AUTHOR'S NOTE: The most intriguing concept I've encountered in my periodic study of playing-card divination - which has been an on-again, off-again affair over the past ten years - is the practice of including the two Jokers of a standard deck in the reading. I understand that most traditional cartomancers don't bother with them, but … Continue reading Mystery and Surprise: The Joker, the Fool and the High Priestess as “Stop Cards”
Tarot Opinion
The Self-Referential Diviner: Depth and Dependability or Merely Self-Flattery?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Novice tarot readers are typically told by mentors that they will eventually shelve the guide-books and bypass the social-media "talking heads" to follow their own star when it comes to card meanings and situational applications. This is wise but not entirely incontestable counsel. As a longtime diviner (over five decades of tarot reading … Continue reading The Self-Referential Diviner: Depth and Dependability or Merely Self-Flattery?
The Sixes: Pathways of Progress
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Dawn Jackson's "Hedgewytchery" system of playing-card divination, one general keyword for the number Six is "paths," which ideally means "a way forward" and not merely the avoidance of stagnation by retracing one's steps or traveling in circles. But this progressive advancement should really be considered in light of the following sequence of … Continue reading The Sixes: Pathways of Progress
Over-interpretation: Looking for Trouble in All the Wrong Places
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I admit to being more than a little skeptical of the "empowerment" (aka "cheerleading") mode of divination and of unbridled optimism in general, which is why I seldom take anything I see in a spread at face value. I'm always looking for the "rest of the story" (in talk-radio host Paul Harvey's memorable … Continue reading Over-interpretation: Looking for Trouble in All the Wrong Places
“A Worldwide Hoodoo” – Tarot and Romance
"I done called up a Gypsy woman on the telephoneGonna send out a worldwide hoodooThat'll be the very thing that'll suit youI'm going to see that you be back home in thirty days"- from Thirty Days by Chuck Berry AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been said that nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. To … Continue reading “A Worldwide Hoodoo” – Tarot and Romance
The Turning Away: Reversal as the “Other Fork”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title of this essay was inspired by the Pink Floyd song "On the Turning Away," although my use of the idea isn't identical. It can be said with some confidence that every tarot card has a preferred path for expression of its influence and that route is usually indicated by its upright … Continue reading The Turning Away: Reversal as the “Other Fork”
“On the Cheap:” A Tarot Trend
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I call myself a "professional tarot reader," and in fact there have been periods in my life when I've lived up to the calling. But I don't have to make a living at it now, which is a good thing given the fact that I won't succumb to the trend for ultra-cheap online … Continue reading “On the Cheap:” A Tarot Trend
Major Arcana As “Step-Change”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In manufacturing jargon, effective process control begins with the engineering of a work-station performance envelope that ensures steady-state functionality by permitting only minor, easily-adjusted shifts in operating parameters for the duration of the activity. (As a former quality-control technician, later an engineer and ultimately a manager, I know a little about the subject.) … Continue reading Major Arcana As “Step-Change”
Grooming the Significator
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The classic Celtic Cross spread requires the use of a court card to represent the person for whom the reading is being done (the querent, seeker or sitter) or any other card that is appropriate to the subject of the inquiry. This is the first card placed on the table, and all of … Continue reading Grooming the Significator
The 10 of Cups: “Pushing a String”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes we can tie ourselves up in knots when trying too diligently to impose esoteric symbolism on the tarot cards. I recently came across an opinion that the 10 of Cups - which is associated with Mars in Pisces in the Golden Dawn's system of "Chaldean" astrological correspondences - must refer to the … Continue reading The 10 of Cups: “Pushing a String”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 