The 5 elements permeate the cards in an almost unavoidable way. Each Major Arcana is associated with either a planet or a sign that carries with it an elemental nature. The Majors as a whole depict Spirit, the 5th element. Then we have the minors. Each set governs an entire element, Pentacles are Earth, Wands are Fire, Cups are Water and Swords are Air. We can take it even further. Among the suit cards you’ll find 4 court characters - Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings. Each “type” of court also has its associated element. The Pages are associated with Earth, the Knights Air, the Queens Water and the Kings Fire. So while the Page of Cups is a “Water” card by its suit, the element of Earth would also apply and add an extra layer of information about the workings of that character.

I’ve been thinking recently about the relevance of asking bigger, more impersonal questions of the tarot. I think for many of us, we have adopted this perspective that the specificity of the question dictates the quality of the response, and some questions are better left alone. But, are there any questions truly off the table? Sure, perhaps queries that contradict a personal set of ethics may be out of bounds, but assuming the question passes the “morality test”, why can’t we go there?

With that in mind, we turned to tarot and asked one of those big questions, curious to see what the response might be. That question went a little something like this - “Why do we come here? What is the purpose of incarnation here?” (stay with us ‘til the end because we’ll be answering a second big question to interesting results)

For a long time, I associated the High Priestess with intuition - just, a broad sweeping faculty that spoke to one's ability to access something out of the ordinary.

The more I sit with this archetype though, the more nuanced my understanding of intuition has become. I have discovered, and probably you have as well, that intuition isn't intuition isn't intuition. There are levels, degrees and types - and we think this may be why many of us have a hard time discerning between the voices in our head. 

Did you know that one of the most potent ways to work with the cards, to truly understand their essence beyond the books, is to sit in contemplation/meditation with them? Not only does this open a portal or gateway into the caves of that archetype, it also takes us deeper into ourselves.

A year ago we began producing meditation music to accompany each of the Major Arcana. We publish these on a semi-regular basis on YouTube and are nearing the completion of that series. But, it occurs to me that we haven’t talked much about how one can simply and practically work with that material. Or, how to just meditate with the cards in general!

When one is identified with one’s ego and the mental narrative that has been constructed around one's experience of life – like pretty much all of us are most of the time – it can be a major challenge to approach one’s esoteric studies from an objective standpoint. Why is that? In this mode of operation, our knowledge becomes a defining part of our self-image, which we are compelled to protect when it becomes threatened. When we are in this space, our enquiries are powered by the Thinker and the Prover, as they are termed by Robert Anton Wilson*:

"I identify with this piece of knowledge, so I must prove its validity – or disprove any other piece of information that challenges its validity."

It’s that time!! 2023 is right around the corner, so it’s the perfect opportunity to examine the numerological shift that is upon us, both collectively and as individuals.

In this post, we’ll discuss the overall vibration of 2023 on a collective level, as well as the Personal Year Number system, including how to calculate your place within it. Keep in mind, while there are some predictive elements to this, we would encourage you to regard this information more as guidance. “What is the energy available?” “How can I best work within it?” “How can I get the most out of it?” This will allow for a much more fluid approach that meets each of us where we are, rather than define where we are headed. In the same way that moon phases help us see our lives within a greater cycle, so too can the the personal year wheel put us in touch with the flow of numbers.

With Scorpio season quickly approaching, we are reminded of the importance of life, death and letting things come to pass. Associated with the tarot card Death, Scorpio alludes to transience; the need to make space for things to end, transform and move from one state to the next. We give the seasons this grace each year, and so it’s equally as important in our own life that we honour the cycles, and make peace with this powerful force.

Death, change and transformation can be scary, which is why we often see the Death card depicted so bleakly. But, it’s also natural. In fact, when we try to evade death’s inevitability, we often find out how futile it is to cling to something past expiry. In other words, we can't escape the pain of goodbyes by holding on for too long. Everything has a consequence, after all.

During a recent mentoring session, we found ourselves on the topic of elements. This obviously isn’t an uncommon place to travel when discussing the cards, however, after the session ended, the conversation continued. Through that, we began to think of the elements not just as reference points to understanding the cards, but as a framework to becoming more proficient with them.

In other words, what can the elements teach us about becoming effective tarot card readers? How can we use these basic concepts to enhance our practice and ensure we’re approaching things in a balanced and whole way?

June 14th marks the peak of the Full Supermoon in Sagittarius. Of course, while the effects of its charge are highest on this day, you may still feel the impact a couple days leading up to it as well as coming off of it.

If you’re astrologically savvy, you may already have a sense of what these energies have in store for yourself or even the collective. Around here, while we do take notice of what’s transitioning in the skies, we also love to explore things through the lens of tarot.

Whether you celebrate a specific tradition this time of year, or simply wish to honour the turning of the year, we wanted to share some simple ideas for incorporating tarot into the the holidays - however they look to you! Please enjoy this list, take care of yourself and enjoy whatever the remainder of 2021 has to offer!

It’s December so that means it’s time for us to share our Collective and Personal Year insights for the upcoming year, based on numerology.

In this post, we’ll discuss the overall vibration of 2022 that we can expect collectively, as well as the Personal Year Number system including how to calculate your place within it. I also want to note that we will be providing Patron-exclusive content around the Personal Year Cycle throughout the month, beginning on December 4th. This will take the form of dedicated Patron-only posts for each of the numbers, 1-9, which will include additional information, plus insights from Spirit. For the basics, keep on reading!

We know the Major Arcana cards often represent the bigger concepts in life; the energy that transcends the day-to-day. These greater topics often touch on spirituality, self-development, growth of consciousness, the nature of reality, and so on. Because of this, tarot can be an excellent tool not just for divination but also for exploration. Although, by that same token, sometimes in readings, we can be thrown when we draw a Major as it isn’t always easy to see how it fits into our daily lives.

What do The Star, Death, The Hierophant, and Strength have in common?

Hint 1: The Wheel of Fortune
Hint 2: The World
Hint 3: Astrology!

We know there is emphasis placed in both The Wheel and The World on the 4 fixed signs of the zodiac. They are Aquarius, Scorpio, Taurus and Leo and they can be seen in the 4 corners of each of those cards. Respectively, they are ruled by one of the 4 elements - Air, Water, Earth and Fire, and as well, they represent the 4 tarot cards listed above (The Star, Death, The Hierophant and Strength).

There are a million different ways to slice and dice a tarot card. You can observe the direction the figures face, the clothes they are wearing, the landscape, the weather, the numerological meaning, or the astrological association. Many of these facets we know are intended in the design of the card and some, we can’t be so sure, but for whatever sticks out to the reader in the moment of reading - surely there is significance, whether originally intended or not.

At the end of April, Tim and I started a new series called 78 Connections, which I’ve been sharing on Instagram and saving to a dedicated page in this space ever since. It’s essentially an exercise that takes two cards and attempts to find as many connections between them as possible. Most of those links are of a visual nature, but inevitably we end up exploring numerical, astrological, and qabalistic similarities as well.

On the surface, this all appears rather simple and straightforward and I’m not sure that the value is immediately obvious. But what I can say is that this practice of comparing and contrasting scenes has been one of the most interesting, eye-opening, and integrative methods I’ve so far found to squeeze as much information as I can from the cards. It’s a general principle that follows us daily; if we want to really know something, to truly define it, we will benefit from examining it next to something else.

However, that wasn’t the expected outcome when this activity was born. This all began while trying to work through something that was irritating me. Inevitably if you spend enough time online, and around social media, you’re going to be exposed to a world of thought that clashes with your own. Without getting too specific, I will say that it touches a nerve when I see people putting an unnecessarily negative slant on something without having a basic understanding of its history. This is especially the case when it devolves into declarations around who can and can’t read tarot, which decks should or shouldn’t be worked with, or otherwise making dictations based on presumptions. Dogmatic attitudes, opinions presented as absolute facts, don’t settle comfortably with me regardless of the topic. But I realize that’s none of my business and partly my problem. I also don’t need to confront misinformation directly. But, what I can do is sit longer and look harder at this tool that has done so much for me and, I’m assuming if you’re here, for you as well. In doing this, I’m either going to see what they’re seeing too or reinforce what I already hold to be true, and as far as I’m concerned, either is a fair outcome.

This is the fourth edition of our series “Reading In The Flow: Cards in Combination”. If you’re new to the series (can be found via Resources), “Reading In The Flow” is a term I use to describe taking a bird’s eye view of a spread in order to observe all the ways in which the cards interact.

Similar to the last combination, I will be working with my partner Tim to break down the possibilities within a set of 3 cards. We will explore elemental distribution, note-worthy observations, how the cards Qabalistically correlate, and what the message may be with all things considered.

The three cards we’ll be using for today’s exercise came about through “random” shuffle. They are the 7 of Swords, 5 of Cups, and The Hierophant. I have arranged them sequentially in a horizontal manner and have not ascribed a question or positional meanings. This is a general reading where the cards are meant to be read in tandem.

Similar to the last time, I am asking readers to take a step back and observe the landscape at large. Consider what is similar about the cards, what is different, how they interact, what the figures are posturing, the colours, repeated imagery or anything else that stands out! There are no right or wrongs in this approach. Bring in any elements you personally work with (numbers, astrology etc.) whether I’ve mentioned them or not. This isn’t about guessing what I’m going to see, it’s about expanding your own unique vision. So, take a look at the image below, and using the prompts above, note what you observe!

I’m adding to my existing “Reading In The Flow” series to include what I consider to be other subtle influences potentially impacting a card’s meaning. In the Cards in Combination portion of the series, we’ve been reading cards in tandem to come up with possible interpretations. Here, I’ll be covering connecting themes in the deck to provide additional layers through which to view your draws. Today, we’ll be observing the relationship between time and direction. Central figures in the cards can provide many clues as to the card’s underlying influence, just by observing the way in which they face. While this isn’t conclusive, or totally comprehensive, one easy way to understand this influence is to think about things along the lines of time tenses. There are other ways to contemplate directions, but for the purpose of this post we’re going to keep it simple and focused just on the following - past, present and future.

It may help to go through your deck (I’m specifically working with and referencing the Rider Waite Smith for this post) and begin by separating the obvious ones out. You can place the ones which feature a figure clearly facing left in one pile, a figure clearing looking straight on in another pile, and a figure clearing facing right in a third pile. There are some cards which will be more ambiguous (5 of Wands, 6 of Pentacles, 3 of Cups etc.) and for those, you can just set them aside for later discussion. For now, let’s focus on just three possibilities and see what we may discover.

This is the third edition of our series “Reading In The Flow: Cards in Combination”. If you missed the first two posts (can be found via Resources), “Reading In The Flow” is a term I use to describe taking a bird’s eye view of a spread in order to observe all the ways in which the cards interact.

Similar to the last combination, I will be working with my partner Tim to break down the possibilities within a set of 3 cards. We will explore elemental distribution, note-worthy observations, how the cards Qabalistically correlate, and what the message may be with all things considered.

The three cards we’ll be using for today’s exercise came about through “random” shuffle. They are The Emperor, the 8 of Cups, and the 2 of Cups (again!). I have arranged them sequentially in a horizontal manner and have not ascribed a question or positional meanings. This is a general reading where the cards are meant to be read in tandem.

Similar to the last time, I am asking readers to take a step back and observe the landscape at large. Consider what is similar about the cards, what is different, how they interact, what the figures are posturing, the colours, repeated imagery or anything else that stands out! There are no right or wrongs about this approach. Bring in any elements you personally work with (numbers, astrology etc.) whether I’ve mentioned them or not. This isn’t about guessing what I’m going to see, it’s about expanding your own unique vision. So, take a look at the image below, and using the prompts above, note what you observe!

When it comes to numbers, there are endless ways to approach their significance as it relates back to tarot. The first layer involves having a basic understanding of the spiritual significance of numbers as a way to further understand each card. The second layer involves various calculations to make better sense of your landscape at large i.e. adding up all the numbers and reducing to a single frequency.

But how else can numbers play a role (even intentionally) in the way we approach our practice? Below, I will share 3 techniques to help you incorporate the power of numbers into your work. Please note that at the end of this article I have shared a quick reference chart that addresses number meanings.

This is the second edition of what I hope to be a regular feature on this site - Reading In The Flow: Cards in Combination. If you missed the first post, “Reading In The Flow” is a term I use to describe taking a bird’s eye view of a spread to observe all the ways in which the cards interact.

Earlier in the week, I shared the first post in this series which looked at The Tower, the 8 of Swords, and the 10 of Pentacles in combination. Today, with the help of my partner Tim, we will be breaking down another 3 cards in combination. I’m pulling Tim into this because a) we love to look at this stuff together and b) he brings a depth of knowledge that will allow for some advanced exploration and another layer of understanding.

The three cards we’ll be using for today’s exercise came by way of a suggestion on Instagram. They are The Hierophant, The High Priestess, and the 2 of Cups. I have arranged them in triangle formation like last time and have not ascribed a question or positional meanings. This is a general reading where the cards are meant to be read in tandem.