AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been following a lengthy academic debate in the online occult community about whether non-Jews should be "allowed" to engage in esoteric practices based on the Hebraic body of Kabbalistic knowledge as filtered though the Hermetic working model. Little mention is made of the fact that the Kabbalah itself was heavily influenced by … Continue reading My Life with the Qabalistic Tarot: A Field Guide
The Symbolic Disconnect: Prying the Relative from the Jaws of the Absolute
AUTHOR'S NOTE: No, this essay isn't about stopping a grizzly bear from eating Grandma; I swear it's divination-related. The relative and the absolute are metaphysical concepts I picked up while re-reading The Kybalion. Those new to the tarot who approach it with an eye toward becoming a diviner are immediately confronted with a wealth of … Continue reading The Symbolic Disconnect: Prying the Relative from the Jaws of the Absolute
The Diviner as Middleman – Sharing the Burden of Proof
Ted Striker (Robert Hayes): "Surely you can't be serious."Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen): "I am serious . . . and don't call me Shirley."- from the movie Airplane! AUTHOR'S NOTE: After many years away from it, I'm now re-reading The Kybalion, a learned text on esoteric philosophy. In one of the early lessons the author insists … Continue reading The Diviner as Middleman – Sharing the Burden of Proof
“Do You Believe in <Pick One>?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not entirely sure what motivates them beyond an opportunity for mindless chatting (which is never in short supply online), but I often see people asking in the global occult community "Do you believe in <tarot, astrology, magic, astral travel, mediumship, etc>?" Giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they experienced an … Continue reading “Do You Believe in <Pick One>?”
Inflection in Tarot Reading: Not “No,” Not “Yes,” But Maybe “Not Yet”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For post number 2,800, I decided to revisit the subject of subtlety in the art of prediction. My inspiration was a comment made by actress Rachel Dratch, the commencement speaker at the 2026 Dartmouth College graduation ceremony: ". . . sometimes a 'no' is just a 'not yet.' Maybe it’s just not the … Continue reading Inflection in Tarot Reading: Not “No,” Not “Yes,” But Maybe “Not Yet”
A Multi-Path Progression: Occult, Cartomantic and Numerological Number Theory
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been using a combination of Pythagorean and Qabalistic number theory with the minor (or "pip") cards over the entire span of my five-decade tarot journey, but more recently I came across a new model (which is not all that different from my old one) in playing-card divination. I thought it would be … Continue reading A Multi-Path Progression: Occult, Cartomantic and Numerological Number Theory
The “Liberating” Tarot and the “Locksmith’s” Portion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Tarot Currents, Paul Hughes-Barlow recently observed that the true aim of tarot reading is not solely the telling of fortunes but rather the delivery of relief from suffering and liberation from a feeling of entrapment. In Paul's words: "The proper use of TARO is not simply to predict events. Its purpose is … Continue reading The “Liberating” Tarot and the “Locksmith’s” Portion
A “User Profile” Spread and Table: Stalking the Wild Sociopath
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent post I explored the subject of "using" and "being used" in a socially-manipulative way. Here I'm making good on two "oh-by-the-way" suggestions I made in that essay. One was to create a spread to examine the social priorities of a target individual (or entity) and the other was to bin … Continue reading A “User Profile” Spread and Table: Stalking the Wild Sociopath
Social Neutrality: Neither “Using” Nor “Being Used”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've long believed that the prototypical "average person" often harbors a private agenda that exemplifies the "social user" stigma of the title. They may not even be aware of their antisocial inclinations, but those close to them certainly are. As a group, social users aspire to either dominate others and thereby gain a … Continue reading Social Neutrality: Neither “Using” Nor “Being Used”
The Principle of Mentalism: It’s Not That Easy
"The All is Mind; the Universe is Mental"- The First Hermetic Principle (from The Kybalion) AUTHOR'S NOTE: The premise that we can obtain anything we want by "thinking it into existence" is an alluring notion that has been co-opted by the Law of Attraction crowd in what looks suspiciously like auto-hypnosis with its roots in … Continue reading The Principle of Mentalism: It’s Not That Easy
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 