Here's another "new-to-me" idea, courtesy of The Grand Etteilla. In the book there is a five-card spread in which the reader creates the layout by initially pulling the fifth card from the top (Card #5), then the card five tiers below that one (Card #10), followed by the card five tiers below the tenth card … Continue reading A “Deep Dive” Card Selection Method and Multipurpose Spread
Experimental Methods
The Ace of Cups as “Affirmation”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following observations by Mme. Le Marchand in The Grand Etteilla regarding the Ace of Cups are unique in my experience of tarot literature (although they do bear a resemblance to the cartomancy I've studied). It's interesting stuff for speculation and perhaps for use. This Ace is described as "confirming the prediction of … Continue reading The Ace of Cups as “Affirmation”
Death: The “Bad Neighbor”
UPDATE: As expected, this pushed a lot of buttons in the online tarot world. Almost everyone missed the point that it is a radical rethinking (in this one narrow instance) of tarot divination in which I'm not interested so much in what will happen and its consequences as in actively using the cards as a … Continue reading Death: The “Bad Neighbor”
A “Chaotic Complex” Random-Variable Life-Reading Spread
A couple of days ago a client asked me if I have any "chaos-based" spreads. I replied that I don't but then remembered that at an earlier time I had casually researched chaos theory, so I went back for another look. Although I have a few designs that nibble around the edges, I have none … Continue reading A “Chaotic Complex” Random-Variable Life-Reading Spread
A 2022 NFL Tarot Prediction: Los Angeles Rams vs Buffalo Bills
UPDATE: Although the point-spread prediction was inaccurate, this reading did get three things right: 1) the Bills won (by a larger margin than expected); 2) the score was tied at halftime; and 3) the Bills defense shut down the Rams offense during the entire second half. The Bills didn't exactly "break it wide open," but … Continue reading A 2022 NFL Tarot Prediction: Los Angeles Rams vs Buffalo Bills
The “What-If?” Alternate Reality Lessons-Learned Spread
Yesterday I came across a question on the r/tarot sub-reddit asking whether we can put "what-if" questions to the tarot. For example, "What would have happened if I had made a different decision than the one that landed me where I am now?" An ideal specific subject might be "Where would I be in life … Continue reading The “What-If?” Alternate Reality Lessons-Learned Spread
The “Gatekeeper and Keymaster” Best-Case Scenario Spread
The title of this spread comes from the two demonic characters ("Zuul" and "Vinz Clortho") played by Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis in the first Ghostbusters movie. The premise was rife with thinly-veiled sexual innuendo about the "gate" and the "key," but it seemed like a good basis for a tarot spread. The spread uses … Continue reading The “Gatekeeper and Keymaster” Best-Case Scenario Spread
Daily Patterns: “Moon-Day,” “Mars-Day,” Etc.
As an astrologer of long standing, I've always been fascinated by the internal or secondary structure in my tarot readings offered by the symbolic architecture of the astrological correspondences developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn at the end of the 19th Century (see the chart below). Some of them work better than … Continue reading Daily Patterns: “Moon-Day,” “Mars-Day,” Etc.
A Domino-and-Cards Example Reading: House Sale
To test this spread I chose a real-life situation in which acquaintances have just started the process of trying to sell their current house and move to a bigger one. The deck here is the RWS Centennial Edition in a Tin (copyright U.S. Games, Stamford, CT, used by permission) that I shuffled to introduce random … Continue reading A Domino-and-Cards Example Reading: House Sale
“Hot” Cards
Many of my ideas about Lenormand reading spring from my numerous fertile conversations on the Aeclectic Tarot forum with authors Andy Boroveshengra and Mary K. Greer before they both moved on - and then we all did. This one is no exception. I've written on this subject before (links below) but I wanted to sharpen … Continue reading “Hot” Cards
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 