AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I'm unimpressed by much that passes for tarot wisdom on the YouTube channels, I believe I've found a kindred spirit in "Balthazar" at the Balthazar's Conjure site (https://www.balthazarconjure.com/). While most of his recent output is focused on practical magic and related occult disciplines rather than exclusively on divination, his historical content is … Continue reading Divination As Self-Sabotage
Tarot Opinion
The Art and Science of Precise Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's no secret that I'm both an esoteric theorist and a conceptual minimalist in my approach to tarot card interpretation, although as a reader I consider myself first-and-foremost a creative storyteller with a flair for inspiration, imagination and ingenuity in my narrative output. The purpose of this essay is to explore ways to … Continue reading The Art and Science of Precise Tarot Reading
Aleister Crowley: “Hierophant” or “Devil?”
I'm now reading Alejandro Jodorowsky's commentary in The Way of Tarot about the number Five and its "decimal equivalency" in the Pope (Hierophant) and the Devil. One passage struck me as an accidental portrait of Aleister Crowley as an exemplar of what Jodo is talking about: "The Five of Wands represents two temptations: sublimating the … Continue reading Aleister Crowley: “Hierophant” or “Devil?”
The Court Cards as “Decimal Equivalents”
I've been working with the concept of "Theosophical reduction" (adding together and reducing the digits of a composite number to produce a simple, one-factor sum) for so long that I've been more than a little skeptical of Alejandro Jodorowsky's notion of "decimal equivalency" between the double-digit and single-digit cards of the Major Arcana. His premise … Continue reading The Court Cards as “Decimal Equivalents”
Tarot: Three Gods in One?
Yesterday I came across a brief discussion of the Qabalistic numerology of the tarot. It involved an analysis of the Hebrew four-lettered "name of God," Jehovah, and the fact that its letters, Yod, He, Vau, He (written right to left) enumerate to 26. The premise was that since the number of cards in a tarot … Continue reading Tarot: Three Gods in One?
“Transformation Bias”
I've been thinking about the phrase "confirmation bias" as it applies to tarot reading. It strikes me as a fancy psychological term for "projection:" we see only what we expect (or want) to see in a reading and ignore anything that doesn't agree with our preconceptions. This observation brought me to the subject of this … Continue reading “Transformation Bias”
The Hierophant: Theocratic Frontman or Harbinger of a Higher Purpose?
The Hierophant is another card of the Major Arcana with which I take issue, primarily because I'm highly skeptical of the arguments and orthodoxy of all religious faiths of the monotheistic, patriarchal (specifically Abrahamic) type. I don't believe spirituality can or should be put in a dogmatic "box" of any kind, it flows freely through … Continue reading The Hierophant: Theocratic Frontman or Harbinger of a Higher Purpose?
Nature vs. Nurture in Tarot Education
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I may not be the ideal person to comment on this subject since there were no local teachers or mentors back in 1972 when I began my tarot journey and since then I haven't needed any, so my awareness of what is available in the way of tarot education (outside of self-study via … Continue reading Nature vs. Nurture in Tarot Education
A Matter of “Reach”
I'm constantly chiding my wife over the perfectly reasonable assumption that talking to someone is best performed face-to-face, not by shouting from two rooms away and expecting to be understood. (On the other hand, getting up and trotting over to her desk every five minutes is great exercise!) As I see it, this premise also … Continue reading A Matter of “Reach”
The Post-Rational Diviner
I've always felt that the Enlightenment (or "Age of Reason"), which spanned the 17th and 18th Centuries, was the single most devastating blow to mysticism in general, and to the practice of divination in particular. To this day, causal determinism trumps the more allusive modes of cogitation in the dim view of the average intellect. … Continue reading The Post-Rational Diviner
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 