AUTHOR’S NOTE: As a follow-up to the posting of my essay on intuition vs. analysis in divination, I’ve been having a conversation with another member of the r/seculartarot sub-reddit. Our subject is the need to stay within the established context of the cards as a starting point in any reading, and only then resort to intuition for further insight.

My contribution was to add that I consider what I do to be “literalism augmented by impressionism,” or analysis tempered with a little mystical insight. My fixation on literal interpretation emerged from my study and practice of Lenormand reading, which has little use for a soft-focus approach to prediction. Although I’ve always assumed that tarot reading should be handled with a similar resistance to the wild flights of imagination that can be encouraged by an excess of intuitive conjecture, Lenormand reading firmed up my resolve.

As a storyteller my presentation to clients tends to be more impressionistic than drily analytical (as you can probably tell from much of my whimsical writing for this blog). In explaining the cards I’m not reciting an internalized inventory of keywords in the hope that something “clicks” but rather trying to invest the symbolic imagery with a little creative vigor. I like to begin with a card as close to its traditional meaning as possible (I consider it a “safety net” in case inspiration fails me), apply my own ample learning and experience to personalize its “vibe,” then open up to a little innovative extemporizing (often along the lines of metaphor and analogy), but I exercise little or no “free-association” from the images (a lingering vestige of my TdM and Thoth practice), and I deliver the testimony in as lyrical a way as I can muster. (It’s a fact that, once I’ve identified a card in a spread, I pay very little attention to its imagery because I internalized its meaning long ago and can work from that.)

I guess you could say it’s my “style” to wrap an evocative (and hopefully entertaining) anecdote around the bare bones of the cards in the layout rather than to simply enumerate the essential details. I find that this expressive narration draws out my sitters, animates them and gets them thinking, if only about what the hell I’m trying to tell them. (Perhaps the best compliment I could receive is “Hey, you’re not full of shit all of the time.”) In this sense of seeking storytelling panache, every reading I do is as much for myself as for my clients. I’m always trying to hone my narrative skills in ways that make my offerings as inspired as possible, plus as a lover of language it’s my goal to come up with just the right words to convey my insights. However, transparency in communication is still key and I sometimes have to rein in my overly enthusiastic vocabulary in order to connect with sufficient clarity. If I evoke the dreaded “blank stare” from my sitter, I know I’ve failed and will have to start over.