Just Walk Away: A Mixed-Media Situational Awareness Spread and Example Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This time around I'm bringing three different forms of divination together for a single inquiry: tarot, Lenormand and numerology (as expressed by standard dice). To establish some visual continuity, I'm using the Waite-Smith Centennial Edition with artwork by Pamela Colman Smith and Pixie's Astounding Lenormand by Edmund Zebrowski with artwork inspired by Pamela … Continue reading Just Walk Away: A Mixed-Media Situational Awareness Spread and Example Reading

The “Inner Question” Spread: Darkness at the Center

"When the day goes to sleep and the full moon looks/ The night is so black that the darkness cooks" - from The Green Manalishi by Peter Green AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my ongoing study of I Ching divination (a lifetime pursuit similar to astrology and tarot but much more scholarly), I discovered the premise that … Continue reading The “Inner Question” Spread: Darkness at the Center

“Pass-Through” Processing – An Energy Translation Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I've mentioned before, there are several ways to read a three-card line. My favorite is to approach it as a developing scenario that evolves from Point A to Point C, with "processing" of the energy-in-transit to occur at Point B, thus grooming the outcome to achieve its maximum potential. I will sometimes … Continue reading “Pass-Through” Processing – An Energy Translation Spread

“Making It Real” – The Tarot Talks About Female Presidents

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although it may not happen during this election cycle, the United States will eventually have a female President; even I, as an "Old White Male," can see that the paradigm has pretty much run its course. (This time around, the likely Democratic nominee is not a particularly strong candidate if performance [or nonperformance] … Continue reading “Making It Real” – The Tarot Talks About Female Presidents

The “Feast or Famine” Trending Fortunes Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that uses the nominal "positive, neutral or negative" qualities of the cards to determine whether a developing situation will remain steady over time or exhibit a falling or rising trend in its fortunes. It looks like it should be a nine-card reading, but once the trends are sorted out … Continue reading The “Feast or Famine” Trending Fortunes Spread

The “Bend in the Road” Turning-Point Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent post I mentioned that the three-card line seldom offers enough detail to support a comprehensive narrative, while a five-card line is reasonably thorough. I'm not one to use "auxiliary" cards like clarifiers or base cards to flesh out the picture unless I build them into the structure of the spread. … Continue reading The “Bend in the Road” Turning-Point Spread

Sharpening the Focus: A Three-Card Daily Profile Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a simple spread that captures my personal view of the "daily draw." As my regular readers know, I don't have much use for the single-card daily draw because it is entirely too static. Even a three-card pull can be overly generic due to being scattered across a full deck of 78 … Continue reading Sharpening the Focus: A Three-Card Daily Profile Spread

A Suit-of-Cups “Elemental Storyboard” Test Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is an "elemental storyboard" test reading that uses the suit of Cups to represent the "base element" of Water. I'm tackling the age-old (and largely inscrutable) subject of "true love" (as in finding and keeping). I'm stating it coyly as "Under what circumstances will I (or won't I) find emotional fulfillment in … Continue reading A Suit-of-Cups “Elemental Storyboard” Test Reading

Psychological Parallels in Tarot: The Mechanics of Redirection

AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a disclosure. After studying and working with the tarot cards for over five decades, I'm convinced that they aren't ideal for psychological profiling and character analysis (or, put less academically, what someone else "thinks or feels"), in which capacity they are too much like "mind-reading-with-props." That's why I use natal astrology for … Continue reading Psychological Parallels in Tarot: The Mechanics of Redirection