As a traditional natal and horary astrologer who typically uses only the seven planets of antiquity and their various modes of essential and accidental dignity, I don't assign zodiacal signs of exaltation to the modern (aka "trans-Saturnian) planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. In fact, I barely use those planets in my work at all, but … Continue reading The “Higher Octave” Meditation
Tarot Theory
A Twist on Elemental Dignities
As a continuation of my work in blending the influence of the astrological modalities into the sign-and-planet meanings of the 36 minor, or "decan" cards of the tarot, I thought it would be interesting and possibly revealing to bring this idea into the use of Elemental Dignities (EDs). Melding the various elements and modalities of … Continue reading A Twist on Elemental Dignities
The Astropsychology of the Tree of Life
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's going to be another "two-fer" day for my readers since I decided to sneak this one into my usual "tarot brain-dump." It's not so much writing as thinking (way) outside the box. This is a liberal adaptation of the "standard" Hermetic (Kircher) Tree of Life that appears in most modern esoteric books. … Continue reading The Astropsychology of the Tree of Life
Foreground, Middle-Ground and Background Cards
Author's Note: For those of you who work with the esoteric tarot, this isn't a conventional explanation of the astrological decanates as they apply to the 36 minor cards (the Aces are a "special animal" in that regard) which mostly stop at sign and planet associations. I've expanded upon that model by looking more closely … Continue reading Foreground, Middle-Ground and Background Cards
Chasing the Sun and Moon: The Astro-Psychology of the Major Arcana
According to the psychological astrology that had its roots in the groundbreaking work of Dane Rudhyar and Marc Edmund Jones and its initial flowering during the 1970s, the zodiacal (sign) placement of the Sun shows our Ego-center or, in more poetical terms, how we can "shine" most brightly in our personal self-expression (the house placement … Continue reading Chasing the Sun and Moon: The Astro-Psychology of the Major Arcana
A Reasonable Assumption
As regular readers of this blog know, I'm not an advocate of remote tarot reading of any kind although, with COVID keeping me away from "live" divination venues for the foreseeable future, I've been doing a few of them by email. The thought struck me that useful parallels might be drawn between the conventions of … Continue reading A Reasonable Assumption
Express Yourself
"It's not what you look likeWhen you're doin' what you're doin'It's what you're doin' when you're doin'What you look like you're doin'Express yourselfExpress yourself"- Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band Before we moved across the State, I had an occasional tarot reading gig at a local esoteric shop and then, after the … Continue reading Express Yourself
Garbage In, Garbage Out
This is likely to be a controversial subject. There is an old tenet from computer science that goes: "Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) is the concept that flawed, or nonsense input data produces nonsense output or 'garbage.' The principle also applies more generally to all analysis and logic, in that arguments are unsound if their … Continue reading Garbage In, Garbage Out
The “12 Modes of Consciousness” Spread
Although I'm no fan of using tarot for psychological profiling (which is better served by natal astrology), preferring instead a more action-and-event-oriented approach, here is a spread that adopts a creative spin on the four cognitive functions of Carl Jung. Reversals may be used to show a further elaboration of the inner landscape.
The Virtue of Simplicity
As time goes on I find myself drawn more and more to working with only the 56 Minor Arcana cards in divination. Granted, the 22 Major Arcana are where most of the philosophical "meat" lies in the tarot, but very few of my readings rise to that level of metaphysical complexity and intensity. Most of … Continue reading The Virtue of Simplicity
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 