AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some tarot readers (notably Europeans) prefer to read with only the 22 trump cards, ignoring their exalted metaphysical archetypes and allotting them no more significance than the rest of us assign to the pip cards. They also frequently use the "quintessence" calculation to derive a fifth "synthesis" card from the four-card tirage en … Continue reading The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
Elements
Convergence Between Tarot, Lenormand and Horary Astrology
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whenever I'm confronting a major decision or a significant occurrence in my life or the lives of my clients, I find it useful to perform both a tarot (or Lenormand) reading and a horary astrology event chart. I'm looking for convergence in their testimony, particularly in the status and placement of critical features, … Continue reading Convergence Between Tarot, Lenormand and Horary Astrology
“A Hole in the Bucket” – An I Ching-Inspired Tarot Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In contemplating the nature of the "broken" (that is, interrupted) yin lines of an I Ching hexagram, it strikes me that the gap between to the two segments opens both upward and downward: one direction offers a channel through which insight can ascend to illumination if we pursue the "middle way," and the … Continue reading “A Hole in the Bucket” – An I Ching-Inspired Tarot Spread
The “Fog Cutter” – A Tarot Disambiguation Technique
"Now when the day goes to sleep and the full moon looks/ And the night is so black that the darkness cooks" - from The Green Manalishi by Peter Green AUTHOR'S NOTE: My allusion in the title is to the potent, three-liquor "Tiki" cocktail that, in sufficient volume, will do anything but "cut the fog" … Continue reading The “Fog Cutter” – A Tarot Disambiguation Technique
Counting-and-Pairing: A Worthwhile Exercise
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the "Opening of the Key" (OotK) method of divination presented in the tarot "knowledge papers" of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (compiled as Liber T), there are several occasions where a group of cards is to be counted out from the Significator in the direction it is facing, each series … Continue reading Counting-and-Pairing: A Worthwhile Exercise
The Wall and the Keyhole: A Way Through
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While studying the text for Hexagram 20 (Guan; Observation) in Benebell Wen's book I Ching the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, I encountered a description of the lower trigram (Kun, or Earth) with its three yin lines forming a "keyhole" (suggestive of an unobstructed line-of-sight) through which a glimpse … Continue reading The Wall and the Keyhole: A Way Through
“Pass-Through” Processing – An Energy Translation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I've mentioned before, there are several ways to read a three-card line. My favorite is to approach it as a developing scenario that evolves from Point A to Point C, with "processing" of the energy-in-transit to occur at Point B, thus grooming the outcome to achieve its maximum potential. I will sometimes … Continue reading “Pass-Through” Processing – An Energy Translation Spread
“Making It Real” – The Tarot Talks About Female Presidents
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although it may not happen during this election cycle, the United States will eventually have a female President; even I, as an "Old White Male," can see that the paradigm has pretty much run its course. (This time around, the likely Democratic nominee is not a particularly strong candidate if performance [or nonperformance] … Continue reading “Making It Real” – The Tarot Talks About Female Presidents
Imbibing Fire: A Self-Advancement Ritual
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've owned a crystal ball for several years with the goal of "scrying in the astral vision" but I've despaired of ever getting the light-to-dark ratio in the room just right so I can see something other than reflections or, alternatively, utter darkness in the sphere. However, I think I've found a different … Continue reading Imbibing Fire: A Self-Advancement Ritual
A Suit-of-Pentacles “Elemental Storyboard” Test Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is my final "elemental storyboard" test reading that uses the suit of Pentacles to represent the "base element" of Earth. An objective I've been working toward is at the point of requiring concrete action, so I'm going to look at how I might proceed and what my prospects for success are. Radiant … Continue reading A Suit-of-Pentacles “Elemental Storyboard” Test Reading
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 