AUTHOR'S NOTE: The r/tarot sub-reddit feed is turning out to be a gold-mine of inspiration now that I've dumped my Facebook account. Here is an essay based on a thread about reading reversed cards in an integrated way that looks at their interaction with the rest of the cards in a spread. First a condensed … Continue reading Reversal As Out-of-Sync Energy
tarot-reading
Frank Herbert and Dean Radin on Prescience
“I know the trap of prescience . . . to know the future absolutely is to be trapped into that future absolutely. It collapses time. Present becomes future. It’s a subtle and powerful thing, prescience. The future becomes now." AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the above quote, Dune author Frank Herbert expressed fear of being trapped in … Continue reading Frank Herbert and Dean Radin on Prescience
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”
Immodest Claims: The Cult of “Thems That Think They Knows”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In their debut recording Bert and I . . . and Other Stories from Down East, rustic Maine humorists Robert Bryan and Marshall Dodge referred slyly to "thems that knows" in one of the monologues. I recall this quip whenever I encounter the tarot community's online ranks of zealous Jungian partisans who are … Continue reading Immodest Claims: The Cult of “Thems That Think They Knows”
Pre-Conditioning and Pre-Positioning: The Twin Roots of Cause-and-Effect
"There is always a 'cause' and a 'because' for every event. Nothing ever 'happens' without a cause, or rather a chain of causes. There is a continuity between all events precedent, consequent and subsequent. There is a relation existing between everything that has gone before, and everything that follows."- from The Kybalion by "Three Initiates" … Continue reading Pre-Conditioning and Pre-Positioning: The Twin Roots of Cause-and-Effect
Leaving the Treadmill: Separation, Compensation and Neutralization
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In its lengthy dissertation on the reciprocal "separating and compensating" action of a swinging pendulum as envisioned in Hermetic thought, The Kybalion observes that it is the goal of an aspiring master to "get off the treadmill" (my own phrase for it) by rising above the mindless tide of repetition and refusing to … Continue reading Leaving the Treadmill: Separation, Compensation and Neutralization
Empowerment as “Mental Induction”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is no concept more widely endorsed in the divination community than that of peppering (aka empowering) a sitter with encouragement during the conduct of a tarot reading. We don't merely want to hand our clients relevant information about their future circumstances, we attempt to make them feel like they are (or will … Continue reading Empowerment as “Mental Induction”
Statement of Intent: A Mixed-Media Social Orientation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When we've met or are about to meet someone new, regardless of the circumstances under which it occurs, it's useful to obtain a heads-up about the person's likely social orientation and distinctive habits, particularly if we have no other source of information about them (such as a mutual friend or associate). For example, … Continue reading Statement of Intent: A Mixed-Media Social Orientation Spread
The Symbolic Disconnect: Prying the Relative from the Jaws of the Absolute
AUTHOR'S NOTE: No, this essay isn't about stopping a grizzly bear from eating Grandma; I swear it's divination-related. The relative and the absolute are metaphysical concepts I picked up while re-reading The Kybalion. Those new to the tarot who approach it with an eye toward becoming a diviner are immediately confronted with a wealth of … Continue reading The Symbolic Disconnect: Prying the Relative from the Jaws of the Absolute
The Diviner as Middleman – Sharing the Burden of Proof
Ted Striker (Robert Hayes): "Surely you can't be serious."Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen): "I am serious . . . and don't call me Shirley."- from the movie Airplane! AUTHOR'S NOTE: After many years away from it, I'm now re-reading The Kybalion, a learned text on esoteric philosophy. In one of the early lessons the author insists … Continue reading The Diviner as Middleman – Sharing the Burden of Proof
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 