AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm always looking for novel ways to read the cards for young people that will get them involved in the process and hold their interest. Here is a board-game motif that invites them to roll a die and move a token on the board to select cards for the reading. It requires a … Continue reading A Kid’s Tarot-Reading Game
Tarot Techniques
“Through A Glass Darkly” – Predicting World Events
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The art of correctly divining the course of large-scale human events (as opposed to purely natural phenomena) on the world stage is one that has intrigued fortune-tellers since Elizabethan astrologer William Lilly predicted the Great Fire of London in 1666. In my own work, these occasions are primarily sociopolitical in scope, and the … Continue reading “Through A Glass Darkly” – Predicting World Events
Lunar Month Look-Ahead for October-November 2023
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I intend to perform a New Moon reading promptly for every month in which I remember to do so, but I don't always succeed; so here is my slightly-delayed personal Lunar Month forecast for the cycle that began with the New Moon on October 14, 2023. I'm using the latest version of this … Continue reading Lunar Month Look-Ahead for October-November 2023
Paired Trumps and Astrological Counterparts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn assigned astrological correspondences to all of the Major Arcana, a group comprised of twelve zodiacal trumps, seven planetary trumps and three "primary" elemental trumps (Air, Water and Fire). The zodiacal trumps were placed in the Chaldean zodiac such that each card has a diametrically-opposite counterpart of … Continue reading Paired Trumps and Astrological Counterparts
The “Crucible of Becoming” Self-Mastery Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: . . . and now back to our regular programming! As I learned them in the early 1970s, the Cardinal signs in natal astrology are considered to be "action-oriented," the Fixed signs are "security-oriented" and the Mutable signs are "people-oriented." When developing their set of astrological correspondences for the tarot, the Hermetic Order … Continue reading The “Crucible of Becoming” Self-Mastery Spread
The “Triangle of Intention” Self-Realization Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just came across the statement that Pythagoras considered Three to be the first "true" number because it creates the triangle, which is the initial geometric shape and first planar figure that is comprehensible to human intelligence (the philosophical derivation of the Circle seems more mystical than mathematical, or maybe an accidental product … Continue reading The “Triangle of Intention” Self-Realization Spread
Temporal Landmarks: The Problem of Timing
"Temporal Landmarks are significant points in time that promote a break from the past and a sense of renewal moving forward. As a result, they encourage a ‘fresh start’ and increased motivation towards aspirational behaviours and goals." (quoted by Michal Shum at modelthinkers.com) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Accurate "tarot timing" consists of precisely forecasting the date of occurrence … Continue reading Temporal Landmarks: The Problem of Timing
“Bottom-Feeders” – A Creative Solution
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In nature (as well as in human affairs) there are creatures that lurk in the depths and augment their livelihood by sponging off the enterprise of others, either passively or more aggressively. As tarot readers we have all experienced readings of a largely negative kind where the "bottom-dwelling" miscreants among the cards act … Continue reading “Bottom-Feeders” – A Creative Solution
“Impaled on Words”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading Tarot and the Archetypal Journey, Sallie Nichol's remarkable Jungian treatise on the tarot, I came across the vivid phrase "impaled on words" to denote the inability of prose to capture the elusive nature of the Fool, a failing that might be ascribed less urgently to the rest of the allegorical images. … Continue reading “Impaled on Words”
The “Weekly Keynote” High-Focus Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The aim of this spread is to highlight the one day during an upcoming week that has the most potential to be momentous in some way. It uses two decks (one for the 7-day baseline row and the other for the three-card daily reading); seven dominoes of the appropriate denomination are also required. … Continue reading The “Weekly Keynote” High-Focus Reading
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 