I spent decades wrestling with ways to translate Temperance into practical interpretive terms, never once realizing that the Hierophant posed just as big a puzzle for me. I was content thinking of the latter as showing traditional values and conventional wisdom of a practical sort, primarily due to its correspondence to the conservative fixed sign, … Continue reading Not Your Daddy’s Clergyman After All
Tarot Opinion
The “Inner Life” of Tarot
There is a punch line from an old and very non-PC joke, (for which I apologize without revealing any more) and a response from John Lennon's book In His Own Write, that together neatly summarize all we think we know about the inner workings of a tarot reading. Q: “How do it know?” A: “You … Continue reading The “Inner Life” of Tarot
Who You Callin’ a . . . ?
. . . narcissist. In a forum exchange about which cards best portray male narcissism, I came up with a near-perfect expression in Brian William's Post-Modern Tarot.
Rota Fortunae: Ticket to Ride
In my unpublished book on tarot spreads, I made the following statement about the Wheel of Fortune: It sits in the eleventh position of the sequence, mid-way between Key 0 (the Fool) and Key 21 (the World), bringing to closure the first half of the Fool's journey of self-discovery and stimulating a fresh start with … Continue reading Rota Fortunae: Ticket to Ride
“Cheap Shots” #8 (Do You Believe in Magic?)
There's even a song about it (although I rather ruthlessly culled the verses I wanted for my purpose). "I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul If you believe in magic, come along with me Believe in the magic that can set you free Ohh, talking 'bout magic Do you believe like … Continue reading “Cheap Shots” #8 (Do You Believe in Magic?)
Court and Minor Cards as Allies to the Major Arcana
The appeal of systematically aligning the cards of the Minor Arcana with the Major Arcana has engaged many thinkers on the tarot, and a number of schemes have been proposed, most with a numerical or hierarchical root. Attempts along these lines have been made by James Wanless (Voyager Tarot) and Elizabeth Hazel (The Tarot Decoded). … Continue reading Court and Minor Cards as Allies to the Major Arcana
Tarot Unzipped: Fixing the Unfixable
We have all had the experience: something we take for granted that is commonplace but also absolutely essential to the performance of some action no longer works as it should. Think of a broken zipper on a jacket or pair of pants. Replacing a zipper – unless you're a talented seamstress or accept the expense … Continue reading Tarot Unzipped: Fixing the Unfixable
The Sevens and Eights
When reading the pip cards as a numeric sequence in accordance with esoteric number theory (both Pythagorean and Hermetic), the Sevens, Eights and Nines present a unique conundrum because they depart from the elegant geometric simplicity of the first six numbers. This makes them more difficult to conceptualize in metaphysical terms without relying on prior … Continue reading The Sevens and Eights
Grantchester Meadows: The Card
Sometimes a song's lyrics and melody excite the imagination toward a particular deck or even a specific card. I was listening to "Grantchester Meadows," Pink Floyd's charming English-folk-style song from an early album, and thought what a placid, contemplative card image it would make. "Icy wind of night, be gone. This is not your domain. … Continue reading Grantchester Meadows: The Card
Window to Another World
I no longer remember where this came from, but it offers helpful advice for the unalloyed (if there is such a thing) use of intuition in reading tarot cards. Personally, I agree fully with the last sentence but find the rest just a little too ingenuous, since human mental activity - no matter how inspired, … Continue reading Window to Another World
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 