AUTHOR'S NOTE: This array is a "prepared" layout that randomly selects 25 cards from the population of 78 to set up a more limited range of probable circumstances. It is an outgrowth of my extensive work with the Lenormand Grand Tableau spread. Once the 5x5 arrangement is established, a second step locates the "starting point" … Continue reading An “Open Field” Tarot Tableau
Author: parsifalswheeldivination
“Grounding the Archetypes” – A Three-Card Daily Draw Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just encountered the idea that whenever we receive a Major Arcana (aka "trump") card in a reading, we should immediately pull another card to describe its practical (as opposed to its universal or spiritual) significance for the querent's future. I'm no fan of using clarifying cards in my work, but I can … Continue reading “Grounding the Archetypes” – A Three-Card Daily Draw Spread
Reading Reversals: “Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "You're missing half the fun" is one of my favorite rebuttals for those who avoid reading reversals because they find the practice unnecessary, inconvenient or confusing. (My title alludes to the old Doublemint gum commercial.) But, unless we deliberately ignore or suppress them as some do, they are going to dog us whenever … Continue reading Reading Reversals: “Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun”
Elemental Correspondences: Keys to the Kingdom
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If asked by a tarot beginner to identify the least tedious way to become more familiar with reading the cards, my advice (other than "practice, practice, practice") would be to acquire a fundamental understanding of each card (no more than one or two keywords similar to the way Lenormand cards are read) and … Continue reading Elemental Correspondences: Keys to the Kingdom
Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is common wisdom that tarot readers should stay well away from anything related to medical diagnostics and prescriptive health recommendations. But that doesn't mean the subject can't be broached in terms of general well-being, as in "What does my overall health forecast look like?" The following is entirely experimental and should be … Continue reading Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread
“Judgment Call” – A Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread tackles the premise that many decisions in life present a three-fold situational tableau: the transcendent level of higher wisdom at which the conscience operates; the conscious realm of thought where we try to apply logic (and often rationalization) to the matter; and the subconscious domain of purely emotional engagement. These dimensions … Continue reading “Judgment Call” – A Decision-Making Spread
Spiritual Housekeeping: “Releasing” and “Banishing”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was conversing with someone online who is apparently dealing with an "earthbound spirit" in the house, one that is feeling a bit annoyed about being "stuck" although to date there have been no outward signs of this, just a general atmosphere of psychic malaise. My suggestion was that perhaps some kind of … Continue reading Spiritual Housekeeping: “Releasing” and “Banishing”
Death As . . . Well, “Death”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I find it it immensely revealing that, in historical tarot decks like the Tarot de Marseille, the Thirteenth Arcanum ("Death" in our less-superstitious age) was typically left untitled, embracing the principle of sympathetic magic that if we don't name something, we can pretend that it has no power over us. Modern interpretation has … Continue reading Death As . . . Well, “Death”
“The Compleat Solarian” – A Lesson Learned
AUTHOR'S NOTE: File under "Every card has both positive and negative meanings." It is generally assumed that the Sun is an entirely favorable card that bodes no evil; even when reversed it suggests a "passing cloud" rather than a gloomy long-range forecast. But there is another way to look at it. I recently performed a … Continue reading “The Compleat Solarian” – A Lesson Learned
Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Golden Dawn's alignment of the tarot cards with the astrological (aka "Chaldean") decanates (36 ten-degree segments of the zodiac beginning on the Vernal Equinox) has intrigued me since I first picked up the tarot in 1972 to complement my practice of astrology, but I have never been satisfied with its customary application … Continue reading Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 