Or, Why I Don't Like Keywords Arthur Edward Waite, perhaps the most influential name in modern Tarot, viewed cartomancy and fortune-telling with near-total contempt. In his seminal work, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot  (1911), he spared little effort in dismissing them as superficial nonsense. The Debris of Fortune-Telling Waite characterized the popular interest in Tarot as something belonging to the trash heap of spiritual history. He argued that the cards had been degraded

Ever noticed how some Tarot books start sounding like a PhD in ancient mysticism? If you’ve ever felt like you needed to learn Hebrew, Astrology, and Alchemy just to pull a daily card, you’ve probably bumped into the Qabalah . It’s often called the "skeleton" of Tarot, providing the internal structure for some of the world’s most famous decks. But is it an ancient secret, or just a really clever marketing stunt from the 1800s? Let’s pull back the veil. 1. The Many Faces of th

For the first 350 years of its life, Tarot didn't need "Air, Earth, Fire, and Water". The "fog" began in the late 18th century with a wave of Egyptology and "Fake History." Occultists like Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette) became obsessed with the idea that Tarot was actually a lost "Book of Thoth" from ancient Egypt. To make the cards fit this narrative, they began "bolting on" external systems

Tarot has captivated the minds and hearts of seekers for centuries—not because the cards hold fixed answers, but because they open doors to meaningful reflection, interpretation, and transformation. Pre-Introduction Stop Memorizing. Start Understanding. If you have ever picked up a Tarot deck, looked at the 78 unique cards, and felt overwhelmed, you are not alone. Most of us have hit the same wall: trying to memorise keywords from a "Little White Book" for every single card.

Despite this clearer view of the card we still don't have a specific archetype. Who is our Charioteer?

Math ! Lots of Math ! The sort that makes you want to chew your limbs off or reach for your pair of 'peril sensitive' sunglasses. Using a...

Most discussion of the card focuses on the duality (two lovers) and choice (again duality, the choice between spiritual and earthly)

The Hierophant is the other half of the battle between royalty (see The Emperor) and the church, for control and power. This has deeply infl

I could not find an archetype description of The Emperor I was happy with. So, we're starting with a blank slate (tabula rasa).

Third up we will take a philosophical look at (III) The Empress. Following on from (I) The Magician and (II) High Priestess it is now...

Welcome to the second in the series matching philosophers (or philosophical theories) to the Tarot major arcana (or major arcana...

There's philosophy; full of its ideals. There's the Tarot; full of its archetypes. Seems like a match made in...

A combination of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck (arguably*) coming out of copyright together with a resurgence in the popularity of Tarot has...

Two snapshots of the same Fool (from Sweet Twilight). Is it Bait or be Baited, or A Fool of the Abyss?

Garbage in, Garbage out Or, more (im)precisely; Vague fluffy questions result in vague fluffy answers. If the goal is to Talk with Tarot...

Ahh, the Fool. A card we know so much, yet so little about. Even its placement in the deck is uncertain. As Waite (v*) noted, "the truth...

Publishers Description: Providing rare insight into old spirituality, customs, and language, The Māori Oracle includes a set of 58 oracle...

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