I recently performed a reading for someone who is facing surgery and wanted to know what post-operative circumstances would be like. (This is not a medical scenario involving the diagnosis of illness or the proposal of remedies so there are no immediate ethical concerns.) I used the Celtic Cross spread with reversals. I won't go … Continue reading “Cards for Surgery”
The Tree of Life in the Abstract
As I understand it after many years of study, there are two ways to look at the Qabalistic Tree of Life. There is the traditional viewpoint of Hebraic mysticism involving what I term the "rabbinical" Tree, perhaps best exemplified by the work of Rabbi Isaac Luria (which I admit to not having studied in depth … Continue reading The Tree of Life in the Abstract
The Twos As “Accumulation and Incubation”
I've always considered the number Two in the Minor Arcana of the tarot to signify "centrifugal" oscillation like that of a swinging pendulum. It reaches the outermost limit of its travel before being pulled (very briefly) back to center by gravity, and then departs once again to the end of its tether in the opposite … Continue reading The Twos As “Accumulation and Incubation”
“Transformation Bias”
I've been thinking about the phrase "confirmation bias" as it applies to tarot reading. It strikes me as a fancy psychological term for "projection:" we see only what we expect (or want) to see in a reading and ignore anything that doesn't agree with our preconceptions. This observation brought me to the subject of this … Continue reading “Transformation Bias”
Waite’s Celtic Cross: A Critical Analysis
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Imagine that you're an experienced diviner at the beginning of the 20th Century when you first encounter Arthur Edward Waite's "Ancient Celtic Method of Divination" in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. What would a critical assessment of its advantages and shortcomings suggest to you? (The obviously hand-drawn image below is from the … Continue reading Waite’s Celtic Cross: A Critical Analysis
The Color of Wisdom
In The Way of Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky describes the color violet (one of the least prominent colors in his version of the Tarot de Marseille) as the "color of wisdom." As a graphic artist I consider violet a "secondary" color that is a blend of the primary colors red and blue. In esoteric color theory, … Continue reading The Color of Wisdom
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?
The King of Swords: A Study in Impartiality
Once upon a time I was doing a deep dive into the subject of the "facing" (aka "gaze" or "regard") of the human figures on the tarot cards. Facing is often seen as showing where the focus or attention of a card falls outside of its normal span of control, usually conveying an impulse to … Continue reading The King of Swords: A Study in Impartiality
The Eights: Concentrated Fulfillment or Adaptation and Adjustment?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is a reprise of more than one prior post, but I recently came across Alejandro Jodorowsky's extremely favorable assessment of the number 8 in its role as tarot symbolism and felt compelled to restate my case. While some esoteric thinkers consider the number 8 to be the ultimate "perfection" of the … Continue reading The Eights: Concentrated Fulfillment or Adaptation and Adjustment?
The Lenormand “Mystery Story” Spread & Example Reading
An online conversation about the use of tarot for exploring real-life "crime stories" brought out the observation that Lenormand cards can be used for this purpose too. Since my Lenormand work has been slacking lately, I decided to create a spread for the occasion. This layout could probably be used with Kipper cards and tarot … Continue reading The Lenormand “Mystery Story” Spread & Example Reading
