AUTHOR'S NOTE: Conventional wisdom is that tarot is ineffective for addressing simple "yes-or-no" questions because it is more suitable for telling stories. I've always taken issue with this opinion, believing that the cards will provide an answer for any inquiry that is phrased properly. So rather than wanting to know "Will I or won't I … Continue reading Leveraging the French Cross: An Alternative to Yes-or-No Reading
Tarot Spreads
The Message for the Querent: A “Quick-Read” Technique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been re-reading 54 Devils by Cory Hutcheson, which is a brief treatise on playing-card cartomancy. (The standard deck of playing cards has 52 pip and court cards and two "jokers" for a total of 54). In it he describes a "quick-read" method by which the querent cuts the shuffled deck from right-to-left … Continue reading The Message for the Querent: A “Quick-Read” Technique
Missing in Plain Sight? – A Local-Area “Search Envelope”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: What's to be done when one wakes up at 2:00 AM and can't get back to sleep? I don't know about you, but I think about tarot. Here's my latest insomnia-fueled spread. I normally use horary astrology when I'm helping someone look for a lost item, or when I'm examining a missing-person case, … Continue reading Missing in Plain Sight? – A Local-Area “Search Envelope”
Kicked Upstairs: A Numerical Displacement Method and Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The assumption behind this spread is that the top tier of cards is more likely to be "fast-tracked" to closure, the middle tier will play out more gradually and the bottom tier will be substantially delayed. The table at the end of the essay offers a tool to determine which tier a card … Continue reading Kicked Upstairs: A Numerical Displacement Method and Spread
Fortuitous Attraction: A Spirit-Contact Spread Using Court Cards
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although it is usually the domain of psychic mediums, contacting ancestral spirits via tarot reading is a popular topic of discussion in the online community that often generates requests for suitable spreads. I've created a few such arrays in the past, but I'm on the fence about the subject. Humans in primordial times … Continue reading Fortuitous Attraction: A Spirit-Contact Spread Using Court Cards
The “Mystical Month” and the “Practical Month” – A Two-Stage New Moon Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I prepared to do my monthly New Moon reading at the end of February, I decided to separate it into two complementary halves: a "mystical" path reflected in tarot cards and a "practical" trajectory defined by Lenormand cards. The tarot cards are intended to provide a subliminal or psychic impression of the … Continue reading The “Mystical Month” and the “Practical Month” – A Two-Stage New Moon Reading
The Roads Not Taken (There Can Be Only One)
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)
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
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 