Éliphas Lévi claimed that Arcane IX, The Hermit, symbolises initiation. There are solid grounds for this, and we can extend this reading to the Aristotelian concept of hylomorphism. To begin with, this card is associated with Mercury. Some say that, in the Rider-Waite, the monk is Hermes Trismegistus. Be that as it may, the presence…
I have been meditating on the 8 of Swords, as I mentioned in a previous article. While also reading about the question of Will, in spiritual, magical, and theological contexts, I keep finding the same rule. Will requires the reduction of options and possibilities. In the Spiritual Exercises of Loyola, in the Rule of Saint…
The word fetish enters modern European languages through the French fétiche, derived from the Portuguese feitiço, which in turn comes from the Latin facticius, meaning something made, fabricated, artificially produced. In the Portuguese colonial encounters along the African coast, feitiço designated objects believed to be charged with symbolic and magical power, capable of acting upon…
Over the last two days, the cards that I drew as daily meditation were the 8 of Swords and the 4 of Swords. They are both cards of the rational and mental plane, the intermediate sphere of Yetzirah, and are also associated with Jupiter. This is relevant because. in any context, what does Jupiter enjoy?…
After doing a reading for William Stoner, I decided to do another one for another stoic figure in American literature: Don Gately from Infinite Jest. Now Don Gately is one of the main staff members at Ennet House, the halfway house for recovering addicts in Infinite Jest. He is a former burglar and addict who…
This is a cardinal reading to analyse the relationship between Tony Soprano and his mother, the one that runs through the entire series and, in the end, structures almost everything he is. The Ascendant is Tony, because I wanted to see the relationship through his eyes. The Descendant is Livia, as the Other. The Imum…
I was meditating on the Knight of Wands. He is Air of Fire. That combination alone says almost everything. The rational, mercurial, mental element applied to direct and immediate action on the world. It’s the moment when plans are acted upon, when the mind gives direction to the flame. He is the conqueror who brings…
The fourth cup is set upon the altar, and the air thickens with the scent of rainfall on stone. The world’s spiral, ever impatient for the next wave, forgets the sanctity of the pause, the beauty of what hovers between longing and fulfilment. The Four of Cups, often dismissed as sign of weariness or ennui,…
Where gold is weighed with the hush of breath, a deeper rhythm emerges; a law inscribed beneath the visible circuits of giving and receiving, flickering between the pulse of the open hand and the closed palm. At this silent crossroads, the principle of reciprocity stands as covenant. A current flows from unseen root to visible…
Within the living architecture of the Hermetic cosmos, there exists a moment of sublime equilibrium, a fulcrum where the act of giving and receiving is a rite. The Six of Pentacles stands as the seal of this mystery: an image of the physical world transfigured by loving action. To understand this card is to understand…
