Many people believe that the tarot can answer any question, big or small (true, in a qualified way), and that the mere act of asking will deliver an unconditional solution to their problem, gift-wrapped and duty-free, into their anxiously waiting hands (less certain in many cases). They take the old "instant food" promise to heart … Continue reading Live the Question/Live the Answer
Tarot Opinion
The Insomniac’s Friend
Tarot is a boon companion to those cartomancy fans (or "fiends") who are unable to sleep through the night. Some get up and play with their cards until fatigue overtakes them. I dream up (in a semi-lucid fashion) new ideas for this blog; sometimes I get up and type feverishly before they escape me and … Continue reading The Insomniac’s Friend
The “Better Mousetrap” Disorder
Human beings (and to some extent their simian cousins) are afflicted with a malady that is unique in the animal kingdom: intellectual curiosity. Most creatures operate at the level of survival instinct, with "fight-or-flight" the main theme of their decision-making and mating, eating or self-defense their chief preoccupation at various times. (Come to think of … Continue reading The “Better Mousetrap” Disorder
Saving Tarot from Psychology
During a delightful presentation by Rachel Pollack at a regional tarot meeting on Saturday, the subject of fortune-telling came up. Rachel made the fascinating remark that back when she began reading for others over forty years ago, she was committed to saving tarot from the tarnish of fortune-telling, but now she is more inclined to … Continue reading Saving Tarot from Psychology
Involution vs. Evolution
As I continued to look for subtle patterns in the multi-faceted relationship between the cards of the Minor Arcana, I began thinking about the flow of elemental energy on the qabalistic Tree of Life. In the most commonly applied model, that flow follows the top-to-bottom Path of the Lightning Flash or Flaming Sword, with the … Continue reading Involution vs. Evolution
Cartomantic Consumerism: One Deck Too Far
A question came up on one of the tarot forums late last year that stopped me in my tracks, and after thinking carefully about it I haven't bought a new deck of any kind since (although I still lust for quite a few). "How many decks are too many?" My flippant answer at the time … Continue reading Cartomantic Consumerism: One Deck Too Far
“Easy Come, Easy Go”
I'm not exactly "at war" with the narrative thrust of the Minor Arcana in the Waite-Smith (aka RWS) deck, but it often doesn't sit well with me because of my lengthy involvement with the Thoth deck and the Golden Dawn's system of esoteric symbolism. It's not just that the stories they tell are prosaic, they … Continue reading “Easy Come, Easy Go”
Life After Intuition
I'm not a huge fan of purely intuitive tarot reading. There, I said it. It will probably be dismissed as mean-spirited literalism toward what is chiefly an elastic, visionary pursuit, but there is something too fatuously "squishy" about unmitigated intuition for my taste. I think the idea is fed to beginners as "The Way" because … Continue reading Life After Intuition
The Other “I” Words
Since I describe myself as a storyteller in the same breath that I profess to being a diviner, I often find that intuition is thin sauce with which to season my readings. It's not something that can typically be turned on and off at will like a faucet; when it's "on," it's free-flowing and insightful, … Continue reading The Other “I” Words
The Blame Game: Court Cards as People
I haven't been polishing my "curmudgeon cred" much since I ended my "Cheap Shots" series, so here is another crack at it. Late-19th-Century tarot authorities, lacking our psychological and sociological sophistication, almost unanimously considered the court cards to show other people in the querent's life, even going to the extreme of trying to describe their … Continue reading The Blame Game: Court Cards as People
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 