Human conflict is one of my favorite areas to explore with the tarot because it is such a target-rich environment. I don't do much with multi-party conflicts because they are much rarer than the one-on-one face-off, but here is the latest example of my current approach. Tarot is an excellent microscope through which to scrutinize … Continue reading Human Conflict: The Tarotscopic View
Trumps
Down to the Crossroads
American delta blues singers of the last century were literally "bedeviled" by the idea of a crossroads, where it was believed one could go to bargain with Old Scratch at midnight. Having finally come to terms with the intricacies of Temperance, I decided to turn my attention to its astrological counterpart, the Lovers, which I … Continue reading Down to the Crossroads
The Pages and the Priestess: Acolytes of the Mysteries
I've always felt that the lowly Pages have more to them than conventional wisdom assumes. They are often described as youthful students or apprentices of either sex who have yet to attain mastery of their element, and are therefore of marginal potency in the hierarchy of the tarot court. Their function has sometimes been limited … Continue reading The Pages and the Priestess: Acolytes of the Mysteries
The Knights and the Empress: Fealty and Favor
Some writers make much of the fact that the court cards are unnumbered and therefore can't be used in any way associated with numerology. Personally, I consider them to be part of the suit sequence and to have an implied numeration, 11 through 14. I've been having some fun linking them through numerical correspondence to … Continue reading The Knights and the Empress: Fealty and Favor
The Queens and the Emperor: The Power Behind the Throne?
Continuing my thoughts on the veiled connection between the court cards and the "higher court" represented by the "noble" trumps, I'm now looking at the Queens and the Emperor. The Queens are the thirteenth card in each suit, which number reduces numerologically to Four, the number of the Emperor. This suggests that they can act … Continue reading The Queens and the Emperor: The Power Behind the Throne?
Useful Patterns: Trump Card Overseers
I'm always looking for useful patterns among the cards of the tarot to augment my spread interpretation. Lately I've been playing around with numerical convergence between the cards of the Major and Minor Arcana. But I like to go beyond the obvious into more oblique territory. For example, when the values of all of the … Continue reading Useful Patterns: Trump Card Overseers
The Kings and the Hierophant: An Unholy Alliance?
In historical times there was little separation between Church and State, with secular rulers relying on the sway that the clergy held over the pious to keep them tractable. When you're praying you can't be fomenting unrest (unless you're Martin Luther). The clergy, in turn, relied on the King's protection and largess. Tarot shows us … Continue reading The Kings and the Hierophant: An Unholy Alliance?
The Pathfinder
In a previous post I examined the relationship between astrological Saturn and its "counterbalance," Jupiter, likening the former to the structure of our individual social vehicle (also our protective shell or "armor") and the latter to the indwelling spirit of adventure that motivates the apparatus of interpersonal outreach. One represents the gears, wheels and levers … Continue reading The Pathfinder
Trumps and Mirrors
In my previous post on the subject of astrological "mirrors" for all 78 cards of the tarot, I mentioned that the proper classification of the seven planetary and three elemental trump cards for this purpose would have wait for another day. Today is that day. https://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/the-chaldean-mirror-daily-meditation-spread/ In thinking more deeply about this subject, I realized … Continue reading Trumps and Mirrors
An Open-and Shut Case
By the time Arthur Edward Waite formulated the iconic RWS tarot deck with Pamela Colman Smith, he had forsworn the magical pursuits of the Golden Dawn era and moved on into Christian mysticism. So apparently, when envisioning the Strength card, he decided to ignore the entire Tarot de Marseille tradition behind it and show the … Continue reading An Open-and Shut Case
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 