What is divination anyway? The popular scientific view is that it is pure conjecture with no quantifiable basis; the religious opinion is that it is forbidden by scripture; for the average person it is primarily a subject of idle curiosity. Detractors have coined (or co-opted) the phrase "confirmation bias" (which seems to draw on the … Continue reading Prediction, Projection and Confirmation Bias
A Fish Out of Water
"The fish in the water, the bird in the sky . . ." AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I encountered the above truncated haiku (which is apparently a fragment and maybe only a loose translation of a "traditional Japanese poem"), it brought me back to contemplation of the value of Elemental Dignity in tarot reading. This time … Continue reading A Fish Out of Water
The Pages: “Hesitation Blues”
"How long do I have to wait?Can I get it nowOr must I hesitate?"("Hesitation Blues," early 1900s, attributed to various songwriters) I just came across a description of the tarot Pages as "hesitation between doing and not doing" according to the nature of their suit (Alejandro Jodorowsky in The Way of Tarot). The implication is … Continue reading The Pages: “Hesitation Blues”
An NFL Football Forecast: New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills, January 8, 2023
UPDATE: Looks like the odds-makers were right: Bills 35 - Patriots 23. The game was deadlocked at halftime, but the Bills broke it open in the third quarter while the Patriots went flat; the win was by almost two touchdowns rather than the one TD the cards predicted (at least they got the winning team … Continue reading An NFL Football Forecast: New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills, January 8, 2023
Divination As Self-Sabotage
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I'm unimpressed by much that passes for tarot wisdom on the YouTube channels, I believe I've found a kindred spirit in "Balthazar" at the Balthazar's Conjure site (https://www.balthazarconjure.com/). While most of his recent output is focused on practical magic and related occult disciplines rather than exclusively on divination, his historical content is … Continue reading Divination As Self-Sabotage
The Art and Science of Precise Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's no secret that I'm both an esoteric theorist and a conceptual minimalist in my approach to tarot card interpretation, although as a reader I consider myself first-and-foremost a creative storyteller with a flair for inspiration, imagination and ingenuity in my narrative output. The purpose of this essay is to explore ways to … Continue reading The Art and Science of Precise Tarot Reading
The “Persona & Shadow” Two-Deck Personality Profile Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've long felt that tarot reading is principally a storytelling art built on anecdotal assumptions rather than a deductively rigorous discipline. It is therefore not ideally suited to the analytical exploration of the human mind, neither the subjective navel-gazing kind nor the psychological profiling of other people. (Natal astrology already has that pretty … Continue reading The “Persona & Shadow” Two-Deck Personality Profile Spread
A “Grunge Tarot” New Year
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was gifted the recent (2021) Grunge Tarot for Christmas and decided to use it in my annual forecast for 2023. The deck is billed as an homage to "the last great rock movement" that emerged in Seattle during the 1990s, with tormented souls like Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) and Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) as … Continue reading A “Grunge Tarot” New Year
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
Swords and Wands As “Present” and “Future”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's another unusual twist from Alejandro Jodorowsky. Although I certainly don't love everything he's written since so much of it is mystically obtuse (when it isn't merely peculiar), he does come up with some thought-provoking notions. In comparing the Ace of Swords to the Ace of Wands in The Way of Tarot, Jodorowsky … Continue reading Swords and Wands As “Present” and “Future”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 