In a video last weekend, I talked about the rub that exists between philosophy, which seeks truth through reason, and mysticism, which seeks irrational ecstatic communion with the divine. As it turns out, I have more that I want to say on the matter. Specifically, I want to talk about the survival of the soul […]
Read more "Philosophy and Mysticism: Malkuth, Yesod, and the Underworld"There are two quotes echoing in my head right now. The first is from the Gospel of Luke. I’m not Christian, but this post is going to go to some Christian places, so brace yourselves in advance. I promise, there’s a reason for it: Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for […]
Read more "The Strength Card and Radical Love"I’m coming at you with another YouTube video! In this video, I talk about the thematic relationship between Death, Temperance, and the Devil as they’re placed on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. I spend some time thinking about the Qabalistic theme that unites them, and then the individual way in which each card manifests that […]
Read more "Video: Death, Temperance, and the Devil on the Tree of Life"At long last, we have reached the final stage of my walkthrough of the Opening of the Key reading I did for myself at the 2018 vernal equinox. If you’re not caught up, feel free to read the First Operation, Second Operation, Third Operation, and Fourth Operation. I do an OOTK eight times per year […]
Read more "My Equinox Reading: The Fifth Operation"A while back, I wrote two posts about the connections between Tarot and the Tree of Life. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here. The general idea behind them was that I liked mapping Tarot to the Tree, but was dissatisfied with the exact way in which it was done, so I came up […]
Read more "The Structure of the Tree of Life"[This turned into a really long post. If you just want to see my correspondences of Tarot cards to the Wheel of the Year, without a lot of rambling context and explanation, skip to the list immediately after the picture of the Tree of Life.] Those of you who have been reading this blog for a […]
Read more "Mapping Tarot to the Wheel of the Year"If you don’t know about the way the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is used in conjunction with Tarot, check out my previous piss-poor attempt at an introductory Kabbalah post. The Kircher Tree of Life (pictured above) is the one used by just about everyone who’s interested in Kabbalah these days. Especially those influenced by the […]
Read more "Tarot and the Tree of Life, Part 2: My Way"I’ve been trying to write one version of this post or another for almost as long as this blog has been running, but I’ve always struggled to get it into words. What I really want to talk about is the modified version of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life that I use in my own Tarot […]
Read more "Tarot and the Tree of Life, Part 1: The Real Way"I’ll be straight with you. I’m not a terribly religious person. In fact, “flaming atheist” is probably the most accurate description that can be provided of my religious views. Throughout the course of my (admittedly short) life, in good times and in bad, I have never felt compelled to seek the divine. But at the […]
Read more "My Tarot Altar"I have a lot of thoughts about the Star. Like, a lot. It’s interesting to me that, in the order of the deck, the Star follows the Tower, because in real life, things go the other way. The Star is purity, and the Tower is the fall from grace. In the normal course of life, we […]
Read more "Perfection and Completion in the Garden of Eden"
Jack Chanek 