I've already expressed my growing lack of enthusiasm for all things "New Age" (aka "the Piscean Pipe-dream" and "the False Spring") due to its slow decline into commercialism and faddish superficiality. But I'm an absolute piker compared to the vitriol of esoteric writer Gerald Suster; his rhetoric could peel paint. "The Three of Wands is … Continue reading Gerald Suster’s New Age Rant
Tarot Opinion
“Cheap Shots” #6
Now don't get your back up here, but . . . Who comes up with these crazy notions? First it's "You should leave each and every card in a spread face-down until you're ready to read it," apparently so you don't contaminate your fragile intuitive apparatus with undigested premature details or derail your narrative train-of-thought … Continue reading “Cheap Shots” #6
The Voyager Tarot – An Appreciation
Tarot decks come and go - or in my case stay, but the effect is the same. Entirely (or at least largely) new systems are encountered more rarely. One such system, the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless and collage artist Ken Knutson, first appeared in 1984 and has been in print ever since. It is … Continue reading The Voyager Tarot – An Appreciation
“Cheap Shots” #5
"Just the facts, Ma'am." In this post-modern era of do-it-yourself psychological profiling, I firmly believe that what the practice of tarot needs is more Sgt. Joe Friday and less Dr. Phil, less "woo" and more interpretive "glue" binding our card-by-card analyses together with a minimum of intuitive guesswork between the lines. We probably have British … Continue reading “Cheap Shots” #5
Hop-Frog, the Ourangoutangs and the Tower of Babel: An Allegory about Jumpers
(I hope Edgar Allan Poe forgives me for pinching his story title.) Hop-Frog (the amphibian, not the dwarf) was happily riding along in the turnip truck with 77 other itinerant farm-hands from Frog Hollow. But the driver wasn't paying attention and hit a pothole. Hop-Frog was bounced out into the middle of the road. He … Continue reading Hop-Frog, the Ourangoutangs and the Tower of Babel: An Allegory about Jumpers
“Cheap Shots” #4
Sometimes a deck - even one you've owned and used for years - seems to betray you and starts "speaking in tongues." I'm not one who believes that tarot decks have personalities, only idiosyncrasies introduced by the creator's unique perspective, so I think the fault, if it can be called that, lies with the reader's … Continue reading “Cheap Shots” #4
Do the Pips Roar or Squeak?
That's more than an amusing rhetorical question. One of the most daunting challenges facing those who would divine with historical decks like the Tarot de Mareille (TdM) is how to coax useful meaning from their sparely illustrated, non-scenic minor - or "pip" - cards. There is no body of traditional literature explaining how the stereotypical … Continue reading Do the Pips Roar or Squeak?
“All Well and Good, But . . .”
Along with requests for financial and legal advice, health questions of a diagnostic type are best avoided by the tarot professional. With rare exceptions, we aren't trained and credentialed (or licensed, or insured) counselors or therapists, and should direct our clients to someone who is. On the other hand, as long as we stop short … Continue reading “All Well and Good, But . . .”
Why Not Professional?
"Money for nothing and your pips for free" (with apologies to Mark Knopfler). A professional is anyone who performs services for pay and hopefully makes a living at it. A tarot reader who accepts payment for readings is by definition a professional. A tarot reader who reads on-line while still in pajamas could be called … Continue reading Why Not Professional?
Local vs. Remote Reading – A Rant
As an old-school face-to-face tarot reader, I'm quite leery of the validity of conducting readings over the internet. I finally worked my way around to something I can live with, which is having my remote clients pull their own cards and tell me the order of the draw so I can perform the reading. I … Continue reading Local vs. Remote Reading – A Rant
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 