In my unpublished book on tarot spreads, I made the following statement about the Wheel of Fortune: It sits in the eleventh position of the sequence, mid-way between Key 0 (the Fool) and Key 21 (the World), bringing to closure the first half of the Fool's journey of self-discovery and stimulating a fresh start with … Continue reading Rota Fortunae: Ticket to Ride
Tarot Card Meanings
Simple Keyword Lists
Somewhere along the way I gathered these useful lists of basic keywords for the Major and Minor Arcana of the Thoth deck. I may have condensed them myself into this particular form, but more likely they came from the Aeclectic Tarot forum or an on-line blog. If I could recall from whom, I would credit … Continue reading Simple Keyword Lists
The Sevens and Eights
When reading the pip cards as a numeric sequence in accordance with esoteric number theory (both Pythagorean and Hermetic), the Sevens, Eights and Nines present a unique conundrum because they depart from the elegant geometric simplicity of the first six numbers. This makes them more difficult to conceptualize in metaphysical terms without relying on prior … Continue reading The Sevens and Eights
The “Aha!” Card
Ever wonder why most tarot decks at one time contained 80 cards and not 78? Modern printing practices seem to have changed, but not so long ago tarot decks were printed on sheets of card stock that produced 40 cards per sheet. So the deck creator - or more often the publisher - had two … Continue reading The “Aha!” Card
Wrestling with the Angel: ATU XIV – Art/Temperance
It has taken me the better part of 40 years to come to grips with the divinatory meaning of the Temperance card. The common understanding that it means nothing more than “moderation” has never convinced me. Nor has all of the elevated talk in the literature about alchemical transmutation and the reconciliation of opposites (Fire … Continue reading Wrestling with the Angel: ATU XIV – Art/Temperance
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 