I've said almost everything I have to say about the Eights in two previous posts, "The Eights and Anxiety" and "The Sevens and Eights" (links below). The one thing that bears repeating is Joseph Maxwell's idea that the simple even numbers Four and Eight are characteristically balanced owing to their roots in the binary Two, although the … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Eights
Tarot
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Sixes
According to Wikipedia, "(Greek) mathematicians, including the mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras, proposed as a perfect number, the number 6, (which) was believed perfect for being divisible in a special way: a sixth part of that number constitutes unity; a third is two; a half — three; two-thirds is four; five-sixths is five; six is the perfect whole." It … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Sixes
For Good or Ill
Anyone who delves into the Golden Dawn's "Liber T" tarot study material will soon encounter a phrase that places the focus of a question squarely on its context. MacGregor Mathers, its principle author, frequently stated that the influence of a card would be experienced "for good or ill" by the querent in a reading. The idea is … Continue reading For Good or Ill
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Fives
Five is a number of necessary change, usually experienced as chaotic, coming hard on the heels of the complacent Four. I like to call it a "can-opener" or "nut-cracker" that liberates the stale atmosphere of its predecessor and re-establishes momentum; however, its benefit is often recognized only in hindsight. In action it can feel thoroughly disruptive. I also … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Fives
The Eights and Anxiety
As the result of an ongoing Facebook discussion, I've been solidifying my opinion of the tarot Eights as an expression of anxiety. This appears clearly in two of the RWS cards but is less obvious in the other two. Although I'm not well-versed in it, my understanding is that conventional numerology treats Eight as a "power" number, and in exoteric tarot … Continue reading The Eights and Anxiety
The End (By Any Other Name)
The "outcome" card has been a formal fixture in tarot spreads at least since the time of Arthur Edward Waite, and much earlier in cartomantic practice. The "Gypsy fortune-teller" was expected to deliver an answer, an informative guide to a specific destination and not just an uneventful trip report. Since the 1970s, divination has been crowded into the … Continue reading The End (By Any Other Name)
A “Boxcar Shuffle” Example Reading: Hurricane Florence
My daughter lives in Wilmington, NC, directly in the path of Hurricane Florence as I write this. I applied this spread to examine her situation over the next few days, using the Thoth deck with reversals. All images copyright U.S. Games Systems, Inc, Stamford, CT The "emerging" story-line reads as follows: The Root of the Matter: … Continue reading A “Boxcar Shuffle” Example Reading: Hurricane Florence
The “Boxcar Shuffle” Mixed-Media Forecast Spread
Sometimes I get bored just shuffling, cutting and dealing the cards and want something a little more exotic. Here is a spread that starts with six randomly drawn cards laid face-down. A single six-sided die is used to create an "emerging" story-line by selecting the order in which these cards are revealed in each of … Continue reading The “Boxcar Shuffle” Mixed-Media Forecast Spread
The “Monkey in the Middle” Problem Clarification Spread
Every so often we all encounter situations where we're stumped by the meaning of a particular card in a particular reading. A common practice is to pull more cards to clarify the interpretation, but I prefer to take my cue from A.E. Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot and use the problem card as the "Significator" in a new … Continue reading The “Monkey in the Middle” Problem Clarification Spread
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Fours
The number Four expresses stability that is the result of entrenched inertia rather than the dynamic tension that steadies the Two; it is the initial fulfillment of the promise of the Ace, and presages the final state of completion in the Ten. Pythagoras observed that the power of the Ten lies within the Four because summing the numbers from One to Four (1+2+3+4) produces … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Fours
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 