Just when it looked like I wasn't going to post today, I've come up with another new spread. We're all familiar with the phrase "you're your own worst enemy," but in this "Age of Empowerment" we don't see it trotted out very often in tarot practice. My impression is that in this particular paradigm it's … Continue reading The Double Jeopardy Rite-of-Passage Spread
Tarot Resources
The Visual Quintessence: Six Ways to Summarize
I titled this post "The Visual Quintessence" because I'm going to show the six ways the quintessence card can be calculated in a series of photographs. You will frequently see me mention and apply the "quintessence" (or "quint") card in my tarot readings. The quintessence is a way to summarize all (or, as we shall … Continue reading The Visual Quintessence: Six Ways to Summarize
A Tarot “How-To” – Deck Randomization
Some of us make a big deal of ensuring that our reading deck is thoroughly "randomized" before we set out to do a reading, so we don't wind up with predetermined card sequences in our spreads - for example, a residue of card combinations left over from a previous layout or, with a brand-new deck, … Continue reading A Tarot “How-To” – Deck Randomization
Bernie Sanders’ 2020 “Candidate’s Profile” Reading
As promised, I performed my "Candidate's Tarot Profile" spread on Bernie Sanders' 2020 run for President of the United States. The bottom line is that he might be electable if he can convince enough people that he really is on their side. As we shall see, this could be a tough nut to crack. Note … Continue reading Bernie Sanders’ 2020 “Candidate’s Profile” Reading
The “Roadkill Penguin” Decision-Making Spread
When I haven't created a new spread in a while, my imagination tends to go into overdrive (or maybe "haywire" is a better way to put it). The visual layout of this one reminds me of a hapless creature that has been run over by a steamroller - not the ideal outcome for a decision-making … Continue reading The “Roadkill Penguin” Decision-Making Spread
The Devil Is In The Details
Warning: If you're bored or baffled by esoteric number theory and the numerological approach to the tarot, skip this piece. It's one of my enduring passions, but then I'm a mystically-inclined former engineer. On one of the tarot forums we have been discussing the image of the arch-demon on the Waite-Smith Devil card. One of the first … Continue reading The Devil Is In The Details
Foreverquest
Back in the early "aughts," when I was still playing Everquest Online relentlessly (what can I say, I'm a throwback), my wife dubbed it "Foreverquest" (that was before her own fling with World of Warcraft). That epithet reminds me of the situation I find myself in whenever I decide it's time to chase down a … Continue reading Foreverquest
Morning Coffee and Caitlin
I do some of my best work over a morning cup of strong black French Roast coffee. Today I took the opportunity to finish reading the last few pages of Caitlin Matthews' book, Untold Tarot, in preparation for writing this review. The book is beautifully produced, with an intelligent structure and numerous full-color illustrations, and it is … Continue reading Morning Coffee and Caitlin
A New Wrinkle On An Old Face
As I've mentioned before, I'm presently reading Caitlin Matthews' new traditional tarot book, Untold Tarot. In it she talks about the subject of "significator" cards, and mentions that Etteilla was the first to designate a unique significator for his Book of Thoth deck, a blank card - or "carte blanche" - that he immodestly called … Continue reading A New Wrinkle On An Old Face
Stone Soup
I think it's time I start getting serious about bringing cartomantic (that is, playing-card) meanings into my approach to the numbered - or "pip" - cards when reading. The RWS minor cards with their built-in narrative vignettes are like "canned soup," the semi-scenic small cards of the Thoth deck are closer to "home-made soup" that you start with store-bought … Continue reading Stone Soup
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 