Time - and, it seems, conventional wisdom - flies (maybe out the window?) when you're having fun, which in my case involved pursuing a career and helping raise a family while tarot languished for a few years. When I found my way back, the landscape had changed. I discussed this in detail in a previous … Continue reading Cheap Shots #30: The Shadow Knows
Tarot Opinion
Cheap Shots #29: Faith, Hope and . . . Disparity
I sometimes wonder how those of us who practice divination - especially those for whom "faith" is not the normal mode of approach to all things spiritual - reconcile what we believe to be true about our pursuits and what we're able to confirm as truth. The gap (the "disparity" of the title) between what … Continue reading Cheap Shots #29: Faith, Hope and . . . Disparity
Cheap Shots #28: Prediction vs. Divination
We've been having a spirited and occasionally contentious debate on one of the forums I frequent regarding the difference between divination and prediction (if there even is one), and which approach is most suitable for work with the tarot. A side issue is whether the proper role of a reader in discussing difficult cards is … Continue reading Cheap Shots #28: Prediction vs. Divination
“Ars Longa, Vita Brevis”
Hippocrates was a physician who made this the opening statement in a medical text. The lines which follow: "The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and externals cooperate." Thus in plainer language "it takes a long time to acquire and perfect … Continue reading “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis”
Wish List for 2018
I've slowed down considerably in buying new tarot and oracle decks over the last couple of years. It's not that I don't lust after the latest-and-greatest releases touted by people I trust on the cartomancy forums, it's just that - short of superlative artwork or a magnificent companion book - there just isn't much to … Continue reading Wish List for 2018
Cheap Shots #26: The Slippery Slope
One thing that can be said with certainty about divination is that predicting the future in a "yes-or-no" fashion using any of the currently popular methods of inquiry is at best a 50-50 proposition: one percentage point either way spells the difference between success and failure. In short, despite our fascination with the details of the … Continue reading Cheap Shots #26: The Slippery Slope
Philosopher or Fortune-Teller?
In his excellent (although a bit "lite" for the seasoned esotericist) volume, The Tarot, History, Symbolism and Divination, Robert Place offers his definition of the best use for tarot: "From its origin, the Tarot has been designed as a set of symbols or tools that the unconscious can use to communicate with the conscious mind. Instead … Continue reading Philosopher or Fortune-Teller?
They Loves Me, They Loves Me Not*
*My grammatically absurd title is an intentional poke at the current practice of substituting a plural pronoun in situations demanding a singular one as a way to avoid gender specificity. While there may be a place for gender-neutral pronouns in the English language, this clumsy abomination most definitely ain't it; we clearly need a new … Continue reading They Loves Me, They Loves Me Not*
Tarot Taboos
One of the perennial topics debated on the tarot forums is whether we as readers have (or should have) any inviolable "taboos" regarding subjects we prefer not to touch in our practice. Typical examples include those involving the intentions of "third-party" individuals who are unaware of the querent's interest in them; predictions of death or … Continue reading Tarot Taboos
Cheap Shots #25: “If Wishes Were Horses . . .”
A philosophy professor of mine who was also a Protestant minister (and, for what it's worth, a heart transplant survivor – the very definition of “ on a wing and a prayer”), once told our class that, according to Pascal's Wager, “It's safer to believe in a God even if there isn't one, than to … Continue reading Cheap Shots #25: “If Wishes Were Horses . . .”
