AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the First Operation of the Golden Dawn's "Opening of the Key" method there is a step by which the diviner attempts to "intuit" (aka "guess") the reasons behind the querent's request for a reading based on which of four elemental sub-packs the Significator card appears in after the shuffle and cut. The … Continue reading “Pulling the Trigger” – An Allocated-Action Spread
Tarot Spreads
The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some tarot readers (notably Europeans) prefer to read with only the 22 trump cards, ignoring their exalted metaphysical archetypes and allotting them no more significance than the rest of us assign to the pip cards. They also frequently use the "quintessence" calculation to derive a fifth "synthesis" card from the four-card tirage en … Continue reading The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
An Emotional “Hopes and Fears” Spread: Rising and Falling Trends
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In almost any single-chain tarot reading there will be a mix of nominally fortunate and unfortunate cards; the reader's task is to sort them out and come up with as constructive an interpretation as possible while giving each its due. The reading frequently involves confronting the "good card/bad position" conundrum and its opposite. … Continue reading An Emotional “Hopes and Fears” Spread: Rising and Falling Trends
“A Hole in the Bucket” – An I Ching-Inspired Tarot Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In contemplating the nature of the "broken" (that is, interrupted) yin lines of an I Ching hexagram, it strikes me that the gap between to the two segments opens both upward and downward: one direction offers a channel through which insight can ascend to illumination if we pursue the "middle way," and the … Continue reading “A Hole in the Bucket” – An I Ching-Inspired Tarot Spread
“Auspicious to Proceed” – A Gambler’s Choice Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In its 64 oracular "judgments," the I Ching makes frequent use of the recommendation "Auspicious to proceed" when an augury is favorable and substitutes "No blame" when it may not be entirely agreeable but is still unlikely to cause harm. Here I'm using these concepts in a three-pronged tarot spread that applies typical … Continue reading “Auspicious to Proceed” – A Gambler’s Choice Spread
Coming and Going: A Dual-Spiral “Reversal of Fortune” Method
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is an ambitious concept aimed at addressing the premise that, according to Dr. James Wanless, "There are no bad cards, only opportunities." (Conversely, there are no entirely good cards, only fortuitous hints.) After choosing a card to represent the goal of the reading, I'm using the same four randomly-drawn cards to show … Continue reading Coming and Going: A Dual-Spiral “Reversal of Fortune” Method
The Joint-and-Several “Relationship Fishbone” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The "fishbone" of the title refers to the Ishikawa (aka "fishbone") diagram that is sometimes used in manufacturing problem-solving to pin down the various causes that led to an off-normal condition (typically called "root-cause analysis"). All of the inputs are streamed diagonally into a main stem that, when fully populated, resembles the skeleton … Continue reading The Joint-and-Several “Relationship Fishbone” Spread
The “Fog Cutter” – A Tarot Disambiguation Technique
"Now when the day goes to sleep and the full moon looks/ And the night is so black that the darkness cooks" - from The Green Manalishi by Peter Green AUTHOR'S NOTE: My allusion in the title is to the potent, three-liquor "Tiki" cocktail that, in sufficient volume, will do anything but "cut the fog" … Continue reading The “Fog Cutter” – A Tarot Disambiguation Technique
Counting-and-Pairing: A Worthwhile Exercise
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the "Opening of the Key" (OotK) method of divination presented in the tarot "knowledge papers" of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (compiled as Liber T), there are several occasions where a group of cards is to be counted out from the Significator in the direction it is facing, each series … Continue reading Counting-and-Pairing: A Worthwhile Exercise
“Hold Him While I Hit Him” – A Summary-Justice* Spread
*Summary Justice: "A . . . judicial action accomplished swiftly and without observance of certain formalities of legal procedure, with the connotation of arbitrary and unfair judgment." (If you've been unjustly harmed in a lopsided conflict and are seeking the advice of the tarot, you can ignore that last part and [like "Judge" Roy Bean, … Continue reading “Hold Him While I Hit Him” – A Summary-Justice* Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 