AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I pursue my study of the I Ching, I'm encountering numerous new ideas that demand scholarly attention while also creating a wealth of intriguing notions that I intend to fold into my ongoing exploration of the syncretism between the tarot and the Book of Changes. Here is the latest example. In general, … Continue reading Ascending and Descending Energies as Ruling and Yielding Principles in the Tarot
Quintessence Spreads
“The Fix is In!” – Invoking Tarot Energy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This tarot-based technique for magically imposing one's personal Will on circumstances is based on the concept of intention. If we "intend" something strongly enough we will ideally achieve its realization without "getting our hands dirty." As long as it isn't harmful to others (and if it is, the Wiccan "Three-fold Law" might kick … Continue reading “The Fix is In!” – Invoking Tarot Energy
Trump Cards and Isomorphs
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I avoided discussing this technique in my previous post on reconstituting the trump cards, but I've been mulling over ways to make it work. Once again, I will use the Tower as my main example and also provide a couple of others. (If you're unfamiliar with isomorphs, I linked my "primer" on the … Continue reading Trump Cards and Isomorphs
Two Approaches to Tarot Triangulation: The Quintessence and the Midpoint
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a technique used in navigation and surveying called "triangulation," the technical definition for which, in its simplest form, is "the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points." While navigation encompasses distance as well as direction and position and surveying only defines … Continue reading Two Approaches to Tarot Triangulation: The Quintessence and the Midpoint
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
The Daily Reading in Three Parts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Consider this the "club sandwich" of tarot spreads, or maybe the "lasagna;" it breaks the daily reading into three distinct tiers of interpretation. Within the field of behavioral conjecture it's a well-established premise that the human personality exhibits three characteristic modes of response to circumstances: automatic or unplanned (the "knee-jerk reaction"); conditional or … Continue reading The Daily Reading in Three Parts
Revisiting the Tirage en Croix: “Hold the Woo!”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The excellent tirage en croix (aka "French Cross") spread originated in Continental Europe and it offers an ideal alternative to the modern three-card and five-card line. It is a straightforward predictive layout that I understand was developed by Swiss occultist Oswald Wirth. I recently came across a description of it on the r/tarot … Continue reading Revisiting the Tirage en Croix: “Hold the Woo!”
The “Double-Axle” Energy Rotation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I often contemplate the operation of "centrifugal" (externalizing) and "centripetal" (internalizing) metaphysical forces as they can be applied to the practice of tarot, something I used to good effect in working up my personal set of definitions for the Tarot de Marseille pips. Here is a spread constructed on those principles. (It is … Continue reading The “Double-Axle” Energy Rotation Spread
The “Do/Don’t Do” Problem-Solving Spread (with “Bottom Line”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tarot spreads frequently include positions for "Do This" and "Don't Do That." Here is a problem-solving spread that expands on that premise by offering two paths, one involving active disposition of situational factors in five areas and the other suggesting either inaction or a more passive stance in those aspects of the matter. … Continue reading The “Do/Don’t Do” Problem-Solving Spread (with “Bottom Line”)
“Finding the Path” – Opening A Spirit Contact Channel
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I occasionally encounter questions about ways to contact the spirits of the departed and other disembodied entities using the tarot cards. Through my esoteric studies and practice over the last fifty years I've become familiar with the principles of "astral pathworking" using the Major Arcana, but that is a more disciplined - and … Continue reading “Finding the Path” – Opening A Spirit Contact Channel
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 