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
Tarot Opinion
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
Big Fish, Little Fish, Old Fish, New Fish
Not long ago, after I was published for the second or third time in The Cartomancer and had made a few appearances in the American Tarot Association's monthly and quarterly publications, while at the same time seeing my professional reading career display tiny sparks of life (so what has changed?), my sister-in-law said to me … Continue reading Big Fish, Little Fish, Old Fish, New Fish
“. . . and I Must Scream.”
In thinking about the widely-held but just as widely dismissed opinion that tarot cards have personalities and "speak" to us with anthropomorphic aptness, I recalled that science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison once wrote a story titled "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream." This led me to finally pin down what makes for my ideal … Continue reading “. . . and I Must Scream.”
“Stick-tuitiveness”
Because tarot-card interpretation is such a fluid form of expression in which we sometimes "throw everything against the wall to see what sticks" (hint: it ain't that simple, kids), the common advice is to pick one method of working and stay with it through thick-and-thin. The thought is that consistency of approach will keep our … Continue reading “Stick-tuitiveness”
The “Innies” and the “Outies”
This essay is both a synopsis and a further exploration of some of the ideas I covered more fully in my "TdM Thumbnail" series of posts. Those of us who spend a good deal of time "navel-gazing" (by which I mean, of course, contemplating "the world in a grain of sand" . . . or … Continue reading The “Innies” and the “Outies”
General Topic Reading and the “BS Factor”
On-line tarot reading, which is starting to pull me in after years of resisting its call, has become something of a crusade for me. When I first approached it, my long-standing beliefs about "how tarot works" ran head-on into what seemed to be the questionable practices of on-line readers as a group. There is an … Continue reading General Topic Reading and the “BS Factor”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 