AUTHOR'S NOTE: While re-reading Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, I rediscovered his observation that the reversed 10 of Pentacles can exhibit an exceptionally attenuated "trigger point" (on the order of 18 months from the time of the reading), portraying financial distress that is likely to be more consequential in broad societal terms than intensely personal at … Continue reading Tarot As Social Herald: The Timing of Arrival or Departure
Divination
The “Split-Decision” Opportunity Advancement Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that examines the comparative probability of success or failure for an opportunity that could go either way. Select a card to represent the "best-case" outlook and place it upright on the table. Then take the same card from a second identical or similar deck and set it reversed below … Continue reading The “Split-Decision” Opportunity Advancement Spread
Confronting Reversals: Do We Retreat or Advance?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really need a new tarot book. Right now I'm re-reading Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, which I believe has been revised, re-titled and republished since I bought it. This is not a bad experience, just a redundant one, but it has brought me face-to-face once again with his premise that encountering a reversed … Continue reading Confronting Reversals: Do We Retreat or Advance?
Astrological Modalities and the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In astrology there are three modalities (aka quadruplicities*) of four signs each, Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable, with one set of three in each of the four quadrants of the "natural" (or Aries-rising) horoscope. In one model, the Cardinal signs at the beginning of the quadrants convey "initiation," the Fixed signs in the middle … Continue reading Astrological Modalities and the Minor Arcana
Talking in Tongues: The Many Voices of the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The more time I spend with the tarot, the more appreciative I become of the numerous layers of intelligent and meaningful commentary that can be found within its often obscure symbolism. It's said with justification that tarot talks to us in its own tongue. This is an easy assumption to make but I … Continue reading Talking in Tongues: The Many Voices of the Tarot
Ceremonial Magick and the I Ching: Card Comparisons
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize that the title is misleading. This essay is not about the practice of ritual magic, nor is it a discussion of divination with the I Ching. I'm always looking for a reason to drag out my copy of Anthony Clark's I Ching Pack with the hexagrams on the cards, and I … Continue reading Ceremonial Magick and the I Ching: Card Comparisons
The “Scream of the Butterfly:” Squeezing the Bad from the Good
"Before I sinkInto the big sleepI want to hearI want to hearThe scream of the butterfly"- from "When the Music's Over" by Jim Morrison of The Doors AUTHOR'S NOTE: We can only guess whether Jim Morrison achieved his goal before he sank into his final "one-way" encounter with drugs, alcohol and heart failure (but given … Continue reading The “Scream of the Butterfly:” Squeezing the Bad from the Good
Astral Access: Surface Tension and the Suspension of Disbelief
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The belief in communication with spirits is often based on the assumption of an invisible world that exists behind or above mundane reality, and these contacts are said to occur along frequencies or "channels" that can be accessed through the psychic faculties. This is the Astral Plane of the mystics and the Formative … Continue reading Astral Access: Surface Tension and the Suspension of Disbelief
The Outer and Inner Dimensions of the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just rediscovered the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's description of the Queen of Swords as presenting a "good exterior" despite being inwardly "cruel, sly, deceitful, unreliable" and generally rotten to the core when ill-dignified in a reading. She would have us believe she is pure in all her ways while she … Continue reading The Outer and Inner Dimensions of the Minor Arcana
The “Ship-to-Ship” Interest-Signaling Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a relationship spread that uses the "ships that pass in the night" metaphor to explore how meaningful "signals" might be sent between the two parties to the encounter. The idea is that interest and intent will be expressed openly or obliquely by both individuals, accompanied by direct or indirect actions and … Continue reading The “Ship-to-Ship” Interest-Signaling Spread
