AUTHOR'S NOTE: The threat of a "bad" outcome card showing up in a reading is one of the most challenging scenarios facing professional tarot readers and their clients. Experienced diviners are normally able to take this unpleasant development in stride, but for the rest it generates an anxious moment of dread. In my own coaching … Continue reading Ominous Predictions: Cautionary or Constructive?
Tarot Techniques
Range of Motion: An Action-Driven Reading Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A couple of years ago I performed a careful analysis of the Waite-Smith tarot to determine which cards express some kind of active movement. In the end I came up with five Major Arcana, six court cards and ten Minor Arcana as indicators of either acceleration or deceleration in a querent's affairs. (All … Continue reading Range of Motion: An Action-Driven Reading Matrix
The “Spiritual Tribunal” Astral Contact Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: All of the spirit-contact methods I'm aware of assume that we're going to encounter precisely the entity we're seeking (ancestor, god-form, elemental figure, spirit guide, etc.) whenever we ask. But I've never been convinced that disembodied beings are lurking at the threshold of the Astral Plane, just waiting for us to reach out, … Continue reading The “Spiritual Tribunal” Astral Contact Spread
Why Bother? The Case for Tarot Timing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When it comes to divination, I have little interest in modern philosophical or scientific theories about the elastic nature of time. My aim is to help my clients understand (and therefore withstand) their circumstances; such academic hypotheses add nothing to the outlook and only serve to complicate it. Events occur in "real time," … Continue reading Why Bother? The Case for Tarot Timing
Situational Precision in General Readings
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know there is an oxymoron in there somewhere (almost-but-not-quite Pink Floyd's "random precision"), but bear with me. General readings are not usually noted for their situational exactness, so I'm taking this "outside the box." When clients come to me for a reading they are usually experiencing some kind of distress, so I … Continue reading Situational Precision in General Readings
Tarot Timing By Number and Rank
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a unique timing method that uses reasonably expected and objectively determined target dates to zero in on the most likely span of time from the date of the reading to the proposed time of completion. The aim is to partially offset some of the exaggeration that can occur with most methods … Continue reading Tarot Timing By Number and Rank
Cards of Finality: The Stigma of “Endings”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading about cards that convey "endings" of various kinds: the 3 and 5 of Swords (sorrowful and acrimonious, respectively); 10 of Swords (demoralizing); Death (inevitable); the Tower (sudden); and the 5 of Cups (miserable), among others of less-potent stringency. To that group I would add Judgement because there is no … Continue reading Cards of Finality: The Stigma of “Endings”
Here’s Looking at You! – Gaze as a Directional Indicator
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The concept of facing, gaze or regard has a long history of use with the Tarot de Marseille, although fans of more modern decks tend to disregard it. Here is a spread that applies the facing and orientation of one of the 16 court cards to choose which of four 3-card sets becomes … Continue reading Here’s Looking at You! – Gaze as a Directional Indicator
“Say What?” – Probing the Gap Between Reading and Reality
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Tarot Master-Class, Paul Fenton-Smith discussed situations where clients dispute the accuracy of a reading as it applies to their own understanding of personal reality. He recommended probing more deeply into the querent's past via dialogue since there may be insights the individual's subconscious did not divulge during its interaction with … Continue reading “Say What?” – Probing the Gap Between Reading and Reality
Refreshing the French Cross Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The five-card French Cross spread (traditionally known as the tirage en croix) is one of my favorite smaller layouts because it reveals what needs to be known about a situation without being overly analytical. It provides a slightly different level of detail than my customary five-card line, and through constant use I've tweaked … Continue reading Refreshing the French Cross Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 