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author: James Wanless, PhD.
James Wanless' book was actually the start of this months trilogy - deck/site/book review. Then came the *aha* experience - I think that most likely happens a lot with Dr. Wanless' material!
As with many books, this one is a result of cumulative experiences along the authors path - in this case, his spiritual path. Dr. Wanless is a writer, consultant,
artist, trainer and publisher - and he credits his success to his understanding of Tarot. Strategic Intuition was written not strictly as a book for use in the business world, although that is the major thrust - it is for use in the world - period!
I am excited by many of the things he has to say here. I have worked with his deck on a card-a-day basis through his site for over a year now. I was never sure if I actually *wanted* the deck, but it does continually bring me new insight. The reason that I kept working on it at all is largely because of the picture of Dr. Wanless on his site - seated, corss-legged, with a semi circle of cards around him. As I say in the site review - the gentleman appears to be levitating! Quite fascinating!
The categories that he initially defines set the tone of the book - forecasting,creativity, the inner business team, empowerment, inspiration and motivation, fun at work, playing the game of life and Tarot as a mentor. This book has the same tone of curiosity and vision that my very first Tarot book did (Tarot For Yourself by Mary K. Greer). According to Dr. Wanless, one operating principle of Tarot is that once you have seen the future, you can create it now!
The Tarot decks that Dr. Wanless uses in his book are the Waite-Smith, the Crowley Thoth and his own Voyager Tarot. In each example he uses, he shows how each deck differs in their interpretation. Dr. Wanless sees the Voyager Tarot as piggy-backing off of the other two decks. He sees Tarot as a whole system in itself - a way in which we can set guides and rules for living - an information medium using words and pictures.
He gives an excellent chart where he defines each of the 22 major arcana, their business role and their principle or law. Quite an eye-opener for those of us who are guiding ourselves and our clients in business and personal affairs.
He defines the suites as follows: Crystals or Swords (mind/mental), Cups (heart/emotional), Worlds, Disks or Pentacles (body/physical,work/professional), Wands (spirit/higher-self).
Dr. Wanless also charts the meanings for the pips for all of the suits - for all three decks! Don't worry - it is done in chart form, easily understandable, easily accessable. Also, necessary, if you want to compare readings between the decks.
As part of a wholistic system, Dr. Wanless gives a method for interpreting an inter-relating the court cards, and relating the quality of the pips to the quality of the majors connected with them by number.
The Voyager Royal Family cards are defined as follows:
crystals:Child/Learner,Man/Inventor, Woman/Guardian,Sage/Knower
Cups:Child/Feeler,Man/Surfer, Woman/Rejoicer, Sage/Regenerator
Worlds:Child/Player,Man/Achiever,Woman/Oreserver, Sage/Master
Wands: Child/Seeker, Man/Actor, Woman/Sensor, Sage/Seer
Dr. Wanless shows us many ways to play the game of Tarot and the game of life. It is a game, we decide how to play and what the stakes will be. Bonus - the section appendix includes a wonderful chart for recording card_a_day draws with the Voyager deck. This book is an excellent tool for learning to make decisions and focus clearly on options, with many specific spreads to help.
I highly reccomend this book - whether you choose to use the accompanying deck or not. There is much to be learned here - much knowledge freely given. This book will be in my library soon!
November 2000
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