AUTHOR'S NOTE: Process-control technicians often face a dilemma known as an "upset condition," an off-normal deviation that must be corrected to return the system to a state of balance. There are similar challenges in tarot reading, where the reader must flush out any discordant anomalies so they can be examined and dealt with constructively by … Continue reading The “Upset Condition” – Getting at the Bad
Tarot Theory
A “Shots on Goal” Advancement Spread: Elemental Alignment and Orientation as Success Factors
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The phrase "shots on goal" describes a statistic used in sporting events such as international football and hockey to quantify how many legitimate attempts to score a team was able to make during a game (which is usually a function of offensive-line ability to breach the opponent's defense). There are situations in daily … Continue reading A “Shots on Goal” Advancement Spread: Elemental Alignment and Orientation as Success Factors
Tarot As “Mental Gymnastics”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I continue to create innovative tarot spreads, I decided to pause for a moment and reflect on what is driving me in this effort. Those who have been following me for a while know that I have a strong inclination toward critical analysis of the cards that I temper with a little … Continue reading Tarot As “Mental Gymnastics”
2024 Presidential Election: A Political Showdown Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Now that Kamala Harris has been confirmed as the Democratic nominee for US President, I figured it's time to do my usual "Enemy at the Gates" political showdown reading to see what the tarot has to say about a probable winner. (See the link to the spread at the end of this essay.) … Continue reading 2024 Presidential Election: A Political Showdown Reading
Reversal As Lack of Trust: A “Reliability Routing” Tableau
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've created a similar tableau in the past, but this time I'm linking it to a determination of just how much reliance a reader should place on the accuracy of the cards pulled for a reading. We all know the cards are "always right," but on occasion they may be subversive in the … Continue reading Reversal As Lack of Trust: A “Reliability Routing” Tableau
“Pulling the Trigger” – An Allocated-Action Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the First Operation of the Golden Dawn's "Opening of the Key" method there is a step by which the diviner attempts to "intuit" (aka "guess") the reasons behind the querent's request for a reading based on which of four elemental sub-packs the Significator card appears in after the shuffle and cut. The … Continue reading “Pulling the Trigger” – An Allocated-Action Spread
The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some tarot readers (notably Europeans) prefer to read with only the 22 trump cards, ignoring their exalted metaphysical archetypes and allotting them no more significance than the rest of us assign to the pip cards. They also frequently use the "quintessence" calculation to derive a fifth "synthesis" card from the four-card tirage en … Continue reading The Exemplary Way: Leveraging the Quintessence
Optimistic Divination: Opportunities for “Net Gain”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again I'm indebted to Benebell Wen for presenting an I Ching-related concept that I can apply directly to my tarot practice: the premise that the "cycle of life" will, on balance, provide a "net gain" in one's sense of well-being and not a "net loss" (even though we all know how it … Continue reading Optimistic Divination: Opportunities for “Net Gain”
The Diviner’s Medium: Intuitive Insight or Pure Projection?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always been skeptical of the widely-held opinion that the subliminal insights we tap into while reading the cards are a form of spiritual illumination coming from a mystical source of higher wisdom. Those who aspire to the practice of "secular tarot" (now there's an oxymoron for you) believe that it isn't received … Continue reading The Diviner’s Medium: Intuitive Insight or Pure Projection?
An Emotional “Hopes and Fears” Spread: Rising and Falling Trends
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In almost any single-chain tarot reading there will be a mix of nominally fortunate and unfortunate cards; the reader's task is to sort them out and come up with as constructive an interpretation as possible while giving each its due. The reading frequently involves confronting the "good card/bad position" conundrum and its opposite. … Continue reading An Emotional “Hopes and Fears” Spread: Rising and Falling Trends
