For an overview of and foundation for this series, see HERE Part 2 is HERE In this article, we look at the main test or challenge of the first row, which is represented by The Emperor. The flanking cards, The Empress and The Hierophant, show the energies the create or intensify the challenge. Many people think of the Emperor and the Empress as a pair, representing opposing forces or opposite sides of the same coin, so it is confusing why in this case the Emperor stands alone as the crux of the challenge and the Empress is essentially “paired” with the Hierophant. The basic issue of the row is how you relate to and experience the world, which is shaped (in childhood) by home

A Study of the Fool’s Journey 2 For an overview of and foundation for this series, see HERE Today we look at the Basic Issue of the first row, represented by the Magician and High Priestess. It is helpful to use the idea of childhood development as a metaphor. Some of the concepts we deal with in the journey are very abstract and so having a down-to-earth metaphor helps communicate these ideas. The first two cards do describe a basic issue and they do so by representing opposing facets of that issue. In this case, the issue is about negotiating your experience in and of the world. The Magician, being an active and extroverted card, represents how you express yourself in the

This month the Llewellyn Tarot blog will feature a series of articles exploring the Fool’s Journey using Rachel Pollack’s Alternate Major Arcana Spread, found HERE. The Fool’s Journey was coined by Eden Gray. The Fool card is said to journey through the Majors in order, gaining spiritual wisdom and learning lessons along the way. As the idea resonated with readers, people began laying out the Majors in certain configurations, like a spread, which influenced the interpretation of the journey. For this month’s study, we will use this configuration based on the spread Rachel developed:   We will place the Fool at the top and the rest of the Majors in order in three

Each week this month, we are taking a look at the Tarot Illuminati by Eric Dunne and Kim Huggens.  Almost every reader has a particular court card they think of as "their" card. For me, it is Queen of Pentacles.