AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I prepared to do my monthly New Moon reading at the end of February, I decided to separate it into two complementary halves: a "mystical" path reflected in tarot cards and a "practical" trajectory defined by Lenormand cards. The tarot cards are intended to provide a subliminal or psychic impression of the … Continue reading The “Mystical Month” and the “Practical Month” – A Two-Stage New Moon Reading
Metaphysical Syncretism
Elements and Modes in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If there are any astrologers among my readers who were active during the era of New-Age metaphysical expansion, feel free to fact-check my historical observations. Having been there myself, this is how I remember it. Astrology uses a modal form of analysis: there are three quadriplicities (also known as modalities) - Cardinal, Fixed … Continue reading Elements and Modes in Tarot Reading
Reading the Signs: An Astro-Tarot Topical Forecasting Method
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This technique requires a natal horoscope for the querent; an astrological ephemeris for the year in question; and the Golden Dawn's Chaldean wheel of tarot-card correspondences. (See the graphic below). Due to the necessary preparation, it will not be suitable for most walk-in clients. More than one deck will be needed for this … Continue reading Reading the Signs: An Astro-Tarot Topical Forecasting Method
Dexter and Sinister: The Straight and Crooked Paths
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In classical astrology, planetary motion was tracked in two directions: dexter (toward the right or counterclockwise through the signs) and sinister (toward the left or clockwise through the houses). On a monthly, annual or multi-year basis depending on their orbital speed, the planets traverse the signs in sequential order from Aries at the … Continue reading Dexter and Sinister: The Straight and Crooked Paths
The “Tarot Magic” Invocation Spread: Second Cut
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After reading further into Donald Tyson's Tarot Magic, I decided to add a couple of new features to this spread. Tyson mentions that in traditional evocation, the Triangle of Art is drawn with its apex pointing away from the Circle of Summoning. The idea is that when the aspiration identified as the focus … Continue reading The “Tarot Magic” Invocation Spread: Second Cut
The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The premise behind this exercise is that the querent has something he or she would like to eliminate from present and future circumstances - it might be a difficult person or an unpleasant condition. This conjuration applies the cleansing agent of Mars as embodied in the Tower and the four most relevant "Mars" … Continue reading The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
Archetypal Gates and Elemental Focus: A Ritual Matrix and Tarot Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Tarot Magic, Donald Tyson described a hierarchy of tarot trumps based on a Kabbalistic cosmology that places the Earth at the bottom as fixed and unmoving; the three "Primal Elements" (Water, Air and Fire in ascending order) as the first three increasingly-subtle "spheres" one encounters when rising from the Earth's surface; the … Continue reading Archetypal Gates and Elemental Focus: A Ritual Matrix and Tarot Spread
The “Star of Hope” Personal Initiative Sigil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a layout that forms a sigil or "charm" intended to influence another person or situation that the querent wants to bend to his or her will. It uses a "significator" card at the center to represent the objective of the enchantment (for lack of a better word), and the seven classical … Continue reading The “Star of Hope” Personal Initiative Sigil
The “Zodiacal Strip” Monthly Astro-Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is not nearly as messy as it looks. Those who are familiar with astrology will be able to make good sense of it. Here is a different take on the 12-position astrological spread that I adapted from Donald Tyson's book, Tarot Magic. It uses the twelve zodiacal trump cards and the seven … Continue reading The “Zodiacal Strip” Monthly Astro-Tarot Reading
A Four-Path Attitudinal Guidance Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm fond of spreads that diverge in opposite directions along several different paths to closure. This one is designed to aid the querent in deciding whether the matter at hand should be approached assertively (Wands/Fire); compassionately (Cups/Water); thoughtfully (Swords/Air) or pragmatically (Disks/Earth). It uses all 78 cards and can be read with reversals. … Continue reading A Four-Path Attitudinal Guidance Spread
