In her generally excellent (but now slightly dated) 1984 book The Secrets of the Tarot: Origins, History and Symbolism, Barbara Walker describes the colors of the Hindu Gunas as white, red and black, and also relates those colors to the three primary faces of the Moon goddess: waxing New Moon is white; effulgent Full Moon … Continue reading The “Old Moon” and Divination
Tarot Theory
Patience Is Not A Virtue (When Persistence Won’t Do)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: At the risk of "beating a dead horse," I'm going to present a few more thoughts on my uneasy, rather tepid rapport with the (Rider) Waite-Smith (RWS) Tarot and my much more robust appreciation of Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. I come down somewhere in the middle on "pip" decks like the Tarot de … Continue reading Patience Is Not A Virtue (When Persistence Won’t Do)
Lurkers on the Threshold
There is an old cliche that "a bad penny always turns up." This aphorism perfectly describes the barely civil dispute about the practice of reading reversed cards that is currently simmering on one of my more advanced tarot forums. The weary consensus is to just "pick your poison" (I'm full of platitudes today) and move … Continue reading Lurkers on the Threshold
A “Mercury Reversed” Example Reading
As luck (or Fate) would have it, Mercury went retrograde on the 14th of January, 2022, giving me a perfect opportunity to test this spread. During much of the period, Venus is also retrograde but there were no Venus decan cards in the draw. It might be worthwhile to set up the "Archetypal Pattern" for … Continue reading A “Mercury Reversed” Example Reading
The “Mercury Reversed” Retrograde Period Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I split this spread off from yesterday's post for better visibility, saying three times "I promise not to repeat myself . . ." As discussed at length in my previous essay, I don't buy the popular notion that Mercury going retrograde as part of the evolving "sky pattern" is automatically a harbinger of … Continue reading The “Mercury Reversed” Retrograde Period Spread
RWS in the Cross-Hairs: A Critique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not enamored of the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) tarot deck. I think it comes in a distant second to the Thoth Tarot's "masterful/magical/mystical/ mythical/metaphorical mojo;" after all, how could it compete with Aleister Crowley's enormous erudition and Frieda Harris's brilliant rendering. Don't hate me, but I'm afraid it's true. I do use it in … Continue reading RWS in the Cross-Hairs: A Critique
“Inner Navigation” with the Thoth Tarot
The purpose of this essay is to inquire "At what point does (or should) a serious tarot scholar become a diviner?" The best answer to that comes from Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth, at the beginning of Appendix A, "The Behaviour of the Tarot: Its Use in the Art of Divination," which I will quote … Continue reading “Inner Navigation” with the Thoth Tarot
The “One-and-Done” Single Use Dilemma
There are at least four instances (and one related case) I can think of where a card in the tarot deck is limited to a single appearance in a reading when it might be reasonable (and in some cases necessary) to assume that it warrants more than one iteration. One of these is the 12-card … Continue reading The “One-and-Done” Single Use Dilemma
The Fertilizing Flash
I've now gleaned a number of fresh impressions from my study and practice that support writing a bit more about the Tower, the 16th trump card of the present-day tarot (titled "the House of God" or the "Lightning-Struck Tower" in older packs). One of my favorite interpretations comes from Alejandro Jodorowsky's book The Way of … Continue reading The Fertilizing Flash
The Astropsychology of the Tree of Life, Part 2: General Notes
Since the philosophical and hierarchical bases (beyond my First Principle that "Nothing is sacred") may not be perfectly clear for my comprehensive redistribution of the planets, signs and tarot trumps on the paths of the Hermetic Tree of Life , I decided to post my notes. My goals in reallocating the seven traditional planets to … Continue reading The Astropsychology of the Tree of Life, Part 2: General Notes
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 