AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just encountered the idea that whenever we receive a Major Arcana (aka "trump") card in a reading, we should immediately pull another card to describe its practical (as opposed to its universal or spiritual) significance for the querent's future. I'm no fan of using clarifying cards in my work, but I can … Continue reading “Grounding the Archetypes” – A Three-Card Daily Draw Spread
Experimental Methods
Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is common wisdom that tarot readers should stay well away from anything related to medical diagnostics and prescriptive health recommendations. But that doesn't mean the subject can't be broached in terms of general well-being, as in "What does my overall health forecast look like?" The following is entirely experimental and should be … Continue reading Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread
“Judgment Call” – A Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread tackles the premise that many decisions in life present a three-fold situational tableau: the transcendent level of higher wisdom at which the conscience operates; the conscious realm of thought where we try to apply logic (and often rationalization) to the matter; and the subconscious domain of purely emotional engagement. These dimensions … Continue reading “Judgment Call” – A Decision-Making Spread
Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Golden Dawn's alignment of the tarot cards with the astrological (aka "Chaldean") decanates (36 ten-degree segments of the zodiac beginning on the Vernal Equinox) has intrigued me since I first picked up the tarot in 1972 to complement my practice of astrology, but I have never been satisfied with its customary application … Continue reading Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading
Tarot Takes On Pascal’s Wager
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While in college I had a philosophy professor who was also an ordained minister with an open mind. He brought "Pascal's Wager" to our attention: all things considered, it's less risky to believe in the existence of a Supreme Being when there isn't one than to disbelieve when there is. In the first … Continue reading Tarot Takes On Pascal’s Wager
Decanic Intervals: A Unique Approach to Tarot Timing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Golden Dawn's system of tarot timing relies on the zodiacal position of 68 of the cards within the "Chaldean" array of twelve astrological signs. In this essay I'm going to challenge the conventions that have been established for its use. The series of 36 minor cards begins in Aries on or about … Continue reading Decanic Intervals: A Unique Approach to Tarot Timing
The Gatekeepers of Tarot: The Priestess and Her Posse
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The High Priestess, the second "numbered" trump card of the tarot, is typically regarded as a guardian of secrets both cosmic and mundane. When she appears in a reading, something about the matter is not yet known, and perhaps the querent isn't prepared to receive the revelation or is being kept in the … Continue reading The Gatekeepers of Tarot: The Priestess and Her Posse
The “Upside/Downside” Situational Roadmap: A Cartomantic Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the cinematic cartography of the buccaneers favored by Hollywood, treasure maps invariably displayed an "X" where the prize could be found (i.e. "X marks the spot"). On a different arc, there have been many tarot spreads that use the "best case/worst case scenario" to indicate how a situation can be expected to … Continue reading The “Upside/Downside” Situational Roadmap: A Cartomantic Spread
A “Close Encounter” Triskelion Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a concise spread that is aimed at exploring the general characteristics, consequences and dynamics of a new human contact or other opportunity that has recently entered (or is about to enter) the seeker's life. (If it addresses a situation rather than a specific individual, those attributes will reflect the querent's own … Continue reading A “Close Encounter” Triskelion Spread
An “Overt-and-Covert” Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that is designed to follow the progress of an initiative, enterprise or project from its inception to the "first milestone" of self-sustaining viability. (The "story arc" is structured so it can be repeated for later phases of a strategic game plan.) It includes a public (or "overt") arc and … Continue reading An “Overt-and-Covert” Situational Development Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 