AUTHOR'S NOTE: I sometimes think of a card's reversed (or "upside-down") condition as signifying a "hole in the bucket" that is carrying its energy, letting the vitality dribble away. This echoes the standard meaning of "diminishment," but I like to be more impressionistic in my interpretation by using metaphors and analogies. My current thinking on … Continue reading Going to Plan B: Reversal as “A Hole That Needs Fixing”
Reversed Cards
Reversal as “Underdeveloped Potential”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the years I've formulated and applied my own style of reversed-card interpretation, and I finally concluded that inversion of the image doesn't materially alter the core meaning of the upright presentation, just redirects it in various subtle ways as detailed in my nearly two dozen previous essays on the subject. The required … Continue reading Reversal as “Underdeveloped Potential”
The Empress Reversed: “A Woman Scorned”
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"- from The Mourning Bride by William Congreve (1697) AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of my favorite portrayals of scandalized female propriety occurred in the old Chiffon margarine TV commercial, in which a regal woman (who had been deceived by Chiffon's buttery flavor) intoned acidly over rumbling background thunder: "It's … Continue reading The Empress Reversed: “A Woman Scorned”
The 6 of Swords: Steering by Troubled Waters
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In an old post of several years ago I mentioned a sidelight to the RWS version of this card that views the choppy surface to the right of the boat as driving it toward the calmer waters to its left and thus uneventfully on to the far shore. An interlude of "smooth sailing … Continue reading The 6 of Swords: Steering by Troubled Waters
A Reversed-Card Digest: King of Cups, 6 of Cups and 8 of Wands
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is no connection between these cards other than the fact of reversal. They weren't part of an involved study, just the subject of three different pending essays that I compiled to clear out my backlog of unpublished posts. These vignettes are prime examples of my present approach to reversals; they were inspired … Continue reading A Reversed-Card Digest: King of Cups, 6 of Cups and 8 of Wands
The Reversed Hanged Man: Transcending Forced Idleness
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just encountered another instance of the reversed Hanged Man in a tarot reading, and decided to revisit my past assumptions about it. There are three ways to approach it: practical, psychological and spiritual. In divination I usually consider its practical implications first and its psychological impact next, while spiritual consequences are not … Continue reading The Reversed Hanged Man: Transcending Forced Idleness
“Releasing” Positions and “Charging” Cards: Friction or Stimulation?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading Roger Horne's Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft, I encountered the curious notion that difficult positions in a spread should be viewed as "releasing" their influence, whether harmlessly banishing it or unleashing it with prejudice on the seeker I can't say since there was no explanatory text at that point in the book … Continue reading “Releasing” Positions and “Charging” Cards: Friction or Stimulation?
What Happened to Nancy? – A Pair of Missing-Person Readings
AUTHOR'S NOTE:I was recently asked by a magazine publisher whether I had already performed a missing-person reading for Nancy Guthrie. That prompted me to catch up to the case with my "Train to Nowhere" exploratory spread, which is a 13x6-card array that employs all 78 cards. I chose the Queen of Wands as the Significator … Continue reading What Happened to Nancy? – A Pair of Missing-Person Readings
The Maverick Cartomant, Part 3: The Thoth Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It may be disingenuous to claim "maverick" status when my approach to the Thoth tarot is at least 95% aligned with the content of its companion volume, The Book of Thoth, and the Golden Dawn's Liber T tarot curriculum on which it is largely based. But I do have reservations about a couple … Continue reading The Maverick Cartomant, Part 3: The Thoth Tarot
2025 Year-End Recap & 2026 “Cusp of Renewal” Forecast
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the New-Year's forecast spread I created in December of 2024, and it seems like a good one to repeat this year. My current state of ill health won't let me go at it full-tilt, but I wanted to keep my streak of posts going. Thoth Tarot, copyright of US Games Systems … Continue reading 2025 Year-End Recap & 2026 “Cusp of Renewal” Forecast
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 