Over the years, as I've worked my way several times through Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth, I've pondered his references to I Ching hexagrams in his commentary on the cards of the Minor Arcana but I've never done anything practical with that information. I also own the Thoth-based Haindl tarot deck, which has the hexagrams … Continue reading A New Chapter: I Ching and Tarot
Tarot Theory
Weather or Not: An Event-Planning Spread
This spread serves two purposes: its more obvious aim is to forecast the likely weather conditions for a planned outdoor event or travel situation. Its more abstract objective is to serve as a data-collection tool for determining how effective prediction is with the cards. One of the chief weaknesses in cartomantic prognostication is that so … Continue reading Weather or Not: An Event-Planning Spread
The “Shadow-Play” Motivational Awareness Spread
As a spin-off of my "House System for Tarot" post, I created a spread that draws the house cards from the bottom of the deck as shadow-card companions to the more outwardly explicit cards pulled from the top of the deck. These cards will show underlying motives or causes that affect the outer aspects of … Continue reading The “Shadow-Play” Motivational Awareness Spread
“Mirror of the Soul” Karmic Message Spread
The Pythagoreans held that Number is sacred and embodies the root of all Existence; the measure of anything whatsoever can be taken in its ten formative principals, which ascend from an embryonic origin in the Monad or Point (1) to mature perfection in the Decad (10). (Note that this isn't the mathematical perception of Pythagoreanism … Continue reading “Mirror of the Soul” Karmic Message Spread
A “House” System for Tarot
Some time ago I created a numerical table that lays out all 78 tarot cards in an array that begins with the 22 trump cards and then follows through with the 56 minor cards, Ace through King and Wands through Pentacles. I devised this table as a way to find the "mid-point" between cards for … Continue reading A “House” System for Tarot
Odd Couples
I'm still plowing my way through Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Way of Tarot and have reached the section where he proposes a few obvious (and more than a few off-beat) "duets" between the cards of the tarot. Anyone with a shred of card sense can clearly see the logical ties between the Emperor and Empress, the … Continue reading Odd Couples
“Head Space”
The question is sometimes asked "What is the proper frame-of-mind in which to approach a tarot reading?" Should one meditate, pray, "clear" or otherwise center in the moment? Is it OK to be a little bit "high?" Must one be thoroughly rested and mentally fresh? Does it help to use candles, incense, crystals or other … Continue reading “Head Space”
A Question of Style
During my long career as a technical and legal writer, my personal goal was to explain complex matters in comprehensive but still entirely lucid language, since to do otherwise could have led to serious human error and/or regulatory exposure for my company. These objectives would seem to be at odds, since completeness and clarity may … Continue reading A Question of Style
“Assume the Position”
Those who have been in the military may remember this command, but here I'm repurposing it in divinatory rather than disciplinary terms. I'd wager that most diviners don't think too much about the "mechanics" of their readings once they settle into a groove. Many of the subtle touches we apply to our reading space become … Continue reading “Assume the Position”
Any Way You Slice It
I was just on Pinterest looking at tips for topical reading (that is, divination based on the general "fortune-telling" subjects of love, money, work, health, etc), which I belatedly realized are just variations on the Lost Man Spread. A card is pre-selected as "Significator" to represent the topic of interest, but it is left in … Continue reading Any Way You Slice It
