AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a three-deck comparison of the Threes similar to the one I recently posted for the Fives. When applying esoteric number theory to the forty Minor Arcana of the tarot, the number One represents the Point and the four Aces that describe the "prelude" to the action signified by their suit but … Continue reading The Tarot Threes: Sidling, Then Circling
Month: February 2026
“Enough is Enough!” – A Critique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been wearily wading through Joe Monteleone's Tarot Mysticism: The Psycho-Spiritual Technology of the Thoth Tarot. I'm not quite one-third of the way into it but I've run out of patience with his superficially profound verbosity. I mean, I've been accused of being an over-the-top "word guy" myself, but there are big words … Continue reading “Enough is Enough!” – A Critique
Pattern-Recognition and Meaning-Making: Unlikely Twins of An Indifferent Mother
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The above title was adapted from the Dan Fogelberg-Tim Weisberg recording Twin Sons of Different Mothers, but the inspiration for this essay came from Joe Monteleone's Tarot Mysticism: The Psycho-Spiritual Technology of the Thoth Tarot. In his discussion of the second tarot trump (the Magus/Magician/Bateleur), Monteleone observed that this card symbolizes human consciousness … Continue reading Pattern-Recognition and Meaning-Making: Unlikely Twins of An Indifferent Mother
“Happening to the World” – A Trump-and-Pip Card Exercise
AUTHOR'S NOTE:This spread examines the conceptual divide between our private self-image and the public self-projection that signifies - in tarot author Joe Monteleone's memorable phrase - "how we happen to the world." The degree of separation or integration is determined by comparison of two parallel columns of trump and pip cards. In one model of … Continue reading “Happening to the World” – A Trump-and-Pip Card Exercise
Playing Cards and the Astro-Romany Personality Profile
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Several years ago I adapted the 21-card Romany spread for use with the seven planets of classical astrology and came up with a dual-axis developmental profile for both character analysis and associated timing. All seven columns can be used for a complete personality study, or only those that apply to specific circumstances can … Continue reading Playing Cards and the Astro-Romany Personality Profile
Deploying the Cartomantic Significator
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a unique way to deploy the Significator in playing-card reading that draws its inspiration from later cartomantic techniques. It places the querent squarely in the middle of the action by having to "live in the present" while dealing with previous inputs and subsequent outputs. It relies on the shuffle (and cut … Continue reading Deploying the Cartomantic Significator
Where Is Nancy? – A Horary Perspective
AUTHOR'S NOTE: To complete my divinatory exploration of the current whereabouts and physical condition of Nancy Guthrie, I generated a horary astrology chart. Although in this type of horoscope I usually give the Ascendant to the missing person as the "Querent," this time I decided that, since Nancy's daughter Savannah Guthrie has been requesting public … Continue reading Where Is Nancy? – A Horary Perspective
What Happened to Nancy? – A Pair of Missing-Person Readings
AUTHOR'S NOTE:I was recently asked by a magazine publisher whether I had already performed a missing-person reading for Nancy Guthrie. That prompted me to catch up to the case with my "Train to Nowhere" exploratory spread, which is a 13x6-card array that employs all 78 cards. I chose the Queen of Wands as the Significator … Continue reading What Happened to Nancy? – A Pair of Missing-Person Readings
An Alternative to “Facing” in Non-Scenic Minor Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The concept of "facing, gaze, regard, gesture or posture" is sometimes used to determine what a card is "looking at" or contemplating when there is a human figure or other off-card "pointer" present to suggest shifting one's attention to external conditions. But with decks like the Tarot de Marseille and the standard playing … Continue reading An Alternative to “Facing” in Non-Scenic Minor Cards
The “Detours and Dead-Ends” Mid-Course Correction Spread
AUTHORS NOTE: Not every journey goes smoothly. Mid-course corrections are often necessary to continue making progress toward the destination after running into roadblocks. Some - like potholes in the road - can be "toughed out" and overridden, while other require a more roundabout approach. Here is a spread that follows a developmental arc from beginning … Continue reading The “Detours and Dead-Ends” Mid-Course Correction Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 