Taropedia

Absolutely luscious episode, pod fam. Four Cups and we get into a rich spread of topics. Cringe and digust, the history of western classical music, bombasticity phrases, esoteric numerology, trauma and talk therapy. BED BUGS. Yes. We listen to Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony and go on and on. This is just part one. Next week more cups (but still four cups). Outro music empororial jams by Phil. Che...

Hi Pod Fam --  We did three cups. Three of Cups!! Phil eats an obscene amount of graham crackers and gives Ben a reading and we try to explore the scope of this magical card. A little more Christian esoterica, which includes an elaborate dance around sex negativity and emotional repression. We talk about the value of self control and the pitfalls, and the beauty and necessity of our relationships...

Greetings our merry minions, our pod fam. We bring you Two of Cups today and it's a big lesson on entrainment, sympathy, vibration, movin' and groovin', and Love itself. We talk a lot of bullshit, and we even get into some esoteric christian doctrine and talk about the divine trinity. Sorry, not sorry. Music tunes in background provided by Minecraft and by Caravan Palace, and outro music Sister Ra...

Surprise! It's a special one all about the Ace of Cups. We do another reading, this time for Ben. We talk a really big range of things as we listen to one of Ben's favorite albums at the moment, Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token. Phil apologizes for some jarring prayer bowl interjections. We chat about acoustics, Philly slang, artistic personas, 'source energy,' negotiating pay... so much. It's...

Yusssss it's Ten of Wands, PodFam. Ben and Phil sensed the same hot pile and so do a single reading for both simultaneously. There are groovy background tunes provided by Ratatat, and Ten of Wands-adjacent topics are perused. Oppression, marketing, labor, discipline, self-compassion. Many other things, truly, it's a silly episode and a lot of wine and graham crackers are consumed (by Phil).

Greetings PodFam. Phil's dealing with some life changes so he's full of query. We gave him a reading and serendipity gave us a sweet gift in drawing the nine of wands. We were able to wax poetic even extra than usually, just in time for this week's drop.  Full of topics... Can't keep them all straight. It's musical expression, it's the spirit of vigilance, it's emotional amplitude, it's communicat...

Part 2 as promised. Please drink up. 

Greetings Pod Fam. We're hitting you w another one, straight away! It's Eight of Wands so we get into a super abstract dish of concepts and chat chat chat. We gather in the flesh in PA in Ben's magical vehicle, where illicit, secret things take place. We talk deep, naval gazey philosophy and get lost in the sauce. Phil decorated the sauce post-partum with incidental piano music of his creation. Mi...

It's the Seven of Wands.  "The Seven of Wands has to do with our ability to separate and consider emotions independent of the actual flood of experience with the emotion, with the sensation." -- Phil  Here we talk about severence, gender metaphysics, mind/body interface, love and will, Phil recounts a vision he had during a meditative trip, we talk about lucic dreaming. Ben tells us about a time h...

Six of wands today! Emotional regulation, 'legato bowing,' circular breathing, pranayama, 'binaries' such as yin/yang, Phil gets into some of his own breathing practice and his thinking behind it, flow states, "victory," leadership, and hierarchy. A good one. Outro music featuring ATU XII (The Hanged Man) by Phil, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and Sia. 

Greetings! Five of Wands today -- big concept and we spread way wider than the scope of the card, perhaps more so than usual. The topics include childhood, "shining" a la Stephen King, worship, awe, polyvagal theory, reflections on Ben and Phil's church background, yin/yang theory and some speculation about acoustical phenomenon, feedback and criticism, pranayama yoga and the violin bow... there's...

I'm awfully sorry to spam dear audience with episodes this day -- I realized too late my logic program cuts off long files (it can't get enough of it) so here's the last 10 minutes of pod w Erica. Enjoy! 

Welcome and greetings! Four of wands. Ben and Phil discuss money, markets, labor, nutrition, musical proportion, sound production, 'feminine' rage, emotional subdual, spiritual introspection, asceticism, sustainability, Earthships. Yogini Shambhavi gets a shoutout so Phil has put in some of her beautiful chanting for outro. xoxo

Greetings Pod Fam, it's our second musical reading! On the pod we have a legendary icon, seamstress of the essences Erica Dicker, violinist, improviser, composer, professor, ETC. We talk about a glorious range of things here, weighing in on far too much to list. So here's a list:  Violin extended techniques, NYC soundscapes, Long Legs w/ Nicholas Cage, Death and 'the 5-minute Bow,' J.K. Rowling, N...

Here begins Taropedia's musical reading series! Phil has super special guest and dear friend Marta Bagratuni on pod to have her cards read. We talk about embodying emotions, acting, stage performing, stinky cheese, and the whole nine yards. Lots of love here. 

Greetings Pod Fam! Welcome to three of wands. This is an especially aimless episode for us, which is funny because three of wands is supposed to be all about gaze, direction, attention, travel, etc.. We cover an interesting array of topics nonetheless, which includes EMDR Therapy, Chamber music/bands, the relationship between performer and audience, self-evaluation in musical practice, Parkour/fre...

Two of Wands! The topic is Domain and so we talk about Sound, vibration, the overtone series, singing vowels, audiences and performing, churches, power... there's a bunch more, per usual. An important note, speaking of audiences! The fabulous PodFam (that's YOU) has been called upon to write in questions if there is curiosity in your heart about anything. We can be reached at taropediapodcast@gmai...

This is the inaugural episode of season 2, folks! We're beginning a new chapter of Taropedia and with that comes episode titles that correspond to card names. This episode is devoted to naval gazing about the Ace of Wands, and as such we brush over things such as vocal diction, breath support, the chakras, the human will, our powers of initiative, and Phil gets into a whole thing about a mushrooms...

ad;klaj;sf file too big too long. Had to split. Second part here. Mwah bbas.

This one we tackle Temperance and the four pages, which is a scoop that gets us into a particularly juicy swath of topics. In no particular order: karma, tarot divination, "kundalini awakenings," yoga, spirituality and worship, chaos, psychedelic experiences, Polyvagal Theory's "neuroception," cultural icons, secret societies, perfectionism, art. We hope it's cool for you. Outro music "Temperance"...

CW: Religious trauma, murder  Ben gets a reading today and we get into a beautiful and haunting range of things including a troubling incident from Ben's past. The topics revolve around self care, mental health, pain, violence, and the mind-body interface. Outro music is ATU VII for two mandolins, by Phil. 

Phil gets a reading on this one! It's a vulnerable one, all about identity, queerness, speech, expression, and the artistic pursuit. Lots of little nuggets sprinkled in. Phil has some original music for two violins as the outro. 

Hi Pod fam. It's Death and the four knights today. We get into a super interesting range of things: (clippity clop) the grind of labor, the value of discipline, and the spirituality of arts and crafts. This was a natural transition into the learning process and how knowledge is embodied and constrains our learning and gives words and meaning power. Naturally we clippity clopped on over to violence...

 Part 3 of our Hanged man saga! This one is mostly Queen of Wands and Queen of cups, which gets us into weirdness on Sanskrit, instincts, gratitude, flow states, orchestral conducting, love, the circle of life... Rupaul gets a name drop! Outro is an excerpt of Taittiriya Upanisad 3 recited by Gaiea Sanskrit mixed with an Empress-inspired loop Phil made. The following is Phil's paraphrasing of the...

We take a second whack at the hanged man and the four queens, opening up several sumptuous cans of worms. Among them are ruminations on talk therapy, tattoos, collective identity, trauma, dissociation, creative expression, homophobia, somatic expression, evolution, morality, Adam and Eve... wow. Outro music is a short loop of Taittiriya Upanisad 2 mixed with some of Phil's original violin music. "...