I almost stopped reading The Grand Etteilla when I reached the minutiae of tables, spreads and examples at the end. I'm glad I didn't because the "Inverted Pyramid" relationship spread gave me the inspiration (although I tweaked it drastically) for one of the more practical and useful partnership affinity forecasts I've come up with so … Continue reading Convergence (or Not) – A Relationship Spread
Tarot Techniques
“Riddle Me This” – An Astral Exploration Spread
I've seen more than a few online requests for advice and spread suggestions about communication with disembodied entities (spirit guides, ancestors, angelic powers, etc). My personal belief is that our access to such beings is channeled through the Astral Plane, with the inherent risk of self-deception and the psychological peril that traveling the Lunar path … Continue reading “Riddle Me This” – An Astral Exploration Spread
The “Parsifal’s Draw” Negotiated Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have a number of new spreads stacked up that have taken a back seat to other projects. For the next few days I will posting them exclusively unless something else intervenes. In his book, Etteilla or the Only Way to Draw the Cards, Jean-Baptiste Alliette described what he called the "Etteilla Draw," … Continue reading The “Parsifal’s Draw” Negotiated Situational Development Spread
The Three-Card Draw
Although they may prefer to deliver insights that offer a deeper psychological or metaphysical perspective, tarot readers who perform very brief readings at venues like psychic fairs must often resort to exceptionally small spreads to keep the queue moving along. I've done a few such events and quickly discovered that my favorite layout, the Celtic … Continue reading The Three-Card Draw
What Happened to John?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Missing-person readings can be grim stuff, which is why I wait for some time after a disappearance before doing one. Unless they run into misadventure, most people who wander away on their own usually turn up before too long (sometimes remarkably far away from their last sighting). In this case, the event was … Continue reading What Happened to John?
“Gravity Wells” in Tarot Reading
Subtitle: "Crunchy in the Middle" As an avid reader of science fiction in the mid-60s, I was around when the idea of "black holes" in interstellar space first entered the public consciousness; the premise is that their gravity field is so intense that not even light can escape, and they suck in all nearby matter. … Continue reading “Gravity Wells” in Tarot Reading
Reversal As “Unloading”
I recently experienced several reading situations that caused me to come up with yet another spin on the subject of reversed cards: the idea of "unloading" or being relieved of something - ideally a burden but actually a surplus of anything that has reached its "tipping point" or "critical mass," for good or ill. A … Continue reading Reversal As “Unloading”
Off-Center and Off-Balance or Completely Off-the-Page?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've begun reading the second (1773) edition of Jean-Baptise Alliette's seminal book on divination, Etteilla or The Only Way to Read the Cards. In an example reading he mentions that failure of the card representing the querent to appear in the draw meant that she was not "at the center of her affairs." … Continue reading Off-Center and Off-Balance or Completely Off-the-Page?
“Voodoo Metaphysics” or “Too Fine a Point?”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many years ago, when President Ronald Reagan was floating his "trickle-down" theory of economic prosperity, his ideas were dismissed as "voodoo economics." Here (although it's not my main point) I'm proposing that the way we read the tarot cards can sometimes resemble "voodoo metaphysics." I won't go so far as to equate tarot … Continue reading “Voodoo Metaphysics” or “Too Fine a Point?”
A “Chaldean Vertical Slice” Situational Development Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although the Chaldean decans are a useful symbolic tool on a card-by-card basis, I'm always seeking ways to press the model into wider service. Here's another attempt that treats the attached Golden Dawn "wheels" as more than reference works. I decided to turn the diagrams of Chaldean decan and tarot card correspondences into … Continue reading A “Chaldean Vertical Slice” Situational Development Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 