Lately I've become fascinated with using dice and tarot in combination to produce unique forms of divination. Here the gambit (opening move) is provided by rolling dice to identify four trump cards to serve as the basis for the reading. Those trump cards are then used to extract four sets of "reading" cards from which … Continue reading The “Ivory Gambit” Spread
Tarot Spreads
The Butterfly, the Bear and the Albatross
As I see it, one of the goals of affirmation is to lighten our psychological load, shifting our attention away from the drag of burdensome past misfortunes and freeing us to take wing toward a brighter future, like a butterfly to a blossom. I think of it as "fortified wish-fulfillment." For years my wife had a post-it note … Continue reading The Butterfly, the Bear and the Albatross
The “No BS” Deck’s Agenda Spread
Every once in a while (and without a doubt more often than we would like), a reading begs the question "I know what was asked, but what does the seeker really want?" And the cards proceed to impose their own agenda on the story to the bemusement and bafflement of both reader and querent. Grappling with this situation can test the … Continue reading The “No BS” Deck’s Agenda Spread
A “Spiritual Release” Spread
Many of us spend years seeking the most inspiring and rewarding personal path to spiritual enlightenment (or at least those of us do who refuse to swallow the "faith" pill). I envision both a philosophical and a mystical trajectory to this goal, depending on whether one is predominantly a "thinker" or a "feeler." For those who aren't sure, here is a layout to help … Continue reading A “Spiritual Release” Spread
The “Break On Through” Rite-of-Passage Spread
The inspiration for this spread came from a couple of sources. I was watching a TV show in which a choir was singing that old "Do-Re-Mi" song from The Sound of Music film (not the rap song of the same name). ("Doe, a deer, a female deer," etc. Don't ask.) I got thinking about the … Continue reading The “Break On Through” Rite-of-Passage Spread
Where There’s Smoke . . .
One objection that some tarot readers have to so-called "positional" spreads - those that typically bear a fixed positive or negative meaning for each card position in the layout - is that they can create an uncomfortable setting where a nominally good" card must be interpreted in a "bad" way according to its position and vice versa. The Celtic Cross is a perfect … Continue reading Where There’s Smoke . . .
“Two-Out-of-Three” Spread Tutorial Layouts
A Facebook conversation led to the recognition that it would be a good idea to post some example pictures of how the various card chains would play out. I posed a hypothetical question: "How will this business initiative work out?" and selected the 3 of Wands from the Albano-Waite deck (Deck #1) as my Significator. Since … Continue reading “Two-Out-of-Three” Spread Tutorial Layouts
The “Two Out of Three” Decision-Making Spread
I've always found the typical three-card draw to be rather uninspiring. My long-held opinion is that the reader has to inject entirely too much intuitive guesswork into the gaps between the cards to make a compelling narrative out of the sequence. A five-position spread is the minimum I prefer to work with in order to "just read … Continue reading The “Two Out of Three” Decision-Making Spread
The “Mystic Chalice” Trump Card Layout
I sometimes amuse myself by creating study tools for analyzing the interrelationship between the cards of the tarot, both in two dimensions and stacked in a three-dimensional overlay. This one uses an imaginative arrangement of the trump cards as its basis. I call it the "Mystic Chalice," but have to admit it does look a … Continue reading The “Mystic Chalice” Trump Card Layout
The “Parallel Universe” Dual-Timeline Spread
I've been reading Caitlin Matthews' new book, Untold Tarot, and came across an idea that I've seen before and even applied once in a slightly different way, but it inspired me to reconsider and approach it from a fresh perspective. She takes a trump card (her example was the Moon) and draws a single card to place … Continue reading The “Parallel Universe” Dual-Timeline Spread
