I admit to enjoying the challenge and satisfaction of reading cards in a completely open-ended fashion (not exactly in a vacuum; let's call it a "rarefied atmosphere"). Like Google, the cards "know everything." Approached properly (that is, with sensitivity and diligence), they will invariably speak the truth in one form or another, although not always … Continue reading Reading Without Borders
Tarot Opinion
The Seeker and the Spirit
Spiritually, I tend to define myself by what I'm not: that is, not religious in any conventional, monotheistic sense. Not Christian, Jewish or Muslim (although my ancestry is almost certainly Middle Eastern by way of southern Germany), not Hindu and not Buddhist (although Buddhism definitely has its appeal). After reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, … Continue reading The Seeker and the Spirit
A Matter of Trust
When I returned to professional tarot reading in 2014, my second client was a young man who clearly had some preconceptions about how his session should proceed. His wife had bought the reading for his birthday from the proprietor of the shop where I operated, but the owner is an oracle-card reader who is less … Continue reading A Matter of Trust
A Proper Gander
When I was in the US Army in Germany in the late '60s, I was co-editor of an anti-establishment underground newspaper called Proper Gander. The title was a puckish take on the government "propaganda" to be found in the military's official news organs, the Stars and Stripes and the Overseas Weekly. Needless to say, we … Continue reading A Proper Gander
Welcome to the Jumble*
(* With apologies to Guns N' Roses for pinching their song title "Welcome to the Jungle") As I mentioned in a previous post, every spread of ten cards that uses all 78 cards in the deck as its starting point offers over 4 quintillion (in the US that's 4 followed by 18 zeros; 4 trillion … Continue reading Welcome to the Jumble*
The Sticking Point
sticking point (noun): "a point, detail, or circumstance causing or likely to cause a stalemate or impasse." For those with enough cartomantic experience to instantly spot what is working in a reading and what isn't, there is often one card (and frequently more than one) that stands out by defying meaningful connection to the matter … Continue reading The Sticking Point
2018 Midterm Election Revisited
Back in January I performed a Lenormand Grand Tableau to examine the circumstances of the upcoming Congressional election in the United States that is scheduled for November 6. That reading projected a thin margin of victory for the Democrats, but a number of things have changed since that time such that an update is warranted. … Continue reading 2018 Midterm Election Revisited
A Moving Target
Those who believe they have arrived at mastery of the tarot would be well advised to heed this Terry Pratchett quote from his book, Monster Regiment: “The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.” In my experience, tarot divination is a … Continue reading A Moving Target
The Journeyman
The next leg on the budding tarotists road to mastery usually starts with a line of three cards, often presented in a "past/present/future" array that is read from left to right. As a learning tool, this offers a logical progression that moves from Point A to Point C through the pivotal intercession of Point B, … Continue reading The Journeyman
Baby Steps
So you've got your first deck, freed it from its shrink-wrap, browsed through it casually, counted the cards to make sure they're all there, and are ready to dig in. There are a number of ways to start using the cards, all of which involve taking things in small bites. One time-honored approach is to … Continue reading Baby Steps
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 