AUTHOR'S NOTE: As my thinking on the Major Arcana continues to evolve, I occasionally experience an epiphany during my online tarot conversations. I was explaining my opinions about the most effective uses for the cards on the r/tarot forum, and was asked a question that sent me down an unexplored path. Having worked with tarot … Continue reading “Warring Archetypes”
Tarot Techniques
Lunar Month Look-Ahead for February – March, 2022
I just applied my "Threepenny Opera" three-deck selection method to my Lunar Look-ahead reading for the February-March cycle that began with the New Moon on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. I use astrologer Dane Rudhyar's 8-phase "Lunation Cycle" model for this layout (with a nod to Marc Robertson’s Cosmopsychology: Engine of Destiny); each phase is roughly … Continue reading Lunar Month Look-Ahead for February – March, 2022
Reversed Cards As “Interrogatories”
While working on my Pink Floyd essay, I used reversed cards to portray the questions posed in the song's lyrics as a way to distinguish them from the declarative statements made by the upright cards. "Can you feel me?" and "Would you touch me?" are two examples. This has me thinking that reversed cards might … Continue reading Reversed Cards As “Interrogatories”
The “Offering of the Dog” (OOTD) Pet-Selection Method
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I figured I'd better post this before someone on Facebook steals it and tries to claim it. (For all of you "copyright hawks," the date of creation was the date of publication, February 1, 2022.) This morning I had a little puckish fun with the Golden Dawn's Opening of the Key (OOTK) method. … Continue reading The “Offering of the Dog” (OOTD) Pet-Selection Method
Partly Dark with a Chance of Rain
Even as a naive young novice I was leery of making glib predictions with the tarot; my early work in astrology had taught me that there are few metaphysical absolutes and the Prime Directive was to offer the seeker an intricate synthesis of possibilities. There are a number of good reasons to avoid the practice … Continue reading Partly Dark with a Chance of Rain
A “Threepenny Opera” Followup Reading: Arm Surgery
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have quite a few short essays jostling for inclusion here and I've been hard-pressed to maintain my self-imposed limit of one post per day. So I won't in a few special cases, mainly new spreads and example readings that are more illustrative than profoundly informative. As mentioned in my previous post on … Continue reading A “Threepenny Opera” Followup Reading: Arm Surgery
The “Captains of Industry” Business Dynamic Spread
“Business Management” spreads are some of the most challenging patterns to craft since there so many dynamic variables, vested interests and external influences to consider that it can be difficult to decide where to place the focus. You can quickly wind up with a sprawling, multi-armed monstrosity. (Hint: Despite its appearance, this really isn’t one … Continue reading The “Captains of Industry” Business Dynamic Spread
A “Threepenny Opera” Example Reading: Arm Surgery
My wife recently fell and fractured both bones of her forearm near the wrist. They're calling it an "unstable" fracture that will require two plates to be inserted into her arm; that surgery is scheduled for today. I performed my "Threepenny Opera" multi-deck selection method to a three-card line asking about the outcome of the … Continue reading A “Threepenny Opera” Example Reading: Arm Surgery
The “Threepenny Opera” Multi-Deck Selection Method
Although some people shuffle the packs together when using more than one tarot deck in a reading, I've never found that approach particularly easy or effective due to inconsistent card size, thickness and finish. So I have always shuffled the decks separately for any multi-deck spread, usually placing them in different rows, columns or "chains" … Continue reading The “Threepenny Opera” Multi-Deck Selection Method
The “Tarot-Cartography” Relocation Spread
Here's a little less-complicated fun with reversals. It's based on the "Astro-Cartography" model from the 1970s. This approach to relocation assumes that we have an urge to move but don't know exactly where we want to go to find the best "fit." It uses a process of elimination based on the appearance of reversed cards … Continue reading The “Tarot-Cartography” Relocation Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 