I've been working with the concept of "Theosophical reduction" (adding together and reducing the digits of a composite number to produce a simple, one-factor sum) for so long that I've been more than a little skeptical of Alejandro Jodorowsky's notion of "decimal equivalency" between the double-digit and single-digit cards of the Major Arcana. His premise … Continue reading The Court Cards as “Decimal Equivalents”
Trumps
The Overturned Cups: Half Full or Half Empty?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a wonderful metaphor that speaks directly to our attitude about life's occasional downturns and hints at whether we are naturally optimistic or pessimistic in our outlook: "Is the glass half full or half empty?" As a lifelong skeptic, my first thought when confronted with this conundrum is "What's in the glass?" … Continue reading The Overturned Cups: Half Full or Half Empty?
The Major Arcana As “Therapeutic Insights”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While working on my "Cards for Surgery" essay I originally planned to mention the therapeutic portent of the other Major Arcana outside the scope of surgical intrusion, but decided it really should be a separate subject. Within the context of a reading, these observations should be taken as self-help suggestions warranting thoughtful review … Continue reading The Major Arcana As “Therapeutic Insights”
The Devil: Gateway to the Shadow
Alejandro Jodorowsky, in his decimal approach to the numbering of the Major Arcana (described in The Way of Tarot), notes that the "5" that is subsumed in "15," the number of the Devil, is connected as a "numerological counterpart" to the "5" of the Pope/Hierophant. Where the latter aspires to spiritual sublimation, the former seeks … Continue reading The Devil: Gateway to the Shadow
The Hierophant: Theocratic Frontman or Harbinger of a Higher Purpose?
The Hierophant is another card of the Major Arcana with which I take issue, primarily because I'm highly skeptical of the arguments and orthodoxy of all religious faiths of the monotheistic, patriarchal (specifically Abrahamic) type. I don't believe spirituality can or should be put in a dogmatic "box" of any kind, it flows freely through … Continue reading The Hierophant: Theocratic Frontman or Harbinger of a Higher Purpose?
Cheating the Hitman: Musings on Death (the Card)
"And when the hitman comesHe knows damn well he has been cheated" - from Twilight Zone by Golden Earring I was listening to the Golden Earring song this morning and thinking about its implications for the traditional Death card of the tarot, in which the skeleton seems to be harvesting human heads. The modern assumption … Continue reading Cheating the Hitman: Musings on Death (the Card)
The Archetypal Celtic Cross
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The deck in the photograph is the Waite-Smith Centennial Edition in a Tin, which is copyrighted by U.S. Games Systems Inc. of Stamford, CT, used by permission and in accordance with the provisions of Fair Use. In The Way of Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky characterizes the Magician as dwelling entirely in the present, and … Continue reading The Archetypal Celtic Cross
The Chameleon
"See chameleonLying there in the sunAll things to everyoneRun, run away"- Slade, Run, Run Away Once in a while the question comes up online about how the Magician should be interpreted when it appears as the "person of interest" in a reading about a possible romantic connection. The sense I get is that the inquirer … Continue reading The Chameleon
“Sometimes Crazy Works”
In my recent studies* I came across some useful "key concepts" for the Fool that go beyond the usual meanings of immaturity or lack of mental clarity ("a period of confusion and disorder"). It was described in part as "a card of impulse and instinct" as well as representing an "inability to commit," perhaps running … Continue reading “Sometimes Crazy Works”
The Magician and “Imposter Syndrome”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes the Magician gets a well-deserved "rap on the knuckles." In all his sly cleverness, the Magician can come across as insincere; there may be disarming assurances of proficiency or protestations of virtue where no such qualities exist. I'm reminded of the "Imposter Syndrome" in which we find ourselves in an uncomfortable position … Continue reading The Magician and “Imposter Syndrome”
