AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been following the drama surrounding the proposed White House ballroom. Statements made by the administration that the court only prohibited ground-breaking and that planning would still proceed reminded me of my current thinking on the tarot suit of Pentacles (aka Coins and Disks). A few years ago I developed a set of … Continue reading The Suit of Pentacles: “Plan the Work and Work the Plan”
Month: April 2026
Public Figures and Personal Privacy in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Tarot Reading Explained, James Ricklef mentioned that, when he began practicing tarot divination on prominent public figures in support of his American Tarot Association column, he chose not to read about those who were still living, under the assumption that it would constitute an invasion of privacy and could result … Continue reading Public Figures and Personal Privacy in Divination
Parsing* the Three-Card Reading
*Parse: To analyze a complex set of information—such as a sentence, data, or code—by breaking it into smaller parts to understand its structure and meaning, or to process it, AUTHOR'S NOTE: Right off the top I should mention that the three-card reading finds little favor in my own work because there can be a glaring … Continue reading Parsing* the Three-Card Reading
Aligning with Circumstances: “What If I . . . ?” Rather Than “Will I, Can I, Should I . . . ?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's acknowledged wisdom in the tarot community that any question posed solely for the purpose of discovering whether a hoped-for event will occur in the near future should be rephrased in the form of "What can I do to encourage the outcome I want?" This approach does away with the rigid "yes-or-no" structure … Continue reading Aligning with Circumstances: “What If I . . . ?” Rather Than “Will I, Can I, Should I . . . ?”
Integrating “Indigestible” Keywords: A Spread-Based Approach
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When it comes to developing a personalized set of meanings for the tarot cards to be used in divination, I've always advised beginners to follow the lead of the Lenormand system and choose only one or two key words or phrases to internalize for each card; apply those for a while in practice; … Continue reading Integrating “Indigestible” Keywords: A Spread-Based Approach
Two Sides of the Tarot Queens: “13” and “3”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My recent post on the numerical "transcendence" of the second number in the two-digit trump and court cards inspired a few thoughts on the nature of the tarot Queens (with the rest of the court cards to follow). This essay and those in progress build on the observations of a previous post that … Continue reading Two Sides of the Tarot Queens: “13” and “3”
A Multi-Path “Coin-Flip” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a multi-path spread that uses a twist on the three-coin I Ching hexagram creation technique to select which sub-pack to read for the answer: short, medium or long-range approach to resolution. Card-back images are from the Retro-Thoth Tarot (privately published) The idea is to shuffle the deck (reversals may be used) … Continue reading A Multi-Path “Coin-Flip” Spread
Transcendence in Two-Digit Tarot Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A few years ago while reading the companion book for the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless, I encountered the concept of the second number in a two-digit tarot trump creating a kind of "numerological counterpart" between that card and the single-digit trump of the same number (for example, the Hanged Man as 12 … Continue reading Transcendence in Two-Digit Tarot Cards