" . . . shovels and rakes and implements of destruction . . . "- from Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is not for the softhearted or the soft-headed. It's another unapologetic critique of contemporary divination (specifically tarot-reading) with just a hint of ironic self-reflection. Proceed at your peril! As I … Continue reading “Implements of Instruction”
Cultural & Social Commentary
Scrubbing Tarot of its Myths, One-by-One
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the last fifteen years I've been on a quiet crusade to liberate the practice of tarot from the numerous popular myths about what should and shouldn't be done before and during divination with the cards. I last wrote about it at some length in a 2020 essay titled "The Myths of Tarot: … Continue reading Scrubbing Tarot of its Myths, One-by-One
An “AI Reckoning”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In online discussion groups I frequently encounter ill-tempered sniping over whether specific written content is an original creation or whether it was assembled via internet "scraping" by generative AI. Because of my admittedly literate writing style, I've been waiting for the day when I'm accused of such derivative chicanery. To see where I … Continue reading An “AI Reckoning”
Public Figures and Personal Privacy in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Tarot Reading Explained, James Ricklef mentioned that, when he began practicing tarot divination on prominent public figures in support of his American Tarot Association column, he chose not to read about those who were still living, under the assumption that it would constitute an invasion of privacy and could result … Continue reading Public Figures and Personal Privacy in Divination
An Inevitable Transition
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I started this blog in the summer of 2017, I made it abundantly clear that I would be writing primarily for myself, not the public, and I would not monetize it, instead paying for the privilege of saying whatever I want to say on the subject of divination, which I - as … Continue reading An Inevitable Transition
“Diviner, Know Thy Stuff”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently had cause to go back and look at a post from 2018 in which I gave my opinion about what a beginning tarot reader needs to know concerning the art of divination. The second "diviner's maxim" I presented after mentioning the advice of Socrates to "Know thyself" was "Know thy stuff." … Continue reading “Diviner, Know Thy Stuff”
Rambling On: A Metaphysical Journey in Ten Phases
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Unsurprisingly, as I sit here lulled by the Florida sun and surf, I've momentarily run out of profound ideas for my daily deliberation. So permit me to ramble on a bit with an updated riff on a couple of old autobiographical posts. Things have been moving again, albeit glacially, and it's time for … Continue reading Rambling On: A Metaphysical Journey in Ten Phases
Tarot Syncretism*
*Syncretism: The union of different practices whose features may be synchronized to good effect. AUTHOR'S NOTE: I last weighed in on the subject of esoteric syncretism in divination with a pair of essays in April and May of 2024, and a recent encounter with the topic in an r/occult sub-reddit thread brought it to mind … Continue reading Tarot Syncretism*
A New Year, A New Agenda
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's no secret that I've become thoroughly disenchanted with the populist pretensions of the online tarot community, to the point that I've decided to disengage from public conversation and return to private academic pursuits of a more esoteric nature. (I doubt the typical YouTube "talking head" will miss me or even notice.) I … Continue reading A New Year, A New Agenda
Online Tarot: Fishing for Meaning But Catching Only Noise
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another installment in my long-running "beating-a-dead-horse" criticism of online tarot as my impatience with its superficiality continues to simmer. I've reached a new low in my opinion of the self-indulgent shallowness exhibited by so much of what I see going on, and have retreated to my hermitage to contemplate it. I … Continue reading Online Tarot: Fishing for Meaning But Catching Only Noise
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 