AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently encountered a mathematical term that is new to me (not something that happens every day), although the concept isn't: that of numerical aliquots, as in "the sum of the aliquot parts of an integer." I came across this in a discussion of the number Six as being an "aliquot sum" in … Continue reading Numerological Oddities
Tarot Miscellany
Jupiter’s Child: A “Tarotscape”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While writing my recent essay about the Lover and the Chariot I had occasion to look up the words to Steppenwolf's 1969 rock song Jupiter's Child, and confirmed my recollection that its mythic tone is perfect for my approach to linking tarot cards with song lyrics. I decided to use the Anna K … Continue reading Jupiter’s Child: A “Tarotscape”
Only A Fool . . .
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I've taken another stab at creating one of my quirky "pop-culture" tarot tableaux, this time marrying Brian Williams' sly PoMo Tarot to Steely Dan's equally sly lyrics in "Only A Fool Would Say That" from their first album. It looks like a "match made in heaven" to me because the PoMo Tarot … Continue reading Only A Fool . . .
“Charging” the Reader and the Reading
In The Way of Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky floats the idea of "charging" the Major Arcana cards with personal significance instead of relying on the memorization of traditional keywords, in effect turning them into talismans imbued with the power of our own subjective vision. The implication is that conventional teaching methods based on the tarot literature … Continue reading “Charging” the Reader and the Reading
Belushi, Etteilla and Holy Water
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sure you're asking yourself what on Earth the three subjects of the title could possibly have in common, even though my admitted fondness for making odd connections is no secret. Bear with me while I spin the yarn. Back in the heyday of Saturday Night Live, John Belushi occasionally did his "Samurai" … Continue reading Belushi, Etteilla and Holy Water
Another Milestone
Just a brief aside before I finish the daily essay I started working on last night. Yesterday I finally passed 1,500 posts on this blog that I launched in August of 2017. I took the better part of a year off, so it seems I've come fairly close to my original goal of writing something … Continue reading Another Milestone
Where Have All the Masters Gone?
Folk singer Pete Seeger once wrote a poignant song titled "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" that lamented the transitory flowering and fading of youth and also, obliquely, the folly of war. In contemplating the unfortunate demise of the stimulating forum that was Aeclectic Tarot in 2017, I often wonder where the council of highly … Continue reading Where Have All the Masters Gone?
The Teaching Way
Back in the mid-70s my brother and I had an esoteric teaching gig in Connecticut. He was an accomplished astrologer and I was an up-and-coming tarot reader with the Thoth deck. We had several lively study groups going on simultaneously and were busy with them a large part of every week. Unfortunately, it didn't last … Continue reading The Teaching Way
My Tarot Trajectory: Wondering, Wandering, Writing, Reading
Lately I've been examining my current relationship with the tarot as a subject of serious study and practice. During the nearly four decades that I lived in the woods of New Hampshire, I did a lot of thinking about the Thoth deck and working with Crowley's premises in a theoretical way (wondering about and wandering … Continue reading My Tarot Trajectory: Wondering, Wandering, Writing, Reading
A Matter of Style and Substance
I enjoyed a long, productive career as a technical and legal writer, generating text to be read by a range of intelligent and talented people, from technicians to engineers to managers to government functionaries. Cultivating precision, clarity and economy in writing style was uppermost in importance. But my first love, derived from many hours spent … Continue reading A Matter of Style and Substance
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 