Radiant Rider-Waite-Smith, © U.S. Games Systems, Inc. One of the greatest challenges for a tarot reader is fashioning constructive advice out of what are patently difficult cards. As I'm fond of saying, I'm no fan of the insipid - and untrue - platitude "It's all good" since, the last time I looked, "bad things" still … Continue reading The Suit of Swords as “Opportunity” – 8 of Swords
Esoteric
Thrown Under the Bus: The Major Arcana and Fate
Although the title of this article is only half-serious, it points to a common perception about the appearance of several Major Arcana (aka “trump”) cards in a reading. Eden Gray summarized it neatly in her 1960 book, The Tarot Revealed: “If the majority of cards in the layout come from the Major Arcana, there is … Continue reading Thrown Under the Bus: The Major Arcana and Fate
A King is a King is . . . a Knight?
I'm going to tackle one of the most confusing and contentious issues in the annals of esoteric tarot: Samuel Liddell "Macgregor" Mathers tinkering with the traditional order of the court cards in his Golden Dawn instructional material, Liber T. At the heart of the issue is the assignment of the four classical elements, and by … Continue reading A King is a King is . . . a Knight?
Winds of Change
Question: When does Death mean physical demise? Answer: Almost never. With this card, conventional wisdom informs us that an important change is "in the wind" - or if you prefer $2 words to the 50⊄ variety - a "major transformation" is coming (although not necessarily a traumatic one; look to the Tower for that). This … Continue reading Winds of Change
An Artifact of the ’70s
It's interesting how things that once seemed so natural now come across as more than a little stilted and excessive. Case in point: as I work up my knowledge (and courage) to dive into the untested waters of crystal ball gazing, I'm absorbing the information in two books. In his Golden Dawn material on scrying, … Continue reading An Artifact of the ’70s
A New Pursuit for the New Year
After several years of wanting one, I finally got this 150mm crystal ball. It's natural quartz that has been "reconstituted;" they grind quartz crystal into a fine powder and then fuse it using heat and pressure to create a clear sphere. Here I show it with a few of its "country cousins" and the "grandfather … Continue reading A New Pursuit for the New Year
Philosopher or Fortune-Teller?
In his excellent (although a bit "lite" for the seasoned esotericist) volume, The Tarot, History, Symbolism and Divination, Robert Place offers his definition of the best use for tarot: "From its origin, the Tarot has been designed as a set of symbols or tools that the unconscious can use to communicate with the conscious mind. Instead … Continue reading Philosopher or Fortune-Teller?
The Wheel and the World: Jupiter and Saturn
One time over thirty years ago, when I was still very much a novice astrologer with loads of book learning but little practical experience, I was brought up short by someone who obviously had slightly more of the latter. I had made an off-hand remark about Jupiter and Saturn being the “social” planets, bridging the … Continue reading The Wheel and the World: Jupiter and Saturn
Court Card Thumbnails: The King of Wands
This is the first of what will be a series of daily posts on the tarot court cards. They are drawn from lesson material I created last year for a beginner's course. The quoted sections were taken from Tarot Divination: A Description of the Cards of the Tarot, Aleister Crowley's publication of the Golden Dawn's … Continue reading Court Card Thumbnails: The King of Wands
Of Ants and Grasshoppers
If I may exercise a little alchemical "creative license" here, in the last half of the Fool's Journey, it is the Hanged Man's mission to submit to sacrifice on the altar of Justice, then undergo radical reduction (Death), transmutation (Temperance), testing (Devil), purification (Tower), sublimation (Star), infusion (Moon), revitalization, (Sun) retrial (Judgement) and restoration (World). … Continue reading Of Ants and Grasshoppers
