I was thinking today about the ways that the Major Arcana cards tie together numerologically. Except for the Fool, all of them have what Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm call "numerological counterparts:" trump cards whose numbers when subject to mathematical reduction result in a lower-numbered card with which the original card can be seen as having … Continue reading Numerological Fun with the Trumps
Tarot Resources
The Full Monty: Comparing Tarot Deck Styles
For those of you aren't British, this is the source of my title: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_full_monty_(phrase) A question was recently raised on one of the tarot forums as to whether there is a comprehensive table providing a side-by-side comparison of card meanings across all the major deck styles: Tarot de Marseille (TdM), Etteilla, Wirth, Golden Dawn, RWS … Continue reading The Full Monty: Comparing Tarot Deck Styles
Thoth Pip Cards as Emotions
A couple of years ago one of my Aeclectic Tarot forum mates conducted an exercise to explore how the Minor Arcana, or "pip" cards, of the Thoth deck might be categorized as a range of emotional expressions: Joy, Anger, Love, Grief, Surprise, Fear, Trust and Anxiety. Because the Thoth pips have titles on them as … Continue reading Thoth Pip Cards as Emotions
An Opening of the Key First Operation Template
Those who are interested in the Golden Dawn and Thoth methods of divination have the complex and lengthy Opening of the Key (OotK) series of "operations" to entertain them. This includes a relatively straightforward initial operation that provides an overview of the querent's situation at the time of the reading. It is followed by three … Continue reading An Opening of the Key First Operation Template
Table of Affinities and Correspondences
One technique often used by tarot readers when analyzing a spread is that of preponderance - determining whether there is an abundance (or conversely, an absence) of any fundamental aspect of interpretation. This approach can show where too much (or not enough) attention is being paid to certain particulars of the matter, possibly to the … Continue reading Table of Affinities and Correspondences
The Golden Dawn Factor
The contribution of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to our modern understanding and use of the tarot cannot be overestimated. Here is a link to a brief article on Biddy Tarot by Richard L. Palmer that lays out the fundamentals. https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-astrology-golden-dawn/ The esoteric concepts and structures devised by the Golden Dawn and its … Continue reading The Golden Dawn Factor
My Tarot and Lenormand Decks
Since I'm offering personal on-line readings here, I thought it would be prudent to list all of the tarot and Lenormand decks I have available. The first six are those I use regularly in face-to-face public readings, the rest are more for private use and study but I will read with any you choose. That … Continue reading My Tarot and Lenormand Decks
The Professional’s Toolbox
I returned to professional public reading around a year ago, after many years away. The first thing that struck me is the number of new decks that are available now, mostly Waite-Smith (aka "RWS") clones. As a long-time student and reader of Aleister Crowley's esoterically profound Thoth deck, I wasn't entirely comfortable using it across … Continue reading The Professional’s Toolbox
The Thoth Minor Arcana
I've worked with the Aleister Crowley/Frieda Harris Thoth deck since 1972 and have been consistently impressed by how evocative the Minor Arcana are, mainly through their use of color and mood along with Crowley's Golden-Dawn-derived titles and brief explanations in The Book of Thoth. I never felt any need for scenic illustrations and their encapsulated … Continue reading The Thoth Minor Arcana
Elemental Dignity Permutations by Suit
In the Liber Theta discussion of Elemental Dignities, Jim Eshelman uses the term "permutations" for the three-card combinations that can be made with cards of elementally friendly, unfriendly and neutral nature. Although I diverge in my view of the "neutral and supportive" category, instead considering those cards to be "complementary opposites" - one suit provides … Continue reading Elemental Dignity Permutations by Suit
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 