I often wonder why there is such vehement opposition in modern tarot circles to the use of formal tarot spreads (those with defined positional meanings). It seems that self-styled "intuitive" readers feel stifled by any hint of structure and simply want to free-wheel their way through a reading using mystical "received" knowledge. It may be … Continue reading In Defense of Positional Tarot Spreads
What Happened to Reeves? – A Missing Person “Cold Case” Panorama
The disappearance of Reeves Johnson in February of 1983 has been a "cold case" in the southern Maine and southeastern New Hampshire area for some time, but it has recently been given a reboot by a detective in the Kittery, ME Police Department who has been involved in the case for a number of years. … Continue reading What Happened to Reeves? – A Missing Person “Cold Case” Panorama
Is the Practice of Divination Irrelevant or Dishonest?
As I continue to explore the sketchy written history of the early tarot, I frequently encounter the observation that the tarot cards, prior to the appearance of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (aka "Etteilla") as their original occult proponent in mid-18th-Century France, were not used in the practice of fortune-telling (presently dignified with the term "divination"); instead, they … Continue reading Is the Practice of Divination Irrelevant or Dishonest?
The “IF/THEN/ELSE” Decision-Making Spread
In my last essay I discussed the virtues of the three-card tarot spread as the minimum effective layout for divining any substantive issue (personally, I prefer five cards). I mentioned the typical "past/present/future" line spread and the Hegelian "thesis/antithesis/synthesis" array, but the one that piqued my interest is an approach that uses the data-routing logic … Continue reading The “IF/THEN/ELSE” Decision-Making Spread
The Threshold of Effectiveness
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This isn't a new topic for me, but I think it deserves revisiting given the ongoing influx of younger people into the art who may not be well-served by the current "anything goes" mentality among some modern tarot writers and practitioners. Having worked with the tarot for almost 50 years now, I've come … Continue reading The Threshold of Effectiveness
Maura Murray: Third Time’s the Charm?
Maura Murray is (or more likely was at this late date) a young Massachusetts woman who went missing in 2004. I made two previous attempts to ascertain her fate and possible whereabouts using the tarot, one in 2018 and another in 2019. Neither led to any remarkable discovery, and I let the matter drop. I … Continue reading Maura Murray: Third Time’s the Charm?
The “Flipside” Decision-Making Spread
I've decided to post new tarot spreads both here and in Medium, although my text contributions will be limited to the latter. This is the first new spread I've created in almost a year. I hope you find it useful. It is built upon some of my previous reflections on the nature of reversed cards.
A New Address: Parsifal the Scribe
UPDATE: You can now follow me at this link. What I'm doing right now is culling my old posts for those that are the most thought-provoking and reposting them on Medium. This will give a more concentrated picture of my overall stance on divination as an esoteric art, without having to wade through the more … Continue reading A New Address: Parsifal the Scribe
End of an Era
UPDATE: This is a belated acknowledgement that I made peace (of sorts) with the WordPress editor and have kept this blog going. I've decided that I will no longer be updating this blog, and will let it go when my subscription runs out next June. I can't deal with the Gutenburg block editor that WP … Continue reading End of an Era
Garbage In, Garbage Out
This is likely to be a controversial subject. There is an old tenet from computer science that goes: "Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) is the concept that flawed, or nonsense input data produces nonsense output or 'garbage.' The principle also applies more generally to all analysis and logic, in that arguments are unsound if their … Continue reading Garbage In, Garbage Out
