A tarot artist in one of the Facebook groups I frequent has been working on a project to blend the qualities of two court cards into a single entity; combining the King of Cups and the King of Pentacles is her current task. My first thought was that some intriguing possibilities are offered by this … Continue reading Those Fractured Court Cards
Courts
The Blame Game: Court Cards as People
I haven't been polishing my "curmudgeon cred" much since I ended my "Cheap Shots" series, so here is another crack at it. Late-19th-Century tarot authorities, lacking our psychological and sociological sophistication, almost unanimously considered the court cards to show other people in the querent's life, even going to the extreme of trying to describe their … Continue reading The Blame Game: Court Cards as People
The Tarot Salad Bar
For those of us who use esoteric correspondences in reading the tarot, pulling cards for a reading is like ordering a "tarot salad" with special dressing This is especially true if there are several cards of a similar "flavor," whether elemental, astrological or numerical. Many writers have addressed what happens when you have an abundance … Continue reading The Tarot Salad Bar
Court Card Thumbnails – The King/Knight of Swords
The Minor Arcana: The King/Knight of Swords Titles: Fire of Air; The Lord of the Winds and the Breezes; the King of the Spirits of Air Astrological Correspondence: 21° of Taurus to 20° of Gemini Commentary: Golden Dawn “Liber T” (S.L. Mathers): “Active, clever, subtle, fierce, delicate, courageous, skillful, but inclined to domineer. Also to … Continue reading Court Card Thumbnails – The King/Knight of Swords
A Study in Facing, Part 1: Court Cards
Facing or directionality in the cards of the tarot has always intrigued those who use the cards for divination. One convention that takes advantage of this phenomenon is the assumption that the cards to the left in a line reading represent the past, the focus card in the center shows the present, and the cards … Continue reading A Study in Facing, Part 1: Court Cards
Court Card Thumbnails: The Page/Princess of Cups
The Minor Arcana: The Page/Princess of Cups Titles: Earth of Water; The Princess of the Waters; the Lotus of the Palace of the Floods Astrological Correspondence: The southwest quadrant of the zodiac, comprising the signs of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius. Commentary: Golden Dawn “Liber T” (S.L. Mathers): "Sweetness, poetry, gentleness and kindness. Imaginative, dreamy at … Continue reading Court Card Thumbnails: The Page/Princess of Cups
Court Card Thumbnails: The Knight/Prince of Cups
The Minor Arcana: The Knight/Prince of Cups Titles: Air of Water; the Prince of the Chariot of the Waters Astrological Correspondence: 21° Libra to 20° Scorpio Commentary: Golden Dawn “Liber T” (S.L. Mathers): "He is subtle, crafty and artistic; a fierce nature with calm exterior. Powerful for good or evil, but more attracted by the … Continue reading Court Card Thumbnails: The Knight/Prince of Cups
You, Me or the Universe?
One of my favorite on-line debates involves what to do with the court cards. The traditional approach is to consider them as other people involved in, or with an interest in, the querent's situation. It even went so far as attempting to describe the physical appearance of the person in question. But with the rise … Continue reading You, Me or the Universe?
“Who’s the Boss?”
I once had a 95-pound German Shepard who fully understood the authoritarian zeal of the Emperor. He was big and strong enough to have ripped my throat out, so every informal training session included a demonstration of my "alpha male" superiority. He loved to mock-fight, so I used to don a pair of heavy work … Continue reading “Who’s the Boss?”
“Hard” and “Soft” Suits
One concept from the Tarot de Marseille "school" of interpretation - which has a meager divinatory legacy unless one can read French - that is worth carrying forward into general use is that of "hard" and "soft" suits. The former are comprised of the Wands and Swords cards, while the latter encompass the Cups and … Continue reading “Hard” and “Soft” Suits
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 