AUTHORS NOTE: In his famous poem, Robert Frost had two roads to choose from. Here I'm proposing four and using reversals to decide which ones should not be taken in favor of a more promising upright signpost pointing the way. Select a deck that has non-reversible card backs so you can discern orientation without turning … Continue reading The Roads Not Taken (There Can Be Only One)
Tarot Spreads
Full Moon Reading, February 12, 2025
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I normally do New Moon readings, for which I lay out the eight phases of the upcoming Lunation Cycle with tarot cards. But last night, after seeing the gorgeous moon-rise over the Atlantic Ocean in Daytona Beach, FL (photo inset), I decided to throw together a quick four-card Full Moon spread for the … Continue reading Full Moon Reading, February 12, 2025
The Maura Murray “Cold Case” at Twenty-one
AUTHOR'S NOTE: February 9, 2025 marked the 21st anniversary of the disappearance of 21-year-old Massachusetts college student Maura Murray from a New Hampshire roadside near I-91 after allegedly crashing her car. I've done three previous tarot readings on this subject, but nothing has panned out to date. I decided to try again in light of … Continue reading The Maura Murray “Cold Case” at Twenty-one
The Repurposed French Cross Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The five-card French Cross spread (officially the tirage en croix) is an ideal layout for gaining insights about straightforward action-and-event-oriented scenarios. Not long after I discovered it on Aelectic Tarot back in 2011, I searched the web and found the Cartomancier site (linked below), which I've been using for guidance ever since. The … Continue reading The Repurposed French Cross Spread
The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The premise behind this exercise is that the querent has something he or she would like to eliminate from present and future circumstances - it might be a difficult person or an unpleasant condition. This conjuration applies the cleansing agent of Mars as embodied in the Tower and the four most relevant "Mars" … Continue reading The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
Archetypal Gates and Elemental Focus: A Ritual Matrix and Tarot Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Tarot Magic, Donald Tyson described a hierarchy of tarot trumps based on a Kabbalistic cosmology that places the Earth at the bottom as fixed and unmoving; the three "Primal Elements" (Water, Air and Fire in ascending order) as the first three increasingly-subtle "spheres" one encounters when rising from the Earth's surface; the … Continue reading Archetypal Gates and Elemental Focus: A Ritual Matrix and Tarot Spread
Relationship Dynamics at Three Milestones
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not every romantic interlude delivers the promise we see in it; prospects may look good at first, but chances for success could fade for a number of reasons. First, a convenient occasion for coupling must present itself; second, both parties must be available to participate; and third, the reality of the situation will … Continue reading Relationship Dynamics at Three Milestones
“High Road or Low Road?” – A Crossroads Navigation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not one to interpret the Lovers as a "soul-mate" or "twin-flame" card because the Hebrew letter associated with it is often translated as "sword," implying an important decision to be made by taking a judicious stab or swipe at it. Here I'm using the Lovers to represent my favorite definition, a "crossroads" … Continue reading “High Road or Low Road?” – A Crossroads Navigation Spread
The “Slice of Life” Structured Pull
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question frequently posed by beginners to more seasoned tarot readers is "How do you pull the cards for a reading?" It's a legitimate request since the method of delivery determines which cards appear in the spread. I have always followed the advice of Eden Gray in her 1960 book The Tarot Revealed: … Continue reading The “Slice of Life” Structured Pull
“Block Timing” with the Tarot Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've tried numerous methods of reckoning the likely date (or at least the date-range) for the occurrence of future events using the tarot, both conventional techniques and those of my own design, but I've never been satisfied with the results. In recent years I've used a "block timing" approach to generalize the window … Continue reading “Block Timing” with the Tarot Cards
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 