Cups Redux – A Valentine’s Day Reboot

Although I think it's just another "Hallmark holiday" now, I've begun a tradition of informally bumping my "Cups in Love" post every Valentine's Day. https://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/got-love-if-you-want-it-or-love-in-its-cups/

“Six-ness” and the Sextile

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across two online questions that I've merged into a single essay. The first involved the blending of astrology with tarot, and the second inquired whether the 6 of Swords is a favorable card. In thinking about this topic, it struck me that in astrology the sextile aspect (60 degrees of …

Aleister Crowley: “Hierophant” or “Devil?”

I'm now reading Alejandro Jodorowsky's commentary in The Way of Tarot about the number Five and its "decimal equivalency" in the Pope (Hierophant) and the Devil. One passage struck me as an accidental portrait of Aleister Crowley as an exemplar of what Jodo is talking about: "The Five of Wands represents two temptations: sublimating the …

The “Active Witness” and the Minor Arcana

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another interesting observation from Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Way of Tarot. In it he notes that, when a "pip" card of the Tarot de Marseille exhibits a red dot or figurative "eye," the symbol represents an "active (that is, actively involved) witness" to the action signified by the card. This idea inspired …

The Tree of Life in the Abstract

As I understand it after many years of study, there are two ways to look at the Qabalistic Tree of Life. There is the traditional viewpoint of Hebraic mysticism involving what I term the "rabbinical" Tree, perhaps best exemplified by the work of Rabbi Isaac Luria (which I admit to not having studied in depth …

The Archetypal Celtic Cross

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The deck in the photograph is the Waite-Smith Centennial Edition in a Tin, which is copyrighted by U.S. Games Systems Inc. of Stamford, CT, used by permission and in accordance with the provisions of Fair Use. In The Way of Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky characterizes the Magician as dwelling entirely in the present, and …

An Archetypal “Yes-No-Maybe” Template

There is constant argument on the tarot forums and pages about whether the cards can or should be used to address "yes-or-no" questions. I strongly believe that any inquiry can be put to the tarot as long as we are perceptive and sensitive about how we interpret the verdict. Simply saying "The tarot is ineffective …

The Power of Ten in Four: The Court Cards and the Decimal Paradigm

Along with a few other tarot authors I've encountered, Alejandro Jodorowsky makes much of the fact that the court cards have no numbers on their faces and therefore shouldn't be given them for any purpose whatsoever. His specific argument is that the organic "base-10" structure of the Minor Arcana doesn't support the practice of assigning …

The Psyche, Numerology and the Tarot: A Psychological Reading Method

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This reading template and methodology were developed by me using a colleague's translation of psychologist John Beebe's archetypal model into tarot. In adapting it to my own analytical style, I made some changes to apply personal preferences, knowledge and experience. The matrix of Major Arcana cards supports a randomly-drawn four-card reading that will …

The Ace of Cups as “Affirmation”

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following observations by Mme. Le Marchand in The Grand Etteilla regarding the Ace of Cups are unique in my experience of tarot literature (although they do bear a resemblance to the cartomancy I've studied). It's interesting stuff for speculation and perhaps for use. This Ace is described as "confirming the prediction of …