I've just passed 175 self-created spreads in my personal inventory (see the Dropbox link in the sidebar for the list, which you can explore in the WordPress search function), and I paused a moment to wonder whether I will ever use the majority of these spreads in practice. Although I've binned them by category, the … Continue reading A Milestone and a Conundrum
Month: January 2020
“It Is Known”
C.S. Lewis observed that history books written during the Middle Ages differed far less from the historical fiction of that time than modern histories differ from present-day historical novels (or, even more so, screenplays). He pointed out that the proper role of the Medieval historian was to accurately perpetuate the "knowledge" received from earlier authorities … Continue reading “It Is Known”
A “Lenormand Scramble” Example Reading
This imaginary reading is based on a story I made up after seeing the cards; it's about a man who is confronting a situation where his off-and-on girlfriend has told him she is pregnant and he has misgivings about whether to ask her to marry him. I used Pixie's Astounding Lenormand for this reading. All … Continue reading A “Lenormand Scramble” Example Reading
The “Lenormand Scramble” Awareness or Action Spread
Today I'm turning my spread-creation spotlight on the Lenormand deck. Lenormand readers generally work within a fairly narrow range of spread types: left-to-right lines (usually odd-numbered, running from 3 to 9 cards that allow for a "hinge" card in the middle), squares (typically the 9-card "3X3" array) and "tableaux" (often 36 or 15 cards). I … Continue reading The “Lenormand Scramble” Awareness or Action Spread
Where Is George? – A Horary Update
I have been asked by the group that continues to search for George Cross (a Berlin, NH man who has been missing since last September) whether I have any new insights into his whereabouts. Although my last attempt with the tarot showed a different direction and location than previous readings, I decided to refresh the … Continue reading Where Is George? – A Horary Update
The Cartomancer Redux
I see that The Cartomancer, the magnificent (and singular) high-quality tarot journal has changed hands again. Arwen Lynch acknowledged that she was having difficulty keeping up with production demands and schedules, so she sold the quarterly glossy magazine to 7 Stones Publishing with Lori Barbieri Ross at the helm. The following message was posted on … Continue reading The Cartomancer Redux
Transitional Cards
I use two different numerical models in my work with the minor (or "pip") cards of the tarot: the Pythagorean sequence that exhibits an increasingly complex geometric progression, and the Qabalistic numeration based on the descent of the sephiroth on the Tree of Life. Both explain the emergence of formless "archetypal energy" from a primal … Continue reading Transitional Cards
A “Moving Finger” Example Reading
This example reading involves a couple I used to know whose relationship can best be described as more than a little dysfunctional. The question was "What is going to become of them?" I performed the spread in two ways, first considering reversals, and then turning all of the reversed cards upright and applying Elemental Dignities. … Continue reading A “Moving Finger” Example Reading
The “Moving Finger” Situational Development Spread
"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line" (Omar Khayyam, from The Rubaiyat) Here is a spread built around the rather whimsical notion I had yesterday that upright cards in a reading can be considered "solar" (plainspoken and reliable) … Continue reading The “Moving Finger” Situational Development Spread
Like Night and Day
It's probably evident that I'm getting a lot of intellectual stimulation and pleasure (not to mention expository mileage) out of reading The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis, a thoughtful, scholarly study of Medieval cosmology that has intriguing implications for the Renaissance tarot. Here is another instance. At one point Lewis mentions that "night" in our … Continue reading Like Night and Day
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 