AUTHOR'S NOTE: Quoting Thomas Ellison in The Collector, "Conjunction refers to the process of combining the elements from the previous three stages." Another source (Credo Quia Absurdum) notes: "The separated elements demand a new combination to find the balance. The male and female principles are significant for every human being and its physical and spiritual … Continue reading Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Conjunction
Tarot and Psychology
Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Separation
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In approaching the subject of alchemical separation as it relates to the third phase of my tarot "self-realization" model, I decided to quote my source material: "The separation of the elements allows us to observe them more clearly. Their true nature and shape are finally exposed to us." For the purpose of spiritual … Continue reading Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Separation
Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Dissolution
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second in my series of tarot spreads based on the principles of alchemy, this time addressing the process of dissolution. Once again I used a "prepared" deck with the pip and court cards separated into sub-packs and the rest of the trump cards set aside. The purpose of this alchemical … Continue reading Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Dissolution
Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Calcination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading about the seven stages of alchemy for another purpose, I hit upon the idea of doing a series of tarot spreads for individual self-development based on those principles. The first stage of personal growth is one of symbolic calcination, an act of depletion that chastens and corrects as it redeems. The … Continue reading Tarot Alchemy in Seven Stages: Calcination
“Who Am I Right Now?” – A Three-Part Personality Profile
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is an approach to personality profiling that uses a "prepared" deck split into trump, court and pip card sub-packs. The design employs three layers of significance: the outer rectangle of four "pip" cards displays a tableau of daily experience in four elemental attitudes or postures; the middle diamond of four court cards … Continue reading “Who Am I Right Now?” – A Three-Part Personality Profile
A Valentine’s Day Mini-Tradition
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post is kind of a "gimme" for my daily blog update since I've been bumping the attached analysis periodically on Valentine's Day since I first presented it in 2018. I have quite a few new followers who may not have seen it. Because love readings are such a large part of the … Continue reading A Valentine’s Day Mini-Tradition
Schrodinger and the “Fabric of Reality”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't touched on this subject recently, but my involvement in the Reddit sub r/seculartarot brought it back around. I once described divination in fanciful terms as "running my mental fingers through the warp-and-woof of the fabric of reality, trying to tease out threads of truth." More recently I encountered the ideas of … Continue reading Schrodinger and the “Fabric of Reality”
A “Tendency to Exist”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently read a fascinating passage at the end of Sallie Nichols' discussion of the World card in Tarot and the Archtypal Journey that compares and contrasts the views of reality held by physicist Erwin Schrodinger and psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Nichols begins by examining the nature of subatomic particles (circa 1980), noting … Continue reading A “Tendency to Exist”
The True Power of Prediction (or “How’s the Weather?”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: (tl;dr*) Tarot prediction is like "metaphysical weather forecasting." It can hint at the trending environment or atmosphere of future circumstances but not tell you the hour-by-hour conditions at the time of arrival. It's up to you to bring the metaphorical sunscreen or umbrella. In a certain segment of the tarot community there is … Continue reading The True Power of Prediction (or “How’s the Weather?”)
The Solitary Way
"Who has vocation hears the voice of the inner man; he is called." - Carl Gustav Jung AUTHOR'S NOTE: In recent years I haven't been much of a "joiner" since I usually find both the quality and the availability of the communal experience to be lacking. This wasn't always the case, since at one time … Continue reading The Solitary Way
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 