AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another instance where Aleister Crowley's tinkering with the Golden Dawn's title for one of the Minor Arcana does not really capture the original intent (or so it seems to me). The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn presented the 5 of Cups as the "Lord of Loss in Pleasure." Use of … Continue reading The 5 of Cups: Disappointment or Loss in Pleasure?
tarot-reading
Tarot As Social Herald: The Timing of Arrival or Departure
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While re-reading Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, I rediscovered his observation that the reversed 10 of Pentacles can exhibit an exceptionally attenuated "trigger point" (on the order of 18 months from the time of the reading), portraying financial distress that is likely to be more consequential in broad societal terms than intensely personal at … Continue reading Tarot As Social Herald: The Timing of Arrival or Departure
The “Split-Decision” Opportunity Advancement Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that examines the comparative probability of success or failure for an opportunity that could go either way. Select a card to represent the "best-case" outlook and place it upright on the table. Then take the same card from a second identical or similar deck and set it reversed below … Continue reading The “Split-Decision” Opportunity Advancement Spread
Confronting Reversals: Do We Retreat or Advance?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really need a new tarot book. Right now I'm re-reading Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, which I believe has been revised, re-titled and republished since I bought it. This is not a bad experience, just a redundant one, but it has brought me face-to-face once again with his premise that encountering a reversed … Continue reading Confronting Reversals: Do We Retreat or Advance?
Talking in Tongues: The Many Voices of the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The more time I spend with the tarot, the more appreciative I become of the numerous layers of intelligent and meaningful commentary that can be found within its often obscure symbolism. It's said with justification that tarot talks to us in its own tongue. This is an easy assumption to make but I … Continue reading Talking in Tongues: The Many Voices of the Tarot
The “Scream of the Butterfly:” Squeezing the Bad from the Good
"Before I sinkInto the big sleepI want to hearI want to hearThe scream of the butterfly"- from "When the Music's Over" by Jim Morrison of The Doors AUTHOR'S NOTE: We can only guess whether Jim Morrison achieved his goal before he sank into his final "one-way" encounter with drugs, alcohol and heart failure (but given … Continue reading The “Scream of the Butterfly:” Squeezing the Bad from the Good
The Outer and Inner Dimensions of the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just rediscovered the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's description of the Queen of Swords as presenting a "good exterior" despite being inwardly "cruel, sly, deceitful, unreliable" and generally rotten to the core when ill-dignified in a reading. She would have us believe she is pure in all her ways while she … Continue reading The Outer and Inner Dimensions of the Minor Arcana
The “Ship-to-Ship” Interest-Signaling Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a relationship spread that uses the "ships that pass in the night" metaphor to explore how meaningful "signals" might be sent between the two parties to the encounter. The idea is that interest and intent will be expressed openly or obliquely by both individuals, accompanied by direct or indirect actions and … Continue reading The “Ship-to-Ship” Interest-Signaling Spread
The 5 of Wands: Strife, Striving or “Sham” Battle?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm departing briefly from my usual two-pronged comparison of a Thoth card to the Golden Dawn's original meaning by interjecting a few observations about the Waite-Smith version. Although Aleister Crowley conformed to the Order's description of "Lord of Strife" in his own title of "Strife" for the 5 of Wands, somewhere in … Continue reading The 5 of Wands: Strife, Striving or “Sham” Battle?
The Aces as “Seed-State”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Tarot Architect, Lon Milo DuQuette describes the Ace of Wands as the "Seed of Will" that carries the blueprint for purposeful action. I decided to extend this concept into the rest of the Aces. The Ace of Cups suggests the "Seed of Compassion;" the Ace of Swords the "Seed of Insight;" and … Continue reading The Aces as “Seed-State”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 