“All around me golden sunflakes/Settle on the ground.”- from Granchester Meadows by Pink Floyd AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading a fascinating description of the behavior of visible light from a quantum physics perspective. Luminosity has been portrayed by scientists as quasi-particulate in that it is transmitted and received in "packets" of massless particles called … Continue reading The “Quantum Theory” of Tarot Reading
General Tarot
Distant Intention: An Alternative Approach to Remote Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My long-time followers know that I'm skeptical of remote tarot reading because the querent has no direct contact with the cards for the purpose of subconscious induction, my fundamental understanding of "how tarot works." But with a little tweaking of the parameters, that attitude may be shifting. Recently, while reading about experiments in … Continue reading Distant Intention: An Alternative Approach to Remote Divination
Online Tarot Reading for Profit: An Outsider’s Perspective
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is currently a glut of aspiring tarot readers who believe that starting up an online practice is a surefire way to make enough money to survive. Until disabused of the notion, they don't realize just how many of their peers they will be competing against, many of whom read for free or … Continue reading Online Tarot Reading for Profit: An Outsider’s Perspective
“Uncontrolled Variables” in Remote Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the category of "A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing" for the mystical tarot reader, parapsychologist Dean Radin (in Supernormal, his 2013 study of yoga) had a few critical things to say about the lack of scientific confidence in online testimony. Dr. Radin made a tossed-off remark about the fact that the … Continue reading “Uncontrolled Variables” in Remote Tarot Reading
Tarot “Whack-a-Mole” – Hitting the Sweet Spot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: All too often, the cards pulled for a tarot reading amount to little more than "visual noise" when we first try to relate them to the question or topic of interest. Readers must employ noise reduction (typically some kind of selective seeing) in coaxing the more significant insights to poke their heads above … Continue reading Tarot “Whack-a-Mole” – Hitting the Sweet Spot
Objective and Subjective Significance in Tarot Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The keyword meanings given in tarot books are typically objective in that they can apply to a wide range of conditions, and it's up to the diviner to tailor them to a sitter's subjective circumstances. When analytical tarot readers (i.e. those who value the traditional knowledge presented in established definitions) begin to assess … Continue reading Objective and Subjective Significance in Tarot Cards
Occult Knowledge: What’s the Use?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have a few less-meaty essays in my backlog of pending posts. This is one, and I will publish the others over the next couple of days. A fellow member of the r/occult sub-reddit community recently asked a particularly vexing question: "What do you people even do with occult knowledge?" This individual was … Continue reading Occult Knowledge: What’s the Use?
Tarot Reading Beyond the Lookup
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent post titled "Most Tarot Readings Stop Too Soon," tarot author Paul Hughes-Barlow observed that, at its most basic, a tarot reading approximates a "lookup table:" Pull a card, look up the meaning, make the interpretation. He concluded by saying that "It works, but only in the same sense that a … Continue reading Tarot Reading Beyond the Lookup
Intuitive Divination as “Auto-Suggestion”
Auto-suggestion: "A psychological technique where an individual consciously or unconsciously influences their own attitudes, behaviors, or physical states through repeated self-instruction or mental affirmations." (Wikipedia) AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I first picked up the tarot in 1972, reading the cards was primarily an expression of esoteric principles applied in a mystical way, and about as far … Continue reading Intuitive Divination as “Auto-Suggestion”
Intuition: The Literal Diviner’s Trusty Sidekick
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent r/tarot sub-reddit thread there was unexpected consensus among experienced diviners that intuition works in concert with knowledge and experience but is not superior to them. It has been my opinion for a long time that all three are vital to successful divination, and I'm used to seeing it dismissed by … Continue reading Intuition: The Literal Diviner’s Trusty Sidekick
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 