AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Germans have a precise but rather fierce-sounding word for it: weltanschauung. As an esoteric thinker with Germanic roots and a decidedly rational (as well as curmudgeonly) approach to tarot matters, I've always had reservations about the metaphysical worldview that assumes everything in existence is mystically entwined in a matrix of perfect congruence, … Continue reading Tarot Worldview: A Matter of Perspective
Tarot Opinion
A Worthy Outlet?
One thing to which any blogger pays at least casual attention is daily site traffic. In my own case I haven't monetized this blog so I'm not hanging on every minuscule fraction of a penny that changes hands over my contribution to the community. But, although I have slightly more than 300 followers now (a … Continue reading A Worthy Outlet?
A State of Mundanity
It is now going on five years since we moved to our new home in a much more populous region of southeastern New Hampshire. Although we relocated mainly for proximity to family, we had high hopes that we would discover an active social and intellectual environment. Unfortunately that hasn't proved to be the case. While … Continue reading A State of Mundanity
The Withholding
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always had reservations about the prevailing opinion of the Waite-Smith 6 of Pentacles that advocates "charity and generosity" as its core premise since I believe this is social commentary that Smith grafted onto Waite's basic divinatory meanings of "gifts, presents and gratification," objective ideas that present no moral argument (although he does … Continue reading The Withholding
Change As Stability
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just begun re-reading Isabel Kliegman's excellent Tarot and the Tree of Life and I've already encountered a meaty subject that is worth a brief essay. Although her focus is Kabbalistic, she uses the Waite-Smith Tarot (aka "RWS") to illustrate the text, which unfortunately introduces some of the prosaic non sequiturs characteristic of … Continue reading Change As Stability
The “Answer” Begs a “Question”
"Without a question, there is no answer possible" - Alejandro Jodorowsky AUTHOR'S NOTE: From time-to-time I revisit my long-standing preference for reading tarot cards without knowing the sitter's specific question in advance (something I've been doing since 1972). The above quote from The Way of Tarot has raised the subject once again and I couldn't … Continue reading The “Answer” Begs a “Question”
Why Healing?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again, while reading the tarot literature I've encountered the opinion that the Temperance card relates to "healing." I've unloaded on this notion in the past, but I've had a few more insights since then. The premise that there must be a "healing" card among the tarot trumps presumes that the other cards … Continue reading Why Healing?
Divination or Fortune-Telling: A Matter of Degree, Not Pedigree
These days I fancy myself an ordinary "fortune-teller" rather than a starry-eyed purveyor of the psychological and spiritual insights that I've concluded are not particularly worthwhile pursuits for the tarot when compared to the robust capabilities of natal astrology. But I also agree with Alejandro Jodorowsky that a tarot reading - although it may be … Continue reading Divination or Fortune-Telling: A Matter of Degree, Not Pedigree
“The Light’s On But Nobody’s Home”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a brief meditation on the Hanged Man. The title of the post comes from the halo around the head of the figure in the Waite-Smith version. Albano-Waite Tarot, copyright of U.S. Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT While reading The Way of Tarot, I came across Alejandro Jodorowsky's observation that the suspended … Continue reading “The Light’s On But Nobody’s Home”
Tarot as “Magic Mirror”
Although I've always viewed tarot divination as "mirroring" the current disposition of the subconscious mind via the act of shuffling and cutting the deck, I had only seen it portrayed more grandly as a "mirror of the soul" in the title of Gerd Ziegler's Thoth book, Tarot: Mirror of the Soul. As such, it implies … Continue reading Tarot as “Magic Mirror”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 