C.S. Lewis observed that history books written during the Middle Ages differed far less from the historical fiction of that time than modern histories differ from present-day historical novels (or, even more so, screenplays). He pointed out that the proper role of the Medieval historian was to accurately perpetuate the "knowledge" received from earlier authorities … Continue reading “It Is Known”
Tarot Techniques
A “Moving Finger” Example Reading
This example reading involves a couple I used to know whose relationship can best be described as more than a little dysfunctional. The question was "What is going to become of them?" I performed the spread in two ways, first considering reversals, and then turning all of the reversed cards upright and applying Elemental Dignities. … Continue reading A “Moving Finger” Example Reading
The “Moving Finger” Situational Development Spread
"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line" (Omar Khayyam, from The Rubaiyat) Here is a spread built around the rather whimsical notion I had yesterday that upright cards in a reading can be considered "solar" (plainspoken and reliable) … Continue reading The “Moving Finger” Situational Development Spread
Like Night and Day
It's probably evident that I'm getting a lot of intellectual stimulation and pleasure (not to mention expository mileage) out of reading The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis, a thoughtful, scholarly study of Medieval cosmology that has intriguing implications for the Renaissance tarot. Here is another instance. At one point Lewis mentions that "night" in our … Continue reading Like Night and Day
The “Two-Trump Tango” Example Reading: A Study in Determination
In this example pull for my new life-reading spread, I used the Spanish Tarot TdM deck without reversals. The question I asked was "Where will my guitar-playing initiative take me in the next six months?" Last week, completely out of the blue, I decided to resume the guitar-playing ambitions that I dropped shortly after buying … Continue reading The “Two-Trump Tango” Example Reading: A Study in Determination
The “Two-Trump Tango” Life-Reading Spread*
*(So named for no other reason than that it has a pleasing alliteration to it.) I've long held that, when they appear in a prediction, the tarot trump cards usually presage "matters of greater import" emerging in a person's life, while the rest of the cards are more about routine experiences and attitudes arising within … Continue reading The “Two-Trump Tango” Life-Reading Spread*
A Fortuna’s Spiral Example Reading: “The Negotiation”
This example reading describes an imaginary situation involving a negotiation between a man (the "offeror") and a woman (the offeree"). Because the objective is to show whether the participants "have luck on their side," either jointly or separately, I performed the spread twice, once for each party; I selected the Queen of Cups as the … Continue reading A Fortuna’s Spiral Example Reading: “The Negotiation”
Fortuna’s Spiral: A “Make-Your-Own-Luck” Spread
I find inspiration for new spreads in some unusual places. While reading a long dissertation by C.S. Lewis on De Consolatione Philosophiae by 6th-Century Roman statesman/philospher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, I encountered a passage contrasting "Fortune" (here called "Providence") and "Destiny" (or "Fate"): "That which 'in the citadel of the divine simplicity' is Providence, when … Continue reading Fortuna’s Spiral: A “Make-Your-Own-Luck” Spread
Who Killed Craig? – A Rogue’s Gallery “Whodunit” Reading
I know I said I wasn't going to do "cold case" readings any more, but this one keeps showing up in the New Hampshire news media so I decided to tackle it. The fact that it is 30 years old makes discovering anything new with the tarot highly unlikely, and in fact what I received … Continue reading Who Killed Craig? – A Rogue’s Gallery “Whodunit” Reading
A Step Beyond
In the last few months I've read three tarot books that have caused me to move beyond my aversion to drawing additional "clarifier" cards during my readings, although in a very specific and limited way. This situation arises due to the facing (also known as "gaze," "regard," "gesture" or "posture") of the figures on the … Continue reading A Step Beyond
