AUTHOR'S NOTE: These are entirely my own opinions about what it takes to become an effective tarot reader in a face-to-face setting, based on over five decades of practice. (Online reading doesn't count since it is not an interactive art requiring presentation skills; it falls under the "black & white" category of the title.) This … Continue reading Reading Skills: Black & White or Technicolor?
Tarot Techniques
“Turning the Page”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a rare diviner who doesn't occasionally encounter an almost entirely neutral tarot reading, one that is about as exciting as dishwater, and who doesn't have a good feel for how to shine a constructive light on the forecast. A common practice is to simply keep pulling cards until something more inspiring or … Continue reading “Turning the Page”
“The Wish, The Will and The Way” Self-Realization Spread
Here is a deceptively simple spread that permits the reader to examine four different approaches to a situation either singly or collectively: the Way of Action (forceful); the Way of Feeling (emotional); the Way of Thought (cerebral) and the Way of Prudence (practical). There are no specific "outcome" cards, just those that show the means … Continue reading “The Wish, The Will and The Way” Self-Realization Spread
Tarot and Astrology: Convergence or Collision?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was already a natal astrologer of the "psychological" school and had been for a couple of years before I began pursuing tarot study and practice in a systematic (primarily esoteric) way. So I have an abiding appreciation for astrological principles even though … Continue reading Tarot and Astrology: Convergence or Collision?
Sublimation as a Reading Strategy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I'm using it here, to "sublimate" something means to "elevate it to a higher order of excellence." I'm focusing this principle on the problem of how to deal in a constructive way with particularly discouraging cards in a tarot reading that stubbornly resist interpretive mitigation. We may not be rewarded with a … Continue reading Sublimation as a Reading Strategy
The “Whole Suit” Tarot-Timing Technique
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have little faith in any of the tarot timing methods I've tried, including several I created for my own use. Unless an occurrence is limited to a known time-frame (e.g. an action with a firm deadline for closure), its destiny can be too fluid and present too many variables to pin down … Continue reading The “Whole Suit” Tarot-Timing Technique
The “Elemental Grab-Bag” Four-Mode Answer Spread
Here is another spread that uses a "prepared" deck with four elemental sub-packs, Fire, Water, Air and Earth. It applies "quintessence" cards to suggest external factors in the matter, but only if more than one column is being read as the answer to the question. A single-column interpretation is construed to mean that the matter … Continue reading The “Elemental Grab-Bag” Four-Mode Answer Spread
The Birth Card: A Matrixed Approach
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The subject of birth cards sometimes comes up in online discussions. Many people use a numerological approach, adding together the numerals for the day, month and year, reducing "Theosophically," and coming up with a Major Arcanum as a symbolic avatar that can be used as a "significator" in tarot readings. Here I'm looking … Continue reading The Birth Card: A Matrixed Approach
“Movement Cards” of the Waite-Smith Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While contemplating the Waite-Smith (aka "RWS") 6 of Swords as a card of transition from one mental state to a more promising one, I decided to identify the other RWS images that signify movement as a consciously-applied force and not merely a consequence or byproduct of other factors. Some of the best examples … Continue reading “Movement Cards” of the Waite-Smith Tarot
The “Elemental Agenda” Clarifier
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As an "old-school" tarot reader with metaphysical roots in the early days of the New Age, I take a dim view of drawing additional cards to clarify an original pull merely to avoid struggling with what we at first don't understand, instead of trying to puzzle our way through it. But after arguing … Continue reading The “Elemental Agenda” Clarifier
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 