AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes you just know something fishy is going on but you can't put your finger on it where to look for it. Here is a spread that mimics the Clue motif (we recently attended the stage performance in Boston); it uses the Golden Dawn's method of deciding on a "significator" card, then dealing … Continue reading Devil, Devil, Who’s Got the Devil?
Tarot Theory
Playing to Strength, Caving to Weakness: Aspiration and Temptation in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that offers a "high road" and a "low road" for approaching the outcome of a reading; these are parallel routes, each with an itinerary that features either optimism for a successful arrival or pessimism over the risk of being detoured into failure. It could be useful when contemplating whether … Continue reading Playing to Strength, Caving to Weakness: Aspiration and Temptation in Tarot Reading
Multiple Reversals as “Covert Operations”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written often about the myriad ways in which one can interpret reversed cards in a tarot reading; I now have over 200 general keywords in 15 major categories to describe it that go well beyond "blocked" or "delayed." One common assumption is that reversal suggests a covert influence entering the matter, usually … Continue reading Multiple Reversals as “Covert Operations”
The Awakening: A Spiritual Transformation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a tarot spread that uses the concepts of entrenched inertia (pip cards), personal make-over (court cards) and mystical transformation in the form of both transcendent opportunities and spiritual pitfalls (trump cards). It is one of my "mixed-media" spreads that employs both tarot cards and dice in its execution. Begin by separating … Continue reading The Awakening: A Spiritual Transformation Spread
“No Blame” – A Useful First Principle in Divination
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a handful of what might be called "first principles" or "prime directives" in reading the tarot cards, broad concepts to which I mostly adhere. One premise, for which I am indebted to Dr. James Wanless, is that "There are no 'bad' cards, only opportunities" (in a forthcoming essay I make the … Continue reading “No Blame” – A Useful First Principle in Divination
Incentivizing the Shadow: A “Numerical Synthesis” Pros-and-Cons Spread with Resolution
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A while back I came to the realization that the so-called "quintessence" calculation is anything but when applied to a group of input cards that doesn't consist of the traditional four-card "cross." (Quintessence in tarot terms simply means "fifth expression," not "without equal"). I came up with alternative nomenclature for the numerical synthesis … Continue reading Incentivizing the Shadow: A “Numerical Synthesis” Pros-and-Cons Spread with Resolution
Literal Intent with a Hint of Impressionism
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a follow-up to the posting of my essay on intuition vs. analysis in divination, I've been having a conversation with another member of the r/seculartarot sub-reddit. Our subject is the need to stay within the established context of the cards as a starting point in any reading, and only then resort to … Continue reading Literal Intent with a Hint of Impressionism
Revisiting the Astrology of the Major Arcana
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Recently, someone in the r/tarot sub-reddit community voiced the opinion (for which they had been previously chastised and downvoted) that some of the astrological correspondences proposed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for the Major Arcana of the tarot just don't seem to hold water. Although I don't personally agree with … Continue reading Revisiting the Astrology of the Major Arcana
“No Truth, No Trust” – Cautionary Advice for the Tarot Reader
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Several years ago I met a kindly gentleman from Mississippi, a business colleague who told me pointblank that, when engaged in conversation with a Southerner, I shouldn't believe everything (or maybe anything) I hear; they are masters of amiable dissembling and there is almost certainly something quite different going on behind that charming … Continue reading “No Truth, No Trust” – Cautionary Advice for the Tarot Reader
Not Milk: An Atypical Astro-Tarot Meditation Array
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is a biblical quote that goes something like "Milk for babes, meat for strong men." Here I'm offering what might be a hard-to-swallow bit of gristle for those who are locked into the Golden Dawn's esoteric attributions for the cards of the tarot. What can I say, I've always been an iconoclast … Continue reading Not Milk: An Atypical Astro-Tarot Meditation Array
