I've created spreads in the past based on the idea that the appearance of reversed cards in the sequence will cause a shift in the overall focus of the reading from an overt perspective to a more covert or indirect one. But the draw always proceeded from the top of the deck, which meant that … Continue reading The “Flying Wedge” Redirection Spread
Month: June 2022
A Storyteller’s Perspective
I'm fond of saying that I much prefer face-to-face sessions to online tarot reading and have written a number of essays about it in the past, but I haven't fully explained why I feel that way. Obviously, it's about the stimulus of spoken communication and the need to think on my feet as I do … Continue reading A Storyteller’s Perspective
The “Blame Game” Spread
The idea of assigning accountability (or more bluntly, "blame") for challenges encountered in a situation being addressed in a tarot reading continues to fascinate me. Not that I think we need to do it, or that it's even productive, just that it's often on a sitter's mind when the matter at hand is particularly elusive … Continue reading The “Blame Game” Spread
A “Temporal Focus” Example Reading: Roe vs Wade
I'm going to preface my interpretation by saying that on one hand I'm a small-government "Libertarian sympathizer" and a firm believer in "States' Rights" as originally intended by the framers of the Constitution, while on the other hand (at least in the purely mystical sense of the soul's delayed entry into the body, which doesn't … Continue reading A “Temporal Focus” Example Reading: Roe vs Wade
A Different Take on the “Past/Present/Future” Outlook
One of my "pet" notions is that people seeking a tarot reading who are experiencing difficulties in their lives love to identify someone or something else to blame for their troubles, whether or not they choose to admit it. The usual "past/present/future" spread design is somewhat imprecise in pinning down the likely "drivers" for these … Continue reading A Different Take on the “Past/Present/Future” Outlook
Left or Right? A Matter of Orientation
There is a tradition in tarot reading that visually scanning from the left to the right in a linear spread presents a past-to-future panorama of circumstances signifying an urge to move forward, while looking from right to left suggests a need to first deal with past events in the situation that may still be unresolved … Continue reading Left or Right? A Matter of Orientation
A Glut of Garbage?
I've written in the past that there seems to be a veritable tsunami of mediocre tarot and oracle decks entering the market, most likely due to the ease of self-publishing and the impression that "anyone can be an artist" (aka "It's so simple a caveman could do it"). Now I notice on the Tarot Marketplace … Continue reading A Glut of Garbage?
A “Psychometric” Yes-or-No Reading Approach
The dilemma of how to handle "yes-or-no" questions (or whether to even attempt answering them) is one that all tarot readers must confront sooner or later. I've tried numerous ways, both simple and complicated, to solve the problem and a few years ago I created a table of what I dubbed "Yes-Leaning," "No-Leaning" and "Maybe" … Continue reading A “Psychometric” Yes-or-No Reading Approach
The Court Cards: A Paradigm Shift
There is a premise in Liber T, the tarot canon of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, that relates the court cards to the exercise of worldly "power" in its various forms. The Kings represent "Potential Power;" the Queens convey "Brooding Power;" the Knights (or Princes) wield "Power in Action;" and the Pages (or … Continue reading The Court Cards: A Paradigm Shift
The Teaching Way
Back in the mid-70s my brother and I had an esoteric teaching gig in Connecticut. He was an accomplished astrologer and I was an up-and-coming tarot reader with the Thoth deck. We had several lively study groups going on simultaneously and were busy with them a large part of every week. Unfortunately, it didn't last … Continue reading The Teaching Way
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 