AUTHOR'S NOTE: (tl;dr*) Tarot prediction is like "metaphysical weather forecasting." It can hint at the trending environment or atmosphere of future circumstances but not tell you the hour-by-hour conditions at the time of arrival. It's up to you to bring the metaphorical sunscreen or umbrella. In a certain segment of the tarot community there is … Continue reading The True Power of Prediction (or “How’s the Weather?”)
Month: December 2023
“Alternate Outcome” Developmental Timeline Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another mixed-media spread that uses cards and dice. It is intended as a longer-range alternative to the Celtic Cross that offers a similar event timeline and "advice" mode while providing for two alternate "end of the matter" cards. I've been having an online conversation regarding the premise that "now" is the … Continue reading “Alternate Outcome” Developmental Timeline Spread
Keyword Reliance and “Projectile Spin”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question was recently asked online about whether it is appropriate to place keywords on the tarot cards as an aid to interpretation. While most of the responses were kind enough to advise "Do what you must to make it work," at least one person felt that this action stifles creative thought by … Continue reading Keyword Reliance and “Projectile Spin”
The Five-Beat Measure: A Tarot-Reading Prep Routine
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bear with me here, this moves quickly from subconscious meditation to the utilitarian aspects of cartomancy and should be worth your time. It is, however, aimed at professional diviners and won't be understood or appreciated by dabblers in the "pop metaphysics" of online tarot reading. I had a dream recently where I encountered … Continue reading The Five-Beat Measure: A Tarot-Reading Prep Routine
The Solitary Way
"Who has vocation hears the voice of the inner man; he is called." - Carl Gustav Jung AUTHOR'S NOTE: In recent years I haven't been much of a "joiner" since I usually find both the quality and the availability of the communal experience to be lacking. This wasn't always the case, since at one time … Continue reading The Solitary Way
Lenormand at the Crossroads
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Despite the suggestive title, this essay is not a commentary on the "state of the art." It merely describes a creative way of using Lenormand for decision-making. I often encounter the opinion that reading "line" spreads of any length with the Lenormand cards is the least effective way to approach a complex question … Continue reading Lenormand at the Crossroads
Lost Tarot Card: A Horary Certainty
UPDATE: I was just going through my I Ching Pack looking for a card for one of my tarot/I Ching syncretism essays, and out popped the missing Devil card. I last used the pack in November of 2023 but there is no evidence that I combined it with my Conver Ben-Dov TdM at the time; … Continue reading Lost Tarot Card: A Horary Certainty
Jumping the Gap: Multilayered Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the past I've written about the fact that every tarot card contains several layers of meaning, and reading one can resemble peeling an onion. If a practical, action-and-event-oriented approach fails to illuminate the matter, a deeper cut could reveal the psychological angle of "attitudes and behaviors" to be adopted or avoided by … Continue reading Jumping the Gap: Multilayered Tarot Reading
Old Wine, New Wine, Wrong Bottle
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I've been studying and working with tarot for over 50 years, I still occasionally dip into the literature. My chosen subject matter is most often from the traditional canon but once in a while the material is of more recent vintage just to assess how the world of tarot is evolving in … Continue reading Old Wine, New Wine, Wrong Bottle
The Lover and the Devil: Trump-Card Bookends
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been playing around with the 7x3 array of trump cards (minus the Fool because zero adds nothing to this exercise) by running out the numerological expressions for each row and column. I used both Theosophical reduction (adding together the digits of any sum larger than 21) and "casting out nines" (subtracting increments … Continue reading The Lover and the Devil: Trump-Card Bookends
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 