To my knowledge, other than the small dog in Le Mat, the lion in La Force, the two canines in La Lune and the two horses in Le Chariot, there have been few attempts to rope the Tarot de Marseille animals into the narrative of a reading and give them a starring role. I was … Continue reading A Horse of a Different Color
Tarot Theory
The “Innies” and the “Outies”
This essay is both a synopsis and a further exploration of some of the ideas I covered more fully in my "TdM Thumbnail" series of posts. Those of us who spend a good deal of time "navel-gazing" (by which I mean, of course, contemplating "the world in a grain of sand" . . . or … Continue reading The “Innies” and the “Outies”
What Happened to George? – A Missing-Person Reading
FINAL UPDATE: The remains were determined to be those of George Cross; they were found in a wooded area east of where he was last seen, in line with my original prediction. His death has been ruled "not suspicious." UPDATE #2: There may finally be a break in this case. Human remains have been found … Continue reading What Happened to George? – A Missing-Person Reading
One Is The Loneliest Number . . .
. . . until it becomes a catalyst for change. In the song of the title, Harry Nilsson was talking about the stifling torment of emotional rejection, but French tarot writer Joseph Maxwell had a different idea. Maxwell considered the number One to be the primal unity, perfect in its indivisibility and needing no amplification. … Continue reading One Is The Loneliest Number . . .
General Topic Reading and the “BS Factor”
On-line tarot reading, which is starting to pull me in after years of resisting its call, has become something of a crusade for me. When I first approached it, my long-standing beliefs about "how tarot works" ran head-on into what seemed to be the questionable practices of on-line readers as a group. There is an … Continue reading General Topic Reading and the “BS Factor”
My Daily Element
As I mentioned recently, I seldom do daily draws any more because my life just doesn't change enough to warrant that detailed level of scrutiny. But I do believe there can be value in looking at the elemental tone and the numerical vibration of the upcoming day, not to see what will happen and why, … Continue reading My Daily Element
A Tarot de Marseille Process Analysis
As I gain experience with it, I find that divination with the Tarot de Marseille (TdM) is best suited for providing a literal perspective (as with the Lenormand cards) rather than for the more symbolic, impressionistic approach used with most modern tarot decks. This is due primarily to their spare presentation that doesn't encourage much … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Process Analysis
A Process-Management “Playbook” Spread
This post is more academic than most in that it takes a detailed look at principles that are usually more aligned with business objectives than personal goals. The ideal querent for this approach would be a hands-on administrator in any commercial or institutional venture that is process-intensive. This spread proposes that successfully managing the development … Continue reading A Process-Management “Playbook” Spread
Intuition or Guided Suggestion?
A recent Facebook post on the Tarot History page by tarot author and deck creator Robert Place about the earliest known forms of divination got me thinking about the nature of intuition (specifically as championed by those cartomancers who only use free-association from the card images, downplaying or dismissing the value of knowledge-based analysis). In … Continue reading Intuition or Guided Suggestion?
The “Fountain of Truth” Alternate Trending Option
Even those of us who have spent decades reading the cards are sometimes compelled to come up with creative stopgap measures to "skin the proverbial cat" when our usual approach falters. Here I'm tackling what I perceive to be an inherent weakness in the traditional Celtic Cross spread: the interpretation of the "crowning" card as … Continue reading The “Fountain of Truth” Alternate Trending Option