AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm posing the question "Which of three typical 'motifs' will form the core of a tarot reading and have the most to say about the situation?" In this experiment I'm attempting to craft an approach that separates the cards pulled for a reading into three situational scenarios indicating the path the narrative … Continue reading Up-slopes, Down-slopes and Flat-lines: A Three-Tier Tarot Spread
Mission Impossible?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Can tarot really tell the future?" Tarot readers gnaw on this question endlessly the way a dog worries a well-chewed bone, and it frequently comes up in online discussion groups. Judging from the number of comments I've seen, it often feels like there are as many contentious opinions about it as there are … Continue reading Mission Impossible?
The Sevens: “Fearing a Misstep”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This morning I came across a fragment of text by Benebell Wen from a longer translation of one line from the I Ching hexagram Lu, " Heaven over Lake" (Hexagram 10) that dovetails neatly with my previous observations about the Sevens of the tarot Minor Arcana. The gist of it is that the … Continue reading The Sevens: “Fearing a Misstep”
“The Fix is In!” – Invoking Tarot Energy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This tarot-based technique for magically imposing one's personal Will on circumstances is based on the concept of intention. If we "intend" something strongly enough we will ideally achieve its realization without "getting our hands dirty." As long as it isn't harmful to others (and if it is, the Wiccan "Three-fold Law" might kick … Continue reading “The Fix is In!” – Invoking Tarot Energy
Syncretism Unbound: The Octile Horoscope and the Trigrams
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been reading about the origins of the esoteric alignment between the 12-year Chinese zodiac/calendar and the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and I was struck by the notion that - with twelve "branches" and only eight trigrams resulting in an apparent ideological disconnect - there may be a more symmetrical formulation. … Continue reading Syncretism Unbound: The Octile Horoscope and the Trigrams
Pitch-Perfect: Tarot Reading as “Tone Poem”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: On nearly every page of Benebell Wen's book, I Ching, the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, I encounter another example of ancient Chinese wisdom that provides fresh impetus for my ever-increasing forays into esoteric syncretism. This time it was the following excerpt: ". . . every movement in the … Continue reading Pitch-Perfect: Tarot Reading as “Tone Poem”
“The Arduous Path” – Walking the Talk
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As the theme for this essay I'll trot out my slightly cynical version of the hackneyed aphorism: "It's all good . . . except when it isn't." Because I detect a certain weary resignation in the voices of those who use the original as a justification for accepting less-than-ideal conditions, it has always … Continue reading “The Arduous Path” – Walking the Talk
The “Reset Arc” – Daily Draw x 7
". . . every day resets itself, from sunrise to sunset to sunrise again."Benebell Wen, I Ching, the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes AUTHOR'S NOTE: The above quote should be the guiding principle behind every daily draw in tarot reading. But too many readers trust the one-card pull to satisfy this … Continue reading The “Reset Arc” – Daily Draw x 7
Trump Cards and Isomorphs
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I avoided discussing this technique in my previous post on reconstituting the trump cards, but I've been mulling over ways to make it work. Once again, I will use the Tower as my main example and also provide a couple of others. (If you're unfamiliar with isomorphs, I linked my "primer" on the … Continue reading Trump Cards and Isomorphs
Harvesting Truth, Large and Small
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes, when confronting a particularly cryptic tarot reading, I feel like a luckless hunter-gatherer foraging for my supper. There is plenty of sustenance, both large and small, hiding in the bushes but much of it (and occasionally all of it) is impossible to capture. This is the conundrum posed by the presence of … Continue reading Harvesting Truth, Large and Small
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 