AUTHOR'S NOTE: After previously analyzing the nature of the pentagram as it is used in tarot imagery, I decided to create a tableau that brings it to bear on a "personal power profile" that can be used for self-awareness or to assess the character of another party to the matter in question. This layout should … Continue reading Planetary Energies and the “Personal Power Profile”
Personality Spreads
The Mirror of Identity: An Astro-Tarot Self-Appraisal Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm merging astrological principles (natal planets and rising sign) with tarot cards and insights from the casebook of psycho-spiritual mind/body awareness to create a self-appraisal tool that is intended to identify any strengths and weaknesses in one's personality that may not stand out clearly from horoscopic delineation or cartomantic examination alone. While … Continue reading The Mirror of Identity: An Astro-Tarot Self-Appraisal Spread
“Passing Through Zero:” Transcending the Victim Archetype (A Tarot Spread)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As an astrologer I've long been familiar with the "victim mentality" as revealed in the natal horoscope. (I once called it the "doormat syndrome" exemplified by the Virgo-Pisces axis: people who become accustomed to being walked on.) Now I see that it has been elevated to the status of an "archetype" and decided … Continue reading “Passing Through Zero:” Transcending the Victim Archetype (A Tarot Spread)
The Awakening: A Spiritual Transformation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a tarot spread that uses the concepts of entrenched inertia (pip cards), personal make-over (court cards) and mystical transformation in the form of both transcendent opportunities and spiritual pitfalls (trump cards). It is one of my "mixed-media" spreads that employs both tarot cards and dice in its execution. Begin by separating … Continue reading The Awakening: A Spiritual Transformation Spread
The “Creeping Darkness” Shadow Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More inspiration from Benebell Wen's book, I Ching the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes. I was just reading about Hexagram 23 (Bo; Partition) which has five "dark" yin lines underlying a single "bright" yang line. The commentary is "Dark yin lines ascend upward to overthrow the final line of … Continue reading The “Creeping Darkness” Shadow Spread
Psychological Parallels in Tarot: The Mechanics of Redirection
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a disclosure. After studying and working with the tarot cards for over five decades, I'm convinced that they aren't ideal for psychological profiling and character analysis (or, put less academically, what someone else "thinks or feels"), in which capacity they are too much like "mind-reading-with-props." That's why I use natal astrology for … Continue reading Psychological Parallels in Tarot: The Mechanics of Redirection
A “Meaning of Life” Example Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: To demonstrate the "Meaning of Life" spread I posted yesterday, here is a fictional reading based on real-life circumstances. A 47-year-old New Hampshire man was living in his mother's basement. She bought him a Playstation 5 for his birthday, but he jacked up the volume so high while playing that it annoyed her. … Continue reading A “Meaning of Life” Example Reading
Synchronizing the “Inner” and the “Outer” Self: A Tarot Mandala
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not proposing this as a spread for divination but rather as a tool (a form of mandala) for meditation. It could, however, be used as a "birth-chart" for the moment of the pull and supplemented over time with additional cards that function like astrological transits to a natal horoscope. One possible way … Continue reading Synchronizing the “Inner” and the “Outer” Self: A Tarot Mandala
“Parts is Parts” – Finding Unity in Multiplicity
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I was employed as a Purchasing Manager for a utility power-plant, the Maintenance team used to say that there was no wizardry involved in keeping the facility's operating equipment running smoothly as long as they had the right parts and the right skills. This attitude led to the adage "Parts is parts" … Continue reading “Parts is Parts” – Finding Unity in Multiplicity
One Against Nature: A Tarot Self-Critique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mystical and spiritual types like to assert that they use tarot solely to tap into their self-awareness and self-improvement potential in the service of personal enlightenment. Fair enough, but going at it completely cold with nothing but the cards to compare ourselves to - no model or set of criteria defining excellence and … Continue reading One Against Nature: A Tarot Self-Critique
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 