AUTHOR'S NOTE: I liken tarot reading to "peeling an onion " because what we see in the cards at a surface level isn't always what is going on in the hidden depths of the situation, and we must "drill down" to find the reality. Here I'm turning that concept inside-out by proposing that the truth … Continue reading The “Qabalistic Onion” Situational-Awareness Spread*
Professional Tarot
Logical Mysticism and Pragmatic Action: Quantifying the Unknown
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's no secret that I prefer logical inquiry to unquestioning acceptance when confronted with the many romantic myths that shroud so much modern tarot practice in sheer fantasy. I've come to believe that there is an empirical explanation for the seemingly unfounded intuitive and psychic impressions attending the act of divination, we just … Continue reading Logical Mysticism and Pragmatic Action: Quantifying the Unknown
“Downsizing” the Major Arcana in Mundane Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: All too often, the random appearance of a trump card in a tarot reading about a commonplace subject feels like a giant rock has been tossed into the middle of a placid pond when a drop of rain or two would have been sufficient to stir the water to a depth that churns … Continue reading “Downsizing” the Major Arcana in Mundane Tarot Reading
Spread Denial: A Curious Myopia
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just came across a critique in the online tarot community that belittled using structured tarot spreads because they "muzzle the message" that the cards are trying to deliver. I can only assume that this individual has not carefully considered (or has chosen to ignore) the many advantages of adopting a more coherent … Continue reading Spread Denial: A Curious Myopia
“Shaken or Stirred” – Synthesis vs. Precision in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sure it's abundantly clear from my written work that I value the precise use of language. (Chalk it it up to being a former technical and legal writer in business.) This quest for accuracy spills over into the way I read the tarot cards, although I have to be vigilant in not … Continue reading “Shaken or Stirred” – Synthesis vs. Precision in Tarot Reading
“Hits, Runs, Walks, Errors and Outs” – A Baseball-Themed Situational Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a take-away from my recent post on the Aces, I decided to create a situational-awareness spread designed around the baseball motif I used in that essay. I was an avid baseball player until my late 30s and I'm still a fan, so I'm very familiar with the mechanics of the game and … Continue reading “Hits, Runs, Walks, Errors and Outs” – A Baseball-Themed Situational Spread
Interrupting the Continuum: An Alternate Approach to Pulling Tarot Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The shuffle-and-cut sequence is a time-honored preliminary to pulling tarot cards for a reading, but there is another technique used by some practitioners that draws the required number of cards from a full-deck "fan" spread out in front of the querent. Here I'm pushing that idea to its logical conclusion. When a new … Continue reading Interrupting the Continuum: An Alternate Approach to Pulling Tarot Cards
Honoring the Cards in Theory and Practice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As part of the "homework" assigned to readers of his book, Tarot Architect, Lon Milo DuQuette advises them to "kiss" each of the cards as a curious but charming ritual blessing before laying it on the table. This is just a little too "precious" for my own intellectual sensibilities so I won't do … Continue reading Honoring the Cards in Theory and Practice
Entering the Zone
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question frequently asked of professional tarot readers in the online community is "How do you psychically prepare and protect yourself before and during a reading? By some form of 'clearing' like meditation? Invocation? Prayer? Candles, incense and crystals?" The answers typically run the gamut of all of these with the addition of … Continue reading Entering the Zone
“Why Divine?” – A Fortune-Teller’s Manifesto
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the past five decades I've come full circle in my attitude toward divination with the tarot cards. What originated as a philosophical preoccupation with occult theory became an intellectual pursuit centered on experiments in prediction, soon passed through a Jungian phase in parallel with psychological astrology, and finally settled into a non-deterministic … Continue reading “Why Divine?” – A Fortune-Teller’s Manifesto
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 