I was just looking at the tarot-deck "de-enable" thread on one of the forums and realized that I haven't had to be "de-enabled" on buying a new deck in a very long time. It probably helps that I don't find most recent decks particularly inspiring from a divination standpoint, even if they happen to be … Continue reading Mind Over Matter
Tarot Books
Tore Down
Texas bluesman Freddie King once wrote a song titled Tore Down with the refrain "I'm tore down, almost level with the ground." This is a near-perfect expression of the customary take on the Tower card when it appears in a reading: a cautionary glimpse at some kind of calamitous "accident waiting to happen." In my … Continue reading Tore Down
Alike But Different: The Two and Three of Wands
In her book The Tarot and the Tree of Life, Isabel Kliegman goes to some length to justify why we need both the Two and Three of Wands in a pack of tarot cards when - at least in the Waite-Smith deck - they seem to be almost identical in appearance. For me there has … Continue reading Alike But Different: The Two and Three of Wands
The Three “R’s”
I was never much good at mathematics, being more of a literary and artistic type in my youth and on into maturity. For me, 'rithmetic never really made it into the classical mix, although I did have to pass college math to get my degree. My personal "three R's" included readin', (w)ritin' and a rotating … Continue reading The Three “R’s”
A Road Less Traveled
I've written on this topic before, but have since gained a number of fresh insights and decided that it's time for an update. My impression of modern English-speaking tarot culture is that casually curious beginners pick up one of the "easy tarot" kits (a deck and companion book such as those by Rosalind Simmons or … Continue reading A Road Less Traveled
Foreverquest
Back in the early "aughts," when I was still playing Everquest Online relentlessly (what can I say, I'm a throwback), my wife dubbed it "Foreverquest" (that was before her own fling with World of Warcraft). That epithet reminds me of the situation I find myself in whenever I decide it's time to chase down a … Continue reading Foreverquest
Morning Coffee and Caitlin
I do some of my best work over a morning cup of strong black French Roast coffee. Today I took the opportunity to finish reading the last few pages of Caitlin Matthews' book, Untold Tarot, in preparation for writing this review. The book is beautifully produced, with an intelligent structure and numerous full-color illustrations, and it is … Continue reading Morning Coffee and Caitlin
That First Deck
There is no shortage of sage advice for neophyte tarot readers seeking their very first deck. Some of it has been debunked; for example, the old caveat that you can't legitimately buy your first deck, it must be gifted to you. But other notions linger, like the opinion that you should latch onto the first … Continue reading That First Deck
The “Better Mousetrap” Disorder
Human beings (and to some extent their simian cousins) are afflicted with a malady that is unique in the animal kingdom: intellectual curiosity. Most creatures operate at the level of survival instinct, with "fight-or-flight" the main theme of their decision-making and mating, eating or self-defense their chief preoccupation at various times. (Come to think of … Continue reading The “Better Mousetrap” Disorder
Literal Tarot: The Book
I finally got around to compiling 100 of my self-designed tarot spreads and organizing them into a book of around 200 pages, give-or-take depending on how they translate into bound-book format. I'm shopping it around to small esoteric publishers right now. My forum mates on Aeclectic Tarot used to urge me to do it but … Continue reading Literal Tarot: The Book
