AUTHOR'S NOTE: The accuracy of timing in divination is one of those perennial topics that has come up once again in the online tarot community I frequent. While there are ways to finagle the answer by cleverly wording the question, here I'm going to tackle it head-on as comprehensively as I can from a literal … Continue reading The Problem of Tarot Timing
Tarot Techniques
The Story of a Life: Past-Life Reading with the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question occasionally arises in the online divination community regarding whether anyone has attempted to explore past lives with the tarot cards. I have a couple of existing spreads for this purpose, but I'm currently reading parapsychologist Dean Radin's book on yoga, Supernormal, in which he makes a case for reincarnation and past-life … Continue reading The Story of a Life: Past-Life Reading with the Tarot
Reversal As Out-of-Sync Energy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The r/tarot sub-reddit feed is turning out to be a gold-mine of inspiration now that I've dumped my Facebook account. Here is an essay based on a thread about reading reversed cards in an integrated way that looks at their interaction with the rest of the cards in a spread. First a condensed … Continue reading Reversal As Out-of-Sync Energy
The Slippery Slope of “Truth According to Tarot”
"This isn't right. This isn't even wrong."- Wolfgang Pauli AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'll preface my remarks by noting that tarot's field of operation - the subconscious mind - can itself be a "slippery slope" that tilts away from where our conscious intentions want to go. We have no immediate control over its orientation and can only … Continue reading The Slippery Slope of “Truth According to Tarot”
Mental Gender, the Tree of Life and the Tarot Trumps
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In presenting the seventh "Great Hermetic Principle" of Gender (as an active/passive mental polarity rather than a biological duality), The Kybalion describes the masculine principle as the domain of the Will, which is dynamic and energizing, and its feminine counterpart as uncommonly responsive and generative in that it welcomes the motivating impulse of … Continue reading Mental Gender, the Tree of Life and the Tarot Trumps
Leaving the Treadmill: Separation, Compensation and Neutralization
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In its lengthy dissertation on the reciprocal "separating and compensating" action of a swinging pendulum as envisioned in Hermetic thought, The Kybalion observes that it is the goal of an aspiring master to "get off the treadmill" (my own phrase for it) by rising above the mindless tide of repetition and refusing to … Continue reading Leaving the Treadmill: Separation, Compensation and Neutralization
Empowerment as “Mental Induction”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is no concept more widely endorsed in the divination community than that of peppering (aka empowering) a sitter with encouragement during the conduct of a tarot reading. We don't merely want to hand our clients relevant information about their future circumstances, we attempt to make them feel like they are (or will … Continue reading Empowerment as “Mental Induction”
Statement of Intent: A Mixed-Media Social Orientation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When we've met or are about to meet someone new, regardless of the circumstances under which it occurs, it's useful to obtain a heads-up about the person's likely social orientation and distinctive habits, particularly if we have no other source of information about them (such as a mutual friend or associate). For example, … Continue reading Statement of Intent: A Mixed-Media Social Orientation Spread
“Do You Believe in <Pick One>?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not entirely sure what motivates them beyond an opportunity for mindless chatting (which is never in short supply online), but I often see people asking in the global occult community "Do you believe in <tarot, astrology, magic, astral travel, mediumship, etc>?" Giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they experienced an … Continue reading “Do You Believe in <Pick One>?”
Inflection in Tarot Reading: Not “No,” Not “Yes,” But Maybe “Not Yet”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For post number 2,800, I decided to revisit the subject of subtlety in the art of prediction. My inspiration was a comment made by actress Rachel Dratch, the commencement speaker at the 2026 Dartmouth College graduation ceremony: ". . . sometimes a 'no' is just a 'not yet.' Maybe it’s just not the … Continue reading Inflection in Tarot Reading: Not “No,” Not “Yes,” But Maybe “Not Yet”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 