AUTHOR'S NOTE: I no longer aspire to much in the way of psychological self-analysis and personal character development with the tarot after having plowed that field for 40+ years; divination is my main gig now. But I know that many people do, and I occasionally create spreads they may find useful. I've just begun reading … Continue reading An “Evolving Consciousness” Self-Realization Spread
Tarot and Psychology
“It Just Happened . . .”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Cynics and nihilists are fond of saying (with studied indifference) "Shit happens." Here I'm going to take a hard look at that assumption. In a rational Universe, it can be argued that things don't "just happen;" even if we unwittingly place ourselves in the path of a developing train-wreck (the "wrong place, wrong … Continue reading “It Just Happened . . .”
Mindset and the Quest for Control
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Aleister Crowley once wrote in his commentary on the Wheel of Fortune (which at one time meant "a turn of one's luck for the better" but now seems to promise only "change, good or bad"): "(It) generally means good fortune because the fact of consultation implies anxiety or discontent." (In more colloquial terms, … Continue reading Mindset and the Quest for Control
The Tarot Reading As “Mind-Map”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been juggling so many interesting essay topics lately that I had to look at the planets transiting my natal horoscope to see what's going on. As I might have guessed, it turns out that just as the Sun makes its ingress into dramatic Leo, transiting Mercury is also in Leo in the … Continue reading The Tarot Reading As “Mind-Map”
Those Sexy Wands
Because the Wands are generally viewed as enthusiastic, energetic and passionate, many tarot writers accord them a sexual connotation. Here is my very brief take on the subject, which I might apply if I detect sexual implications in a reading (although it's rather far down my list of preferred interpretations for the suit of Wands). … Continue reading Those Sexy Wands
Wherefore Intuition?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many (if not most) tarot writers who discuss the cards in psychological terms relate the element of Fire and the suit of Wands to Carl Gustav Jung's function of "Intuition." Here is my rebuttal. After a good deal of reading and contemplation on the subject, I've come to the conclusion that the metaphysical … Continue reading Wherefore Intuition?
“A Cynic, a Skeptic and a Mystic Walk into a Bar . . .”
Who walks out? Me, most likely! Seriously, though, setting aside cynicism (which helps nobody) is there a place for rational skepticism in mystical practice? I'm a living example of that questioning mindset, believing implicitly in the esoteric wisdom that rewards serious metaphysical inquiry while holding a less charitable opinion of some of its modern proponents. … Continue reading “A Cynic, a Skeptic and a Mystic Walk into a Bar . . .”
The “Equal-Opportunity” Skeptic
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those of us who follow a qabalistic approach to the esoteric tarot recognize that the roots of our study and practice lie in Hebrew religious mysticism that has been adapted for ritual use by the 19th-Century Hermetic occultists of the Western Mystery Tradition. We may invoke the words and concepts but we don't … Continue reading The “Equal-Opportunity” Skeptic
The “High/Low/Middle” Situational Outcome Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I did with Alejandro Jodorowsky's Way of Tarot, I will continue posting selected insights that I pick up from my re-reading of Isabel Kliegman's Tarot and the Tree of Life. Yesterday I rediscovered her Jungian take on the 8 of Cups with its image of a man who, having failed to find … Continue reading The “High/Low/Middle” Situational Outcome Spread
Left or Right? Polarity in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Moving on from my recent essay about the observer's proper orientation to the left and right pillars of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, I set out to explore the significance of the left and right sides in divination. In Western mystical circles, the passive left side is often referred to as the receptive, … Continue reading Left or Right? Polarity in Divination
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 