Aleister Crowley went to some trouble in The Book of Thoth to characterize the cards of the tarot as living beings. Much like Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein (who was rewarded after a fashion when his creature began making "yummy sounds" in the basement), I've been on a similar quest to coax heart-and-soul out of … Continue reading “It’s Alive!”
Tarot Theory
Gaze: Cooperation, Confrontation or Indifference?
Since I've been working with the Tarot de Marseille lately, I thought I would revisit the concept of facing, which in older terminology defines the "gaze" or "regard" of the central figure on each of the trump and court cards. (Is it looking, gesturing or posing toward the left, the right or straight out at the … Continue reading Gaze: Cooperation, Confrontation or Indifference?
Over Under Sideways Down
In 1966, the English rock band The Yardbirds released the song that was the inspiration for the title of this post. The image it conveys reminds me strongly of something I picked up from the Enrique Enriquez documentary, "Tarology," regarding the structural patterns that are evident in the "pip" cards of the Tarot de Marseille. … Continue reading Over Under Sideways Down
The Mountain
In 1967, Donovan Leitch recorded a song titled "There Is A Mountain" that reflects at least obliquely on the philosophical detours (and occasional dead-ends) we encounter when attempting to abstract the objective nature of reality to suit our personal belief system. It features the refrain "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, … Continue reading The Mountain
“When Your Gravity Fails”
For this post I'm putting a slight twist on the words of Bob Dylan from the song Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues: "When your gravity fails and positivity don't pull you through." Although it seldom happens to me after a long lifetime spent with the tarot, I frequently encounter the lament of novice (and even … Continue reading “When Your Gravity Fails”
The Visual Quintessence: Six Ways to Summarize
I titled this post "The Visual Quintessence" because I'm going to show the six ways the quintessence card can be calculated in a series of photographs. You will frequently see me mention and apply the "quintessence" (or "quint") card in my tarot readings. The quintessence is a way to summarize all (or, as we shall … Continue reading The Visual Quintessence: Six Ways to Summarize
A Tarot “How-To” – Deck Randomization
Some of us make a big deal of ensuring that our reading deck is thoroughly "randomized" before we set out to do a reading, so we don't wind up with predetermined card sequences in our spreads - for example, a residue of card combinations left over from a previous layout or, with a brand-new deck, … Continue reading A Tarot “How-To” – Deck Randomization
2020 Presidential Candidate’s Tarot Profile Spread
I've just created a spread to examine the credibility (aka "cred") of the bumper crop of 2020 US presidential candidates among various demographics of the electorate and also within a number of other crucial "opinion-mills." The bottom line is an assessment of a candidate's overall electability. I tried to keep like parameters together under a … Continue reading 2020 Presidential Candidate’s Tarot Profile Spread
The Psychology of Tarot
I often mention that tarot isn't especially effective for probing the psychology of an individual or a situation, such as occurs when we're trying to penetrate the thoughts and feelings of someone who isn't present at the reading. If Carl Gustav Jung hadn't laid the groundwork with his exploration of archetypes, I doubt the major … Continue reading The Psychology of Tarot
A Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down Example Reading
I put the unsatisfactory reading I did yesterday through my new "dead or alive" model as a test case, using the Joie de Vivre tarot. The situation involved a young girl in Connecticut who went missing in 1973 while riding her bike a short distance from home. She went to retrieve an item that she … Continue reading A Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down Example Reading
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 