It's time to visit the subject of "third party readings" once again. An eternal topic of discussion on the tarot forums is whether it's ethical to perform readings about someone who isn't present or who hasn't consented to examination of their affairs. There is a broad span of professional opinion on this, ranging from "it's … Continue reading The Party of the Third Part
Tarot Theory
“I Yam What I Yam . . .”
". . . and dat's all what I yam!" (In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor Man.) I came across a neat bit of wisdom on Andy Boroveshengra's blog Fortuna's Picturebook that I'm going to borrow for the theme of this post: "Cards are never something else before they are themselves." https://abcartomancy.blogspot.com/2019/07/shall-i-compare-thee.html Andy was … Continue reading “I Yam What I Yam . . .”
The Binary Dilemma
As much as we encourage them to frame their questions in a flexible manner that invites meaningful commentary from the cards rather than an open-and-shut, "yes-or-no" verdict, I would venture to say that the majority of people who request a reading from us aren't seeking a panoramic view of their future circumstances. They want a … Continue reading The Binary Dilemma
Cut the Cake
My wife makes a very elegant four-layer chocolate/coconut/custard cake with different fillings between the layers. It's like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates; "You never know what you're gonna get," but it's always delightful (yes, even the jelly fillings). It's a perfect analogy for how I view the cards of the tarot. I like to say … Continue reading Cut the Cake
A Long Shadow
The Waite-Smith (aka "RWS") tarot deck, which modern revisionist thinking has insisted on renaming the Smith-Waite Tarot (nearly as much of a misnomer as calling the Thoth deck the "Harris-Crowley Tarot"), does indeed cast a long shadow (or pall, depending upon your opinion) over the world of exoteric tarot, and specifically over the art of … Continue reading A Long Shadow
The “Tale of Two Arcs” Business Dynamic Spread
I enjoy playing with 3D effects in spreads. Sometimes I use layered positions to obtain that perspective, but here I'm opting for visual card size to show rising and falling developments in two contrasting arcs, one that peaks in the middle and the other that hits a mid-cycle trough. Any start-up business venture faces a … Continue reading The “Tale of Two Arcs” Business Dynamic Spread
Cutting Remarks
***NOTE*** This post won't be of much interest to you if you prefer to pull your cards from a "fan," or don't bother to cut the deck. There is an old practice, still popular among tarot mystics, that after shuffling a deck of tarot cards, the pack should be "cut into three piles with your … Continue reading Cutting Remarks
Rare, Medium or Well-Done: A Timing-Card Experiment
Having made a stab at identifying specific "yes, no or maybe" cards, I decided to try my hand at assigning "fast, slow or moderate" speediness to all of the tarot cards for use in answering timing questions. Although practical success with it has proven spotty, the general consensus is that Fire cards are the most … Continue reading Rare, Medium or Well-Done: A Timing-Card Experiment
“The Nature of the Evidence”
I stole a sub-title from the "Theory of the Tarot" section of Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth for this post because I'm going to revisit the subject of "how tarot works" based on recent forum discussions (which frankly didn't change my mind on anything, just tweaked it). Premise #1: The tarot cards communicate knowledge of … Continue reading “The Nature of the Evidence”
The “Light-and-Shadow” Decision-Making Spread
The "Holy Grail" of decision-making advice is the simple, straightforward "yes-or-no" answer: "Should I or shouldn't I? Will she or won't she? Is it or isn't it?" There are numerous short spreads that strive for this goal; this isn't one of them. It recognizes that every sunny street has a shady side, and a ray … Continue reading The “Light-and-Shadow” Decision-Making Spread
