Things have been getting rather technical around here lately, so I thought I would indulge in a little useful fun. I'm not one to anthropomorphize my tarot decks (c'mon people, they're cardboard and ink!) but I sometimes think they act all too human, saying in essence: "Just give 'em the short answer and maybe they'll … Continue reading The “Damned If I Know” Vague Answer Remedy
Tarot Spreads
The Wish, The Will and the Way
In tarot divination, there is a tendency to look at the Major Arcana (aka "trump") cards that turn up in a reading and say "That's all well and good as a philosophical abstraction, but what does it really mean for this particular person or situation at this point in time?" Their archetypal aim can be … Continue reading The Wish, The Will and the Way
The “Measure of a Man” Personality Profile Spread
Back in my early 20's, before I discovered Monty Python, I was a big fan of the Bonzo Dog Band, the British "novelty" act headed by the brilliant eccentric Vivien Stanshall. They were fond of sticking an occasional non-sequitur into the middle of their album tracks. In one, a band member piped up with "And … Continue reading The “Measure of a Man” Personality Profile Spread
A List Of My Tarot and Lenormand Spreads
NOTE: This list gets out-of-date with alarming frequency since I have to print, scan, edit and import a new set of pages every time I add a spread to my inventory. The Dropbox link at the sidebar location that most likely brought you here is the best way to see the current list. You can … Continue reading A List Of My Tarot and Lenormand Spreads
The Skinny End
We've all seen the Hollywood version of the investigative psychic: the brow furrowed in concentration, the eyes squeezed shut, the hands to the temples, proclaiming "I think I see the letter 'B' . . ." One thing I've learned during my pursuit of missing-person situations is that the number of unsolved homicides far outweighs incidents … Continue reading The Skinny End
“A Match Made In . . .”
a) Heaven (Your Wildest Dreams) b) Hell (Your Worst Nightmares) c) "The back seat of a '60 Chevy"* This morning I read an article titled "12 Signs You May be Headed for Divorce," which inspired me to create this spread for those who may be agonizing over the state of their relationship and are looking … Continue reading “A Match Made In . . .”
Donald Trump’s “Quintessence” Profile
These days everyone is a pop psychologist. In the minds of the culturally over-stimulated, every egotistical high-achiever who exhibits the slightest lack of empathy is labeled a "narcissist," and any borderline misfit who ever harbors a dark thought is automatically branded a "sociopath." The fact that few of these assumptions would satisfy the medical definition … Continue reading Donald Trump’s “Quintessence” Profile
Rorschach Tarot
Whenever I despair of coming up with fresh ideas for tarot spreads, I reach deep for inspiration. If I may say so, this one could be a winner for all the reasons I usually dismiss in spread creation: it's free-form and completely unstructured; it's nuclear rather than linear, resembling a "vortex" like the Lenormand Grand … Continue reading Rorschach Tarot
Aristotle’s Theorem: A Situational Gestalt Spread
I've started creating spreads specifically for use with the Tarot de Marseille (but certainly not limited to it). Here is my most recent one, a sophisticated layout that can be read in whole or in discrete parts, three cards at a time or the entire 24-point tableau plus knighting. I built it around an industrial … Continue reading Aristotle’s Theorem: A Situational Gestalt Spread
The “Pushmi-Pullyu” Relationship Development Spread
Rex Harrison with the Pushmi-Pullyu from "Dr. Doolittle" I was thinking over the observation from my last post about the description of the ideal human relationship (typically but not always romantic) as "two individuals revolving around a common goal in perfectly concentric orbits, moving at the same speed in the same direction in exquisite two-part … Continue reading The “Pushmi-Pullyu” Relationship Development Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 