- from Ain't Wastin' Time No More by the Allman Brothers Band. AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a classical astrologer I don't agree with the elemental assignments for the four "humours" (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic) presented in a slightly different form by Robert Anton Wilson in Prometheus Rising, but his fourfold model of human sociopolitical behavior … Continue reading Tarot Profiling: “Don’t Need No Gypsy to Tell You Why”
tarot-psychology
Consider the Source: Crafting A Personal Tarot Philosophy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Near the beginning of Robert Anton Wilson's book Prometheus Rising there is a drawing that shows a man contemplating a model of his private universe at its narrowest cross-section, completely ignorant of the sweeping, sidelong view that would have given him a much broader perspective on its true size. It's as if he's … Continue reading Consider the Source: Crafting A Personal Tarot Philosophy
“Midpoint Mash-up” – The Role of Mediation in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently began reading Robert Anton Wilson's Prometheus Rising. I've dipped into his published work sporadically and randomly over the years with no clear chronology in mind, but as the old advertising slogan goes, you "can't eat just one," and in Israel Regardie's introductory comments I encountered the food for thought that inspired … Continue reading “Midpoint Mash-up” – The Role of Mediation in Tarot Reading
Self-Reading with the Tarot: Dual-Channel Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Anxiety over the intrusion of emotional bias that might sabotage the accuracy of self-reading with the tarot is epidemic in the online community, to the point that some novices avoid it completely. This risk appears most often in romantic forecasts and similar scenarios where wishful thinking looms large. Such avoidance is unfortunate because … Continue reading Self-Reading with the Tarot: Dual-Channel Divination
Conquering Inertia: The Prosaic Truth Behind “Empowerment”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's not uncommon that seekers who resort to a professional diviner have reached a dead-end in their personal affairs. Either they have come up against the proverbial "brick wall" and feel like they can go no further without help, or they have not yet found their way to that barrier and are floundering … Continue reading Conquering Inertia: The Prosaic Truth Behind “Empowerment”
Tapping the Power: A Self-Realization Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a third adaptation of Benebell Wen's Lo Shu Square, this time applied loosely to her feng shui tarot model. I've created my own theme and position meanings for this purpose and did not adopt her spread design. (See her book Holistic Tarot for background details.) Another inspiration was the Lenormand 9-card … Continue reading Tapping the Power: A Self-Realization Matrix
Personality, Adaptive Behavior and Character in Three Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not long ago I read a psychological article that described personality as being innate or instinctual, while character develops gradually over time through repetitive experiences that eventually solidify into a Pavlovian "conditioned response." In astrological terms, personality is the purview of the natal horoscope while the emergence of character can be shown by … Continue reading Personality, Adaptive Behavior and Character in Three Cards
A “Topical Impingement” Life-Reading Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: From her book Holistic Tarot I picked up another idea from Benebell Wen's discussion of Chinese divination (this time the application of the Lo Shu Square to feng shui): a matrix that has a general life-topic card at the center (for example, "Health"), with influences feeding into it from all sides. I expanded … Continue reading A “Topical Impingement” Life-Reading Matrix
Tarot Cards as a “Hall of Mirrors”
"One explanation for (human sentience) is that consciousness emerges as a result of the complexity and self-reflective recursion that is built into the circuits of the brain, like a hall of mirrors."- Dean Radin in Supernormal AUTHOR'S NOTE: A commonly-help opinion among tarot practitioners is that the random cards pulled for a reading "mirror" the … Continue reading Tarot Cards as a “Hall of Mirrors”
The Slippery Slope of “Truth According to Tarot”
"This isn't right. This isn't even wrong."- Wolfgang Pauli AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'll preface my remarks by noting that tarot's field of operation - the subconscious mind - can itself be a "slippery slope" that tilts away from where our conscious intentions want to go. We have no immediate control over its orientation and can only … Continue reading The Slippery Slope of “Truth According to Tarot”
