The Devil is always a fascinating card to approach from an interpretive standpoint. As I understand it, the paragon of evil shown in early decks was intended to be a demon (or arch-demon), not the biblical Satan; its elevation came later. There is a modern tendency to see the Devil as "not such a bad … Continue reading Devilish Details
Tarot Card Meanings
A Turn of the Wheel . . .
Had Omar Khayyam been a tarotist, he might have said something like "The moving Wheel spins, and having spun, moves on." Until fairly recently, the usual interpretation of the Wheel of Fortune was predominantly positive, given its astrological correspondence to the planet Jupiter, known as "the Greater Benefic." A sampling of keywords yields "Destiny; fortune; … Continue reading A Turn of the Wheel . . .
Force, Strength or Lust?
The Lady and the Lion: Trump #11 in early decks and also in Aleister Crowley's Thoth but Trump #8 in decks based on A.E. Waite's model, this card has variously been titled Force (or Fortitude), Strength and Lust. Tarot de Marseille decks customarily show a woman opening the jaws of a lion, apparently without having … Continue reading Force, Strength or Lust?
The Aces: “First Whirlings”
I often hear novice tarot readers say, upon encountering an Ace in a reading, "You're going to be starting something new!" I think to myself "Well, no . . . at least not yet." The Aces represent the impulse to act that sparks (or should spark) the focus and concentration essential to mounting any well-planned … Continue reading The Aces: “First Whirlings”
Cheap Shots #18: Justice Restored
No, this isn't about the impeachment of Donald Trump. It alludes to the fact that Aleister Crowley returned the trump cards Justice and Strength (aka Fortitude) to the positions they held in the historical decks of Italy and France: Justice as the eighth in the series and Strength as the eleventh. For his part, A. … Continue reading Cheap Shots #18: Justice Restored
“Is this love, or is it just confusion?”
Jimi Hendrix could have been channeling a dysfunctional 2 of Cups when he wrote the lyrics to "Love or Confusion:" Oh my head is pounding pounding Going 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round Must there always be these colors? Without names without sound? My heart burns with feelin' but Oh but my mind is … Continue reading “Is this love, or is it just confusion?”
Hangin’ Out
It has always seemed to me that the Hanged Man gets a bad rap. After all, patience is a virtue and in my experience the “sacrifice” almost universally applied to interpretation of this card often means relinquishing time or initiative rather than irretrievable loss of anything more concrete. Inaction can even be the most prudent … Continue reading Hangin’ Out
Astrology is Your Friend
Those who prefer an entirely intuitive, visual approach to reading tarot cards are in the habit of pushing back vehemently against the use of any kind of knowledge-based occult symbolism or esoteric correspondences in their practice. In some cases a certain dismissive elitism is behind this resistance, in others it's simply a matter of being … Continue reading Astrology is Your Friend
Not Your Daddy’s Clergyman After All
I spent decades wrestling with ways to translate Temperance into practical interpretive terms, never once realizing that the Hierophant posed just as big a puzzle for me. I was content thinking of the latter as showing traditional values and conventional wisdom of a practical sort, primarily due to its correspondence to the conservative fixed sign, … Continue reading Not Your Daddy’s Clergyman After All
Who You Callin’ a . . . ?
. . . narcissist. In a forum exchange about which cards best portray male narcissism, I came up with a near-perfect expression in Brian William's Post-Modern Tarot.
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 