AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second essay in what may become a series where I take a structured look at "numerological counterparts" among the trump cards as "alike but different" expressions of a common theme. Here I'm tackling The Chariot (7) and its counterpart, The Tower (16=1+6=7). In approaching this subject, I recognized that both … Continue reading The Chariot and The Tower: “Risky Business”
Tarot Card Meanings
High Priestess and Justice: The Quest for Perfection
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my studies I often come across the opinion that the High Priestess and Justice display two faces of perfection, one natural and the other imposed. Although I'm mainly a Thoth and Tarot de Marseille guy, here I'm using the numerological structure of the Waite-Smith Major Arcana, which places Justice in the eleventh … Continue reading High Priestess and Justice: The Quest for Perfection
Why Healing?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again, while reading the tarot literature I've encountered the opinion that the Temperance card relates to "healing." I've unloaded on this notion in the past, but I've had a few more insights since then. The premise that there must be a "healing" card among the tarot trumps presumes that the other cards … Continue reading Why Healing?
“The Light’s On But Nobody’s Home”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a brief meditation on the Hanged Man. The title of the post comes from the halo around the head of the figure in the Waite-Smith version. Albano-Waite Tarot, copyright of U.S. Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT While reading The Way of Tarot, I came across Alejandro Jodorowsky's observation that the suspended … Continue reading “The Light’s On But Nobody’s Home”
Active and Passive Dynamics
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The next major milestone on the road to mastery for the neophyte tarot reader after internalizing the card meanings (as opposed to merely memorizing or looking them up) is to begin synthesizing the interpretation of all the cards in a spread to form a seamless narrative. (I often describe early efforts in this … Continue reading Active and Passive Dynamics
Horizontal and Vertical Orientation: A Study in Contrasts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More inspiration from Alejandro Jodorowsky. In The Way of Tarot, Jodorowsky talks about certain trump cards that exhibit a horizontal orientation and thereby symbolize "action in the world," while others align vertically and emphasize interaction between the plane of Earth and the spiritual (or in some cases, infernal) regions. His representative examples were … Continue reading Horizontal and Vertical Orientation: A Study in Contrasts
The Importance of “Focus”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While ordering my thoughts for this essay, I toyed with the idea of talking about "landscape" and "distance" (near, middle and far) as displayed in the scenic cards of the tarot, since both imply "action in the world" (Alejandro Jodorowsky's supple phrase) that can be explored during the interpretation. But then I realized … Continue reading The Importance of “Focus”
The Further Adventures of “Gaze and Regard”
I've written in the past on the topic of "facing, gaze or regard" between two adjacent tarot cards that include human or human-like beings in their iconography, and what their juxtaposition in a spread means for the narrative when they are either facing toward or away from one another. (Simply put, one suggests "seeing eye-to-eye" … Continue reading The Further Adventures of “Gaze and Regard”
The Pages: “Hesitation Blues”
"How long do I have to wait?Can I get it nowOr must I hesitate?"("Hesitation Blues," early 1900s, attributed to various songwriters) I just came across a description of the tarot Pages as "hesitation between doing and not doing" according to the nature of their suit (Alejandro Jodorowsky in The Way of Tarot). The implication is … Continue reading The Pages: “Hesitation Blues”
The Tens: A “Holding Pattern”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I won't regale you with where I got the raw material for this essay; suffice it to say that it's "of a piece" with my last dozen "sourced" ideas. The Tens of the Minor Arcana have been described as representing a "cessation of effort" while awaiting new information or a fresh impulse to … Continue reading The Tens: A “Holding Pattern”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 