Black Mirror Alchemy: The Path of the Digital Hermit

Welcome Back, Dear Readers In this week's blog post, we are diving deeper into the Four Kings Method and beginning our exploration of the different aspects of masculine development portrayed in the tarot. As I mentioned last week, the four kings of the tarot represent mastery of each of their elements and serve as models for us, as men, to begin working through and developing expertise in each domain of our lives. Regarding the element of fire, represented by the wands, we’ll be exploring the emotional, sexual, and creative aspects of our lives. When we zoom out, there are several ways society tries to control and suppress the fire of men. First, cultural norms limit the kinds of emotions men are allowed to express. Secondly, social mechanisms control male sexuality, turning it into a resource for value extraction. Lastly, the structure of work and commodified leisure ensnares the creative energy of m...

Greetings, dear readers! For my husband and me, and likely many of you, the midpoint of August signals the start of a new academic term. I love this time of year because it offers a chance to plan the projects and goals I want to achieve over the next nine months. Planning is one of my favorite activities, which is probably no surprise given that my sun sign is Virgo. In my day job as a psychology professor, I’ve learned a lot about setting goals and planning. I’ve had some stellar years where I accomplished everything I set out to do, and I’ve had years where nearly everything I touched seemed to fall apart. In addition, I get to watch and teach students how to plan their terms, celebrate their successes, and console them in their setbacks. In the spirit of going back to school, I thought it would be a great idea to explore how tarot can be used as a practical tool—not just for self-actualization and spiritual development, but for organizing our lives and achieving our goals. Ta...

Using Psychology in Tarot Readings: The King of Swords Welcome back, dear readers! We did it! We are at the end of our series about using psychology in your tarot readings for others! In our past three posts, we explored the details of cognition with the Page of Swords, systems of motivation and emotion with the Knight of Swords, and understanding personality with the Queen of Wands. Now we turn our attention to the King of Swords. In tarot, kings are invested in the superstructure of their suits. While queens foster growth, kings organize that energy into systems of meaning. From a bird's eye view, the King of Swords sees patterns and draws understanding. For tarot readers, the King of Swords challenges us to consider larger systems of meaning, not just individual differences. One powerful way to achieve this is through Social Identity Theory. Social Identity Theory Humans have a drive for high sel...

Black Mirror Alchemy - No Reading is Truly a Cold Reading, Part 3 Welcome back to Black Mirror Alchemy, dear reader! Today, we are going to explore the third installment of our "No Reading is Truly a Cold Reading" series. If you missed the first two posts, make sure to check those out! Part 1: Biases and Heuristics Part 2: Motivation and Emotion In this post, we are exploring the complex world of personality with the help of the Queen of Swords. The Queens in the Minor Arcana embody the nurturing, feminine principle that promotes the growth of their suit. The Queen of Swords, in particular, guides us to bring forth ideas, knowledge, and voices to foster clarity and understanding in our readings. In our past two posts, we have looked at the smaller details of human psychology. The Page of Swords focused on the small details of human cognition, while the Knight of Swords synthesized those details into workabl...

Black Mirror Alchemy - Knight of Swords Welcome back to Black Mirror Alchemy The Second Installment of "No Reading is Truly a Cold Reading" In this week's post, we will explore the role motivation and emotion play in the tarot reading space. To do this, we will seek the help of the Knight of Swords to explore the momentum and movement associated with our interpretations of the world. Knight of Swords The Knight of Swords is a fast-moving, no-nonsense warrior. He has prepared his whole life for the battles ahead and can deploy his skills in various situations. Embodying this knight can be intimidating due to his fast-talking, intelligent, aggressive, and proactive nature. However, what truly makes the knight tick is his ability to hone and manipulate the element of air. He can be persuasive and attractive, confrontational and direct, or intellectual and cold. Because of Mercury's influence, you never know which side of t...

Welcome back to Dark Mirror Alchemy! We will take a quick break this week from The Hermit's Journey to discuss the combined arts of reading tarot and reading people. I have had the pleasure and privilege to learning tarot while also getting my degrees in psychology. So, I wanted to share in this blog series how the different levels of psychology can help us read tarot better; especially if you are in situation where you are giving a reading to a stranger.  With the help of the court cards in the suit of swords, this series will be comprised of four posts, which will explore each of the following levels of human psychology:  Biases and Heuristics with the Page of Swords  Motivation and Emotion with the Knight of Swords  Personality and Identity with the Queen of Swords  Groups and Culture with the King of Swords The first two installments of this series will teach you about the very basics of human behavior. If you like mixed metaphors, we are going...

Welcome back to The Hermit's Journey! In this blog post, we will discuss the significance of ritual in our lives and how tarot can aid you in engaging in ritual for psychological benefits. Ritual plays a crucial role in our human experience, allowing us to connect with the hyper-real in a controlled space, keeping us oriented to the real world. So, in this week's post, we will explore the definition of ritual, how tarot can help you establish your own rituals, and some next steps for nurturing your spiritual life. Ritual Rituals can be seen as a series of formalized acts and utterances that create a holistic performance. According to Dr. Matt Rossano, ritual has been instrumental in the development of our social-cognitive functions, helping us understand ourselves, others, and the world around us. Typically, rituals possess four characteristics, which serve as key indicators for creating our own tarot rituals: Rituals are meant to be attention-grabbing to outsiders. Rituals fol...