AUTHOR'S NOTE: There are many people who have the natural psychic ability to penetrate the Veil that separates the mundane world from the spiritual realm, returning with insights that may be unattainable in any other way. (My Spiritualist cousin was brilliant at it, and my maternal grandmother was no slouch.) To them I tip my … Continue reading To Funnel or Forage: Delivered vs. Discovered Wisdom
Spirituality
Tarot Elements: Four or Five?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm aware that some diviners read the tarot as partaking of five elements: the four of Empedocles (and Zoroaster before him, apparently, although I haven't researched it) - Fire, Water, Air and Earth - with the Major Arcana as the fifth element of Spirit. As an astrologer for a couple of years before … Continue reading Tarot Elements: Four or Five?
Portable Magic by Another Name
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just begun reading Donald Tyson's book, Tarot Magic, one that I've wanted to own for a long time under its original title, Portable Magic. Its premise is that tarot cards can stand in for the elaborate trappings of full-blown ceremonial magic, and we can just box up the deck and put it … Continue reading Portable Magic by Another Name
Summer is Coming!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My antipodal readers will be excused for taking a pass on this post, although the day of solar turnaround (despite what AI thinks, it has nothing to do with the time required to install solar panels) is still a significant moment in their annual cycle. As a non-religious person and more specifically a … Continue reading Summer is Coming!
Kabbalah and Tarot – A Collision of Concepts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently read a fascinating essay by Mark Horn on the Tarot History Facebook page that proposed Italian nobleman and scholar Giovanni Pico della Mirandola as the forefather of the esoteric connection between the tarot and the Hebrew Kabbalah via his association with philosopher Marsillio Ficino in the court of Lorenzo de Medici … Continue reading Kabbalah and Tarot – A Collision of Concepts
“Spirits of Another Sort”
"But we are spirits of another sort." - Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream AUTHOR'S NOTE: The modern fascination with "noble spirits" willing to ally with humans in our quest for self-awareness seems to owe a good deal to Shakespeare's fanciful treatment of the subject, disregarding the uncharitable attitude often attributed to "faery-folk" who have … Continue reading “Spirits of Another Sort”
Under the Moon
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a "lunar" person born on a Full Moon I've always felt its pull, and this month is no exception. Although I was inspired in beginning this essay by my reading of Medieval cultural history, as I was writing it I was at least subconsciously aware that the Moon will be full tomorrow. … Continue reading Under the Moon
“Prohibited, Occulted and Scorned” – Individuation vs Institutionalization
"The occulting of ideas, especially those that empower individuation and spirituality as opposed to ideas which offer institutionalization and religiosity, has been taking place since . . . around the first century."- From The Tao of Thoth by Ethan Indigo Smith AUTHOR'S NOTE: I try to get in half-an-hour of metaphysical reading every morning while … Continue reading “Prohibited, Occulted and Scorned” – Individuation vs Institutionalization
Tarot Reading as Truthful Fiction
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just encountered the "five species of dream" derived from the Oneirocritica of 3rd-Century (CE) Graeco-Roman soothsayer (professional dream interpreter) Artemidorus, whose work was admired by Sigmund Freud. I've listed them below, but only the first three are germane to this essay. Veridical Kinds (Coinciding with reality)Somnium: Truths veiled in allegorical fiction.Visio: Direct, … Continue reading Tarot Reading as Truthful Fiction
No Man’s Land: Thoughts on the Astral Plane
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been reading about the work of Chalcidius, the 4th-Century CE Christian translator and commentator on Plato's Timaeus who, along with his 12th-Century interpreter, French theologian Alain de Lille (Alanus ab Insulis), subscribed to Plato's "Principle of the Triad" in concluding that God does not engage directly with Man, but solely through invisible … Continue reading No Man’s Land: Thoughts on the Astral Plane
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 