Aleister Crowley said that the ideal way to become intimately acquainted with the Major Arcana of the tarot as "living beings" is meditation (although divination is the most practical way for the uninitiated). In his book The Druidry Handbook, John Michael Greer observed that the noisy Western mental machinery is not amenable to the Eastern … Continue reading An Astro-Tarot Meditation Aid
Astrology
Oriental Appearance: A Case Study
(Full Disclosure: For the moment I'm going to drop back from my current fascination with traditional astrology and revert to my previous incarnation as a New Age psychological astrologer.) I seldom use the meticulous techniques that astrologer Marc Edmund Jones presented in Essentials of Astrological Analysis, but I recently came across a classic case of … Continue reading Oriental Appearance: A Case Study
A Question of Style
During my long career as a technical and legal writer, my personal goal was to explain complex matters in comprehensive but still entirely lucid language, since to do otherwise could have led to serious human error and/or regulatory exposure for my company. These objectives would seem to be at odds, since completeness and clarity may … Continue reading A Question of Style
A Horary Slam-Dunk
I recently lost the gemstone out of one of my rings. First, I'll pass on what I know about the situation: I had just finished shaving, had let the water out of the sink and was washing my hands when I noticed that the setting of the ring was empty, although the stone had been … Continue reading A Horary Slam-Dunk
Tools of the Trade
Yesterday I was talking to Maria Kay Simms, whose publishing house, ACS Publications, produces many astrological reference works such as the American Ephemeris series and the American Atlas. I asked her how many people still hand-calculate charts in the computer age, and mentioned that I haven't done so in decades. She replied that those who … Continue reading Tools of the Trade
The Node Knows
The last time I thought seriously about the lunar nodes - apart from my study of traditional astrology - was in 1985, when astrologer Robert Hand made a statement at a lecture in Belmont, MA that "the nodes mean connections, period." By this he meant connections (North Node) or, alternately, separations (South Node) between people. … Continue reading The Node Knows
Unto the Breach
As promised, I erected a mundane horoscope to examine the implications of Mars being singularly bright in the evening sky at the time of the Congressional mid-term elections in the United States. The title of this post alludes to the famous lines from Act III, Scene I of Shakespeare's play Henry V, which conclude with: … Continue reading Unto the Breach
Drums in the Deep
First off, this isn't so much a prediction as a premonition. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf, reading from the Book of Mazarbul while in Moria, quotes the following ominous passage: "They have taken the Bridge and the Second Hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes... … Continue reading Drums in the Deep
Hard and Soft, Red and Black
During my intermittent involvement with the Tarot de Marseille (I'm still waiting for that "one book to rule them all"), I've come across the opinion that Batons and Swords are the "hard" suits, while Cups and Coins are "soft." There is some logic to this: both wooden batons (also called staves) and edged metal blades … Continue reading Hard and Soft, Red and Black
Venus and the Horned Moon
“ . . . while close above the Eastern bar the horned Moon, with one bright Star almost between the tips." (from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge). On Sunday night, July 16, 2018, we observed a rare celestial phenomenon, technically called an occultation of Venus by the Moon with Earthshine, but … Continue reading Venus and the Horned Moon
