The Waite-Smith (aka "RWS") tarot deck, which modern revisionist thinking has insisted on renaming the Smith-Waite Tarot (nearly as much of a misnomer as calling the Thoth deck the "Harris-Crowley Tarot"), does indeed cast a long shadow (or pall, depending upon your opinion) over the world of exoteric tarot, and specifically over the art of … Continue reading A Long Shadow
Month: July 2019
The “Tale of Two Arcs” Business Dynamic Spread
I enjoy playing with 3D effects in spreads. Sometimes I use layered positions to obtain that perspective, but here I'm opting for visual card size to show rising and falling developments in two contrasting arcs, one that peaks in the middle and the other that hits a mid-cycle trough. Any start-up business venture faces a … Continue reading The “Tale of Two Arcs” Business Dynamic Spread
Cutting Remarks
***NOTE*** This post won't be of much interest to you if you prefer to pull your cards from a "fan," or don't bother to cut the deck. There is an old practice, still popular among tarot mystics, that after shuffling a deck of tarot cards, the pack should be "cut into three piles with your … Continue reading Cutting Remarks
The “Round It Goes” Decision-Making Spread
There has been some on-line discussion lately about the Random Number Generators that tarot software apps use to select the cards for a reading. I was resistant to the idea for a long time because it seemed too disconnected from the tactile "feel" of the cards to produce valid results. But eventually I realized that … Continue reading The “Round It Goes” Decision-Making Spread
Rare, Medium or Well-Done: A Timing-Card Experiment
Having made a stab at identifying specific "yes, no or maybe" cards, I decided to try my hand at assigning "fast, slow or moderate" speediness to all of the tarot cards for use in answering timing questions. Although practical success with it has proven spotty, the general consensus is that Fire cards are the most … Continue reading Rare, Medium or Well-Done: A Timing-Card Experiment
“The Nature of the Evidence”
I stole a sub-title from the "Theory of the Tarot" section of Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth for this post because I'm going to revisit the subject of "how tarot works" based on recent forum discussions (which frankly didn't change my mind on anything, just tweaked it). Premise #1: The tarot cards communicate knowledge of … Continue reading “The Nature of the Evidence”
Mystical Motivations: A Weekly Meditation
This idea has been a long time coming to fruition, but I think I've hit upon a meaningful way to use the handful of oracle decks I currently own. I've commented elsewhere that oracle cards seem more "atmospheric" than pragmatic for the purpose of divination; in sports broadcasting terminology, they are more about the "color … Continue reading Mystical Motivations: A Weekly Meditation
Lunar Month Look-ahead for July 2019
Oops, it seems I completely forgot my intention to use only the minor cards with this spread, and left all of the cards in the Tabula Mundi deck when I shuffled. But I think it came out OK, so no harm done. Note that I use astrologer Dane Rudhyar's "lunation cycle" titles for the Moon's … Continue reading Lunar Month Look-ahead for July 2019
The “Light-and-Shadow” Decision-Making Spread
The "Holy Grail" of decision-making advice is the simple, straightforward "yes-or-no" answer: "Should I or shouldn't I? Will she or won't she? Is it or isn't it?" There are numerous short spreads that strive for this goal; this isn't one of them. It recognizes that every sunny street has a shady side, and a ray … Continue reading The “Light-and-Shadow” Decision-Making Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 