AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written in the past about using the tarot to approach the Astral Plane for the purpose of contacting disembodied spirits, usually deceased relatives. I mentioned that we may not get the party we're after (dear departed Uncle Joe or Aunt Mary may not be near the portal at the time) so we … Continue reading “Spirits Passing By” – A Random Spirit-Contact Spread
Experimental Methods
The “Best-Case/Worst-Case” Situational Priorities Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although this spread is set up for a specific set of priorities and a single, narrowly-framed question, it is adaptable to almost any kind of analysis. Just change the header titles and the "Query" entry to suit the topical focus. It includes a "response" row; an "advantages" row; a "disadvantages" row; and a … Continue reading The “Best-Case/Worst-Case” Situational Priorities Spread
The “Amends with Benefits” Adjusted-Reaction Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I think I've outdone (or maybe undone) myself with pun-ish titles on this one. It's a variation of the "yes-or-no" spread that takes the prediction in a more actionable direction. This approach uses the cards in a positive-reinforcement way that focuses on the desired outcome, and recognizes that the outlook the seeker hopes … Continue reading The “Amends with Benefits” Adjusted-Reaction Spread
Wringing Out the Meaning at Three Levels
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The hierarchy of cards in a tarot reading is one feature that can be used in crafting a narrative, but it isn't always clear how they interrelate for that purpose since there can be a considerable gap in their perceived significance. The nature of an exalted trump card may have little or nothing … Continue reading Wringing Out the Meaning at Three Levels
Thursday Night Football: Houston Texans vs. Buffalo Bills, 11/20/25
UPDATE: Looks like I had the defensive advantage on the wrong side; I over-complicated what should have been a head-to-head comparison and missed the mark. This spread needed some work to sort out the offense/defense pairing. In practice, the original spread did not lend itself to a clean judgment regarding the forces at work, so … Continue reading Thursday Night Football: Houston Texans vs. Buffalo Bills, 11/20/25
“Opportunity Presented” – A Multi-Path Decision Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Upon reading Benebell Wen's observation in Holistic Tarot that each of the Aces symbolizes "an opportunity presented" (but not yet acted upon), I realized that this concept could be put to use in a decision-making spread with three distinct outcome chains depending on how the opportunity is handled. Card backs are from the … Continue reading “Opportunity Presented” – A Multi-Path Decision Making Spread
Carpe Momentum Redux : Another “Two Sides to Every Story” Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I created this spread a couple of days ago, I had two "test" questions in mind. Here is the second one. Since we moved to our new home seven years ago, I've been doing at least one reading a year exploring how I might go about restarting the small tarot-reading business I … Continue reading Carpe Momentum Redux : Another “Two Sides to Every Story” Reading
An Elemental Career-Path Alignment Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While answering a career-related question in one of the online tarot communities, I was inspired to develop a spread that is based on "matching" between one of four elemental "career-path" cards and the querent's significator. It's not exactly a process of elimination; call it a "process of affiliation." I spent some time trying … Continue reading An Elemental Career-Path Alignment Spread
Range of Motion: An Action-Driven Reading Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A couple of years ago I performed a careful analysis of the Waite-Smith tarot to determine which cards express some kind of active movement. In the end I came up with five Major Arcana, six court cards and ten Minor Arcana as indicators of either acceleration or deceleration in a querent's affairs. (All … Continue reading Range of Motion: An Action-Driven Reading Matrix
Tarot Timing By Number and Rank
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a unique timing method that uses reasonably expected and objectively determined target dates to zero in on the most likely span of time from the date of the reading to the proposed time of completion. The aim is to partially offset some of the exaggeration that can occur with most methods … Continue reading Tarot Timing By Number and Rank
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 