AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just rejoined the r/SecularTarot sub-reddit feed, and another member asked how the secular diviner reads the cards without mystical input. Lately I've been thinking of myself more as a "rational" reader than a "spiritual" or "psychological" one, so in answer to this request I decided to summarize where I've landed since I … Continue reading Logic and Imagination: The Twin Pillars of Secular Tarot Reading
Month: May 2026
The Anecdotal Angle in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The reliability of highly speculative forms of divination like cartomancy is an open question that is normally approached from an anecdotal angle. Did the querent experience the outcome exactly as described in the forecast? A more empirical viewpoint would seek to quantify the results based on more than just subjective perception, perhaps along … Continue reading The Anecdotal Angle in Divination
Warping Reality: The Role of Intention in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Real Magic, Dean Radin discusses synchronicity, the simultaneous occurrence of events or situations that are unrelated from a cause-and-effect standpoint but that are inherently similar in nature and can be thematically linked as is done in astrology with its "As above, so below" premise. He goes on to associate this … Continue reading Warping Reality: The Role of Intention in Tarot Reading
“Three Sizes Too Small:” My RWS Apostasy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've worked with the Thoth deck for over 50 years because I think it cuts much deeper than the rest. I'm also fond of the Tarot de Marseille (TdM) and the Lenormand cards, and I'm chipping away at playing-card divination, the I Ching and geomancy. The Waite-Smith (RWS) deck is far down in … Continue reading “Three Sizes Too Small:” My RWS Apostasy
Divination As Ritual Practice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A recent r/occult sub-reddit thread explored whether divination is only superficial fortune-telling or whether it can take on a deeper, sturdier and more intense ritual form. Tarot and the I Ching were the main focal points. When I began pursuing Golden-Dawn-based study and practice in the late '70s after having worked with predictive … Continue reading Divination As Ritual Practice
The Pros, The Cons and The Reality: An Opportunity and Challenge Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a another "best-case/worst-case" decision-making spread that includes a "reality check" card intended to mediate between the two and serve as the resolution of the matter. The "A" cards represent the "Opportunity" arc in three phases, while the "B"cards show the "Challenge" arc, also in three phases. These cards are to be … Continue reading The Pros, The Cons and The Reality: An Opportunity and Challenge Spread
Real Tarot (Not Just “Coping”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just begun reading Dean Radin's Real Magic, and I can already see that it aligns with my own view of rational metaphysics that has evolved over the last fifty years of study and practice, both anecdotally in the public arena and experimentally in private. As I’ve often said, I’m inclined to believe … Continue reading Real Tarot (Not Just “Coping”)
Tactfulness: The Professional Diviner’s Best Friend
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A recurring topic of discussion in the online tarot community is whether a public reader who is confronted with a highly negative prediction should just dump it on the seeker with no attempt at moderating the presentation. There are some who would rather walk away in these situations than sugarcoat their statements or … Continue reading Tactfulness: The Professional Diviner’s Best Friend
Say What? “Neutral” Cards in the Tarot?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's a rhetorical question because every card carries an elemental "charge," whether by suit or astrological association: Fire and Air are positive; Water and Earth are negative; none are neutral. But for the sake of argument, I'm proposing that some cards are decidedly less emphatic in their normal expression than their peers. The … Continue reading Say What? “Neutral” Cards in the Tarot?
Pages and Knights: Message or Messenger?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again in the tarot literature, I've come across the old assumption that the Pages can represent "messages" for the querent when they appear in a spread. At other times I've seen the Knights described as "messengers" entering the situation. I thought it would be worthwhile to examine the differences between the two … Continue reading Pages and Knights: Message or Messenger?
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 