AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a companion piece to my previous essay on reversed cards as indicators of introspection or introversion that explores another notion I picked up from Paul Fenton-Smith, who observed that the reversed 3 of Swords can imply being "haunted by past disappointments." Unlike the influence of an upright card, which will often … Continue reading The Haunting: Residual Implications of Reversal
Tarot Techniques
Reversal as Introspection or Introversion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my rereading of Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class, I frequently encounter his assumption that a reversed card points back to the previous upright card of the suit to suggest unfinished business relevant to its nature. Most recently, he described the reversed 5 of Cups as showing a need to go inward and retreat … Continue reading Reversal as Introspection or Introversion
Tension and Release in the Chaldean Counterparts for the Minor Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm constantly seeking innovative ways to extract more interpretive value from the set of esoteric correspondences devised by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for the Minor Arcana of the tarot. Here is my latest attempt. In musical composition and performance there is the concept of "tension and release" by which the … Continue reading Tension and Release in the Chaldean Counterparts for the Minor Arcana
“Waiting for Godot” – Court Cards in Long-Range Forecasts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of my sly assumptions when court cards appear in a tarot reading is that, rather than defaulting to psychological, ethical or spiritual conventions, they will quite often signify the direct involvement of another human being who has a stake in the querent's future "for good or ill." I say this mainly because … Continue reading “Waiting for Godot” – Court Cards in Long-Range Forecasts
Numerous Reversals as Trade-offs: Pyrrhic Victories and Strategic Retreats
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Encountering numerous reversed cards in a brief tarot reading can present a challenge that is difficult to resolve. In an otherwise favorable forecast they can mean willingly giving up just a little more than you get to achieve your goal (the "Pyrrhic victory"), while in a less fortunate augury the implication is that … Continue reading Numerous Reversals as Trade-offs: Pyrrhic Victories and Strategic Retreats
“A Worldwide Hoodoo” – Tarot and Romance
"I done called up a Gypsy woman on the telephoneGonna send out a worldwide hoodooThat'll be the very thing that'll suit youI'm going to see that you be back home in thirty days"- from Thirty Days by Chuck Berry AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been said that nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. To … Continue reading “A Worldwide Hoodoo” – Tarot and Romance
Leveraging the French Cross: An Alternative to Yes-or-No Reading
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
Deck Preparation: Clearing and Neutralizing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The subject of "randomizing" a tarot deck before pulling the specific cards for a reading is one that suffers from much misapprehension. The common belief is that the pre-deal shuffle by the client or the diviner accomplishes the intended dispersion, but it is more accurate to say that this step instead subconsciously arranges … Continue reading Deck Preparation: Clearing and Neutralizing
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”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 