AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Can tarot really tell the future?" Tarot readers gnaw on this question endlessly the way a dog worries a well-chewed bone, and it frequently comes up in online discussion groups. Judging from the number of comments I've seen, it often feels like there are as many contentious opinions about it as there are … Continue reading Mission Impossible?
Tarot Opinion
The Sevens: “Fearing a Misstep”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This morning I came across a fragment of text by Benebell Wen from a longer translation of one line from the I Ching hexagram Lu, " Heaven over Lake" (Hexagram 10) that dovetails neatly with my previous observations about the Sevens of the tarot Minor Arcana. The gist of it is that the … Continue reading The Sevens: “Fearing a Misstep”
Pitch-Perfect: Tarot Reading as “Tone Poem”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: On nearly every page of Benebell Wen's book, I Ching, the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, I encounter another example of ancient Chinese wisdom that provides fresh impetus for my ever-increasing forays into esoteric syncretism. This time it was the following excerpt: ". . . every movement in the … Continue reading Pitch-Perfect: Tarot Reading as “Tone Poem”
“The Arduous Path” – Walking the Talk
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As the theme for this essay I'll trot out my slightly cynical version of the hackneyed aphorism: "It's all good . . . except when it isn't." Because I detect a certain weary resignation in the voices of those who use the original as a justification for accepting less-than-ideal conditions, it has always … Continue reading “The Arduous Path” – Walking the Talk
Harvesting Truth, Large and Small
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes, when confronting a particularly cryptic tarot reading, I feel like a luckless hunter-gatherer foraging for my supper. There is plenty of sustenance, both large and small, hiding in the bushes but much of it (and occasionally all of it) is impossible to capture. This is the conundrum posed by the presence of … Continue reading Harvesting Truth, Large and Small
Ruling Cards: An I Ching “Hand-off”*
*In US football, a "hand-off after the snap" means that the quarterback hands the ball immediately to one of the running backs behind the line of scrimmage, hopefully advancing it downfield on the play through the element of surprise. (I won't get into the even-trickier "double-reverse" here.) Humor me while I stretch the analogy a … Continue reading Ruling Cards: An I Ching “Hand-off”*
Boundaries, Fences and Neighbors: Drawing a Line in the Sand
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his poem Mending Wall, Robert Frost gives the impression that he is rudely baiting the neighbor who keeps telling him earnestly "Good fences make good neighbors" as they work on repairing their shared stone wall. ("Something there is that doesn't love a wall." Hmm. Why do I feel that Frost would have … Continue reading Boundaries, Fences and Neighbors: Drawing a Line in the Sand
Deck Selection and Spread Dynamics
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not proposing that there are "scientific" answers to these questions but, humans being the insatiably curious and highly critical creatures that we are, I tend to think in those terms. "What is the best deck to use? What is the best spread?" I hear these questions all the time from beginners who … Continue reading Deck Selection and Spread Dynamics
Symbolic Sacrifice and Ritual Cannibalism
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This will surely offend some people, but I've never been especially thin-skinned, and I make no apologies for my non-religious attitude. Consider this an entry in my "tarot curmudgeon" series. I've always understood that early shamanistic cultures performed human sacrifice - and later, animal sacrifice - to summon their gods and thereby curry … Continue reading Symbolic Sacrifice and Ritual Cannibalism
The Lover Departs (or “Squeezing the Grape”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across an unusual interpretation of the Tarot de Marseille "Lover" card that I find quite engaging. It inspired me to present a pair of amusing anecdotes that convey a serious message. (I've already covered this subject from the Chariot's perspective in much the same language; see my previous essay, linked … Continue reading The Lover Departs (or “Squeezing the Grape”)
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 