AUTHOR'S NOTE: In almost any single-chain tarot reading there will be a mix of nominally fortunate and unfortunate cards; the reader's task is to sort them out and come up with as constructive an interpretation as possible while giving each its due. The reading frequently involves confronting the "good card/bad position" conundrum and its opposite. … Continue reading An Emotional “Hopes and Fears” Spread: Rising and Falling Trends
Tarot and Psychology
Convergence Between Tarot, Lenormand and Horary Astrology
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whenever I'm confronting a major decision or a significant occurrence in my life or the lives of my clients, I find it useful to perform both a tarot (or Lenormand) reading and a horary astrology event chart. I'm looking for convergence in their testimony, particularly in the status and placement of critical features, … Continue reading Convergence Between Tarot, Lenormand and Horary Astrology
Nourishing and Enriching: A Tarot-Reading Paradigm
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hexagram 27 of the I Ching is titled "Receiving Nourishment." The oracle begins with a discussion of "nourishing language," advising that the words we use in communicating with others should be carefully chosen to nourish and enrich them rather than striving to draw personal nourishment and enrichment from them. After that it moves … Continue reading Nourishing and Enriching: A Tarot-Reading Paradigm
The “Creeping Darkness” Shadow Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More inspiration from Benebell Wen's book, I Ching the Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes. I was just reading about Hexagram 23 (Bo; Partition) which has five "dark" yin lines underlying a single "bright" yang line. The commentary is "Dark yin lines ascend upward to overthrow the final line of … Continue reading The “Creeping Darkness” Shadow Spread
Psychological Parallels in Tarot: The Mechanics of Redirection
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a disclosure. After studying and working with the tarot cards for over five decades, I'm convinced that they aren't ideal for psychological profiling and character analysis (or, put less academically, what someone else "thinks or feels"), in which capacity they are too much like "mind-reading-with-props." That's why I use natal astrology for … Continue reading Psychological Parallels in Tarot: The Mechanics of Redirection
Eyes Wide Open: A Meditation on “Confirmation Bias”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Self-styled "tarot debunkers" are convinced that those who book readings from professional diviners are only looking for substantiation that some outcome they covet will actually occur. In the naysayers' opinion, these obsessed seekers don't really care about the truth unless it agrees with their preconceptions, which they hope will result in a self-fulfilling … Continue reading Eyes Wide Open: A Meditation on “Confirmation Bias”
A “Meaning of Life” Example Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: To demonstrate the "Meaning of Life" spread I posted yesterday, here is a fictional reading based on real-life circumstances. A 47-year-old New Hampshire man was living in his mother's basement. She bought him a Playstation 5 for his birthday, but he jacked up the volume so high while playing that it annoyed her. … Continue reading A “Meaning of Life” Example Reading
Purpose, Potential and Performance: A “Meaning of Life” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: At the risk of impersonating a "self-help guru," I've created a spread for those who feel that life is bereft of meaning, and who want to stop drifting and "jump-start" their private reality. Craving a path to a better place through divination, they want to tap into subliminal glimpses of what the immediate … Continue reading Purpose, Potential and Performance: A “Meaning of Life” Spread
“Weaponizing” the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Every day on local highways I encounter risk-taking "alpha" types (usually adult males) who have clearly "weaponized" their automobiles. They drive aggressively at high speed, weaving in and out of bumper-to-bumper traffic and squeezing into tight spots at 80 miles an hour; they're always quick to lean on the horn and brandish the … Continue reading “Weaponizing” the Tarot
“A Spiritual Death”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of the most difficult challenges in professional tarot reading is grappling with the presence of the Death card in a spread when an anxious client is waiting expectantly for a constructive explanation. There is an inevitable fixation on its gloomy portent and our own mortality even when nothing of the sort is … Continue reading “A Spiritual Death”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 