*(So named for no other reason than that it has a pleasing alliteration to it.) I've long held that, when they appear in a prediction, the tarot trump cards usually presage "matters of greater import" emerging in a person's life, while the rest of the cards are more about routine experiences and attitudes arising within … Continue reading The “Two-Trump Tango” Life-Reading Spread*
Trumps
The Grand Illusion
My understanding from numerous on-line conversations with European tarot enthusiasts is that many of them use only the 22 trump cards in divination. I've tried this approach but it seems a bit too much like reading a text message that is all capital letters and exclamation marks (like a Donald Trump tweet). There can be … Continue reading The Grand Illusion
Decimal Counterparts: An Alternative Approach
If I recall correctly (which may or may not be the case), a few years ago I encountered - very briefly in the writing of Anthony Louis and then more exhaustively in that of James Wanless - the notion of decimal counterparts among the trump cards of the tarot. The assumption is that the two-digit … Continue reading Decimal Counterparts: An Alternative Approach
Recombinant Trumps: Hierophant and Star
The Hierophant and the Star are not cards that would normally be mentioned in the same breath. The former, as the mundane channel for divine inspiration, has its feet on the ground and its head in the clouds, while the latter is about as removed from earthly concerns as one can get while still remaining … Continue reading Recombinant Trumps: Hierophant and Star
Archetype, Archetype, Who’s Got the Archetype?
It appears from the on-line conversations I've been following that there are two distinct chains of archetypal descent in the tarot. One of them - the older one - is culturally-specific, symbolizing conventions that were widely understood and accepted during the pre-Enlightenment era when they were first captured in the trump cards. Their appeal to … Continue reading Archetype, Archetype, Who’s Got the Archetype?
Recombinant Trumps: Lovers and Tower
This pair presents what might be considered a "turnaround" of the previous one since the trump cards swap position from top to bottom and left to right: where before the Tower and the Lovers were subsidiary counterparts to the Chariot and the Devil, respectively, here they are the primary trumps. The Lovers now appears to … Continue reading Recombinant Trumps: Lovers and Tower
Counterparts and the Tarot de Marseille
This tableau presents the Tarot de Marseille in a matched arrangement of numerological and archetypal counterparts that provides a condensed "snapshot" of the model I've been exploring in detail with the Waite-Smith deck. This layout shows the pre-eminence of the first nine numbered trump cards (the Fool as zero is a non-participant in this model), … Continue reading Counterparts and the Tarot de Marseille
Recombinant Trumps: Chariot and Devil
The fourth array of trump-card counterparts involves the Chariot and the Devil on opposite sides of Justice, and the relevant numbers for the accompanying cards are Seven, Fifteen and Six; there are no court-card counterparts for these trumps. Once again, I have inserted the Fool into this tableau without an obvious numerological derivation because the … Continue reading Recombinant Trumps: Chariot and Devil
Recombinant Trumps: Strength and Temperance
The third array of trump-card counterparts involves Strength and Temperance on opposite sides of Justice, and the relevant numbers for the accompanying cards are Eight, Fourteen and Five. I decided to insert the Fool in all of these tableaux, even without an obvious numerological derivation. because the Fool represents the "jumping-off place" for all of … Continue reading Recombinant Trumps: Strength and Temperance
Recombinant Trumps: Hermit and Death
The second array of trump-card counterparts involves the Hermit and Death on opposite sides of Justice, and the relevant numbers for the accompanying cards are Nine and Four. The interplay of numbers across this one is fascinating, and it will be interesting to see if it repeats with the remaining eight tableaux. The Hermit, numbered … Continue reading Recombinant Trumps: Hermit and Death
