The Arcana Journal
Essays on tarot reading, Hermetic lore, and the practice of drawing the cards
On Reading Reversals (or Why Some Readers Don't)
Half of every honest deal lands upside down. Some readers treat reversals as the card's shadow voice; others read every card upright and let context carry the inversion. Both can defend the practice.
Majors and Minors: How the Two Arcana Speak Differently
The Major Arcana name the foundational forces; the Minor Arcana name the daily life inside them. A reading is a conversation between the two registers.
The Celtic Cross: Why the Spread Still Works
Ten positions, two thousand readings, more than a century of use. The Celtic Cross is the workhorse spread of modern tarot — and the structure is doing more than the cards alone.
The Fool's Journey: Reading the Majors as One Story
From the cliff at the beginning to the dance at the end. The twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana form a single passage — and learning them as that passage changes how you read every one of them.
As Above, So Below: The Hermetic Root of the Tarot
The most quoted line in the Western occult tradition is older than the tarot — and the deck has been reading it back to us, in seventy-eight images, for a hundred and fifty years.
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