AUTHOR'S NOTE: I like to say that I don't purposely seek "good" or "bad" answers in a tarot reading but only an indication of trending circumstances that can be brought to a head through the querent's focused engagement. Here is a spread that makes good on this paradigm. It uses a breakdown of generally auspicious, … Continue reading Negotiated Settlement: A Best-Case/Worst-Case Trend Development Spread
Reversed Cards
A Seven-Day Mixed Media Card Selection Method
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a card-selection technique that uses a large, randomly-pulled template from which to select seven cards for a weekly reading by throwing a single "token" or "pointer" seven times (I used alphabet beads as described below). My "casting surface" was a repurposed pizza box, but any rectangular container with sides will suffice. … Continue reading A Seven-Day Mixed Media Card Selection Method
Dropping the Masks: A Shared-Dynamic Relationship Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a while since I created a comprehensive relationship spread. Here is one that shows the shared dynamic that can bring two parties together but also drive them apart. It sets up two "personality profiles" for the purpose of comparison, followed by a central pair that describes converging and diverging interests between … Continue reading Dropping the Masks: A Shared-Dynamic Relationship Spread
Redeeming Reversed Cards Through Coping
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent reddit conversation about reversed cards, the OP asked "Can it be said that the aim is to do something that will turn the card upright again? But how does this work for cards such as the Devil rx or the Seven of Cups rx? I'd assume having them rx is … Continue reading Redeeming Reversed Cards Through Coping
The “Power Grab” Spread: A Personal Power Profile
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As inquisitive beings we are always looking for insights that will aid us in understanding our inherent strengths and weaknesses. Although I don't use the "Tree of Life" spread often, here is a version that employs tarot cards to create a "power profile" showing the relative potency of eleven different aspects of our … Continue reading The “Power Grab” Spread: A Personal Power Profile
The “Side-Eye” – Looking Askance at Card Meanings
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In one of my online tarot conversations I've once again fielded the perennial question about the need to use reversals in divination. My response was: "Many people insist that - depending on the context of the reading - they can squeeze contradictory intent out of the upright meaning of any favorable tarot card … Continue reading The “Side-Eye” – Looking Askance at Card Meanings
“Who Shall I Be Today?” – A Tweaked Daily-Draw Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my ongoing study of the Taoist Bagua I encountered the idea that, in the three lines of a trigram, the top line represents Heaven, the bottom line signifies Earth and the middle line shows the individual poised between the two. I've been thinking about ways to relate this model to the three-card … Continue reading “Who Shall I Be Today?” – A Tweaked Daily-Draw Spread
The Great Escape: A Conflict-Resolution Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading about the historical view that many ancient philosophers and mystics envisioned a primordial "Cosmic Egg" that coalesced out of formless chaos, from which all life emerged as the culmination of an embryonic seed-state. I decided to explore this concept as the basis for a new conflict-resolution spread that uses … Continue reading The Great Escape: A Conflict-Resolution Spread
Tarot As “Offering Bowl” – A Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The practice of Taiji envisions eight "offering bowls" that enclose space and also present the contents of that space to the aspirant. Here I've created an eight-position tarot spread modeled on the taijitu (yin/yang) symbol of the I Ching to show situational progress from constructive input (yin as receptive and cooperative) to productive … Continue reading Tarot As “Offering Bowl” – A Situational Development Spread
Tarot Disambiguation: “I Know You Think You Believe You Understand . . .”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Disambiguation is a great word. As I see it, the concept involves eliminating confusion in the understanding and application of language by clarifying the differences between similar terms. The various definitions that have accrued to a word are sorted and ranked according to their frequency in common usage, although the fact that not … Continue reading Tarot Disambiguation: “I Know You Think You Believe You Understand . . .”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 