AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I delve deeper into The Tarot of the Bohemians by "Papus" (Gerard Encausse), I've encountered his mystical take on the Kabbalistic concept of "the Descent of Spirit into Matter." Although my brain is starting to feel like a pretzel, I'm soldiering on and trying to render the best of it into comprehensible terms. … Continue reading Papus and the “Universal Fluids”
Tarot Techniques
Lines, Circles and T-Squares: The Three-Card Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dreams have a way of bringing things to your attention that would have never crossed your mind. This one sharpened my view of the three-card spread. A few days ago I dreamed I was having a conversation with a former subordinate (someone I haven't supervised in over twenty years) about the nature of … Continue reading Lines, Circles and T-Squares: The Three-Card Reading
Subconscious Bias in Remote Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a companion piece to my essay of yesterday. I've been spending some time on the r/seculartarot Reddit sub, where nobody believes in the power of divination. The difference between them and me is that I'm firmly convinced of French author Joseph Maxwell's premise that "coming events cast a shadow before them" … Continue reading Subconscious Bias in Remote Tarot Reading
“Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The more I read The Tarot of the Bohemians by Gerard Encausse ("Papus"), the more respect I have for his wisdom (at least until he wanders off into Theosophy and loses me). When - in his discussion of science - he says that "observation and experience are only instruments" of intuition (the cognitive … Continue reading “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”
The Third Principle
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In The Tarot of the Bohemians, Papus covered a minor point that I've explored in much greater detail in my own work over the last few years, although at the time I had no idea I was echoing a nearly 150-year-old numerological concept. He proposed treating the second of two cards in a non-adjacent … Continue reading The Third Principle
Super Bowl LVIII: San Francisco vs. Kansas City
UPDATE: Well, this certainly turned out to be an interesting reading. It was right about the game going into overtime for only the second time in 58 Super Bowls but slightly wrong about the score, entirely due to the fact that the NFL changed the overtime rules this year. In past seasons it was a … Continue reading Super Bowl LVIII: San Francisco vs. Kansas City
Cut the Cord! – Folk Magic and the 3 of Swords
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written in the past about the opportunity presented by the Waite-Smith (RWS) 3 of Swords to resist wallowing in the apparent misery it depicts and instead actively seek a way to remove the swords from the heart and let it heal. (This is the symbolic function of the nimble and resilient number … Continue reading Cut the Cord! – Folk Magic and the 3 of Swords
Hope-Based Questions: “Be Careful What You Wish For”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just read an old blog post by Bjorn Meuris that struck a chord with me. In his advice for asking a proper question of the Lenormand cards (or any cards for that matter) he said "Don't ask for what you do not hope for to be confirmed" by casting your question in … Continue reading Hope-Based Questions: “Be Careful What You Wish For”
“Ankle-Biters” – A Brief Meditation on Reversal
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While writing my essay on the occurrence of reversals in the Celtic Cross spread, I hit upon the idea that a reversed card (in its emulation of the Hanged Man's inverted perspective) enters the situation at "ankle height" rather than at shoulder level where we can handle it directly in the way we're … Continue reading “Ankle-Biters” – A Brief Meditation on Reversal
The Virtue of Extemporizing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent r/tarot thread, someone advised beginners - once they've diligently jotted down their initial thoughts about each card - to "put this notebook away and don't look at it again. You've done the basic work of learning the meanings, and even if you think you don't remember, that knowledge is now … Continue reading The Virtue of Extemporizing
