AUTHOR'S NOTE: No, this essay isn't about stopping a grizzly bear from eating Grandma; I swear it's divination-related. The relative and the absolute are metaphysical concepts I picked up while re-reading The Kybalion. Those new to the tarot who approach it with an eye toward becoming a diviner are immediately confronted with a wealth of … Continue reading The Symbolic Disconnect: Prying the Relative from the Jaws of the Absolute
TdM Material
“Three Sizes Too Small:” My RWS Apostasy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've worked with the Thoth deck for over 50 years because I think it cuts much deeper than the rest. I'm also fond of the Tarot de Marseille (TdM) and the Lenormand cards, and I'm chipping away at playing-card divination, the I Ching and geomancy. The Waite-Smith (RWS) deck is far down in … Continue reading “Three Sizes Too Small:” My RWS Apostasy
The Approximate Tarot Reader
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those tarot readers who use decks with non-scenic or semi-scenic minor cards are already masters of approximation since they aren't being steered by someone else's vision. They had to come up with a personal set of definitions that is not dependent on prosaic scenes, so their divination is often fresher, more extemporaneous and … Continue reading The Approximate Tarot Reader
A “Royal Disconnect”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Any historian who writes about the development of cartomancy in the West will eventually have to deal with the fact that there are three "royal" or face cards - King, Queen and Jack - in a standard playing-card deck and four "court" cards - King, Queen, Knight and Valet or Knave - in … Continue reading A “Royal Disconnect”
The Tarot Threes: Sidling, Then Circling
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a three-deck comparison of the Threes similar to the one I recently posted for the Fives. When applying esoteric number theory to the forty Minor Arcana of the tarot, the number One represents the Point and the four Aces that describe the "prelude" to the action signified by their suit but … Continue reading The Tarot Threes: Sidling, Then Circling
“Happening to the World” – A Trump-and-Pip Card Exercise
AUTHOR'S NOTE:This spread examines the conceptual divide between our private self-image and the public self-projection that signifies - in tarot author Joe Monteleone's memorable phrase - "how we happen to the world." The degree of separation or integration is determined by comparison of two parallel columns of trump and pip cards. In one model of … Continue reading “Happening to the World” – A Trump-and-Pip Card Exercise
The Disruptive Fives: A Bleak But Essential Corrective
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written about the tarot Fives a number of times from an esoteric perspective, and also from a pragmatic point-of-view as indicating the need to "break eggs (the stagnant Fours) to make omelettes (the harmonious Sixes)." I've often called them "can-openers" and "nutcrackers." Their disruptive nature comes from their association with the sphere … Continue reading The Disruptive Fives: A Bleak But Essential Corrective
Refreshing the French Cross Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The five-card French Cross spread (traditionally known as the tirage en croix) is one of my favorite smaller layouts because it reveals what needs to be known about a situation without being overly analytical. It provides a slightly different level of detail than my customary five-card line, and through constant use I've tweaked … Continue reading Refreshing the French Cross Spread
Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Golden Dawn's alignment of the tarot cards with the astrological (aka "Chaldean") decanates (36 ten-degree segments of the zodiac beginning on the Vernal Equinox) has intrigued me since I first picked up the tarot in 1972 to complement my practice of astrology, but I have never been satisfied with its customary application … Continue reading Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
A Non-Esoteric View of the Trump Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I published my Tarot de Marseille guide a couple of years ago, my grasp of the traditional symbolism in the TdM trump cards was only moderate, so for those cards I felt compelled to fall back on the metaphysical assumptions with which I'm most familiar. But I've always had reservations about this … Continue reading A Non-Esoteric View of the Trump Cards
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 