AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my studies I occasionally see a distinction being made between a narrative "storytelling" approach to explaining the cards in a reading, in which a series of scenes is presented much like the panels of a comic strip, and a less-anecdotal descriptive style that defines the broader relationship among the cards, often in … Continue reading Narrative or Descriptive Reading: A Cartomantic Divide
Tarot Techniques
A Recipe for Timing (or “Why Did My Cake Fall?”)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is not about a Betty Crocker bake-off; it discusses certain event-timing techniques used in divination. But I couldn't resist the analogy! Modern bakers who use "fail-safe" pre-mixed aggregates (you know the hype: "just add water") won't have a clue what my subtitle is about and will only shoot me a blank … Continue reading A Recipe for Timing (or “Why Did My Cake Fall?”)
The “So What?” Moment
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm indebted to a fellow r/tarot contributor for expanding my vocabulary of exclamatory responses to the surprising things I encounter in tarot readings (although this one may be more routine than exceptional and will understandably evoke a dismissive "Ehh"). We've all heard of the "Aha!" moment, the instant during a reading when an … Continue reading The “So What?” Moment
Another Missing Person Case and A Fascinating Convergence
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I won't go into the anecdotal details of this missing person case, but I wanted to mention the fact that three different assessments of the situation - a revealing horary astrology projection and two tarot readings - produced remarkably consistent results. A teenager has been missing for nearly two years and the search … Continue reading Another Missing Person Case and A Fascinating Convergence
A Predictive Model for Low-Scoring Sports
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the past, my efforts to predict the outcome of sporting events have been limited to sports like Major League Baseball and NFL football that have modest to moderate scoring projections, typically anywhere from 1 run (baseball) to 28 points (football) for either team over the course of a game I'm working on … Continue reading A Predictive Model for Low-Scoring Sports
“Answer Me This If You Can . . .”
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 . . .”
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
