One (new to me) way of approaching numerology with the Tarot de Marseille

In his latest blog post, "Returning to the Tarot de Marseille", Jack Chanek mentioned an approach he's tried for assigning a general theme to each of the numbers in the pip cards. A kind of “implicit numerology” based on the trumps. He didn't mention an original source for this method, if such a source could actually be identified, but noted that Caitlín Matthews and Alejandro Jodorowsky both discussed it.

If you set aside the Fool and the World cards, you're left with two sets of ten cards: 1 to 10, and 11 to 20. You can pair these cards up, 1 with 11, 2 with 12..., and the resulting pairs can provide a thematic framework with which to consider the pip cards – 1 + 11 are reflected in the Aces, 2 + 12 are reflected in the Twos, and so on.

1 Magician + 11 Strength

2 Popess + 12 Hanged Man

3 Empress + 13 Death

4 Emperor + 14 Temperance

5 Pope + 15 Devil  (lol)

6 Lovers + 16 House of God

7 Chariot + 17 Star  (“Hitch your wagon to a star”)

8 Justice + 18 Moon

9 Hermit + 19 Sun

10 Wheel of Fortune + 20 Judgement

As you can see, these pairings seem to make some logical sense. I have my own ideas about their relationships and how those could be applied to the numbers, but I won’t state them here. I'd like to leave you clear to make your own connections. Jack did list a few ways these could be perceived – see his post if you're curious.

Have fun.

Print/Save and keep close

A mojo/talisman for you. ❤️

Be safe, be well, be happy.

The Ace of Diamonds from Portable Fortitude Cards, by Corina Dross (2018)

 

Another little spread share

Today’s Energy is one of wanting to hide away and not think about “it”. The Challenge is: I still have to do all the mundane stuff but, Gift: it will go quickly.

Spread: Plan the Day, from “Tarot Zine 01 – Everyday Spreads” by Tarot Magpie, available on Etsy.

deck: Hayworth Tarot 

Carto-GPS à la Jase on Cards

An example of Jase's "Here and Now" spread, aka a 'Carto-GPS'. 

"A GPS for taking a quick look at where I’m going and what I need to avoid".

The Sun card (from "22 Arcanos de la Muerte") in the centre was my addition as a significator for "Today".

          Top left: 1 More Of                                        Top right: 2 Less Of

          Bottom left: 3 Head Towards                         Bottom right: 4 Avoid

I'm not giving an interpretation. It's a reading for me. But it was on point, and reminded me what a good little spread this is. So I thought I'd share it. 

deck used: Spolia

Pattern Recognition

This is how I read. I've struggled to get this idea across. Cynthia Giles - Tarot | An Exploration Project - on the other hand, has done a much better job.

12.31.23  On the cusp of a new year . . .

Anyway . . . that started me thinking about pattern recognition, which I believe is the most important element in the art of Tarot divination (emphasis mine). And though you can look up a card meaning, there’s no Little White Book for pattern recognition.

Yes, a spread or layout is a pattern—but it’s a pattern chosen by the reader. And it’s meaningless without the Tarot cards themselves. A Celtic Cross laid out with pieces of blank pasteboard doesn’t convey any information.

Once a deck of Tarot cards is shuffled, then laid down in whatever arrangement, a meaningful pattern emerges. But it can just lay there, unnoticed, unless the reader is looking for it, and able to recognize it.

There might be one big pattern in a reading, or there may be many patterns. If many, they might be separate, or connected, or overlapping. So there’s a lot involved in identifying not only the patterns but their relationships and levels of energy.

 

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Fate Keeps On Happening: Lenormand & Logic (blog)

Lenormand & Logic - As usual, Stella is spot on. A copy of this, and the Philippe LeNormand sheet (pictured), should be included with every Lenormand deck sold!

John Beckett: Magical Ethics - How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything (Patheos) - link

John Beckett's post Magical Ethics: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything is possibly the most clear and rational examination of the topic I've yet come across. Here are some of my favourite 'moments' -

 "... ethics don’t exist to help people avoid punishment. Ethics exist to help people do the right thing in the first place."

"I can’t give you a bunch of rules to follow. If you need rules you're in the wrong religion."

"Ultimately there are no special ethics around magic. There are just ordinary ethics applied in a magical context."

 

Overly Spiritual Advice – Hardest Man In Tarot (YouTube)

Chris Egon Searle is not just the “hardest” man in tarot, he's one of the most sensible.  

“People... want very spiritual answers that only apply to them...

They want [advice that’s really complicated] because they know they can’t follow it...

They can... use the complexity as an excuse of why it didn’t work.”

I think this goes some way towards explaining why many people who have something that’s concerning them are unwilling to ask a direct question about it and opt instead for a random spiritual message. If they got a clear and actionable answer to their question, they’d either have to do the thing or deliberately ignore the advice.

Seasons Tune: Anything Goes (blog) - link

"Readers' Ethics", however one defines them, do not apply when reading for oneself. There, assuming we wish to grow and develop as readers, we are free to slip our traces and allow our souls to scan the full horizon.

Seasons Tune: Anything Goes

Seasons Tune: Ad Astra (blog) - link

On the variations in meanings inherent in all card systems, and how and why we should find our own way. 

Seasons Tune: Ad Astra (blog post)

Why Demystify Tarot - Abigail Vasquez (YouTube)

This 

👇

Yes, there is mystery and magick. But cards are not so "otherworldly" or "sacrosanct" as to be unapproachable. Serious readers need to get the word out.

Blood Moon Oracle by Kristen ~ Over The Moon Magic

Update - The deck is still available for download but is now behind a minimum pay wall.

The lovely Kristen, teacher of art-meets-oracle classes and maker of tarot and oracle decks, has added a FREE TO DOWNLOAD "Spooky Season" themed 32-card oracle over on Ko-Fi.

link: Blood Moon Oracle

image by Kristen - Over The Moon Magic

Adorbs or what? 😁

Thank you, Kristen!

John Beckett: Tarot - Standard Meanings or Intuitive Interpretations? (Patheos) - link

John Beckett: Tarot - Standard Meanings or Intuitive Interpretations? (Patheos)

 

Twitter has been arguing about standard meanings vs. intuitive readings in Tarot readings.
Rather than deconstructing the “debate”
I’d rather start with a clean sheet…

SPOILER ALERT: It's both.

John Beckett: All Magic Comes With a Price and That Price is Change (Patheos) - link

John Beckett: All Magic Comes With a Price and That Price is Change (Patheos)

 

Do magic deeply enough for long enough and you’ll find there's a price on the back end: change.

I love the quote from Aleister Crowley - Magick is "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will".

"Oracle" Jigsaw Puzzle for Easter 2021

I'm having an "Easter" break from RRs today. Instead, I've set up another

JIGSAW PUZZLE

for your entertainment.

I chose an appropriate card from the Magdalene Oracle
by Toni Carmine Salerno.

Have fun!

Serge Pirotte on "Tradition or Intuition"

"The question of using tradition or intuition is one I see often in various cartomancy and tarot groups. Being a traditional reader or an intuitive reader. Well, most people use these terms without even defining them..."

                                                                                     Read more

Link: Wandering Oracle - How to Read Cards

How to Read Cards - blog post by Jorge Cuaik of Wandering Oracle

Little White Blur (J Cuaik)

"In general I don’t support the LWB culture, as I’m not a follower of the Esoteric Tarot lore which is reproduced in most of these tiny texts (and most Tarot books for that matter). In fact I think it’s a trap. You start with a Celtic cross and some “meanings” then move on to the Kabbalah, Golden Dawn, Alchemy, Theosophy, etc. to try to make sense of it.
While your cards sit in the drawer and my grandmother reads coffee muck." [emphasis theirs]

THIS! OMG, this!

I started out 40 years ago with a RWS and any book I could find at the library. Uff, "Esoteric Tarot" nearly killed the whole thing for me.

It wasn't until I learned cartomancy that I realised I'd been brainwashed. Now me and Tarot get on just fine, thank you, and most of the stuff I choose to read I consider to be, as Jorge says, "for entertainment purposes only".

Lisa Boswell tells it like it is 😎

Earlier today, Lisa Boswell of Divination and Fortune-Telling shared a link to an article she'd posted back in December. I had read and enjoyed it at the time, and reminded of it today, I happily read it again. It's worth sharing.

What Your Tarot Reader Wants to Say (But Doesn't) 🙄😏

The delightful "folk meanings" of The Russian Cartomancy

My friend Dmitry Korolev loves to share his knowledge of cartomancy. In this post - Beware the Diamond interest! - adventures in the Russian card meanings - he tells of some of the colourful phrases associated with playing cards that have come into everyday use in Russia as a result of their  fondness for cartomancy.

Dmitry also has charming and fascinating videos on YouTube exploring various "schools" of cartomancy.

If the above piques your interest, you should check out his Level 1 workshop on Russian Cartomancy starting in the new year. You can sign up over on the World Divination Association website.

The Tarot Lady talks "Tarot and Prediction" with Lisa Boswell

As a predictive reader myself, I had to share this podcast. So much good sense and good advice. And some good laughs, too.

Episode 99: Tarot and Prediction with Lisa Boswell

Theresa, aka The Tarot Lady's, introduction -

Recently, I had someone ask me if "divination was out." Apparently, there were some well-meaning folks that wanted to spread that message because they wanted to push their own "law-of-attraction" brand of tarot reading style. I... thought it might be an interesting topic for Tarot Bytes. The only person I considered for this hot topic was Lisa Boswell, of Divination and Fortune-Telling. I knew she’d have a lot of great thoughts on this controversial topic. 

In this... episode, Lisa and I discuss skeptics, tarot readers who object to fortune-telling, the truth about accuracy, and how to sharpen your predictive skills. 

For those who claim that fortune-telling is over, Lisa Boswell busts that myth. Prediction is alive and well – and thriving.