AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my studies I often come across the opinion that the High Priestess and Justice display two faces of perfection, one natural and the other imposed. Although I'm mainly a Thoth and Tarot de Marseille guy, here I'm using the numerological structure of the Waite-Smith Major Arcana, which places Justice in the eleventh … Continue reading High Priestess and Justice: The Quest for Perfection
Trumps
Why Healing?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again, while reading the tarot literature I've encountered the opinion that the Temperance card relates to "healing." I've unloaded on this notion in the past, but I've had a few more insights since then. The premise that there must be a "healing" card among the tarot trumps presumes that the other cards … Continue reading Why Healing?
“The Light’s On But Nobody’s Home”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a brief meditation on the Hanged Man. The title of the post comes from the halo around the head of the figure in the Waite-Smith version. Albano-Waite Tarot, copyright of U.S. Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT While reading The Way of Tarot, I came across Alejandro Jodorowsky's observation that the suspended … Continue reading “The Light’s On But Nobody’s Home”
Revisiting Strength/Force: Honoring the Ego
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I first compared the Waite-Smith version of the Strength card to the traditional Tarot de Marseille "Force" or "Fortitude" image, it became obvious that Waite and Smith had taken some "liberties" with the earlier iconography. While reading Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Way of Tarot, I put my finger a little more precisely on … Continue reading Revisiting Strength/Force: Honoring the Ego
Balancing the Arcana: A Sun-Moon Example
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Having returned to New Hampshire after a month in the Florida sunshine, I've picked up reading Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Way of Tarot again during my morning treadmill sessions. I'm now pondering his discussion of three-card combinations that exhibit a revolving, left-to-right order of presentation, in which the diversity of the three-way distribution alters … Continue reading Balancing the Arcana: A Sun-Moon Example
Mission Improbable?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the past I've written about the subject of "facing" (gaze or regard) of the figures on the tarot cards. Here I'm going to address the related topic of gesture or posture, at least to the extent that it applies to the scope of this essay. As I wind down my second pass … Continue reading Mission Improbable?
An “Ideal vs. Real” Credibility-Gap Spread
Here is a spread that attempts to come to grips with that age-old question: "What should I do with my life at this point in time?" It uses the archetypal qualities of the Major Arcana to "set the bar" for expectations, and a second full deck to show any gaps between the hypothetical "best case" … Continue reading An “Ideal vs. Real” Credibility-Gap Spread
Horizontal and Vertical Orientation: A Study in Contrasts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More inspiration from Alejandro Jodorowsky. In The Way of Tarot, Jodorowsky talks about certain trump cards that exhibit a horizontal orientation and thereby symbolize "action in the world," while others align vertically and emphasize interaction between the plane of Earth and the spiritual (or in some cases, infernal) regions. His representative examples were … Continue reading Horizontal and Vertical Orientation: A Study in Contrasts
An Alternate Take on the “Shadow” Card
It is a common practice among modern tarot readers to look at the bottom card of the deck after the rest of the cards have been dealt, with the purpose of discovering hidden aspects of the matter; this is variously called the "base" or "shadow" card. Personally, I want none of this in my own … Continue reading An Alternate Take on the “Shadow” Card
The Sixes as “Solar Centerpiece”
I recently reconnected with an idea I had forgotten about from my previous studies: adding together the integers of certain sets of three consecutive numbers from One to Nine (and, if necessary, refining the sum through "Theosophical reduction") will always yield the number Six. The same is true of the double-digit trump cards, and actually … Continue reading The Sixes as “Solar Centerpiece”
