AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is one of my "bonus" posts that I will occasionally double-up on in my daily output. UPDATE: During an online conversation about this reading, someone observed that the 4 of Wands clearly means she is deceased. I responded by saying that I'm not so sure. Aleister Crowley's idea behind the title for … Continue reading Where Is Harmony? – A Tarot-Cartography View
Barbara Walker and the RWS Suit of Pentacles
Although it's a bit overstuffed with mythology and "armchair" anthropology (think "Golden Bough Lite"), I've been reading Barbara Walker's fascinating and frequently enlightening 1984 book Secrets of the Tarot: Origins, History and Symbolism. Despite the meticulous academic tone of much of her writing and its overarching themes of matriarchal culture and Goddess worship in antiquity, … Continue reading Barbara Walker and the RWS Suit of Pentacles
“Warring Archetypes”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As my thinking on the Major Arcana continues to evolve, I occasionally experience an epiphany during my online tarot conversations. I was explaining my opinions about the most effective uses for the cards on the r/tarot forum, and was asked a question that sent me down an unexplored path. Having worked with tarot … Continue reading “Warring Archetypes”
Lunar Month Look-Ahead for February – March, 2022
I just applied my "Threepenny Opera" three-deck selection method to my Lunar Look-ahead reading for the February-March cycle that began with the New Moon on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. I use astrologer Dane Rudhyar's 8-phase "Lunation Cycle" model for this layout (with a nod to Marc Robertson’s Cosmopsychology: Engine of Destiny); each phase is roughly … Continue reading Lunar Month Look-Ahead for February – March, 2022
Rectification: Adjusting an Unknown Birth Time for a Natal Horoscope
I occasionally see people asking online how they can come up with a reliable birth chart when they have no time of birth, precise or otherwise. A legitimate time is crucial to establishing the astrological "framework" (house divisions and associated planetary placements) for the horoscope. While it is often possible to obtain an officially "timed" … Continue reading Rectification: Adjusting an Unknown Birth Time for a Natal Horoscope
Reversed Cards As “Interrogatories”
While working on my Pink Floyd essay, I used reversed cards to portray the questions posed in the song's lyrics as a way to distinguish them from the declarative statements made by the upright cards. "Can you feel me?" and "Would you touch me?" are two examples. This has me thinking that reversed cards might … Continue reading Reversed Cards As “Interrogatories”
Updated Transits for the Disappearance of Harmony Montgomery
Authorities have now updated the most likely period for the disappearance of Harmony Montgomery of Manchester, NH to between November 28 and December 10, 2019. Since she was officially in the custody of her father at that time even though her biological mother lived in Haverhill, MA, the event probably occurred in Manchester. Given the … Continue reading Updated Transits for the Disappearance of Harmony Montgomery
The “Offering of the Dog” (OOTD) Pet-Selection Method
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I figured I'd better post this before someone on Facebook steals it and tries to claim it. (For all of you "copyright hawks," the date of creation was the date of publication, February 1, 2022.) This morning I had a little puckish fun with the Golden Dawn's Opening of the Key (OOTK) method. … Continue reading The “Offering of the Dog” (OOTD) Pet-Selection Method
Partly Dark with a Chance of Rain
Even as a naive young novice I was leery of making glib predictions with the tarot; my early work in astrology had taught me that there are few metaphysical absolutes and the Prime Directive was to offer the seeker an intricate synthesis of possibilities. There are a number of good reasons to avoid the practice … Continue reading Partly Dark with a Chance of Rain
Cosmic “Drop-Outs”*
*Alternate Titles: "Yet Another Screed on 'How Tarot Works' or 'The Things You Come Up With at 4:00 AM" Taking their cue from advances in astrophysics, science fiction writers at one time loved to talk about the "space-time continuum," mainly as a backdrop for their noodling over ideas like "curved space" and "worm-holes" as a … Continue reading Cosmic “Drop-Outs”*