This post brings together a few ideas I've floated in past essays: "playing both ends against the middle" when approaching the trump-card sequence; the concept of "numerological counterparts" among the trumps; the trumps as "archetypal expressions" of the "pip" cards; and the linking of certain trumps through means other than immediate proximity. I've recently been … Continue reading Recombinant Trumps: Rescuing Chaos from Conformity
Tarot Opinion
The “Keys to the Kingdom”
Somewhere in the dim and distant past I encountered the idea that astrology represents the "gold key" to unlocking visions of the future through divination, in that it is objective and rational (that is, based on visible phenomena), while the more subjective and intuitive tarot provides the "silver key." I can no longer find the … Continue reading The “Keys to the Kingdom”
Alike But Different: The Two and Three of Wands
In her book The Tarot and the Tree of Life, Isabel Kliegman goes to some length to justify why we need both the Two and Three of Wands in a pack of tarot cards when - at least in the Waite-Smith deck - they seem to be almost identical in appearance. For me there has … Continue reading Alike But Different: The Two and Three of Wands
Daily-Draw Tones and Overtones: Variations On a Theme
I've found over many years of working with them that single-card daily draws are more useful for showing the background "tone" of the upcoming day than for trying to pinpoint specific activities or events. They are too limited in scope to effectively convey all of the ramifying "overtones" that can accompany the main theme, which … Continue reading Daily-Draw Tones and Overtones: Variations On a Theme
Why Do It?
In his book The Horary Textbook, John Frawley makes the point that divination shouldn't be attempted unless the querent (who is often oneself) has a legitimate need to know the answer. Anything other than that is just idle curiosity about circumstances that don't directly concern us, and therefore a misuse of the method. I've been … Continue reading Why Do It?
The Role of Psychism
At its heart, the act of reading the tarot cards (especially for others) is a psychic one, even though we insist that we "just read the cards, not minds." The reader's goal is to solve Winston Churchill's "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" that obscures the querent's future, the key to which is … Continue reading The Role of Psychism
The “Prudence of Prognostication”
According to author Richard Cavendish, the Roman philosopher Cicero considered the virtue of prudence to be comprised of three characteristics: memory, intelligence and foresight. When applied to the art of divination, these qualities refer to 1) fastidious contemplation of the past, 2) avid engagement with the present and 3) canny speculation about the future, all … Continue reading The “Prudence of Prognostication”
A “Paragon of Earth” Talisman
In looking over my "Aces/Princesses" paradigm of descent into materiality that "operates via the 'solar' potency of the Sixes, establishing their 'kingdom on Earth' through the administrative vigor of the fixed signs," I thought it might be interesting to use the "quintessence" technique to turn the series of cards into single trumps to use as … Continue reading A “Paragon of Earth” Talisman
The Ringmaster Speaks
While digging through on-line interview material looking for videos by Enrique Enriquez, I came across a quote of his that put something into perspective for me. "The first metaphor in tarot happens when we shuffle the tarot. There is a carnivalesque stance in this debasement of hierarchies. I associate this with sabotaging reality. Shuffling the … Continue reading The Ringmaster Speaks
Poetry in Motion
I've been thinking about Enrique Enriquez' imaginative approach to the Tarot de Marseille that aims to turn the cards into "visual poetry," apparently without the intervention of inductive reasoning. (I believe it's intended to be more inventive and inspiring than ordinary free-association, which works rather poorly with the TdM anyway.) It seems to me that, … Continue reading Poetry in Motion
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 