Within or Without
There are two primary metaphors for describing the flow of spiritual energy in the practice of Reiki Ryôhô. In one, we describe the energy as flowing from above or beyond us. We use words like “channeling” Reiki or being a…
Category Kabbalah
Q&A with Joy: Why Doesn’t the Moon Card Represent the Moon?
Someone posted this question on Facebook in a forum. I’d like to share the question and my response here so that this information is more readily available, and not lost forever in the labyrinth of Facebook. Here’s the question: “As…
Q&A with Joy: Using the Hebrew Letters in Tarot Divination
A student of the Western Mystery Tradition contacted me asking how the Hebrew letters and their correspondence to the tarot Major Arcana can be used in doing readings. Greetings Joy, Do you use the Hebrew letters of the 22 Major…
The Hopscotch Spread
The Hopscotch Spread is a fun, qabalistically based tarot spread that can provide insight and guidance in working towards a particular goal. Hopscotch Spread Instructions Focus on a question or issue. Shuffle and lay out 10 cards face down according to the pattern…
The Top Five Reasons TarotCon Denver is Going to be Awesome!
5. A Gorgeous Spiritual Center, not a Fluorescent Convention Center. TarotCon Denver will be held at the Althea Center for Engaged Spirituality. This amazing historic building was built in 1898 as a church of Divine Science, one of the denominations…
Where Do Answers Come From? As Dreamed by Mercury in Pisces Lorded over by Jupiter in Leo
I’m currently taking a class on The Lyric Essay at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. This is the first draft of my essay, which was workshopped in class on Monday (I made only a few small edits since then). I will re-write it and…
The Three Diamonds: A Reiki Approach to Experiencing Oneness
The Japanese term for birth is U-MU, consisting of the kototama U, “Being” and MU, “Nothingness.” That is, life springs forth when Form and Emptiness are in perfect balance.— Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido Founder In the previous article, I wrote about…
Big Things Come in Small Presence: Twelve Ways to Find Connection and Balance in a Minute a Day
When receiving a gift, a friend of mine would quip, the Universe loves presence. I have a regular client who took the time out of her busy schedule to see me in person for a reading—she usually does phone readings. As…
Quantum Leap
When My Understanding of Tarot Took a Quantum Leap Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop! An international group of tarotists (check out the master list) are all writing on the same topic and then linking to each other so that…
The Elements of the Tarot
Insights into the Four Suits and Four Elements The topic for the upcoming BlogHop (to be published September 23) is to talk about a time when your understanding of the Tarot underwent a quantum leap, what brought about the change in your…
Q&A with Joy: Why Meditate?
The following is a transcript, edited for clarity, of a discussion we had in my Practical Qabalah class earlier this month. One student asked, Why meditate? Here’s her question and the discussion that followed: D: Meditation, as I encounter it, seems…
Q&A with Joy: Numerology and the Tarot
A student who has been studying esotericism (tarot, astrology and kabbalah) with me all year contacted me this morning with the following question: “You mentioned that the numbers associated with the tarot are not necessarily accurate, as I understood you;…
The Union of Opposites
Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop! An international group of tarotists (check out the master list) are all writing on the same topic and then linking to each other so that the reader can hop from one blog to the…
What’s the Difference Between Usui Reiki Ryôhô and Komyo Reiki?
Despite being trained in both Western and Japanese styles of Reiki, I now teach only traditional Japanese Reiki—Usui Reiki Ryôhô (as taught by the International House of Reiki) and Komyo Reiki (as taught by Komyo Reiki Kai Founder Hyakuten Inamoto).…
Turkey Conundrum: Qabalah
Suddenly I realized it is the last day of November and I had not posted anything on my blog! I couldn’t believe how lazy I had been to go a whole month without writing anything. And then I remembered–Oh, right,…
The Chariot as Cancer
The symbolism behind the Chariot’s correlation to Cancer in the tarot just came to me. First, it helps to understand how the assignment of the cards to the planets and signs came about. In fifteenth century minchiate decks, twenty additional…
Circle Celebrations and Faery Fun
Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop! An international group of tarotists (check out the master list) are all writing on the same topic and then linking to each other so that the reader can hop from one blog to the…
Creation and Redemption
Tarot Three of Pentacles Vs Eight of Pentacles A discussion came to my attention in which a number of people were debating whether, kabbalistically, the threes in tarot are higher than the eights. In particular, the person posing the question…
The Power of Transformation
Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop! An international group of tarotists are all writing on the same topic and then linking to each other so that the reader can hop from one blog to the next, seeing all the permutations…
Why Ritual?
I’m a big proponent of ritual. I love it and recommend it to students and clients. However, too often I come across discussions online where people talk about the “hocus-pocus of ceremony” or the “mindless running around” of a formalized…