These cards straddle the midpoint of the 22-card sequence of trumps. In the allegorical tale of the Fool's Journey, that divide represents a new "jumping-off place" into a more complex world. The Wheel of Fortune is commonly held to indicate a major change of some kind, auspicious or ill-fated according to the context of the question; its … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Wheel of Fortune and Justice (or Strength)
Trumps
Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: Strength (or Justice) and The Hermit
This will be a split analysis because of the swapping of Strength and Justice that was performed by Arthur Edward Waite for reasons of astrological continuity. The Tarot de Marseille (TdM) that formed the model for later esoteric decks had no occult correspondences, so there was never an issue with the fact that Justice (Trump VIII) … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: Strength (or Justice) and The Hermit
The End of the World and the Major Arcana
This brief poem by Archibald MacLeish is also a candidate for "tarotization." It looks like a five-card trump sequence. Quite unexpectedly, as Vasserot The armless ambidextrian was lighting A match between his great and second toe This suggests the dexterous skill of the Magician. Call it "sleight-of-toe." And Ralph the lion was engaged in biting … Continue reading The End of the World and the Major Arcana
Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Lovers and The Chariot
The Lovers and the Chariot together signal a departure or a new phase, an opportunity leading to decisive movement that brings optimistic tidings. The Lovers is one of the most misrepresented trump cards in modern tarot art, with many artists seeing only "ecstatic love" in it, a kind of "soul-mate connection" (or is that "twin flame" these days?). But the … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Lovers and The Chariot
Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Emperor and The Hierophant
These cards depict the twin pillars of patriarchal authority, one secular and the other spiritual: the State and the Church. Taken as a pair, there is an undeniable aura of "Father knows best" about them. In less flattering terms, we might say they've "got you coming and going." I once created a simple allegory about … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Emperor and The Hierophant
Tarot 101, My Way – Major Acana: The Priestess and The Empress
Stacking these up a bit, but I'm afraid if I sleep on this I'll lose the inspiration. Here we have two dramatically different expressions of the feminine archetype. The Priestess has her head to the sky while the feet of the Empress are firmly rooted in the earth. The Priestess is virginal - even crystalline - … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Major Acana: The Priestess and The Empress
Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Fool and The Magician
Now we dive into a card-by-card examination of the Major Arcana, which I'm taking two at a time since they are brief "thumbnail sketches" (supported by links to my previous posts). Since my approach to the tarot is esoteric in the main but with a practical slant, I've decided to begin each sub-section with commentary on the … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Major Arcana: The Fool and The Magician
The “Tower Moment”
There occasionally comes a time for many of us (hopefully not often) when our personal "house of cards" topples to the ground and hope temporarily vanishes, eclipsed by despair. West Coast blues master Charles Brown once memorialized the aftermath of this traumatic scenario in the dirge-like tune "Black Night." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-71jfEwX-xQ Tarot has a card that … Continue reading The “Tower Moment”
The Nasties
When I returned to professional reading at a local New Age shop a couple of years ago, the proprietress gave me a piece of good advice: the tarot contains a few trump cards that really throw sitters for a loop if they pop up unheralded as the "outcome" in a reading, especially if those clients … Continue reading The Nasties
The Fool and Me
It never occurred to me that this 1974 hard-rock song from Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs album, co-written and sung by the late, great James Dewar, most likely had its roots in the tarot; the timing was certainly right for a veiled New Age allusion. With lyrics that seem to play off the Fool's heedless … Continue reading The Fool and Me
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 