AUTHOR'S NOTE: Except for the traditional block-printed Marseille decks, I get very little mileage out of color symbolism in the tarot. Even then, I stay mainly with the three primary colors red, blue and yellow (along with black and white), scarcely noticing the uncommon secondary hues of green, orange and purple, and even less so … Continue reading Red and Blue: “Living and Knowing”
Tarot and Psychology
Moon Mastery: Making the Darkness Conscious
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although not alluding directly to the tarot Moon, Carl Gustav Jung wrote the following observation that has a bearing on the subject: "One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious." In other words, we must draw it forth and examine it, not try to hide … Continue reading Moon Mastery: Making the Darkness Conscious
“Owning the Mystery” – Personal vs. Collective Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading about Carl Gustav Jung's process of individuation as it applies to the Major Arcana of the tarot, I came across this intriguing quote: "To own a mystery gives stature, conveys uniqueness, and assures that one will not be submerged in the mass. Mystery is essential to the experience of oneself as … Continue reading “Owning the Mystery” – Personal vs. Collective Tarot
Turbatus Somnus* – A Sleep-Cycle Disruption Spread
*Disturbed sleep (I know very little Latin, blame Google Translate) AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's common to ask the tarot "How will my day go?" Here I'm asking "How will my night go?" Insomnia is a subject I haven't tackled before in a tarot spread. I have a mild form of it and the cause is seldom … Continue reading Turbatus Somnus* – A Sleep-Cycle Disruption Spread
Virtue and Vice in the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've placed "virtue" first in my title because, when we receive a tarot reading, we will ideally discover evidence of worthiness in ourselves and our affairs and, unless we're entirely dishonest or avoidant, we will also acknowledge any incursion of vice with an eye toward subduing it, whether it is our own or … Continue reading Virtue and Vice in the Tarot
A Man of Certainty (or “I’ll Know It When I See It”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay follows the same line-of-thought as my previous post on “mystical rationalism.” Not too long ago I read an editorial piece that presented the results of a survey in which it was reported that 37% of the adult population of the United States refers to itself as "spiritual but not religious." The … Continue reading A Man of Certainty (or “I’ll Know It When I See It”)
“Death Becomes Him” – Thoughts on Mystical Rationalism
AUTHOR'S NOTE: You may remember the old Bruce Willis-Meryl Streep-Goldie Hawn film Death Becomes Her. I'm paraphrasing the title to support my introductory premise but there is no intended plot connection. In the occult tarot lexicon, the Death card corresponds to the enigmatic and remorseless Water sign Scorpio. In a previous essay I mentioned that, … Continue reading “Death Becomes Him” – Thoughts on Mystical Rationalism
Run, Don’t Walk – A Critique of “Pathworking”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was recently criticized in an online forum for having chosen long ago to avoid taking a "deep dive" into the tarot by not using the Major Arcana for "scrying in the astral vision." I decided to respond with this broadside. I think these matters deserve a mentor (I'm not volunteering!) since they … Continue reading Run, Don’t Walk – A Critique of “Pathworking”
Negative Energies and the “Dance of Liberation”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Despite the Zen-like title, I'm not going to take this essay in a philosophical direction (at least not entirely); my objective is to "normalize" (i.e. standardize) our approach to patently inauspicious tarot cards that will offer more substance than simply insisting "There are no bad cards." In her discussion of the Hanged Man … Continue reading Negative Energies and the “Dance of Liberation”
Why Ask “Why?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jungian tarot author Sallie Nichols made a strong case for why it isn't helpful to ask "Why?" of the tarot cards. I gave her a fair hearing but came away unconvinced. In her lengthy chapter on the Wheel of Fortune in Tarot and the Archetypal Journey (which I've been wading through in half-hour … Continue reading Why Ask “Why?”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 