AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across the opinion that fear as expressed in a tarot reading is not necessarily a bad thing because it keeps us sharply focused on our challenges while galvanizing us into action. In addition, fear in the form of anxiety is often the driver that brings a sitter to the reader's … Continue reading Applied Tarot: From Anxiety to Empowerment
Tarot Theory
Strength and the Sun: Solar Traveling Companions
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Golden Dawn's astrological correspondences for the tarot cards often reveal interesting parallels and tangents between the Major Arcana. Here is one example. Both the Sun and Strength (originally titled "Fortitude" and later called "Lust" by Aleister Crowley) are associated with the potent solar light that radiates with uniform intensity throughout the firmament, … Continue reading Strength and the Sun: Solar Traveling Companions
Reversal as “Standing Pat”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Tarot Master-Class, Paul Fenton-Smith suggests that reversal of a card can mean "it is wise to remain where you are, despite the tempting opportunities awaiting you." If scrambling is necessary to dodge adversity, he advises returning to the upright guidance of the previous card in the series, which offers a "comfort zone" … Continue reading Reversal as “Standing Pat”
The Less-Traveled Byways of Tarot: Knowledge and Inspiration Meet Insight and Wisdom
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whenever I contemplate the unstructured psychic or purely intuitive approach to tarot reading as currently practiced in "live" settings, on internet platforms and via telephone-hotline "prediction mills," my skeptical nature goes into overdrive. I summon a fanciful vision of a youngish mystical diviner (who is largely untutored and inexperienced in the historical roots … Continue reading The Less-Traveled Byways of Tarot: Knowledge and Inspiration Meet Insight and Wisdom
Degrees of Balance: Unitary and Binary Numbers in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Pythagorean and Qabalistic systems of occult numeration that I use in my metaphysical work were formed around the first nine "whole" numbers or integers, One through Nine, while Ten was an outgrowth of their progressive development. (Zero represents an absence of quantity and Ten is the first "complex" multi-digit number that the … Continue reading Degrees of Balance: Unitary and Binary Numbers in Tarot Reading
The Trump-Card “Playbook” – An In-Depth Look at Counterparts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A number of tarot writers have explored the concept of "numerological counterparts" for the Major Arcana. Here I will examine their ideas and expand them to include the Minor Arcana and the court cards in instances where a direct numerical correlation exists or where arithmetic manipulation reveals similarities. Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm did … Continue reading The Trump-Card “Playbook” – An In-Depth Look at Counterparts
Patriarchal and Matriarchal Bias in the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the early 1980s, I departed the urban tarot scene for a couple of decades to study and practice privately in the country, and when I returned via the internet in 2011 a full-blown controversy was underway over masculine bias in the cards. The online community was awash in hand-wringing, finger-pointing and self-righteous … Continue reading Patriarchal and Matriarchal Bias in the Tarot
What Tarot Does Best: An Opinion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been said that the tarot can be tasked with answering any question, but in my own predictive work it has proven to be better for some inquiries than for others. This compilation offers an overview of my experience in reading the cards since I returned to active practice in 2011. The categories … Continue reading What Tarot Does Best: An Opinion
Reversal as Disconnection: “How Far Should I Stick My Neck Out?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another take on the phenomenon of reversed cards in a tarot reading, this time inspired by the interpretation of a reversed court card from Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class. The male subject was described as being disconnected from expressing the characteristics of the upright orientation, and the impression was of being barred … Continue reading Reversal as Disconnection: “How Far Should I Stick My Neck Out?”
Reductionism as the Tarot Reader’s Duty
"Your goal as a reader is to clarify the client's situation, so reducing the possible meanings for each card on the table is a part of this process."- Paul Fenton-Smith in Tarot Master-Class AUTHOR'S NOTE: My belief has always been that the tarot cards are infinitely flexible and adaptable to any situation, given that each … Continue reading Reductionism as the Tarot Reader’s Duty
