“ . . . while close above the Eastern bar the horned Moon, with one bright Star almost between the tips." (from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge). On Sunday night, July 16, 2018, we observed a rare celestial phenomenon, technically called an occultation of Venus by the Moon with Earthshine, but … Continue reading Venus and the Horned Moon
Spirituality
Life After Tarot
I'm not going anywhere. At least not soon, and not unless I'm carried out. I've just been wondering where I might point my omnivorous intellectual appetite next in the world of metaphysical inquiry. There is still some unfinished business in that area: I have to get back to my study and practice of geomancy, which … Continue reading Life After Tarot
The Little Sleep and the Big Sleep
With the recent passing of my father, almost 94 years into his remarkably healthy lifespan, I've been pondering the nature of death. The key question for all of us is whether individual consciousness persists after the neural network that serves it ceases to function. Are we purely existential beings who are part of the machine … Continue reading The Little Sleep and the Big Sleep
Life After Intuition
I'm not a huge fan of purely intuitive tarot reading. There, I said it. It will probably be dismissed as mean-spirited literalism toward what is chiefly an elastic, visionary pursuit, but there is something too fatuously "squishy" about unmitigated intuition for my taste. I think the idea is fed to beginners as "The Way" because … Continue reading Life After Intuition
Signs, Signs . . .
"Everything is a sign." (Yoav Ben-Dov, The Open Reading) As a life-long student of all things occult (even though I've gained no more than a nodding acquaintance with some of them), I've formed definite opinions about the "inner workings" of divination. In a shamanistic sense, what we're looking for are "signs" that point toward intimations … Continue reading Signs, Signs . . .
An Indelicate Proposal? (The Client and the Cards)
One of those curious questions that occasionally pop up on the tarot forums (with what I sense is a faintly scandalized tone), and a real head-scratcher for old-timers at this stuff, is "Do you let other people touch your cards?" The assumption is that a troubled sitter's "negative energy" will bleed all over the cards, … Continue reading An Indelicate Proposal? (The Client and the Cards)
The “Great Make-over” Personal Tune-up Spread
Many tarot enthusiasts shy away from divination of the "fortune-telling" sort and instead use the cards for augmenting their personal sense of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. Most of the spreads I've seen for this are usually light on detail, typically no more than five cards. Here I'm offering a more complex spread for … Continue reading The “Great Make-over” Personal Tune-up Spread
Pan Is In The House
I just came across another opportunity to apply Terry Pratchett's provocative observation: "YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN’T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" I've recently been involved in on-line discussions of polytheism (the belief in multiple gods), primarily among a Wiccan and pagan community for whom such deliberations are routine. We got … Continue reading Pan Is In The House
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
Crystal Gazing 101
While researching books on crystal-ball divination and lining up my finances to buy something worthwhile. I've been spending some time with the scrying section of Israel Regardie's Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. Although, according to Regardie, the Golden Dawn used Tattwa images and not reflective surfaces for "scrying in the spirit vision," the principle … Continue reading Crystal Gazing 101
