AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my recent essay (linked below) on syncretism between Western astrology and the I Ching, I correlated the twelve Ptolemaic signs of the zodiac with the eight I Ching trigrams and, via synthesis between consecutive signs, with twelve of the 64 hexagrams. In doing so I resorted to a good deal of inspiration, … Continue reading Trumps and Trigrams: A Syncretic Exercise
Mixed-Media Spreads
Dice, Cards and the Quintessence Calculation: A Three-Phase Tarot Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dice and cards (particularly the numbered "pip" cards of a standard poker deck) share a long history as gaming devices. Their joint role in divination is less storied (except perhaps in the fortune-telling manual, Triompho di Fortuna, published in 1526 by Sigismondo Fanti of Venice), but I have been using them together for … Continue reading Dice, Cards and the Quintessence Calculation: A Three-Phase Tarot Spread
A Kid’s Tarot-Reading Game
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm always looking for novel ways to read the cards for young people that will get them involved in the process and hold their interest. Here is a board-game motif that invites them to roll a die and move a token on the board to select cards for the reading. It requires a … Continue reading A Kid’s Tarot-Reading Game
The “Weekly Keynote” High-Focus Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The aim of this spread is to highlight the one day during an upcoming week that has the most potential to be momentous in some way. It uses two decks (one for the 7-day baseline row and the other for the three-card daily reading); seven dominoes of the appropriate denomination are also required. … Continue reading The “Weekly Keynote” High-Focus Reading
The “Wild-Card Tableau” – A Tarot-Lenormand Experiment
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I seldom use tarot cards in combination with Lenormand cards in a reading, but the minor merger I've come up with here looks like something I can live with. Cartomantic theorists are always looking for effective methods to bring tarot cards and oracle cards together in a combined reading. Lenormand writers have proposed … Continue reading The “Wild-Card Tableau” – A Tarot-Lenormand Experiment
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*
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
The “Bridge or Tunnel” Situational Outlook Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my second spread based on the "troll under the bridge" symbolism of Scandinavian folklore. (The first one was aimed at readings for children; this one is for adults and the "troll" - here we could call it a "cave troll" - is implied rather than explicit.) The roll of a single … Continue reading The “Bridge or Tunnel” Situational Outlook Spread
Tarot and Transits: Energizing the Chaldean Decans
"These are the daysWhen you wish your bed was already made"from Manic Monday by The Bangles AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sounds like The Bangles needed a tarot-reader or an astrologer, not a housekeeper and a day-planner. Or maybe both. I'm here to help. In the past I spent a good deal of time correlating all of the … Continue reading Tarot and Transits: Energizing the Chaldean Decans
A Cards-and-Pendulum “Yes-or-No” Example Reading: Return of Deposit
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I "calibrated" my new pendulum, the horizontal axis responded to "Yes," which made the vertical axis "No" for all future readings. To test this method, I asked the question "Will we receive our full deposit back?" for a contract we cancelled when the contractor failed to perform the work within a reasonable … Continue reading A Cards-and-Pendulum “Yes-or-No” Example Reading: Return of Deposit
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 