To test this spread I chose a real-life situation in which acquaintances have just started the process of trying to sell their current house and move to a bigger one. The deck here is the RWS Centennial Edition in a Tin (copyright U.S. Games, Stamford, CT, used by permission) that I shuffled to introduce random … Continue reading A Domino-and-Cards Example Reading: House Sale
Month: August 2022
“Hot” Cards
Many of my ideas about Lenormand reading spring from my numerous fertile conversations on the Aeclectic Tarot forum with authors Andy Boroveshengra and Mary K. Greer before they both moved on - and then we all did. This one is no exception. I've written on this subject before (links below) but I wanted to sharpen … Continue reading “Hot” Cards
An Experiment with Dominoes and Cards
Here is a two-phase spread that uses a normal shuffle and face-down deal of tarot or oracle cards to "set the stage" for the three-card reading and a random draw of dominoes to choose which cards to read. This turned out to be more complex than using dice for the selection step since any number … Continue reading An Experiment with Dominoes and Cards
Magic du Jour
I recently came across a discussion in the "r/occult" Reddit feed about something called "Gallery of Magic," which is apparently a series of books (reported by detractors to be dumbed-down grimoires full of angelic names in modern Hebrew) that purport to demystify (I would instead say "denature") ceremonial magic for today's instant-gratification crowd. As a … Continue reading Magic du Jour
An Experiment in “Symbolic Parallels”
Here is a 15-card spread that explores the notion that cards will complement one another according to the position they hold within the 78-card series, essentially creating pairs of "symbolic parallels." It is intended to show the querent's psychological orientation to the subject of the reading as it develops over time, from initial awareness to … Continue reading An Experiment in “Symbolic Parallels”
The “Double-Entry” Situational Bottom-Line Spread
I had intended to make this spread emulate a double-entry book-keeping ledger with a "credit" (profitable) side and a "debit" (less-rewarding) side, in which the "bottom line" would be a "zero-sum" proposition using the "quintessence" method. But the only way I could get a numerical zero out of it was to use the reversed version … Continue reading The “Double-Entry” Situational Bottom-Line Spread
“Adjectivitis” – The Tarot Writer’s (and Reader’s) Albatross
I have to confess that the comma is my enemy, particularly when it is used to link an endless array of modifiers that would be best boiled down into a single compelling noun or trenchant adjective (for that matter, the more sophisticated semi-colon is at most a "friend with benefits" and not a faithful consort … Continue reading “Adjectivitis” – The Tarot Writer’s (and Reader’s) Albatross