Although I've been working up to it for a while, I recently decided to take a more measured stance regarding the significance of trump cards in my personal readings (but not in those for other people since I won't presume to tinker with their destiny; that's for them to decide upon seeing the cards). I've … Continue reading Much Ado About Nothing? – The Problem with Trump Cards in Prediction
Tarot Opinion
To Monetize or Not
When I started writing this blog, and in fact when I decided to start calling myself a "professional diviner" again, my conscious intent was to not attempt making a lot of money at it. After all, I retired from business ten years ago and the last thing I want is another full-time job. I'm mostly … Continue reading To Monetize or Not
Pattern Recognition
Last night, while reading John Michael Greer's The Art and Practice of Geomancy, I came across a passage that has relevance for most forms of divination: "sensing the patterns in the spiritus mundi, after all, is what divination does best." Greer described the spiritus mundi as the "life force of the world," which - along … Continue reading Pattern Recognition
The “Hedge Mystic”
In a recent post I characterized myself as a "garden-variety mystic" in that I don't identify as a "psychic" (much less an all-seeing one) or a "sensitive" in my professional pursuits (nor as an "empath" either, but that's a subject for a different post), I just "read the cards." Today I hit upon the even … Continue reading The “Hedge Mystic”
Divinosaurus Recidivus
Sometimes I feel like a displaced "dinosaur," and at other times I'm more a "cosmic anomaly" like Arthur Dent - a walking anachronism on one hand and a "man-out-of-time" on the other - with one foot planted firmly in the cartomantic past and the other tentatively treading the future of the art, but with little … Continue reading Divinosaurus Recidivus
Time Bites: The Value of a Minute
Upon entering the ranks of the professional diviner, we inevitably encounter the question "How much is enough?" Time, that is, or effort expended for value received.I was once advised that, in rural New England where I lived at the time, the going rate for a face-to-face tarot reading was a dollar a minute. This was … Continue reading Time Bites: The Value of a Minute
“Tarot-Free” Tarot Decks (or “Damn the Symbolism, Full Speed Ahead!”)
I have a problem with self-proclaimed tarot decks that strip the usual symbolism from the cards and replace it with something radically different and wholly unlikely, whether it's animals or flowers or landscapes or similar charming but overly literal artwork that conveys something other than the customary narrative cues while often being utterly devoid of … Continue reading “Tarot-Free” Tarot Decks (or “Damn the Symbolism, Full Speed Ahead!”)
Bridging the Gap Between Magic and Meaning
You will often hear me say that, at least in my own work, divination is a subliminal process rooted in the unconscious (or, if you like, "Higher Self") that relies heavily on imagination, inspiration and ingenuity to tease practical messages from evocative symbolism that is typically shrouded in rather obscure "magical" imagery. In the best … Continue reading Bridging the Gap Between Magic and Meaning
Random Numbers: An Alternate Approach to Remote Reading
As I've mentioned before, when approached to do remote readings I prefer to have clients pull their own cards and e-mail me a list in the order drawn. Shuffling and cutting the cards myself for a distant sitter can introduce subconscious "reader's bias" and potentially hijack the focus of the reading. I believe that reading … Continue reading Random Numbers: An Alternate Approach to Remote Reading
Call Them “TINOs”
I was just reading a fascinating wiki article about Canadian cultural philosopher Marshall McLuhan, who coined the phrase "the medium is the message" while analyzing the impact of media sources like television on society, and who concluded that the delivery system is more revealing of modern collective values than the contents. In commenting on his … Continue reading Call Them “TINOs”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 