AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just begun reading Donald Tyson's book, Tarot Magic, one that I've wanted to own for a long time under its original title, Portable Magic. Its premise is that tarot cards can stand in for the elaborate trappings of full-blown ceremonial magic, and we can just box up the deck and put it … Continue reading Portable Magic by Another Name
tarot-reading
The “Eclipsed Priorities” Spread: Competing Agendas, Solutions and Consequences
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is an elegant conflict-resolution spread that explores the overlapping consequences of optimistic and pessimistic trajectories converging in a tarot reading. It's a further experiment with using a "grim" deck to suggest the less-desirable scenario and an "upbeat" deck to convey the more-auspicious outlook. The design shows the two on an intersecting "collision … Continue reading The “Eclipsed Priorities” Spread: Competing Agendas, Solutions and Consequences
The Map and the Territory: Precision in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "The map is not the territory" is a celebrated statement by semanticist Alfred Korzybski that points out the cognitive disconnect between viewing a printed map and physically walking the land it represents. I've used it often to convey the idea that a tarot prediction is only an approximation of one possible future, and … Continue reading The Map and the Territory: Precision in Tarot Reading
“Passing Through Zero:” Transcending the Victim Archetype (A Tarot Spread)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As an astrologer I've long been familiar with the "victim mentality" as revealed in the natal horoscope. (I once called it the "doormat syndrome" exemplified by the Virgo-Pisces axis: people who become accustomed to being walked on.) Now I see that it has been elevated to the status of an "archetype" and decided … Continue reading “Passing Through Zero:” Transcending the Victim Archetype (A Tarot Spread)
Tarot del Toro New-Deck Profile
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This recent deck acquisition has an interesting back-story. I was gifted the Lord of the Rings Tarot that was created by the same artist (Tomas Hijo) but I already own it, so I took the second one back to the store to exchange it and was pleased to find another Hijo work purely … Continue reading Tarot del Toro New-Deck Profile
Airing Out the Tradition: When “Organic” Trumps “Scientific”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although he was addressing Medieval poetry and poets in The Discarded Image, C.S. Lewis made several observations that can be directly applied to the diviner's approach to cartomantic tradition.* He mentioned that many literary works of that era were an amalgam and synthesis (or at worst a pastiche) of contributions by a host … Continue reading Airing Out the Tradition: When “Organic” Trumps “Scientific”
Just Read the Cards! (Telling the Tale for its Own Sake)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my opinion, every tarot reader should adopt the modest approach of the best Medieval writing by simply "telling the tale for its own sake" as described by C.S. Lewis in The Discarded Image.* In other words, we should "just read the cards" without trying to inject our own rational and ethical preconceptions, … Continue reading Just Read the Cards! (Telling the Tale for its Own Sake)
“Absence of Strain” – Managing Esoteric Correspondences
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In The Discarded Image (a seemingly bottomless source of inspiration for this blog), C.S. Lewis describes the insertion of astrological principles into Medieval literature and architecture as, in the best cases, being "woven into the plot," while in the less salutary examples the addition amounts to an "overload of philosophy." These observations offer … Continue reading “Absence of Strain” – Managing Esoteric Correspondences
The “Cusp of Renewal” Year-End Review & New-Year Forecast
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While preparing to do New Year's readings for some friends tomorrow, I decided to create a special spread for the occasion. The scope encompasses a recap of the year that is ending, a look at the present-in-transition, and a projection for the coming year in three developmental areas: Stimulation; Stability and Stagnation. It … Continue reading The “Cusp of Renewal” Year-End Review & New-Year Forecast
“Ships That Pass” – A Relationship-Potential Spread
"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow AUTHOR'S NOTE: Relationship spreads are a favorite topic of mine, and I'm especially keen on exploring the likelihood of two people connecting for the first time. Here is … Continue reading “Ships That Pass” – A Relationship-Potential Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 