I find it curious how much hand-wringing goes on in the tarot community over how the client sees the physical arrangement of the cards on the table. Should the cards appear upright or reversed to the reader or to the sitter? Should the cards be read from left to right according to the perspective of … Continue reading Who’s Driving Here?
Tarot Theory
Favorite Things
I was recently talking to someone about "reading style." It's a subject worth examining in more detail. Although I can be a bit flippant in calling myself "half mad scientist and half mystic," what it boils down to is that my own mode of reading the cards partakes slightly more of the analytical than the … Continue reading Favorite Things
The Tens: A Lingering Farewell
A music critic once observed that Led Zeppelin seemed to be "emptying the vaults of every scrap of unreleased material" when they issued the Physical Graffiti album. I'm in a similar situation here; this post has been lurking in my drafts for a couple of weeks, waiting patiently as the rants of the last few … Continue reading The Tens: A Lingering Farewell
Cheap Shots Redux: Any Excuse Will Do
As I contemplate the flood of new tarot decks on the market (some of which are even offered as "New Tarot," apparently to signify a cultural shift), I'm struck by the impression that many of them are just an excuse to circulate portable artwork of a personal nature with little regard for the metaphysical and … Continue reading Cheap Shots Redux: Any Excuse Will Do
Here We Go Again!
There is no subject more mystical (and in my opinion, more overstated) in the art of "guided" divination (as distinct from purely psychic prescience) than that of intuition. It's often touted as the "gold standard" by which to read the signs in the tarot cards, but I think that advice is misleading, especially for those … Continue reading Here We Go Again!
The Land of 1,000 Chances
Some of you (but I'll bet not many) may remember the old Wilson Pickett song "The Land of 1,000 Dances." I'm stealing his song title, slightly modified, for this post to reflect the observation that "There are no negative cards, only opportunities." So every card in a reading, no matter how dire it seems, always … Continue reading The Land of 1,000 Chances
The Three-Point Pull
One of the perennial beginner's questions is "How do you pull the cards from the deck to populate a spread?" There are many opinions on this: from the top (and occasionally from the bottom), from a splayed "fan," by holding your hand over the cards and taking the ones you intuitively "feel," etc. The old-school … Continue reading The Three-Point Pull
The Myths of Tarot: Sacred Cows and Tin Gods
I haven't had a good rant in a while and this topic has come 'round again with a vengeance. As I cruise the Facebook tarot pages I keep encountering the same old tired myths related to the tarot, usually brought up by neophytes who haven't been told any different. Not all of these folkloric superstitions … Continue reading The Myths of Tarot: Sacred Cows and Tin Gods
“Who Ya Gonna Call?”
In Chapter 18, Part IV of Book Four: Magick in Theory and Practice, Aleister Crowley gives a brief summary of his understanding of how divination "works." "The theory of any process of divination may be stated in a few simple terms. 1. We postulate the existence of intelligences, either within or without the diviner, of … Continue reading “Who Ya Gonna Call?”
The Thrill of the Chase
There is an old aphorism that any activity worth pursuing is "more about experiencing the journey than about reaching the destination." In other words, the things you learn along the way are often more valuable than what you find at the end of the road. This truth is abundantly obvious in the art of tarot … Continue reading The Thrill of the Chase
