Practically Spiritual.

Kind words from a recent client.

"I just wanted to write and express my gratitude for my reading this past Monday.  There was so much information offered that I was reeling (in a good way) for the rest of the day!!

But really, ALL of the readings you have given me in the past year have been so incredibly helpful and insightful that I really just wanted to take this opportunity to again say THANK YOU! 

You are a very compassionate reader and the patience you always demonstrate when I ask you the same questions over and over again is quite remarkable!

Thanks a lot for the helpful 'lamp' you offer for my journey!" -I.M.

Kill The Man At The Head of The Table (thoughts on The Hierophant card)

The Hierophant is one of the least-beloved cards of the Tarot. This card used to be called The Pope and most Tarot readers, even if they like the Pope (and typically they don't; the feeling is probably mutual), don't much care for the underlying associated meaning of the card, which is all about authority and structure and even, in its worst aspect, bureaucracy. Modern decks change The Pope into a priest of the Mysteries and call him The Hierophant, but the meaning of the card remains the same.

Hierophant is from the Greek for "high priest." "Hier" is the same root from which we get the word "hierarchy," and the meaning of this card has everything to do with hierarchy. Being number 5 in the Tarot series, The Hierophant rules all those that come before him, even the people who would ostensibly be in charge, like the Emperor and Empress. Of the five fingers, the Hierophant is the thumb. He is the apex of the five-pointed star. He is also Spirit, ruling the lower world of matter. 

Our innate desire for direction is a part of ourselves that, as a culture, we have a difficult time facing. Human beings crave hierarchy. Get more than one human being in a room together and a pecking order will establish itself before you have time to shut the door. Yet, though we want to be led, we don't want to take the chance of trusting someone to lead. 

New "Not Always So" column up at BoA.

This one is called "From One Apprentice to Another."

• Come join me at Zia on the evening of Wednesday, July 15 for an evening of card reading and designer clothing.

• I'm no longer reading cards on Wednesday nights at Main Streets. To schedule a private consultation with me, please click here.

New "Not Always So" column posted at BoA.

Writing for BoA allows me to get a bit more wild and woolly than I might on this blog. The new column is called "Everything You Wanted To Know About Channeling But Were Afraid To Ask." If you're interested, check it out here.

Upcoming Appearances at Circles of Wisdom Bookstore.

You can now book an appointment with me online. Just click here to get to my page at Circles of Wisdom. 

I only read at Circles about twice a month. If you'd like to book an appointment with me on any other day, please click here.

What I'm up to lately...

As you may have heard on the news, tough economic times for the rest of the world = busy season for Tarot readers.

I'm now booking readings a week or two in advance, and it's very rare that I can accommodate same-day appointments any longer. But if you want to meet me more quickly and try a reading, I am usually reading cards on Wednesday evenings at Main Streets Cafe in Concord, MA.

In other news, I'm proud to announce that I now have a biweekly column at Binnall of America called "Not Always So." Check out my introductory column and a piece I did last week on women in esoterica. Don't miss the fascinating interviews done by Tim Binnall in the audio portion of that site, as well as the wonderful work done by the other columnists there.

More to come soon.

The Meaning of the Moon Card, Pt. 2: Moonstruck Love

It is difficult to tell from the drawing in the Rider-Waite deck (I see the Rider-Waite as something akin to the King James Bible -- flawed in many ways, very much a product of times, but also the gold standard of the genre) but one of the dogs above is supposed to be a wolf, the other a family pet. Yet they both howl at the moon. The image suggests that, whether we consider ourselves domesticated or wild, at our roots we are pulled by the same instinctual urges. 

The Moon card is not an obvious romantic card, but clues to its true nature can be found embedded in the idioms of our language, which developed hand-in-hand with the symbolic language of the Tarot. Moonstruck. Over The Moon. Mooning over someone. Even though one of these creatures is wild and the other is tame, it is not inconceivable that -- like so many of the other characters one meets in the Tarot --these dogs are mates.

Of all of our inner forces, love is one of the shadowiest, and The Moon card rules all mysteries and ancient patterns. Sometimes love causes us to leave our safe warm homes in the middle of the night and meet with someone whom our friends might think is utterly unlike ourselves, but may happen to be a perfect match.

The Moon card suggests that opposites are meant to be drawn, inevitably, together. And sometimes it's thrilling and deeply spiritual to allow the tide to carry one along to a seemingly inevitable destiny. But left on their own, without the light of consciousness, Moon energies can also be a fearsome trap. The Moon card rules illusion as much as it does instinct; what may seem like a magnetic lover in the shifting light of the moon may also simply be the ancient predator in a fresh disguise.

The Meaning of The Moon Card, Pt. 1: History Repeating Itself

The Unknown

As we know, 
There are known knowns. 
There are things we know we know. 
We also know 
There are known unknowns. 
That is to say 
We know there are some things 
We do not know. 
But there are also unknown unknowns, 
The ones we don't know 
We don't know. 

—Donald Rumsfeld. Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing. (From "The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld.")

When I teach the Tarot, I always introduce The Moon card with this spontaneous "poem" from former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld.

The Moon card has everything to do with what unconscious poet Rumsfeld calls the "unknown unknowns," with the parts of ourselves that we do not understand -- our hidden instincts, desires, and dreams. The Moon also rules the oldest things in the world, the simple ancient creatures of the sea that skitter back and forth along the ocean floor with the movement of the tides.

Rumsfeld's war is definitely a "Moon" war, one begun for muddy, unclear reasons, fought against a people we barely understand. Baghdad itself is also ruled by The Moon -- the Islamic crescent is an obvious example -- but the venerable city almost predates civilization itself. Writing was first invented near Baghdad, no doubt imprinting new consciousness on a human mind that will always be, to some degree, pre-verbal.

It is significant that Baghdad's museums were looted almost immediately when the war began. The unconscious mind is so ancient itself that it is unimpressed by any artifacts of antiquity.

I will have to come back to this topic, because I'm currently writing it in a cafe next to an old man who is rambling loudly and thoughtlessly about everything from cell phones (bad) to church (good) to the price of bologna at Market Basket (variable, but much worse than it used to be). He's distracting me from conscious thought, so I cede the floor to this living avatar of Moon energy:

"I eat a lot of turnips...But after a while I need to have some meat...Now, this meat was nice and brown. No red. And tender! You could go through five slices like that..." 

I have learned to distrust anyone who seems too certain of themselves. This goes double for the psychic world and highway driving, where people who are too sure of themselves are the most dangerous.