The question sometimes comes up regarding whether a diviner has a professional duty to be brutally honest in making predictions for paying clients, or whether a little leeway should be allowed in the interest of human kindness. I believe there are a couple of different scenarios where this consideration arises. Obviously, in cases involving sensitive … Continue reading A Duty of Honesty
Tarot Theory
Metaphysical Entropy
The subject of how long a tarot prediction can be considered reliable is a fascinating one. This becomes especially interesting when an attempt is made to forecast circumstances and events an entire year into the future. In general I will use the Lenormand Grand Tableau for this purpose because its numerous "departments of life" can … Continue reading Metaphysical Entropy
Psychometric Card Selection
The extrasensory technique known as psychometry assumes that an object has an energy field that can transfer knowledge, such that holding an item in your hand (or in this case holding your hand over it) will convey information associated with its history that may be relevant to present and future circumstances. In reading about an … Continue reading Psychometric Card Selection
Crowley’s Emotional Roller-Coaster
The Minor Arcana of the Thoth Tarot all have "esoteric" titles that for the most part hark back to their Golden Dawn roots. While these titles have academic connections to the Order's tarot curriculum or to Crowley's Thelemic elaborations, they often invoke visceral reactions in the viewer due to their evocative imagery and compelling color … Continue reading Crowley’s Emotional Roller-Coaster
More Thoughts on the Trump Cards
Not long ago I posted a detailed essay on how I think the Major Arcana (aka "trump" cards) operate in divination. https://parsifalswheeldivination.com/2020/03/21/much-ado-about-nothing-the-problem-with-trump-cards-in-prediction/ Since that time I've had occasion to further consider their significance in readings that explore situational developments where external factors are likely to play a part. As before, I seldom see them as … Continue reading More Thoughts on the Trump Cards
The “Motivational Extremes” Problem-Solving Menu
Consider this "the spread that is not a spread." It requires the reader to exercise judgment regarding which two of sixteen "obstacle" and "opportunity" cards present the greatest challenge for the querent and the brightest hope for successful resolution in any problem-solving scenario. The result of this deliberation is a three-card reading that describes the … Continue reading The “Motivational Extremes” Problem-Solving Menu
A 3-Card Yes-or-No Preponderance Matrix
One of the perennial debates among tarot enthusiasts is how to answer yes-or-no questions with the cards. Conventional wisdom is that the tarot can't resolve such matters effectively, and they should therefore be avoided. But I believe it can successfully address any subject if a proper methodology is applied. The one-card pull is usually too … Continue reading A 3-Card Yes-or-No Preponderance Matrix
The Pragmatic Reading
I like to say that I "just read the cards," I don't try to discover or guess in advance what the sitter's motives, objectives or ambitions are because I really don't need to know. My practice of not wanting to hear the specific question at the start of a reading serves this approach quite well … Continue reading The Pragmatic Reading
“Painting Testimonial Pictures” – Problem Cards and Pataphysics
I think we can all agree that the tarot excels at throwing us curve-balls during the practice of prediction. Usually it's in the form of a card in a reading that just won't fit the puzzle no matter how we turn it. Often it's a major - or "trump" card - that lands in the … Continue reading “Painting Testimonial Pictures” – Problem Cards and Pataphysics
Stretchable Positions
No, I'm not talking about yoga or the Kama Sutra. Yesterday on the Tarot Professionals Facebook page Marcus Katz mentioned the notion of adjusting the meanings of spread positions according to the cards that land in them. I wasn't able to look at his full explanation because it's on the paid part of the site, … Continue reading Stretchable Positions