AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a persistent myth among diviners who haven't carefully thought it through that tarot can't be used to answer "yes-or-no" questions with any degree of accuracy, and that such use is a miscarriage of its narrative prowess. To which I reply "Nonsense!" Like any form of inquiry, binary or otherwise, tarot can … Continue reading “Answer Me This If You Can . . .”
Tarot Techniques
Putting the “Self” into the “Situation”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Unless there is a specific position defining the individual's direct involvement in the matter, most cartomantic spreads envision the seeker (or querent) as an outside observer of the circumstances shown in the cards, peering through a "mystical window" at their future with the reader's assistance. The querent as active "doer" rather than as … Continue reading Putting the “Self” into the “Situation”
Syncretic Cartomancy: A Threefold Divination*
*Syncretism: The union of different practices whose features may be synchronized to good effect. AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the past I have occasionally dabbled in two-phase readings using cards from different disciplines in a single spread, usually tarot and Lenormand or an oracle deck. As I spend more time and effort looking into traditional cartomancy while … Continue reading Syncretic Cartomancy: A Threefold Divination*
Lunar Month Look-Ahead for August-September 2023*
* This reading is for the lunar month beginning on the New Moon of August 16, not the calendar month of August. AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this reading I'm incorporating the most recent changes to the Lunar Month Look-Ahead spread that I've developed over the last few years. It reflects both an update to my lunar-month … Continue reading Lunar Month Look-Ahead for August-September 2023*
“Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a sophisticated spread that borrows ideas from palmistry and also from the game-play provisions of Lenormand's ancestor, the Game of Hope. It can be used with either Lenormand or tarot, and potentially with any cartomantic method for which well-defined "stop cards" can be identified. It is best to keep their number … Continue reading “Stop Cards” and Interrupted Paths: A Situational Spread
Three New Spreads: Catching Up on the Queue
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I delve into more complex subjects, my backlog of minor posts awaiting publication has become ten-deep. I decided to clear out the cache by presenting these three recent experimental spreads in one post. Tarot Holdem: A Self-Made Destiny Spread AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that will put your intuition to the … Continue reading Three New Spreads: Catching Up on the Queue
The “Mandala of Revealing” Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is another "mixed-media" spread that uses tarot cards and a single six-sided die as a "pointer." Instead of just posting the spread and following up with an example reading tomorrow, I combined the two in this post. (The images are from the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn by Pat Zelewski and … Continue reading The “Mandala of Revealing” Decision-Making Spread
The “Actor Out On Loan” Life-Purpose Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I sometimes see online requests for "life-purpose" spreads. (For example, "What should I do with my life at this particular moment in time?") Here is my latest attempt to answer the call. (In retrospect, because the Lenormand deck includes cards that are distinctly positive, negative and neutral, it may be worthwhile to work … Continue reading The “Actor Out On Loan” Life-Purpose Spread
Reversed Cards as “Sticking Point”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent discussion about reversed cards on one of the online tarot pages, it was frequently asserted that "upside-down" orientation can be ignored because all 78 cards exhibit both positive and negative meanings when in their normal aspect, and whether to emphasize one over the other depends on the context of the … Continue reading Reversed Cards as “Sticking Point”
Cutting to the Chase: A “Thinks or Feels” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a philosophical type with a utilitarian streak, I'm tired of seeing the glut of hopeful "What does "X" think or feel about me?" questions on every cartomancy site I frequent, often put to spreads that are ill-suited to answer them. I decided to take matters into my own hands and create a … Continue reading Cutting to the Chase: A “Thinks or Feels” Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 