I have to admit that I'm not much of an astral traveler or "scryer." Of course, I do have an intellectual understanding of parallel-universe theories, bilocation and the "illusion of time," as well as more than a little experience with Astral Plane phenomena, but trying to approach the latter from a disciplined rather than totally … Continue reading Other Worlds
Psychology
Why Waite? Why Now?
After a couple of recent conversations with what I can only think of as "traditional tarot snobs" (which is not necessarily a bad thing, it was just painfully obvious that I was talking to a wall), I decided to revisit my opinion of the Waite-Smith deck (if only because the traditionalists damn it so vehemently). … Continue reading Why Waite? Why Now?
Like Night and Day
It's probably evident that I'm getting a lot of intellectual stimulation and pleasure (not to mention expository mileage) out of reading The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis, a thoughtful, scholarly study of Medieval cosmology that has intriguing implications for the Renaissance tarot. Here is another instance. At one point Lewis mentions that "night" in our … Continue reading Like Night and Day
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?
Jung vs. Tarot: Intuition or Inspiration?
Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I favor proficient knowledge-based reading leavened by impromptu flashes of illumination that typically invoke heightened sensitivity. Conversely, I have a distrust of total reliance on speculative guesswork (more commonly known as "intuition") when it comes to tarot interpretation. My suspicion is … Continue reading Jung vs. Tarot: Intuition or Inspiration?
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
The Repurposed Significator: A Comprehensive Overview
In previous posts I've mentioned the idea of reinstating the Significator card in my Celtic Cross readings (something I did away with as unnecessary a while ago) for the sole purpose of identifying through its facing whether the querent is consciously focused (or unconsciously fixated) on the past, the present or the future of the … Continue reading The Repurposed Significator: A Comprehensive Overview
Invoking or Evoking? A Case for Spirits
As I often say, I'm "devoutly nonreligious" in every orthodox sense but I do believe a persistent, non-human (or superhuman) primal intelligence, and maybe even a subordinate hierarchy of lesser spirits, inhabits the subtler realms of existence, and that we can communicate with it (or them) if we actively develop the sensitivity. (Before I get … Continue reading Invoking or Evoking? A Case for Spirits
Pretzel Logic
I see so many tarot spreads invoking the "What do I need to know/What should I do/What should I avoid doing?" dynamic that I'm beginning to think that, in the eyes of the typical reader, no other paths are worthy of exploration. Certainly such an approach is effective in a utilitarian way, since it's undeniable … Continue reading Pretzel Logic
The Psychology of Tarot
I often mention that tarot isn't especially effective for probing the psychology of an individual or a situation, such as occurs when we're trying to penetrate the thoughts and feelings of someone who isn't present at the reading. If Carl Gustav Jung hadn't laid the groundwork with his exploration of archetypes, I doubt the major … Continue reading The Psychology of Tarot
