AUTHOR'S NOTE: In nature (as well as in human affairs) there are creatures that lurk in the depths and augment their livelihood by sponging off the enterprise of others, either passively or more aggressively. As tarot readers we have all experienced readings of a largely negative kind where the "bottom-dwelling" miscreants among the cards act … Continue reading “Bottom-Feeders” – A Creative Solution
Experimental Methods
A Lenormand Personality Matrix Example Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After five decades of self-analysis using various metaphysical techniques, I understand myself much better than I know anyone else, so I decided to test this psychological profiling method on my own character by asking "Who am I now?" At least on the surface, the overall picture isn't very encouraging (as one might expect … Continue reading A Lenormand Personality Matrix Example Reading
A Predictive Model for Low-Scoring Sports
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the past, my efforts to predict the outcome of sporting events have been limited to sports like Major League Baseball and NFL football that have modest to moderate scoring projections, typically anywhere from 1 run (baseball) to 28 points (football) for either team over the course of a game I'm working on … Continue reading A Predictive Model for Low-Scoring Sports
An Alternative to the Lenormand House System
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I intentionally steer clear of using any kind of astrological correspondences with Lenormand cards, this struck me as an intriguing alternate house system to the one commonly employed. I chose one set of general meanings for the twelve houses of the horoscope and matched them with the cards that best express those … Continue reading An Alternative to the Lenormand House System
Syncretic Cartomancy: A Threefold Divination*
*Syncretism: The union of different practices whose features may be synchronized to good effect. AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the past I have occasionally dabbled in two-phase readings using cards from different disciplines in a single spread, usually tarot and Lenormand or an oracle deck. As I spend more time and effort looking into traditional cartomancy while … Continue reading Syncretic Cartomancy: A Threefold Divination*
“Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a sophisticated spread that borrows ideas from palmistry and also from the game-play provisions of Lenormand's ancestor, the Game of Hope. It can be used with either Lenormand or tarot, and potentially with any cartomantic method for which well-defined "stop cards" can be identified. It is best to keep their number … Continue reading “Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
Dots and Dashes: A Lenormand Experiment
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a blog post a while back, Mary Greer described the Lenormand card meanings we use today as having evolved from the reading of coffee-ground patterns that remained on the inside of a cup after the liquid had been consumed. (It apparently originated in the Middle East - mainly Turkey - where grounds … Continue reading Dots and Dashes: A Lenormand Experiment
Three New Spreads: Catching Up on the Queue
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I delve into more complex subjects, my backlog of minor posts awaiting publication has become ten-deep. I decided to clear out the cache by presenting these three recent experimental spreads in one post. Tarot Holdem: A Self-Made Destiny Spread AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that will put your intuition to the … Continue reading Three New Spreads: Catching Up on the Queue
A “Lenormand Grab-Bag” 26-Card Example Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I've taken the explanatory pull from my previous post about this spread and spun it out into a narrative around an imaginary querent (Lady) and the central focus cards (as well as exploring the "second-line" story suggested by the ten extra cards). I'm only going to examine a few key points in … Continue reading A “Lenormand Grab-Bag” 26-Card Example Reading
The “Lenormand Grab-Bag” – A 26-Card, 5×5+1 Tableau
AUTHOR'S NOTE: To my knowledge, between the 9-card, 3x3 "box" and the 36-card Grand Tableau there is only one non-linear layout, the 15-card, 5x3 mini-tableau (although the 21-card, 7x3 Gypsy spread might qualify). Here is an unconventional attempt to fill that void using the 36-card deck and a single six-sided die as a pointer. It … Continue reading The “Lenormand Grab-Bag” – A 26-Card, 5×5+1 Tableau
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 