AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a spread that takes its design from the directional model of horary astrology while also offering an opportunity to bring the pendulum into play. In horary astrology, the geographic location of the astrologer and not that of the querent or the "quesited" (that which is being asked about) is a key … Continue reading The “Tarot of Place” Situational Outlook Spread
The “Devil’s Due” Square-and-Cross Conflict Resolution Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a conflict-resolution spread designed around the 3x3 "mini-tableau" of the Lenormand system, although I've altered the flow of the reading slightly. It can be used with any deck, but when working with Lenormand I would substitute the materialistic "Bear" (Card #15) for the equally materialistic "Devil" (Card #15) of the tarot … Continue reading The “Devil’s Due” Square-and-Cross Conflict Resolution Spread
A Multi-Path Elemental Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this spread, the card or cards that reflect the most cooperative elemental fit between the position and the card drawn will identify the most effective approach for dealing with a decision-making scenario.
Anatomy of a Horary Failure
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Back in 2017 I wrote an essay on the subject of "strictures against judgment" in horary astrology, those conditions pertaining to a horoscope that render it unfit for interpretation (i.e. it is not considered "radical"). Although I don't adhere rigidly to this principle, I recently cast a missing-person chart for an Oregon "cold … Continue reading Anatomy of a Horary Failure
Reading Skills: Black & White or Technicolor?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: These are entirely my own opinions about what it takes to become an effective tarot reader in a face-to-face setting, based on over five decades of practice. (Online reading doesn't count since it is not an interactive art requiring presentation skills; it falls under the "black & white" category of the title.) This … Continue reading Reading Skills: Black & White or Technicolor?
“Personal Favorite” Predictive Methods
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not long ago I answered an online question about how I would rank my favorite methods of divination. This required me to step back and re-examine where I've been going with prognostication over the last fifty-odd years. Tarot: Reading the tarot cards is the "fortune-telling" practice I've been pursuing the longest (since 1972) … Continue reading “Personal Favorite” Predictive Methods
“Turning the Page”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a rare diviner who doesn't occasionally encounter an almost entirely neutral tarot reading, one that is about as exciting as dishwater, and who doesn't have a good feel for how to shine a constructive light on the forecast. A common practice is to simply keep pulling cards until something more inspiring or … Continue reading “Turning the Page”
“The Wish, The Will and The Way” Self-Realization Spread
Here is a deceptively simple spread that permits the reader to examine four different approaches to a situation either singly or collectively: the Way of Action (forceful); the Way of Feeling (emotional); the Way of Thought (cerebral) and the Way of Prudence (practical). There are no specific "outcome" cards, just those that show the means … Continue reading “The Wish, The Will and The Way” Self-Realization Spread
Tarot and Astrology: Convergence or Collision?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was already a natal astrologer of the "psychological" school and had been for a couple of years before I began pursuing tarot study and practice in a systematic (primarily esoteric) way. So I have an abiding appreciation for astrological principles even though … Continue reading Tarot and Astrology: Convergence or Collision?
The “Equal-Opportunity” Skeptic
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those of us who follow a qabalistic approach to the esoteric tarot recognize that the roots of our study and practice lie in Hebrew religious mysticism that has been adapted for ritual use by the 19th-Century Hermetic occultists of the Western Mystery Tradition. We may invoke the words and concepts but we don't … Continue reading The “Equal-Opportunity” Skeptic
