There is a reasonable assumption that, due to its layered symbolism, any card in a tarot deck can mean almost anything within its broadly-construed conceptual range when encountered in a reading. This elasticity of context is limited only by the diviner's resourcefulness in "connecting the dots," and it could be argued that, in the interest … Continue reading Weasel This!
Tarot Opinion
No Fortune-Telling Here . . . Well, Not Much
It's fashionable these days for people who write about the tarot to say "The cards don't predict the future." My response to that is "Well, of course they don't, they never did." They are nothing but tools, evocative visual aids that serve as pointers for the diviner in helping the seeker explore the potential consequences … Continue reading No Fortune-Telling Here . . . Well, Not Much
Flipped Missives: Reversals As Insinuation
While working on my initial dream-analysis reading, I started to say that all of the reversed Wands cards in the dream scenario represented an "incursion" of Spirit into the reverie, but then I realized that, in the dream-world, visions of profound import typically don't stand up and shout in order to draw attention to themselves, … Continue reading Flipped Missives: Reversals As Insinuation
Down with the Synonym! – Variations on a Theme
Writers who care about originality love the synonym. It lets us repeat the same idea (sometimes ad nauseum) without seeming overly redundant or hackneyed. You may have noticed that I try not to use the word "shows" to describe the import of the cards in a reading more than once in the same piece of … Continue reading Down with the Synonym! – Variations on a Theme
Pseudoscience: Mystics vs. Statistics
Tarot of Dreams by Ciro Marchetti Once in a while, as I mine public information sources like Wikipedia, I bump into the term "pseudoscience" used to describe the esoteric arts, and especially astrology. Even in supposedly unbiased academic circles, the implication of this epithet is that what we do is invalid or "fake" and … Continue reading Pseudoscience: Mystics vs. Statistics
“You Do You”
I was looking up the phrase "You do you" for this post on self-reading and found that its origin may be older than we think, although I believe the emphasis here was on the "do" and not the "you" in this antique usage; "Do enjoy yourself" was the intent and the comma was only to … Continue reading “You Do You”
Carpe Momentum!
Recently, on the Tarot Professionals Facebook page, Marcus Katz mentioned the aphorism "The oracular moment is sacrosanct." This got me thinking about the instant in time when each tarot card is randomly drawn from the deck to populate a spread. These linked cards are imprinted with the subtle influences inherent in that brief interval, whether … Continue reading Carpe Momentum!
Who’s Driving Here?
I find it curious how much hand-wringing goes on in the tarot community over how the client sees the physical arrangement of the cards on the table. Should the cards appear upright or reversed to the reader or to the sitter? Should the cards be read from left to right according to the perspective of … Continue reading Who’s Driving Here?
Favorite Things
I was recently talking to someone about "reading style." It's a subject worth examining in more detail. Although I can be a bit flippant in calling myself "half mad scientist and half mystic," what it boils down to is that my own mode of reading the cards partakes slightly more of the analytical than the … Continue reading Favorite Things
The Name of the Game
A question frequently asked by what we might call "journeyman" tarot readers is "How can I break into professional practice on a full-time basis?" In my case, I backed into it part-time through the patronage of a metaphysical shop owner who, when she learned that I was a local diviner, invited me to work out … Continue reading The Name of the Game
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 