Aug 13
New Moon in Leo and my Mars Return on the same day.** I just pulled my morning trump and suit card combination and was astonished to see Mars in Leo staring me in the face disguised as the Chariot and Five of Batons.
I know, those of you who use the Golden Dawn system are saying, “Stop! The Chariot is Cancer.” And those using the continental system are saying “Stop! The Chariot is Gemini.” Read more
It’s Spring Equinox this week when the Sun enters Aries! This cardinal fire sign shares the spontaneous, passionate and freedom-loving energy of the Knight and Ace of Rods. These two cards conjure up the image of a hero galloping over the horizon brandishing a blazing torch.
In the Tarot de Marseilles, the image is gentler than in Waite-Smith-style decks. The Knight of Rods has stopped his horse so he can offer a leafy branch or a bouquet to someone standing just beyond the card’s border. In some decks his expression seems a bit flirtatious.
This year, the Knight gets a booster rocket of energy a few days after the Equinox when the New Moon is conjunct Uranus and Mercury, all in the first four degrees of Aries. In Tarot terms this means a pile-up of the Moon, Sun, Magician and Tower cards, presided over by the Knight of Rods and fueled by the Ace. Read more
At the Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS) last weekend, I nearly fell off my chair during the Sunday afternoon panel discussion when Mary Greer asked rhetorically, with a slightly exasperated tone, if we’re ever going to get beyond the Rider Waite Smith paradigm. This is like the Pope asking if we’ll ever get beyond going to mass every Sunday! I think Mary has done more than anyone, except perhaps Eden Gray, to enshrine the Waite Smith deck and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn astrological correspondences as our unquestioned tarot paradigm. Read more
Tarot Heritage 