AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I pursue my study of the I Ching, I'm encountering numerous new ideas that demand scholarly attention while also creating a wealth of intriguing notions that I intend to fold into my ongoing exploration of the syncretism between the tarot and the Book of Changes. Here is the latest example. In general, … Continue reading Ascending and Descending Energies as Ruling and Yielding Principles in the Tarot
I Ching
“No Blame” – Between the Ideal and the Irredeemable*
*Between the ideal and the irredeemable lies the imperfect or slightly flawed that, with prompt corrective action, can still be salvaged. (A creative rewrite of Benebell Wen's I Ching text.) AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been thinking about the often-repeated advice of the I Ching that "there is no blame," in essence meaning that, although mistakes have … Continue reading “No Blame” – Between the Ideal and the Irredeemable*
Geomancy and I Ching: Binary Twins?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I've been an astrologer and tarot-card reader for a very long time, over the years I've also experimented (separately) with geomancy and I Ching. Here is an analysis of the binary syncretism that exists between the two. (In this essay I'm talking about Western geomancy, not Chinese feng shui.) Classical, location-based geomantic … Continue reading Geomancy and I Ching: Binary Twins?
Syncretic Methods: Tarot + I Ching Hexagram Casting
AUTHOR'S NOTE: <Summons his best Dick Nixon monotone> "Let me make one thing perfectly clear" (as if you couldn't tell): I'm no fan of metaphysically "squishy" modes of divination, an attitude that encompasses most purely intuitive forms of interpretation. I like having a firm philosophical basis from which to proceed by applying inspiration, imagination and … Continue reading Syncretic Methods: Tarot + I Ching Hexagram Casting
Connecting the Dots: An I Ching/ Oracle Card/Tarot Card Triplet
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A few of years ago I came across a table of correspondences created by a couple of Russians that links the 64 I Ching hexagrams to the 78 tarot cards in a way that nobody else has done. Their website has been taken down, so I was fortunate to have saved a copy … Continue reading Connecting the Dots: An I Ching/ Oracle Card/Tarot Card Triplet
Personalizing Taoist Cosmology: Natal Planets and the Five Agents of Change
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a previous post I explored the Taoist "Five Agents of Change" (Wu Xing) as encompassed by the twin cycles of creation and destruction in the order Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water. I decided to take the Minor Arcana cards associated with the five personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) of my natal horoscope and … Continue reading Personalizing Taoist Cosmology: Natal Planets and the Five Agents of Change
Creation and Destruction: The Tarot Trumps and Taoist Alchemy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the next installment in my series of essays on syncretism between the European tarot and Chinese esoteric tradition. In I Ching, the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, Benebell Wen presents two diagrams, the Cycle of Creation ("To support and fortify") and the Cycle of Destruction ("To defeat … Continue reading Creation and Destruction: The Tarot Trumps and Taoist Alchemy
The Square in the Circle: The I Ching Mandala and the Tarot Trumps
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I continue my exploration of the syncretism between the tarot and the I Ching, I encountered this I Ching mandala in Benebell Wen's book, I Ching. the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes. The discussion involved a square of eight trigrams within a circle of 64 hexagrams, and since … Continue reading The Square in the Circle: The I Ching Mandala and the Tarot Trumps
Trumps and Trigrams: A Syncretic Exercise
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my recent essay (linked below) on syncretism between Western astrology and the I Ching, I correlated the twelve Ptolemaic signs of the zodiac with the eight I Ching trigrams and, via synthesis between consecutive signs, with twelve of the 64 hexagrams. In doing so I resorted to a good deal of inspiration, … Continue reading Trumps and Trigrams: A Syncretic Exercise
Syncretism Unbound: The Octile Horoscope and the Trigrams
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been reading about the origins of the esoteric alignment between the 12-year Chinese zodiac/calendar and the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and I was struck by the notion that - with twelve "branches" and only eight trigrams resulting in an apparent ideological disconnect - there may be a more symmetrical formulation. … Continue reading Syncretism Unbound: The Octile Horoscope and the Trigrams
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 