AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some time ago I added a sub-category titled "Practical Mysticism" to the "Categories" drop-down menu on the sidebar. This feature was inspired by my reading of Lon Milo DuQuette's Tarot Architect and it was solidified by the observations of Dr. Dean Radin in Real Magic. I've written extensively in the past on the … Continue reading The Practical Mystic: Intelligence and Imagination in Tarot Reading
Tarot Techniques
The Conditional Future: A “Retrocausation” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In his book Real Magic, Dean Radin introduced me to the idea of "time running backward" and its corollary, "retrocausation," in which the future reaches back into the present and shapes current circumstances to align with its long-range outlook. I covered this in my previous essay "Predisposition in Tarot Reading," and here I'm … Continue reading The Conditional Future: A “Retrocausation” Spread
Tarot As Blunt Instrument
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm presently immersed in the study of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras as explained by parapsychologist Dean Radin in his book Supernormal, which I'm relating to my practice of divination in a series of essays. One of the first things that impressed me was that - without resorting to complex magical rituals or metaphysical "props" … Continue reading Tarot As Blunt Instrument
Believing is Seeing: The Power of Suggestion vs. Confirmation Bias in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading a passage in Dean Radin's book Supernormal, in which he described a controlled "psi" experiment where subjects who believed strongly in extrasensory perception (ESP) scored significantly higher than non-believers on a blind symbol-recognition test conducted at a distance. Although Radin didn't use the term, I'm wondering whether "auto-suggestion" on … Continue reading Believing is Seeing: The Power of Suggestion vs. Confirmation Bias in Divination
Maintaining a State of Immersion in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a companion piece to my post of June 19, 2026 that examines remote reading as distinct from its local (i.e. in-person) alternative. In his book Real Magic, Dean Radin discusses the subject of immersion or absorption in the conduct of "psi" (or psionic) activities, specifically the performance of magical operations like … Continue reading Maintaining a State of Immersion in Tarot Reading
Hooray for Reversals! – A Rational Perspective At Last
AUTHOR'S NOTE: An otherwise mean-spirited rant in an r/tarot sub-reddit thread posed the perfectly legitimate question "Since when did reading reversals become controversial????" One of the more thoughtful contributors to the conversation had the following to say, and it aligns quite well with my own long-standing defense of the practice. "In my opinion, the issue … Continue reading Hooray for Reversals! – A Rational Perspective At Last
The Benefits of Structured Tarot Reading (or Pattern-Recognition on Steroids)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my considered opinion, one area where modern tarot reading has "gone off the rails" is in the rise of the so-called "freestyle" layout in which there is no established rhyme or reason to the arrangement of the cards. Its proponents claim that this "deconstructed" approach sparks their creativity but it seems to … Continue reading The Benefits of Structured Tarot Reading (or Pattern-Recognition on Steroids)
The Problem of Tarot Timing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The accuracy of timing in divination is one of those perennial topics that has come up once again in the online tarot community I frequent. While there are ways to finagle the answer by cleverly wording the question, here I'm going to tackle it head-on as comprehensively as I can from a literal … Continue reading The Problem of Tarot Timing
The Story of a Life: Past-Life Reading with the Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question occasionally arises in the online divination community regarding whether anyone has attempted to explore past lives with the tarot cards. I have a couple of existing spreads for this purpose, but I'm currently reading parapsychologist Dean Radin's book on yoga, Supernormal, in which he makes a case for reincarnation and past-life … Continue reading The Story of a Life: Past-Life Reading with the Tarot
Reversal As Out-of-Sync Energy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The r/tarot sub-reddit feed is turning out to be a gold-mine of inspiration now that I've dumped my Facebook account. Here is an essay based on a thread about reading reversed cards in an integrated way that looks at their interaction with the rest of the cards in a spread. First a condensed … Continue reading Reversal As Out-of-Sync Energy
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 