AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's a rhetorical question because every card carries an elemental "charge," whether by suit or astrological association: Fire and Air are positive; Water and Earth are negative; none are neutral. But for the sake of argument, I'm proposing that some cards are decidedly less emphatic in their normal expression than their peers. The … Continue reading Say What? “Neutral” Cards in the Tarot?
Tarot Card Meanings
Pages and Knights: Message or Messenger?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again in the tarot literature, I've come across the old assumption that the Pages can represent "messages" for the querent when they appear in a spread. At other times I've seen the Knights described as "messengers" entering the situation. I thought it would be worthwhile to examine the differences between the two … Continue reading Pages and Knights: Message or Messenger?
The Eight of Swords as “Interference”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Anyone who grew up in the 1950s with a tiny black-and-white CRT (cathode ray tube) television and a "rabbit-ear" antenna knows what video "snow" is: the grainy, flickering gray haze that all but obscured the transmitted images due to poor reception. Although the main culprits were distance from the transmitter and occasional electrical … Continue reading The Eight of Swords as “Interference”
The Ten of Swords: Success by a Thousand Cuts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title is a riff on ling chi, the ancient Chinese method of torture and execution that bled the victim to death over an extended period of time using myriad small cuts (technically, the methodical removal of body parts). In English it is variously called "slow slicing," "lingering death," or "death by a … Continue reading The Ten of Swords: Success by a Thousand Cuts
Stillness of Mind: An Evolutionary Quest
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I continue to draw inspiration from revisiting James Ricklef's Tarot Reading Explained, and in his description of the mental and emotional attributes of the King of Cups I found a brief mention of the "Zen practitioners whose pursuit of enlightenment values meditation and stillness of mind." I'm not a Buddhist, but that stillness … Continue reading Stillness of Mind: An Evolutionary Quest
The “Knight of Wants” – Reach vs. Grasp in Tarot Terms*
"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?"(Robert Browning) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although the line from Browning's poem was clearly meant to be inspirational, in common usage the phrase "his reach exceeds his grasp" is intended to mean that the individual is aspiring to a lofty summit that he can't … Continue reading The “Knight of Wants” – Reach vs. Grasp in Tarot Terms*
The Major Arcana As Personality Types
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In an r/tarot sub-reddit thread, someone asked about an old post (not one of mine) that gave definitions for the trump cards as "people." It's more common to treat the court cards as representing other individuals involved in the querent's circumstances, but I was intrigued by the idea that one of the Major … Continue reading The Major Arcana As Personality Types
Reversal as “Underdeveloped Potential”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the years I've formulated and applied my own style of reversed-card interpretation, and I finally concluded that inversion of the image doesn't materially alter the core meaning of the upright presentation, just redirects it in various subtle ways as detailed in my nearly two dozen previous essays on the subject. The required … Continue reading Reversal as “Underdeveloped Potential”
The Empress Reversed: “A Woman Scorned”
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"- from The Mourning Bride by William Congreve (1697) AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of my favorite portrayals of scandalized female propriety occurred in the old Chiffon margarine TV commercial, in which a regal woman (who had been deceived by Chiffon's buttery flavor) intoned acidly over rumbling background thunder: "It's … Continue reading The Empress Reversed: “A Woman Scorned”
Status-Quo Cards (as in “Maintaining the . . . “)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent post I mentioned that the Hierophant, due to his conventional and conservative appointment, can be viewed as an example of "maintaining the status quo." (I've also called it the "don't-rock-the-boat" card.) There are a number of other cards that convey a similar sentiment. Because the Major Arcana represent an archetypal … Continue reading Status-Quo Cards (as in “Maintaining the . . . “)
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 