AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the next solar cycle, I chose not to pull random cards to represent the Celtic year, but rather to use the tarot trump cards associated with the eight Celtic holidays and the four zodiacal ingress dates for the Sun, thus creating a universal layout with slightly more irregular sequencing than the typical … Continue reading 2024 Celtic Wheel of the Year Layout
Situational Awareness Spreads
Turbatus Somnus* – A Sleep-Cycle Disruption Spread
*Disturbed sleep (I know very little Latin, blame Google Translate) AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's common to ask the tarot "How will my day go?" Here I'm asking "How will my night go?" Insomnia is a subject I haven't tackled before in a tarot spread. I have a mild form of it and the cause is seldom … Continue reading Turbatus Somnus* – A Sleep-Cycle Disruption Spread
Chasing Fate: Pulling the Thread on Trends
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a well-worn cliche that nothing presented in a tarot reading is carved in stone; any outcome is subject to adjustment by timely action (and, it must be said, negligent inaction) of the seeker. However, there are cards that lean toward a fortunate outcome no matter how ill-favored they are by surrounding cards, … Continue reading Chasing Fate: Pulling the Thread on Trends
The “Triangle of Intention” Self-Realization Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just came across the statement that Pythagoras considered Three to be the first "true" number because it creates the triangle, which is the initial geometric shape and first planar figure that is comprehensible to human intelligence (the philosophical derivation of the Circle seems more mystical than mathematical, or maybe an accidental product … Continue reading The “Triangle of Intention” Self-Realization Spread
The “Bridge to Nowhere” Four-Way Relationship Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Back during the Clinton Administration, Alaskan congressmen with "pork" on the menu were floating the idea of building a long bridge to the Aleutian Islands that critics derisively labeled the "Bridge to Nowhere." (I think Bill may have been planting a different kind of "pylon" at the time.) Here is a spread that … Continue reading The “Bridge to Nowhere” Four-Way Relationship Spread
Waiting For The “Drop” – A Situational Response Spectrum
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Serving as a (welcome?) bit of relief from my relentless Lenormand commentary, here is an approach to situational awareness and response based on the idea that a particular activity described as a set of circumstances or facts can be foreseen to precipitate a "second act" of a countervailing nature (a divinatory parallel to … Continue reading Waiting For The “Drop” – A Situational Response Spectrum
“Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a sophisticated spread that borrows ideas from palmistry and also from the game-play provisions of Lenormand's ancestor, the Game of Hope. It can be used with either Lenormand or tarot, and potentially with any cartomantic method for which well-defined "stop cards" can be identified. It is best to keep their number … Continue reading “Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
The “Bridge or Tunnel” Situational Outlook Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my second spread based on the "troll under the bridge" symbolism of Scandinavian folklore. (The first one was aimed at readings for children; this one is for adults and the "troll" - here we could call it a "cave troll" - is implied rather than explicit.) The roll of a single … Continue reading The “Bridge or Tunnel” Situational Outlook Spread
The Lazy Man’s Tree-of-Life “Reality Check” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm calling this a "lazy man's" spread (pardon my gender exclusiveness; you can rephrase it as "lazy person's" if you like, but I was going for the "lazy-man's-lobster" allusion) because it requires only a very general knowledge of the meaning of the sephiroth on the Tree and the flow of energy thereon. An … Continue reading The Lazy Man’s Tree-of-Life “Reality Check” Spread
The “Tarot of Place” Situational Outlook Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that takes its design from the directional model of horary astrology while also offering an opportunity to bring the pendulum into play. In horary astrology, the geographic location of the astrologer and not that of the querent or the "quesited" (that which is being asked about) is a key … Continue reading The “Tarot of Place” Situational Outlook Spread