I've spent thirty years walking these cards, tracing their paths, pulling them apart and putting them back together, seeking the system behind them. I don't believe in fortune telling; I've spent decades chasing away superstitions while always being reminded of the magic.

Traditional tarot learning focuses on studying images and symbols, leaving us dependent on others' interpretations and theories about card meanings. My particular bugbears: the idea that some cards are "bad", or that you can just add your own cards! Without a framework for testing our understanding, cards become vessels for what we already believed rather than challenging us to grow.

We don't find meaning in symbols — symbols arise from meaning. The tarot tells how life follows consistent patterns: everything begins, matures, decays, and arises again through spring, summer, autumn, winter. To learn tarot, we must walk this transformation cycle, understanding how the Magician evolves into the High Priestess, how she becomes the Empress, then Emperor. Every card balances with its opposite — there are no bad cards, just seasons. Spring needs autumn; winter isn't bad but necessary for the whole system to maintain life.

Tarot represents one of humanity's ancient tools supporting synthesis through structured, universal maps. My "(Far From) Equilibrium" teaching deck emerged from this journey, combining systems science with love stories and ancient cosmology to reveal the mathematical framework underlying consciousness organization. Even with the maths, seeking the pattern always leads back to the magic.