Okay, my views on the tarot are complicated. Let me just say, so I don’t lose the skeptics right off the bat, I do not believe I am predicting the future.

I will be happy to elaborate as I go.

So I am going through a monumental day in my life today, I essentially just decided to make building my own company my number one priority and am potentially sacrificing my current job in the process.

I have a few ground rules for divination, one is never do divination on something you are currently sure of.

Inverted cards: since inverted cards usually carry a negative meaning I tend to see them as the thrill of the tarot reading. Some readers do not inverse the cards, but I need some potential for bad news. Though one of my ground rules is that even bad news is good news. The whole purpose is to inspire a sense of the heroic in the querent, so to give bad news is to find the silver lining.

According to Joan Benning, an inverse card can mean a low energy in a process, or a reduction of energy. So if you have the Sun, its the Sun turned down for whatever reason. The interpretation of reversed cards demands a higher need for the reader to feel free to interpret. Many occultists would consider this being psychic, I reject psychic phenomena as a hypothesis that has been disproved. A good review of the scientific literature of psychic phenomena I recommend Paul Kurtz’s book “The Transcendental Temptation.”

For my purposes the tarot awakens the imagination, that is their utility.

I am listening to Beethoven’s 3rd, Eroica. A powerful symphony.

My life is full of possibilities and I want to live it passionately.

I am doing a Celtic Cross spread, and I am using the technique of choosing the querent. My Celtic Cross spread comes from Louis Stewart’s Life Forces, which is slightly different in its lay out than some Celtic Cross spreads. I am using the iconic Rider Tarot deck. I am interpreting my reading using guidance from Stewart, and Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning.

In the position of the first card I am laying The Magician with a king of spades from an ordinary playing card deck. This is to represent myself. I am choosing these cards deliberately to hold the position of one card. The rest of the cards will be determined randomly.

Second Position (this card crosses the querent, and signifies obstacles and opposing forces in the matter at hand) : Seven of Swords: Separation from others. Man tiptoeing away from society, appears perhaps to be stealing the swords. Could this be a promethean theft? This card sometimes represents the “lone-wolf” style. There are other ways to interpret this card, but this is the way that I feel about the card. That there is a challenge facing me now. I believe this card does not signify the obstacles so much as how I am responding to them. There are synchronicities that I feel highlight this interpretation: being a lone wolf.

Third Position (This card crowns the querent, and in my humble opinion represents the whispering of the True Will) : The Hanged Man: This card is about letting go. For me in this chapter of my life its about letting go to pursue my dream. I have been very restrained and conservative in my approach, it was definitely an uphill climb. My favorite business guru Gary Vaynerchuk often talks about the role of your DNA in business. He feels if you want to be truly successful, truly happy, and be able to maintain the energy levels one needs to do great things you have to play to your DNA. You have to focus on the things you really enjoy and come naturally to you. This makes sense because if you focus on these tasks you will be able to work much, much harder. This is counter intuitive for me and for the things that I want to be focused on, it can seem like I am dropping out of society and facing terrible debt. But I know its my DNA and that I can work my ass off if I embrace that. I think another aspect of reading this card that I want to embrace is giving up urgency. I know from my study of positive psychology that this kind of approach is healthier. Interestingly enough the Hanged Man is considered to be the opposite of the Mage which I chose to represent me. Though I would point out that in the esoteric and mystical approach one can gain more control and power by surrendering it.

Fourth Position (The base of the matter, that from which the querent rises): Wheel of Fortune (inverted) : This is one of my only two inverted cards. The Wheel of Fortune seems to be one of those cards that you read the inverse as just being a toned down version of the right side up version. One of the meanings of this card is a sense of destiny. I think it is fair to say that my life has been building up with a deeply suppressed sense of destiny. I am a deterministic materialist. I don’t believe in any cosmic sense of destiny, and believe that randomness overall prevails. But I do believe that one must have a sense of the destiny they want to create, and that this is likened onto Gary Vaynerchuk’s concept of DNA or Crowley’s concept of the True Will. There is also an aspect of having a personal vision built into this card. Its inversion makes me laugh because I would definitely say that I have been indulging in these things at a toned down level building up to present events.

Fifth Position (What is behind the querent, what is passing away) : 9 of Pentacles: Tee-hee. One of the meanings of this card is discipline. This definitely works for my current situation. I have been living at a repressive level of self discipline. I think it is an interesting line within the journey to see myself as going from the 9 of Pentacles to the Hanged Man.

Sixth Position (What is before the querent, what is now coming into effect): The Emperor: Fathering. Well, if my lovely wife and I get pregnant in the next seasons I will laugh about this. But I prefer to imagine it as giving birth to Mindcore Studios, my company. The Emperor implies a lot of things I consider to be virtuous and positive, and especially considering its relationship in the Celtic Cross spread I would like to interpret this to mean that the 9 of Pentacles is getting perfected, especially in my DNA/True Will related goals. But it is important that the end game is to let go. To embrace the message of the Hanged Man.

Seventh Position (the querent’s position): The Empress:

Interestingly this is the other half of the female archetype coupled with the High Priestess, who concludes the story of this reading. So lets continue. Though I am an atheist, I am definitely inclined to feel my religious impulses for a feminine deity. The female energy is a good projection for the universe, the proverbial mother nature. Consider these aspects of the card; She can suggest material reward, but only with the understanding that riches go with a generous and open spirit. The Empress asks you to embrace the principle of life and enjoy its bountiful goodness. This is my wife.

Eighth Position (querent’s environment and influence) : Strength : The environment and influence, gotta keep that in mind. This card is about being calm and having strong resolve. Its about patience. Its about being compassionate. Quiet determination. This is definitely how I should cope with my hostile work environment. The trick to this card is that its a gentle lady controlling the Lion. The Lion is not in control, it is the gentle woman. My imaginary goddess.

Ninth Position (querent’s hopes and fears) : The Star : Regaining hope. Feeling inspired. -Just for the record, I have “keep hope” tattooed across my knuckles. This card is definitely useful for my hopes. This card also offers serenity. Finding your still center, as someone who is training in mindfulness meditation I can certainly appreciate this promise. Pretty much everything attributed to the Star can be useful for imagining my goals, and hopes. This card is the good life.

Tenth Position (the outcome) : The High Priestess (Inverted) : So the endgame of this present cycle is the inverted High Priestess. The feminine principle that balances the masculine force of the magician (the card I chose to represent me). Stopping, unconscious, potential, mystery. These aspects are all attributed to the High Priestess, but we must remember her knob is turned down in the inverted position.

Using this reading as a therapeutic story telling narrative, I chose to interpret my endgame as manifesting these aspects of the High Priestess: In readings, the High Priestess poses a challenge to you to go deeper – to look beyond the obvious, surface situation to what is hidden and obscure. She also asks you to recall the vastness of your potential and to remember the unlimited possibilities you hold within yourself. The High Priestess can represent a time of waiting and allowing. It is not always necessary to act to achieve your goals. Sometimes they can be realized through a stillness that gives desire a chance to flower within the fullness of time.

But I must keep my ear to the ground lest I miss her presence.

It immediately stands out to me that in spite of my random selection I have found a ton of Major Arcana in my reading. It is unusual since most of teh deck is minor arcana, I only have two minor arcana in this reading.

One interpretation of this phenomena is that the current event is one charged with magic(k)al energy. A good skeptic dismisses this, but in my system one embraces this as a wonderful opportunity to charge your current adventure with deep meaning, and a powerful sense of adventure.

It is not by accident that I listen to Beethoven’s Eroica, I mean to be heroic as a lifestyle.