Tel: 919-542-5719
Fax: 919-869-1643
Tarot Hermeneutics
Exploring How We Create Meaning with Tarot
A Way to Tarot Wisdom
This pages changes weekly and includes all links to access Tuesday Evening 7-9 PM EST Sessions.
Invitation to Join "A Way to Tarot Wisdom, Session 59", at 7 PM Eastern [GMT 12 AM]. May 25 Tuesday Evening 7-9 PM Eastern USA Time.
How to Join Teleconference
What to expect on call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Reading the Number Cards Marseille Style
Beginning Tuesdays May 25 7-9 PM
EST (-5 GMT), the Approaching Tarot Wisdom free
teleconference will be exploring the numerical and elemental meaning
of the 40 number cards in the Marseille Tarot as sets and then the
court cards. We will continue to
read and follow the guide of Jodorowsky-Costa’s The Way of the Tarot. In many ways conventions for reading the pips (number
cards) is quite different from reading tarot decks that follow
RWS in offering illustrations for the number cards. We will explore
the number symbolism and the elemental attributions for generating
significance as well as the subtle visual clues in the Camion-Jodorowsky
Marseille Tarot deck. Likewise each week we will practice reading
the cards as commentary upon our topics of inquiry.
The teleconference is without cost except for a regular long
distance call. Anyone is welcome to call-in, listen and participate
in the discussion of tarot. If you have any questions feel free to
email or phone me at 919-968-9368.
Call-in info
and weekly handouts may be found here.
A Note on the Spreads used during Sessions
We will be experimenting with new spreads and ways to questions cards to help us with our tarot inquiries. More variety and initiatives will be tried out these sessions.
A major part of our tarot study is to not only read and discuss the text but also to try out what we are learning by reading a Spread especially laid-out for each session. The Layout is set up to respond to a general question about the session and the subject of study. For example if our topic is the Fool we would ask what the tarot wants us to especially note about the Fool in light of our discussion.
In addition some of our questions derive from the text and from Spreads in the text.
We began using a nifty Spread developed by Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman for her famous The Sacred Rose Tarot. The Elemental Power Spread had served us well during our reading of Promethea, a previous teleconference group. After a few weeks we decided to try something more in keeping with the assumptions and style of Jodorowsky-Camion tarot of Marseille. Johanna developed the Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread which was based on questions raised in the text and on the summary structure of the deck as reflected in the World card according to Jodorowsky.
We have stuck with this Spread but found that it seemed to lack internal flow when we repeatedly read with it. Also Jodorowsky's color choices for the suits seemed counterintuitive [Jodorowsky Color Code Study Guide] and also provoked a continuing resistance. David Attwood, a wonderfully synthetic reader from California, often recast the readings in ways that got us out of the thicket. See for example David Attwood's Tree of Life Variant of the EPS.
So we are now revising the Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread to reflect the tetragrammaton in this Revised Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread.
In addition we use the same order of random draw plus extra cards to use Rachel Pollack's Spreads from her Tarot Wisdom book.
In addition, beginning with the Minor Arcana number cards, we will be devising our own wisdom inquiries into our study subjects.
Spread Template: Revised Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread
Questions for Pip Wisdom Inquiry:
Questions Vary by Number and Suit and by Design of Reader
Session 44: February 7, 2012 Aces Layout Image
Session 44: February 7, 2012 Aces Layout as Adobe Page
Handouts:
Jodorowsky's Tarot Notes
What is a Devised Spread? With example for Aces
Past handouts in use:
David Attwood's Tree of Life Variant of the EPS
Heraldry pdf
Camion Website
Camion Restoration and Code pdf
Jodorowsky Color Code Study Guide
Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread Image
Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread Acrobat
Whiteness of Whale
EPS: Theory Spread Template (jpg)
Revised Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread
In this course we use the texts of
- Alejandro Jodorowsky [pronounced Ho-dor-OW-ski]; and Marianne Costa: The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards (Destiny Books)
- and Rachel Pollack's Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings (Llewellyn Publications)
We study introductions. We learn Elemental power Spread. Wisdom utilitarian questions of study Weekly themes. We introduce ourselves and our relationship with tarot study.
Adapting to Jodorowsky's Symbolism
Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread Image Template
Jodorowsky's Elemental Power Spread Acrobat Template
We will discuss whether we want to adapt our weekly readings to this Jodorowsky Derived Spread.
Dial in Number (*see note for Skype)
Dial at 7-9PM EST [12-2AM GMT]:
1-218-339-2699
Enter access number:
567737#
(You will be charged your regular long distance rate, if applicable. There are no hidden charges or tolls for this class.)
You are welcome to dial in at anytime during call.
If attendance is heavy we may ask most to listen on mute and we'll cycle through groups of people for sharing.
Muting through system is *6; or you may mute using your own phone mute.
The alternative number is when and
if the 1st number is not working properly
Alternative number: 1 (605) 715-4920
Access number: 2160089 #
- Music Plays if you are first. Wait others will soon arrive.
- *6 mutes your line so hearing reception may be clearer.
For any information or queries please contact the coordinator at pnagy@tarothermeneutics.com
Skype
You can use Skype to call this number: be sure to add international USA flag icon code if outside USA Canada.[11-]. Consult Skype for phone connection fees. A subscription plan with Skype maybe the least expensive way to connect, if you plan on regular attendance. Remember to use a headset with microphone.
In Skype you can add people to your line [effective limit 4-5? before call line degrades].
Is a conversational tarot study and discussion designed for people who wish to sharpen their skills as tarot readers.
Is a direct dial teleconference that meets weekly
How to register. (you do not need to register unless you wish to receive reminder emails)
Email Paul with your email and skype name and email address.
Call Structure
- It is expected you have already read posted pages for class.
- Your cash investment in the class is purchase of the books and tarot deck.
Each session includes analytic review of reading, an application of an Elemental Power Spread to the readings, a general discussion of the topics.
- the call begins with general greetings and sharing of news
- next we review the Elemental Power Spread for this session. It should be available for download in the syllabus part of this page
- we review readings following the order of texts.
- In the review of the readings we follow the order of the texts to discuss topics.
- relate Elemental Power Spread to the topics of the readings and
- open up to a more unstructured and exploratory conversation
- end the call with informal review of topics and announcement of next weeks readings, any community news or notes to share.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does the session cost?
A: It costs only your time and commitment to social learning.
Depending on your long distance plan it could cost you nothing. You
are investing your time and life experience wisdom and sharing it
with other people interested in perfecting their skills in tarot
reading.
Q: Who is this study designed for?
A: This study is for people who want to learn to perfect their
skills in tarot reading and theory. It is not a beginning course in
tarot, nor is it a forum to seek a personal tarot reading.
Q: What is expected of me?
A: That you read the material ahead of time and be prepared to
discuss it. (If you could not read the assigned material we ask you
not to talk during the analytical and review portions of the
session.) You are welcome to talk during the discussion of the
Elemental Power Spread, and during the open general discussion which
is toward the last half of the call.
People who are shy or do not want to discuss readings are welcome to
just listen and eventually share in due course.
Q: What if I cannot commit to regular participation?
A: You are always welcome to drop in anytime as you can. It is
important to read the texts ahead of time for full comprehension but
anyone may drop in when they can. You get out of this what you put
in.
Q: How long will the study last?
A: Each weekly session should last no more than 2 hours. The
syllabus is keyed to the texts and could take well over one to
two years to complete a thorough study of the books.
Holidays and other situations may mean weeks are skipped. I have
included other breaks and review sessions at intervals. It is
expected that people will join or leave as they will, and that
anyone with a preliminary grasp of tarot is welcomed to join the
sessions at anytime.
Q: What benefits will I get doing this
study?
A: Yes committing to this long course of reading and discussion
requires a settled life-style and a serious interest in tarot. It
will eventually offer many new and experimental ways to approach
tarot, for revamping your own tarot classes or design considerations
if you want to create your own deck. It will become a forum to
discuss issues in card reading and interpretation with people you
will get to know well enough to recognize their biases. It will give
you the possibility to learn at greater depth many issues often left
not discussed in other tarot learning opportunities. In the end you
will get as much out of it as you can put in, returned tenfold in
unexpected ways.
Q: What is the Elemental Power Spread and why do we use it for
each session?
A: The Elemental Power Spread was developed by
Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman
during the development of her
The Sacred Rose Tarot
Deck and Guide Book (US Games) some 30 years ago. Some of us recognized it
as a good way to have the tarot comment on our study and offer its
own guidance to our deliberations. (This is akin to Rachael
Pollack's wisdom readings we will explore in readings). It allows us
to collectively use and share our skills as tarot reader's each week
and is practical recognition that tarot itself is the best teacher of tarot.
Also see.
Q: Who is Paul Nagy and what is Tarothermeneutics.com?
A: Paul Nagy is a tarot reader with a long history of esoteric
exploration. He has been formally reading tarot on and off,
professionally and recreationally, since 1978. He is active in
several tarot groups and events including
the Tarot School,
The Reader's
Studio, and attends the
Bay Area Tarot
Symposium (BATS), when he can.
Paul's role is to facilitate the sessions and moderate the calls.
Content is provided by selected texts and all participants bring
their expertise.
Tarot hermeneutics focuses Paul's perennial interest in schemes of
translation and meaning and interpretation in tarot practice and dream. Some of
Paul's views can be read in his
interview with Enrique Enriquez.
Q: How were these texts chosen to be the focus of study?
A: Paul consulted with friends with whom he has studied previous
Tarot classic texts, among them
Meditations on the Tarot by anonymous and the
graphic novel Promethea by Alan Moore. We discussed
future initiatives, deciding to change time when groups meets
to accommodate more peoples schedules, and to try a comparative
approach to reading contrasting innovative and authoritative texts
about the tarot.
Q: How can I help?
A: The soul of this style of study is bringing your own experience
of the cards to the conversation and contributing your voice, your
unique point-of-view to the deliberations on the texts read and the
spread deciphered at each session. This is collegial study where
everyone is a peer, on the same level. We realize that few people
will be able to commit to uninterrupted attendance. You are always
welcome to join the call when you can and want to.
Related Pages
Most of you know Enrique Enriquez and I have a pleasant rapport, and I support his efforts in tarot reading even when dumbfound by what he is doing. Likewise, perhaps, he refrains from comment upon my forays into the unutterable.
ATTENTION: IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MARSEILLE TAROT PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING:
1. Read poetry and about poetry
while assuming that it is all about the tarot.
2. The tarot (de Marseille) cannot be
explained by non-tarological means. To make that evident, once a
week we deploy language in a tarological way. Subscribe to our
tongue exercises (counter-exegesis). TO SUBSCRIBE please send an
email to the following address: enrique(dot)eenriquez(at)gmail(dot)com
explaining which one is the fastest letter in the alphabet, and why.
Thanks,
enriqu(e e)enriquez
Schedule:
We will study pips as full sets and then the court cards. This may conclude our study of
In this course we use the texts of
- Alejandro Jodorowsky [pronounced Ho-dor-OW-ski]; and Marianne Costa: The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards (Destiny Books)
- and Rachel Pollack's Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings (Llewellyn Publications)
List of EPS (posted by Monday before session).
Telephone Contact
Dial in Number (*see note for Skype)
Dial at 7-9PM EST [12-2AM GMT]:
1-218-339-2699
Enter access number:
567737#
(You will be charged your regular long distance rate, if applicable. There are no hidden charges or tolls for this class.
You are welcome to dial in any time during call.
The alternative number is when and
if the 1st number is not working properly
Alternative number: 1 (605) 715-4920
Access number: 2160089 #
- Music Plays if you are first. Wait others will soon arrive.
- *6 mutes your line so hearing reception may be clearer.
A Way to Tarot Wisdom Syllabus
Major Arcana Tarot de Marseilles Camoin- Jodorowsky
Template for Elemental Power Spread
ATTENTION: IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MARSEILLE TAROT PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING:
1. Read poetry and about poetry while assuming that it is
all about the tarot.
2. The tarot (de Marseille) cannot be explained by non-tarological
means. To make that evident, once a week we deploy language in a
tarological way. Subscribe to our tongue exercises
(counter-exegesis). TO SUBSCRIBE please send an email to the
following address: enrique(dot)eenriquez(at)gmail(dot)com explaining
which one is the fastest letter in the alphabet, and why.
Thanks,
enriqu(e e)enriquez