AUTHOR'S NOTE: I credit Edgar Allan Poe with educating me about the maelstrom: it is the "Mother of All Whirlpools" that will relentlessly suck down any seafaring vessel careless enough to wander into its embrace, kind of like an oceanic "black hole." Here I'm drawing unflattering parallels to religious fundamentalism and its purveyors, although that … Continue reading The Hierophant, the Archetypal “Five” and the Maelstrom
Tarot Theory
Affirmation Bias and “Participation Mystique”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across an extremely useful concept in Sallie Nichols' Tarot and the Archetypal Journey, that of "participation mystique." The premise is that, until they can begin to fashion words into coherent ideas that define their individuality, infants have no sense of personal ego and instead reside in a limitless, amorphous ocean … Continue reading Affirmation Bias and “Participation Mystique”
“Finding the Path” – Opening A Spirit Contact Channel
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I occasionally encounter questions about ways to contact the spirits of the departed and other disembodied entities using the tarot cards. Through my esoteric studies and practice over the last fifty years I've become familiar with the principles of "astral pathworking" using the Major Arcana, but that is a more disciplined - and … Continue reading “Finding the Path” – Opening A Spirit Contact Channel
Higher Octaves: The Outer Planet Conundrum
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading Aleister Crowley's Eight Lectures on Yoga, I came across his brief analysis of the ten planets of astrology, the seven "classical" orbs of the ancients and (at least in part) the three modern planets. Back in the 1970s, esoteric astrologers considered Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to represent the "higher octaves" of … Continue reading Higher Octaves: The Outer Planet Conundrum
Paired Trumps and Astrological Counterparts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn assigned astrological correspondences to all of the Major Arcana, a group comprised of twelve zodiacal trumps, seven planetary trumps and three "primary" elemental trumps (Air, Water and Fire). The zodiacal trumps were placed in the Chaldean zodiac such that each card has a diametrically-opposite counterpart of … Continue reading Paired Trumps and Astrological Counterparts
The “Crucible of Becoming” Self-Mastery Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: . . . and now back to our regular programming! As I learned them in the early 1970s, the Cardinal signs in natal astrology are considered to be "action-oriented," the Fixed signs are "security-oriented" and the Mutable signs are "people-oriented." When developing their set of astrological correspondences for the tarot, the Hermetic Order … Continue reading The “Crucible of Becoming” Self-Mastery Spread
Temporal Landmarks: The Problem of Timing
"Temporal Landmarks are significant points in time that promote a break from the past and a sense of renewal moving forward. As a result, they encourage a ‘fresh start’ and increased motivation towards aspirational behaviours and goals." (quoted by Michal Shum at modelthinkers.com) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Accurate "tarot timing" consists of precisely forecasting the date of occurrence … Continue reading Temporal Landmarks: The Problem of Timing
The “Aperture of Awareness”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More musings inspired by Sallie Nichols' Tarot and the Archetypal Journey. The Collective Unconscious has been characterized as uniting (at least in theory) all conceivable human potential in a comprehensive "architecture of becoming" composed of archetypal symbolism that exists apart from exterior reality. It intrudes upon our waking world only to the extent … Continue reading The “Aperture of Awareness”
“Bottom-Feeders” – A Creative Solution
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In nature (as well as in human affairs) there are creatures that lurk in the depths and augment their livelihood by sponging off the enterprise of others, either passively or more aggressively. As tarot readers we have all experienced readings of a largely negative kind where the "bottom-dwelling" miscreants among the cards act … Continue reading “Bottom-Feeders” – A Creative Solution
“Impaled on Words”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading Tarot and the Archetypal Journey, Sallie Nichol's remarkable Jungian treatise on the tarot, I came across the vivid phrase "impaled on words" to denote the inability of prose to capture the elusive nature of the Fool, a failing that might be ascribed less urgently to the rest of the allegorical images. … Continue reading “Impaled on Words”
