AUTHOR'S NOTE: We all recognize the proverb "The third time's the charm" when we've failed twice at something and are trying again with finger's crossed. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote "The luck of the third adventure is proverbial.") But when it comes to divination, asking the same question over-and-over again and expecting a more agreeable answer … Continue reading “Third Time’s the (C)harm”
Tarot Opinion
Off-Topic Tarot Readings: Crossing the Conceptual Divide
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm tackling the evasive defense (OK, it's a convenient excuse) that is often trotted out to justify why tarot readings yield advice that seems valid while not even remotely addressing the question we asked: "They're responding to a different issue that may be more important but that wasn't recognized by the querent." … Continue reading Off-Topic Tarot Readings: Crossing the Conceptual Divide
“But Does It Work?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If dismay among junior members of the online tarot community is any indication, it's not uncommon for beginners to expect far more factual accuracy and predictive discernment from a tarot reading than it is reasonably able to deliver, causing many new readers to question its usefulness. Lack of observable success leads to disillusionment, … Continue reading “But Does It Work?”
“Nonsense In, Gibberish Out” – Trivial Goals and “Bad” Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Taking a cue from my current study of the I Ching, I've jotted down a few thoughts about the proper mindset to bring to a tarot reading, and the significance of unfavorable cards in a spread according to their traditional meaning and/or as-dealt orientation. The "god of gibberish" (or deity of incoherent babble) … Continue reading “Nonsense In, Gibberish Out” – Trivial Goals and “Bad” Cards
Tarot Analogies: Three-Part Harmony and Feeling*
*With apologies to Arlo Guthrie for deliberately misquoting Alice's Restaurant. AUTHOR'S NOTE: The fact that a tarot deck can be subdivided into three distinct but interdependent tiers - trump, court and "pip" cards - invites numerous analogies describing how they interact from the top down in "three-part harmony." Here are a few ideas. We might … Continue reading Tarot Analogies: Three-Part Harmony and Feeling*
“Canceling” Effects in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Chinese cosmology there is a premise that certain forms of qi (life-force) subdue and diminish other types, subordinating their influence. I'm intrigued by the idea that something similar could be going on in tarot divination. It's a well-established concept that certain cards in a tarot spread will dominate the reading and push … Continue reading “Canceling” Effects in Tarot Reading
“Scrying Into” the Tarot Cards: An Alternative to Intuition
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Scrying in the spirit vision" is an occult practice involving out-of-body exploration (or, if you prefer, "astral travel") that is more focused and directed than the spontaneous act of intuitive discernment commonly used in divination. (Classically, one visualizes and enters the "body of light," projecting it onto the Astral Plane and moving about … Continue reading “Scrying Into” the Tarot Cards: An Alternative to Intuition
“Liberating” The Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his fictionalized biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Irving Stone put words in the sculptor's mouth to the effect that, in order to carve a statue of a horse from a block of marble, all he had to do was "remove everything that isn't horse." He was in effect freeing his vision from its … Continue reading “Liberating” The Tarot Reading
Pressure-Points: Triggering a Reaction
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'll flatter myself by saying that I do some of my best tarot writing (as well as tarot divination) via the use of storytelling tropes (and humor, but that's more incidental). I've settled on two analogies to bulk up the present, rather slender topic. The first is an electronic "touch screen" with its … Continue reading Pressure-Points: Triggering a Reaction
Major Arcana as Overarching Themes
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While they may imply the potential for "fireworks," I'm long past the point of treating trump cards in a reading as a guarantee that big things are afoot since that hasn't been my experience with them in over fifty years of practice. I now view them as showing the overarching theme or environmental … Continue reading Major Arcana as Overarching Themes
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 