AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not long ago a new acquaintance, upon hearing that I read tarot cards, asked whether I do readings for business-related questions. I responded that I have yet to do so in a professional capacity but I certainly could, and I have in fact created quite a few experimental spreads for just that purpose. … Continue reading Tarot Reading for Businesses: A Conceptual Overview
Tarot and Psychology
“Scrying Into” the Tarot Cards: An Alternative to Intuition
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Scrying in the spirit vision" is an occult practice involving out-of-body exploration (or, if you prefer, "astral travel") that is more focused and directed than the spontaneous act of intuitive discernment commonly used in divination. (Classically, one visualizes and enters the "body of light," projecting it onto the Astral Plane and moving about … Continue reading “Scrying Into” the Tarot Cards: An Alternative to Intuition
Mission Impossible?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Can tarot really tell the future?" Tarot readers gnaw on this question endlessly the way a dog worries a well-chewed bone, and it frequently comes up in online discussion groups. Judging from the number of comments I've seen, it often feels like there are as many contentious opinions about it as there are … Continue reading Mission Impossible?
“The Arduous Path” – Walking the Talk
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As the theme for this essay I'll trot out my slightly cynical version of the hackneyed aphorism: "It's all good . . . except when it isn't." Because I detect a certain weary resignation in the voices of those who use the original as a justification for accepting less-than-ideal conditions, it has always … Continue reading “The Arduous Path” – Walking the Talk
Harvesting Truth, Large and Small
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes, when confronting a particularly cryptic tarot reading, I feel like a luckless hunter-gatherer foraging for my supper. There is plenty of sustenance, both large and small, hiding in the bushes but much of it (and occasionally all of it) is impossible to capture. This is the conundrum posed by the presence of … Continue reading Harvesting Truth, Large and Small
Symbolic Sacrifice and Ritual Cannibalism
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This will surely offend some people, but I've never been especially thin-skinned, and I make no apologies for my non-religious attitude. Consider this an entry in my "tarot curmudgeon" series. I've always understood that early shamanistic cultures performed human sacrifice - and later, animal sacrifice - to summon their gods and thereby curry … Continue reading Symbolic Sacrifice and Ritual Cannibalism
One Against Nature: A Tarot Self-Critique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mystical and spiritual types like to assert that they use tarot solely to tap into their self-awareness and self-improvement potential in the service of personal enlightenment. Fair enough, but going at it completely cold with nothing but the cards to compare ourselves to - no model or set of criteria defining excellence and … Continue reading One Against Nature: A Tarot Self-Critique
Deep, Distant, Dire or Ditched? – Competing Views on the Major Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Every time I encounter a new observation about the significance of the Major Arcana I feel compelled to revisit the subject in order to re-examine my own position. When I was learning to read the tarot cards back in the early '70s the consensus was that the 22 Major Arcana were a "big … Continue reading Deep, Distant, Dire or Ditched? – Competing Views on the Major Arcana
“Optical Naturalism” and Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a fairly complex topic that will take some doing to sort out (not to mention a couple of very long sentences). In The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabalah), tarot historian Ronald Decker mentions that Renaissance artists like Leonardo da Vinci often applied the principles of optical naturalism … Continue reading “Optical Naturalism” and Tarot Reading
Connecting Sky and Earth
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book on the history of the occult tarot (The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabalah), Ronald Decker ventures into astrological symbolism as it may have appeared in some of the early decks. In his discussion of the traditional planetary deities he cites a passage from the magical tome … Continue reading Connecting Sky and Earth
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 