Having spent countless hours formatting my five e-books for publication. I'm at a loss where to take my daily posts next. Over the last five years I've said everything I want to say about the tarot (sometimes more than once, as I found out when compiling my essays). I'm thinking I will get back into … Continue reading What’s Up Next?
“Facing the Future” – A Decision-Making Advice Spread
Thinking about a recent question on "stay or go" decisions, I created a deceptively simple spread that uses random court-card facing to choose one of four three-card decision paths to show the advice and the short and long term consequences of the decision. It uses a "prepared" deck and the quintessence method. (Note that "gaze" … Continue reading “Facing the Future” – A Decision-Making Advice Spread
Vole! Aude! Scie! Tace!
There is an Hermetic maxim that goes "To Will, To Dare, To Know and To Keep (or Be) Silent." It parallels the observation that those who truly know don't talk about it, and those who speak as if they do don't really know. There are several variations on this theme; the one that I like … Continue reading Vole! Aude! Scie! Tace!
Tarot Reading and “Psychic Vampirism”
As it frequently does, the subject of defending oneself against negative influences while reading the cards for other people came up again on one of the Facebook tarot pages. I usually approach this perceived vulnerability as Astral Plane intrusion (think "Ouija board") but it is even more likely to come from the person across the … Continue reading Tarot Reading and “Psychic Vampirism”
My Tarot Trajectory: Wondering, Wandering, Writing, Reading
Lately I've been examining my current relationship with the tarot as a subject of serious study and practice. During the nearly four decades that I lived in the woods of New Hampshire, I did a lot of thinking about the Thoth deck and working with Crowley's premises in a theoretical way (wondering about and wandering … Continue reading My Tarot Trajectory: Wondering, Wandering, Writing, Reading
The Major Arcana and the “Box of Chocolates”
In previous posts I've presented the observation that, in my own experience, Major Arcana (or trump) cards appearing in a spread seldom indicate the actual arrival of significant events in everyday terms, and serve more to show the overriding tone, theme or scenic backdrop for the period covered by the reading. They may still create … Continue reading The Major Arcana and the “Box of Chocolates”
For What It’s Worth
In my book Tarot Hermetica, I made the following observation about the use of esoteric principles and practices in tarot reading: "Recent years have seen a groundswell of resistance to the theories of esoteric interpretation formulated by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its chief architect, Samuel Liddell “MacGregor” Mathers, at the end … Continue reading For What It’s Worth
Tarot Principles & Practices: A Deep Dive into the Tarot Reader’s Art
This is the final book in my series of blog compilations (at least until I write some more stuff). It's a book of divination principles and practices (including basic and advanced techniques, tactics, strategies and resources) for the tarot reader who intends to work publicly with the Waite-Smith deck or one of its numerous “clones.” … Continue reading Tarot Principles & Practices: A Deep Dive into the Tarot Reader’s Art
“My Publications” Listing
I just added a new page to the sidebar on my home page showing the tarot e-books I've published on the Lulu self-publishing platform, along with links to the Lulu Bookstore if you're interested in purchasing any of them. They include a Tarot de Marseille book; a large book of full-color spreads and guidance for … Continue reading “My Publications” Listing
Tarot Hermetica – Basics and Beyond
I finally completed compiling all of my blog posts on the subject of divination with the esoteric tarot. It's 265 pages, published as an e-book in PDF format, and available on the Lulu bookstore.
