old memories that are still germane to present conditions, figuratively "turning over rocks to see what crawls out from underneath." Last night in one such nocturnal interlude I was discussing with an unknown savant the assumption that object-oriented magic is best performed with "power items" that hold … Continue reading Sympathetic Magic: The Secular Side of Spellworking
Not Milk: An Atypical Astro-Tarot Meditation Array
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a biblical quote that goes something like "Milk for babes, meat for strong men." Here I'm offering what might be a hard-to-swallow bit of gristle for those who are locked into the Golden Dawn's esoteric attributions for the cards of the tarot. What can I say, I've always been an iconoclast … Continue reading Not Milk: An Atypical Astro-Tarot Meditation Array
The Diviner’s Medium: Intuitive Insight or Pure Projection?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always been skeptical of the widely-held opinion that the subliminal insights we tap into while reading the cards are a form of spiritual illumination coming from a mystical source of higher wisdom. Those who aspire to the practice of "secular tarot" (now there's an oxymoron for you) believe that it isn't received … Continue reading The Diviner’s Medium: Intuitive Insight or Pure Projection?
Nourishing and Enriching: A Tarot-Reading Paradigm
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hexagram 27 of the I Ching is titled "Receiving Nourishment." The oracle begins with a discussion of "nourishing language," advising that the words we use in communicating with others should be carefully chosen to nourish and enrich them rather than striving to draw personal nourishment and enrichment from them. After that it moves … Continue reading Nourishing and Enriching: A Tarot-Reading Paradigm
Imbibing Fire: A Self-Advancement Ritual
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've owned a crystal ball for several years with the goal of "scrying in the astral vision" but I've despaired of ever getting the light-to-dark ratio in the room just right so I can see something other than reflections or, alternatively, utter darkness in the sphere. However, I think I've found a different … Continue reading Imbibing Fire: A Self-Advancement Ritual
