AUTHOR'S NOTE: Recent years have seen a trend in the tarot community to devalue or even neuter the negative implications found in traditionally difficult cards under the premise that "there are no bad cards." Mary K. Greer once observed in an online conversation that this sanitizing isn't entirely justified, and I agree. The Devil is … Continue reading The Devil: A Vortex of Temptation, Seduction and Addiction
tarot-psychology
“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
Planetary Energies and the “Personal Power Profile”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After previously analyzing the nature of the pentagram as it is used in tarot imagery, I decided to create a tableau that brings it to bear on a "personal power profile" that can be used for self-awareness or to assess the character of another party to the matter in question. This layout should … Continue reading Planetary Energies and the “Personal Power Profile”
“A Little Magic”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yesterday I was visiting a friend who has limited knowledge of tarot but considerable curiosity, and I was explaining a theory that I believe summarizes one of the fundamental ways in which tarot-reading "works." I had offered to do free readings for him and his wife, and he expressed anxiety that he might … Continue reading “A Little Magic”
Patriarchal and Matriarchal Bias in the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the early 1980s, I departed the urban tarot scene for a couple of decades to study and practice privately in the country, and when I returned via the internet in 2011 a full-blown controversy was underway over masculine bias in the cards. The online community was awash in hand-wringing, finger-pointing and self-righteous … Continue reading Patriarchal and Matriarchal Bias in the Tarot
What Tarot Does Best: An Opinion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been said that the tarot can be tasked with answering any question, but in my own predictive work it has proven to be better for some inquiries than for others. This compilation offers an overview of my experience in reading the cards since I returned to active practice in 2011. The categories … Continue reading What Tarot Does Best: An Opinion
The Separation of Church and Fate: Taking Religion Out of Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about the clumsy malapropism, it was the best I could come up with as a riff on the "separation of Church and State" in tarot terms. As everyone knows if they have even a smattering of knowledge about tarot history (or just the eyes to see), the traditional cards have a strong … Continue reading The Separation of Church and Fate: Taking Religion Out of Tarot
Mistaking the “Medium” for the “Message”
AUTHOR'S NOTE. In his 1967 study The Medium Is The Message: An Inventory of Effects, Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan proposed that the medium by which knowledge is transmitted can have an impact in shaping our understanding of the world that goes far beyond the information it conveys. A good case in point is the … Continue reading Mistaking the “Medium” for the “Message”
Taking Time Off from Tarot – A Cure for Stale Readings?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a confession: I'm probably not the best person to recommend taking time off from the tarot since today's essay completes a 75-day streak of daily posts on this blog, and I previously had an unbroken 450-day run to my credit. Compulsive and occasionally addictive behavior dogs my family, and my personal vice … Continue reading Taking Time Off from Tarot – A Cure for Stale Readings?
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 