AUTHOR'S NOTE: "As above, so below" is a cornerstone of esoteric thought in the Hermetic tradition. According to this theory, life on Earth is a mirror or "microcosm" of the spiritual realm, or "macrocosm." Humans could therefore be viewed as approximate (and perhaps distorted) replicas of the perfect beings who inhabit the more numinous levels … Continue reading Above, Below and In-Between
Tarot Theory
A Recipe for Timing (or “Why Did My Cake Fall?”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is not about a Betty Crocker bake-off; it discusses certain event-timing techniques used in divination. But I couldn't resist the analogy! Modern bakers who use "fail-safe" pre-mixed aggregates (you know the hype: "just add water") won't have a clue what my subtitle is about and will only shoot me a blank … Continue reading A Recipe for Timing (or “Why Did My Cake Fall?”)
The “So What?” Moment
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm indebted to a fellow r/tarot contributor for expanding my vocabulary of exclamatory responses to the surprising things I encounter in tarot readings (although this one may be more routine than exceptional and will understandably evoke a dismissive "Ehh"). We've all heard of the "Aha!" moment, the instant during a reading when an … Continue reading The “So What?” Moment
The Nature of Truth (As We Know It)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "What is the truth?" (at least in the matter at hand) is one of the "big questions" along with "What is the meaning of life?" (usually "my life" when asked by a querent) that are often put to the tarot and other modes of divination. (Of course, both questions are aimed at discovering … Continue reading The Nature of Truth (As We Know It)
Filling the Cup
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a disclaimer. Although I'm unmoved by most pop-culture forms of psychological navel-gazing masquerading as spiritual enlightenment, I firmly believe that all legitimate attempts at fortune-telling embody an element of psychic sensitivity based on my own assumptions about "how divination works" (discussed ad nauseum in other posts). So I'm not an arch-enemy of … Continue reading Filling the Cup
“Answer Me This If You Can . . .”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a persistent myth among diviners who haven't carefully thought it through that tarot can't be used to answer "yes-or-no" questions with any degree of accuracy, and that such use is a miscarriage of its narrative prowess. To which I reply "Nonsense!" Like any form of inquiry, binary or otherwise, tarot can … Continue reading “Answer Me This If You Can . . .”
Putting the “Self” into the “Situation”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Unless there is a specific position defining the individual's direct involvement in the matter, most cartomantic spreads envision the seeker (or querent) as an outside observer of the circumstances shown in the cards, peering through a "mystical window" at their future with the reader's assistance. The querent as active "doer" rather than as … Continue reading Putting the “Self” into the “Situation”
“It Just Happened . . .”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Cynics and nihilists are fond of saying (with studied indifference) "Shit happens." Here I'm going to take a hard look at that assumption. In a rational Universe, it can be argued that things don't "just happen;" even if we unwittingly place ourselves in the path of a developing train-wreck (the "wrong place, wrong … Continue reading “It Just Happened . . .”
“Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a sophisticated spread that borrows ideas from palmistry and also from the game-play provisions of Lenormand's ancestor, the Game of Hope. It can be used with either Lenormand or tarot, and potentially with any cartomantic method for which well-defined "stop cards" can be identified. It is best to keep their number … Continue reading “Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
The Nines As “Ripening”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another outtake from Cory Hutcheson's 54 Devils, this time riffing on his observation that the 9 of Clubs implies a "ripening outcome" that is almost ready to drop its fruit. The tarot Nines have been described as representing the "fulfillment" of their suit; they have reached a state of completion that … Continue reading The Nines As “Ripening”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 