The question is sometimes asked "What is the proper frame-of-mind in which to approach a tarot reading?" Should one meditate, pray, "clear" or otherwise center in the moment? Is it OK to be a little bit "high?" Must one be thoroughly rested and mentally fresh? Does it help to use candles, incense, crystals or other … Continue reading “Head Space”
Tarot Opinion
A Question of Style
During my long career as a technical and legal writer, my personal goal was to explain complex matters in comprehensive but still entirely lucid language, since to do otherwise could have led to serious human error and/or regulatory exposure for my company. These objectives would seem to be at odds, since completeness and clarity may … Continue reading A Question of Style
The Party of the Third Part
It's time to visit the subject of "third party readings" once again. An eternal topic of discussion on the tarot forums is whether it's ethical to perform readings about someone who isn't present or who hasn't consented to examination of their affairs. There is a broad span of professional opinion on this, ranging from "it's … Continue reading The Party of the Third Part
“I Yam What I Yam . . .”
". . . and dat's all what I yam!" (In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor Man.) I came across a neat bit of wisdom on Andy Boroveshengra's blog Fortuna's Picturebook that I'm going to borrow for the theme of this post: "Cards are never something else before they are themselves." https://abcartomancy.blogspot.com/2019/07/shall-i-compare-thee.html Andy was … Continue reading “I Yam What I Yam . . .”
Archetypes, Alpha-Types and Stereotypes
Warning: I'm going to be politically obtuse here and talk about gender, as in demographics, because at the purely biological level (barring surgical intervention), it is what it is. For the record, I'm an Old White Male (but not quite the "Bernie Sanders of the Tarot" yet), married to the same woman for 40 years … Continue reading Archetypes, Alpha-Types and Stereotypes
What About Those Sixes?
In keeping with my previous post about perceived weaknesses in the Waite-Smith deck, I want to talk about a telling example that fully demonstrates the questionable wisdom of Waite's and Smith's departure from their Golden Dawn roots: the Sixes of the Minor Arcana. In the Qabalistic system of the Golden Dawn (later adapted by Aleister … Continue reading What About Those Sixes?
A Long Shadow
The Waite-Smith (aka "RWS") tarot deck, which modern revisionist thinking has insisted on renaming the Smith-Waite Tarot (nearly as much of a misnomer as calling the Thoth deck the "Harris-Crowley Tarot"), does indeed cast a long shadow (or pall, depending upon your opinion) over the world of exoteric tarot, and specifically over the art of … Continue reading A Long Shadow
“The Nature of the Evidence”
I stole a sub-title from the "Theory of the Tarot" section of Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth for this post because I'm going to revisit the subject of "how tarot works" based on recent forum discussions (which frankly didn't change my mind on anything, just tweaked it). Premise #1: The tarot cards communicate knowledge of … Continue reading “The Nature of the Evidence”
“Tell Me Something I Don’t Know”
I've heard those words, preceded by a slightly petulant "I already knew that," out of my sitters' mouths more times than I care to remember. I'm always baffled by people who, seeing plainly that the tarot is capable of accurately describing a past that is unknown to the reader, can be so unenthusiastic about giving … Continue reading “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know”
Bursting the Bubble
The bubble I'm talking about isn't the thin membrane of false assumptions and wishful thinking that begs to be pierced by way of earnest but unsolicited advice ("I hate to burst your bubble, but . . .), it's the veil of semi-secrecy that many of us as diviners operate behind for most of our days. … Continue reading Bursting the Bubble
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 