AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I'm applying my "Tell Me No Lies" Personality Profile spread to the recently-purchased tarot deck shown above. (This is my version of the "new-deck interview.") This spread is designed to explore the quasi-psychological profile of a deck in twelve cards, conveying its immediate impact on the viewer ("first impressions") along with its … Continue reading “Boadicea’s Tarot of Earthly Delights” Personality Profile
Tarot Resources
The Blame Game: A “Weaponized” Relationship Spread, Rev. 1
UPDATE: In practice, the original spread did not lend itself to a clean judgment regarding the forces at work, so I created an alternate version. Each "Upper Hand" card has been changed to a "Defense Mode" indicator for the partner on that side of the layout, with the idea that it will counter the other … Continue reading The Blame Game: A “Weaponized” Relationship Spread, Rev. 1
Applied Tarot: From Anxiety to Empowerment
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across the opinion that fear as expressed in a tarot reading is not necessarily a bad thing because it keeps us sharply focused on our challenges while galvanizing us into action. In addition, fear in the form of anxiety is often the driver that brings a sitter to the reader's … Continue reading Applied Tarot: From Anxiety to Empowerment
Ceremonial Magick and the I Ching: Card Comparisons
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize that the title is misleading. This essay is not about the practice of ritual magic, nor is it a discussion of divination with the I Ching. I'm always looking for a reason to drag out my copy of Anthony Clark's I Ching Pack with the hexagrams on the cards, and I … Continue reading Ceremonial Magick and the I Ching: Card Comparisons
My Inner House of Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Lon Milo DuQuette's Tarot Architect, the author proposed that students build a personal "house" of knowledge and wisdom in their consciousness with the 78 cards of the tarot. I see it as a practical way to pursue Aleister Crowley's vision of "living with the cards" that is more organized than daily divination. … Continue reading My Inner House of Cards
“Hair of the Dog” – Elemental Mixing in the Court Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of the oddest puzzles facing the esoteric neophyte upon first exposure to the Golden Dawn's "Chaldean" wheel of astrological correspondences for the tarot is "Why on Earth don't the twelve zodiacal court cards line up precisely with the 30-degree span of their designated signs? Why the offset?" For some strange reason, they … Continue reading “Hair of the Dog” – Elemental Mixing in the Court Cards
“The Great Tuning-Fork” Self-Realization Spread
"You will be calibrating the tuning-fork of your personal consciousness to the great turning-fork of universal consciousness." - Lon Milo DuQuette in Tarot Architect. AUTHOR'S NOTE: These are deep waters, and as the ancient nautical cartographers used to warn, "Here be dragons!" One of the most effective ways I've found to understand complex esoteric subjects … Continue reading “The Great Tuning-Fork” Self-Realization Spread
A Matter of Symbolism
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not so long ago (before purely psychic free-association became fashionable among "pop-tarot" practitioners), tarot reading was a matter of deciphering complex images to come up with a narrative that was assumed to explain mundane conditions. The diviner's art lay in the translation of decidedly arcane symbolism into more commonplace language for the purpose … Continue reading A Matter of Symbolism
The Speed of Dark
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading a post of quotes from comedian and TV personality Stephen Wright and came across this humorous philosophical puzzler: "What's the speed of dark?" In the past I've done some work with a Jungian psychologist on use of the tarot to explore both the persona and the shadow side of … Continue reading The Speed of Dark
“Pie in the Sky:” A Segmented Look at the Correspondences
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn shoehorned twelve of the 22 tarot trumps, all 40 numbered minor cards and the 16 court cards into their "Chaldean" model of the zodiac, making just a few adjustments in the design to accommodate their vision. Only the seven planetary trumps and the three "Primal Element" … Continue reading “Pie in the Sky:” A Segmented Look at the Correspondences
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 