AUTHOR'S NOTE: The topic of ritual preparation for a tarot reading comes up frequently in the online community, and there is a wide range of practices from which to choose. It's fair to say that my own opinion diverges substantially from the mystical assumptions of the average diviner. (For the more rational cartomancer, this essay … Continue reading Tarot Reading As Ritual (Not Only As Its Focus)
Esoteric Tarot
The Diviner’s Art as “Pondering the Manner of Things in the Dark”
"Do you ponder the manner of things in the dark?"-from Glitter and Gold by Barns Courtney AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've occasionally summoned the Biblical phrase "through a glass darkly" when describing the tarot reader's quest for insight as one of murky supposition. Its a useful metaphor to ponder when a reading wanders too far from illumination … Continue reading The Diviner’s Art as “Pondering the Manner of Things in the Dark”
Blended Trends: Card-Wrangling with Dice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been getting a bit bombastic lately, so here is a "palate-cleanser." I often employ both tarot cards and dice in what I call mixed-media readings. While I use the odd-and-even faces of the dice mainly as binary "pointers" in multi-path spreads to indicate which of two or more series of cards should … Continue reading Blended Trends: Card-Wrangling with Dice
Elemental Dignities: A Belated Awakening
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I had been using the Golden Dawn's "Elemental Dignities" (EDs) casually since 1972 and thought I had a firm grasp of the fundamentals, something about their application still bothered me. My doubts were exacerbated almost ten years ago when I spent quite a bit of time and effort dissecting the Order's tarot … Continue reading Elemental Dignities: A Belated Awakening
Tapping the Power: A Self-Realization Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a third adaptation of Benebell Wen's Lo Shu Square, this time applied loosely to her feng shui tarot model. I've created my own theme and position meanings for this purpose and did not adopt her spread design. (See her book Holistic Tarot for background details.) Another inspiration was the Lenormand 9-card … Continue reading Tapping the Power: A Self-Realization Matrix
Rehabilitating Bad Cards (aka “Putting Lipstick on a Pig”)
"As the saying goes “You can put lipstick on a sow but it’s still a sow,” or similarly and more bluntly, “You can’t polish a turd.”- from my 2019 essay When "Bad Is Bad" AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the last few weeks I've encountered two posts in the online tarot community where novice diviners were agonizing … Continue reading Rehabilitating Bad Cards (aka “Putting Lipstick on a Pig”)
Personality, Adaptive Behavior and Character in Three Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not long ago I read a psychological article that described personality as being innate or instinctual, while character develops gradually over time through repetitive experiences that eventually solidify into a Pavlovian "conditioned response." In astrological terms, personality is the purview of the natal horoscope while the emergence of character can be shown by … Continue reading Personality, Adaptive Behavior and Character in Three Cards
A “Topical Impingement” Life-Reading Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: From her book Holistic Tarot I picked up another idea from Benebell Wen's discussion of Chinese divination (this time the application of the Lo Shu Square to feng shui): a matrix that has a general life-topic card at the center (for example, "Health"), with influences feeding into it from all sides. I expanded … Continue reading A “Topical Impingement” Life-Reading Matrix
The “Cross-and-Square of Becoming” – A Force-and-Form Situational Awareness Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE:: This spread was inspired by the discussion of the Chinese Lo Shu Square in Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot, but I've taken it in a different direction. The objective is to first read the "force-and-form" axes from top-to-bottom and left-to-right, respectively to see how the situation will develop when unaffected by "big-picture" environmental concerns. … Continue reading The “Cross-and-Square of Becoming” – A Force-and-Form Situational Awareness Spread
NFL Football: Patriots at Seahawks, September 9, 2026
UPDATE: It looks like the Seahawks found the pulse of all those reversed trump cards after all. The only thing I can say about this reading - other than that I'm getting better at "hedging" - is that the final point spread was within range of the predicted single touchdown, although on the wrong side. … Continue reading NFL Football: Patriots at Seahawks, September 9, 2026
