AUTHOR'S NOTE: My title is an allusion to a quote from the Talmud mentioned by Sallie Nichols in Tarot and the Archetypal Journey: "Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow!'" One of my favorite semi-truisms about the tarot is "Every time I perform a reading for another … Continue reading “Grow, Grow . . .”
Tarot Theory
The “Soft Landing”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although it still surfaces occasionally among new students, the outdated opinion that the upside-down orientation of a tarot card automatically overrules and refutes the upright meaning doesn't get much play these days. The implications of reversal are now understood to be far more subtle and nuanced, even beyond the typical assumptions of "blockage" … Continue reading The “Soft Landing”
“Guided Intuition”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before the mystics and psychics among my readers get too excited, this essay is not about the participation of "spirit guides" in tarot reading, since in my estimation such entities may be nothing more than astral phantasms of subconscious origin projected by those seeking the comfort and confidence of an external spiritual authority. … Continue reading “Guided Intuition”
The “Double-Axle” Energy Rotation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I often contemplate the operation of "centrifugal" (externalizing) and "centripetal" (internalizing) metaphysical forces as they can be applied to the practice of tarot, something I used to good effect in working up my personal set of definitions for the Tarot de Marseille pips. Here is a spread constructed on those principles. (It is … Continue reading The “Double-Axle” Energy Rotation Spread
Negative Energies and the “Dance of Liberation”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Despite the Zen-like title, I'm not going to take this essay in a philosophical direction (at least not entirely); my objective is to "normalize" (i.e. standardize) our approach to patently inauspicious tarot cards that will offer more substance than simply insisting "There are no bad cards." In her discussion of the Hanged Man … Continue reading Negative Energies and the “Dance of Liberation”
The “Argent Helix” Second-Act Celtic Cross Variant
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my essay yesterday I introduced the concept of a 15-card spread that is basically a Celtic Cross variant. Because it resembles a double ellipse (although a somewhat lopsided one like the lemniscate in the RWS 2 of Pentacles that suggests unbalanced change), and because tarot embodies the mystical nature of the Moon … Continue reading The “Argent Helix” Second-Act Celtic Cross Variant
Doin’ the Backflip
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent online post, someone used the word "backflip" to describe how we might rebound from a card we don't understand to land on our own unique, intuitive interpretation. This jogged my memory about something I once read regarding reversals. One of the more unique ways I've ever seen for handling reversed … Continue reading Doin’ the Backflip
The “Golden Dawn Swap” – Strength and Justice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written about the relocation of Strength and Justice before, but not in terms that strayed so far from the beaten path as this essay does. I have no clue what (if any) use I will make of this, but it's an intriguing philosophical study. (The framework shown in the graphic could be … Continue reading The “Golden Dawn Swap” – Strength and Justice
The Malleable Clay of Probability
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another 3:00 AM meditation that is trying to turn itself into a full-blown essay. Divination with the tarot cards is an unlikely craft that presumes to mold a reasonable approximation of upcoming circumstances from the malleable clay of probability with nothing more than the symbolic images on the cards and a … Continue reading The Malleable Clay of Probability
Why Ask “Why?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jungian tarot author Sallie Nichols made a strong case for why it isn't helpful to ask "Why?" of the tarot cards. I gave her a fair hearing but came away unconvinced. In her lengthy chapter on the Wheel of Fortune in Tarot and the Archetypal Journey (which I've been wading through in half-hour … Continue reading Why Ask “Why?”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 