AUTHOR'S NOTE: In previous essays I've described the Temperance card as representing "the 'fine Art of Right Action' (neither too much force nor too little) when a discriminating finesse is called for." This has served me well as a practical definition over the years, but I just came across two ideas in Benebell Wen's Holistic … Continue reading Fusion and Reconciliation: Temperance as the “Ultimate Smoothie”
Tarot Card Meanings
The High Priestess: Secrets Waiting to Pounce
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I began reading Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot a while ago but soon gave up because I found that it departed too drastically from my long-standing Hermetic approach to the Major Arcana. But I recently realized that the passages I objected to were inspired by Chinese cosmology and not by the tenets of Western … Continue reading The High Priestess: Secrets Waiting to Pounce
“Not What It Seems” – Cards of Deception, Delusion, Distraction and Distortion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before I cover the subject of the header, I should mention the general belief that reversal of any card can redirect its upright meaning into unfamiliar byways and thus invite misapprehension. This is one of a host of related interpretations for reversal that I gathered a few years ago, specifically in the following … Continue reading “Not What It Seems” – Cards of Deception, Delusion, Distraction and Distortion
Cards of Finality: The Stigma of “Endings”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading about cards that convey "endings" of various kinds: the 3 and 5 of Swords (sorrowful and acrimonious, respectively); 10 of Swords (demoralizing); Death (inevitable); the Tower (sudden); and the 5 of Cups (miserable), among others of less-potent stringency. To that group I would add Judgement because there is no … Continue reading Cards of Finality: The Stigma of “Endings”
Death As . . . Well, “Death”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I find it it immensely revealing that, in historical tarot decks like the Tarot de Marseille, the Thirteenth Arcanum ("Death" in our less-superstitious age) was typically left untitled, embracing the principle of sympathetic magic that if we don't name something, we can pretend that it has no power over us. Modern interpretation has … Continue reading Death As . . . Well, “Death”
The Star as “Organic Nurturing”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: File under "Fanciful and Farfetched Philosophical Finagling." Forgive me for having a little fun with this one, but I just came across a remark in Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class about the Star bringing "nurturing" that sent me down this path. A great deal has been written about the fact that the woman in … Continue reading The Star as “Organic Nurturing”
“Split-Level Tarot” – A Layered Approach to Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've touched on this subject in written form on several occasions in the past, but this time I'm illustrating it with an annotated image for a specific example, and also applying it to an unconventional analysis of the Tower card. (All cards shown are from the Thoth Tarot, copyright of US Games Systems … Continue reading “Split-Level Tarot” – A Layered Approach to Reading
“Prediction Bias” in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lately, online pundits who are pushing a psycho-sociological agenda have been all over the topic of "bias" in human relations: confirmation bias, cognitive bias, affinity bias, attribution bias, conformity bias, gender bias, etc. It has me thinking that maybe tarot needs another label: "prediction bias." There is already a framework for it in … Continue reading “Prediction Bias” in Tarot Reading
The Inverted Pentagram in Tarot: “Dying Cockroach Syndrome”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During the late 20th Century, a common way to express utter futility was by citing the "dying cockroach" analogy and invoking the image of a roach with its legs waving feebly in the air, unable to right iteslf and scuttle away to safety. In tarot terms, the pentagram symbol appears in many of … Continue reading The Inverted Pentagram in Tarot: “Dying Cockroach Syndrome”
The Gatekeepers of Tarot: The Priestess and Her Posse
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The High Priestess, the second "numbered" trump card of the tarot, is typically regarded as a guardian of secrets both cosmic and mundane. When she appears in a reading, something about the matter is not yet known, and perhaps the querent isn't prepared to receive the revelation or is being kept in the … Continue reading The Gatekeepers of Tarot: The Priestess and Her Posse
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 