The premise behind this spread is that what we want may not be what we need, but what we need may not be something we deserve (the "karmic" perspective), while what we get may be something entirely different. The title is based on the bombastic Rolling Stones song. Tarot de Marseille author Paul Marteau believed … Continue reading “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – A Needs-Analysis Spread
Another Milestone
I have now passed 1,400 posts on this blog. I want to take a moment to thank those regular readers who make doing this stuff worthwhile (even if I don't hear much from you, the stats tell the tale). This has turned into the "training ground" for my book-publishing aspirations. My goal has been to … Continue reading Another Milestone
“Woo” Are You?
Excuse the rather clumsy allusion to The Who's song; it was the first thing that came to mind that would work as one of my trademark quirky titles. Although I've been involved with natal astrology, tarot and other esoteric practices since 1972, I had never heard the expression "woo-woo" until I joined the Aeclectic Tarot … Continue reading “Woo” Are You?
“The Kettle’s On Boil!”
I've written in the past with curmudgeonly intent about the practice of adding "clarifers" (extra cards) to a positional spread when the meaning of the original cards is unclear, as if that is going to brighten the waters instead of muddy them further. In my opinion, an artist with too many colors on the palette … Continue reading “The Kettle’s On Boil!”
Tarot and the Nature of Desire
The tarot reader is often tasked with divining "what someone wants" in a situation. In natal astrology the answer is much simpler: Venus and Mars rule the realm of basic human appetites and their interaction goes to the heart of the matter. Boston astrologer Isabel Hickey once said "Mars goes out and gets what Venus … Continue reading Tarot and the Nature of Desire
The Fun Factor
Let's be honest. As solemn as we can be about our sacred mission of helping people with our divining skills, reading the tarot cards for others can be just plain fun! Ideally, my sitters will get enjoyment as well as useful insights out of the experience, so I hope the pleasure is mutual (unless they're … Continue reading The Fun Factor
Missing Person Case Closure: “Dewey” Poulin
Back in 2018 when I had just begun working on missing-person cases, I tackled the disappearance of Dwain "Dewey" Poulin from Tamworth, NH. Today while browsing a local news feed I found an article from February of this year noting that his remains (which were discovered in Ossipee, NH in 2020) had finally been identified. … Continue reading Missing Person Case Closure: “Dewey” Poulin
Pips, Courts and Trumps: A Short, Simple Guide to the Tarot de Marseille
UPDATE: Success! I was finally able to publish my book on Lulu, the only platform I could find that will accept OpenOffice "ODT" documents without a lot of reformatting effort. I should mention that this is not a work for the absolute beginner since it's aimed it at the "experienced TdM generalist and serious student" … Continue reading Pips, Courts and Trumps: A Short, Simple Guide to the Tarot de Marseille
Footprints in the Sand
I've been pondering just how ephemeral online content can be. Unless the material we discover through our internet searches is downloaded and saved for future use, we may never be able to find it again (particularly if the source goes down). I was brought to this conclusion by noticing that someone in Japan has been … Continue reading Footprints in the Sand
Numerological Counterparts by Multiplication
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay duplicates a few of the details that appeared in my post on the planetary and elemental trump cards, but I started this one first. It addresses the idea of "correspondence by multiplication" more specifically. The idea of Major Arcana cards as "numerological counterparts" of one another has been floated in the … Continue reading Numerological Counterparts by Multiplication
