AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not much of a fan of the three-card tarot reading because, as I've mentioned before, it leaves too much up to subjective guesswork in bridging the narrative gap between cards that may have nothing even remotely in common. In the three-card pull, utterly antagonistic cards are the intuitive reader's worst nightmare since … Continue reading Gap Analysis: The Three-Card Reading and the Hidden Agenda
Tarot Techniques
The “Window of Opportunity”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here are a few more thoughts on "opportunity" as expressed by the cards of the tarot. Any discussion of the effective duration of a tarot reading (i.e. how long it is "good" for) carries the implication that there is a "window of opportunity" for action in the matter that will close sooner or … Continue reading The “Window of Opportunity”
The Threes: Finding Scope in Opportunity
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another riff on the topic of "opportunity" as expressed in the cards of the tarot. The Threes of the tarot have long been associated with the concepts of advancement and growth, but a parallel principle is that of opportunity, the premise being that any such development - while it may be … Continue reading The Threes: Finding Scope in Opportunity
Reversed Cards and the Golden Dawn
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Every once in a while I encounter another self-anointed expert who insists that reversed-card meanings must not be used with the Thoth tarot and other Golden-Dawn-based decks, and that Elemental Dignity is the only permissible method for judging the fortunate or unfortunate complexion of the cards in a reading beyond their intrinsic stand-alone … Continue reading Reversed Cards and the Golden Dawn
The “Bridge or Tunnel” Situational Outlook Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my second spread based on the "troll under the bridge" symbolism of Scandinavian folklore. (The first one was aimed at readings for children; this one is for adults and the "troll" - here we could call it a "cave troll" - is implied rather than explicit.) The roll of a single … Continue reading The “Bridge or Tunnel” Situational Outlook Spread
A French Cross Experiment: The Summer Solstice and the Birthday Boy
Since the Summer Solstice is also my birthday, I decided to experiment with the French Cross spread (tirage en croix) that I just learned a few things about. Because both of these events are kind of a "big deal" (one globally - or at least in the Northern Hemisphere - and the other personally) I … Continue reading A French Cross Experiment: The Summer Solstice and the Birthday Boy
Question Quibbles
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just begun reading Vincent Pitisci's first book, Genius of the Tarot: A Guide to Divination with the Tarot, and I'm pleasantly surprised to find that his thinking agrees on almost all points with similar opinions I've formed over 50 years of study and practice. At the time he wrote it (2013) he … Continue reading Question Quibbles
A “Method to the Madness” Multiple-Midpoint Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a natal astrologer I've always been fascinated by the mathematical midpoints between factors (typically the planets and angles of the horoscope) that represent sensitive locations in a birth chart that will eventually be "triggered" by predictive transits and progressions. The concept (which implies "hidden symmetry" in an apparently irrational Universe) can just … Continue reading A “Method to the Madness” Multiple-Midpoint Spread
“Low-Calorie” Tarot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is a well-established premise that the Minor Arcana of the tarot describe routine or mundane factors affecting the life of a querent, the court cards correspond to social matters (or in some cases personal attitudes and behaviors), and the Major Arcana reflect trans-personal, universal or spiritual "big-picture" implications. For a long time … Continue reading “Low-Calorie” Tarot
“A Powerful Group Effort”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: One of the problems with electronic reading devices is that they will run out of power if you forget to charge them. (I know, "Duh!") I like to read my tarot books on the Kindle while doing my morning treadmill jog, but yesterday the tablet died and I had to resort to the … Continue reading “A Powerful Group Effort”
