Those who prefer an entirely intuitive, visual approach to reading tarot cards are in the habit of pushing back vehemently against the use of any kind of knowledge-based occult symbolism or esoteric correspondences in their practice. In some cases a certain dismissive elitism is behind this resistance, in others it's simply a matter of being … Continue reading Astrology is Your Friend
An Astro-Lithomancy Experiment
A few years ago, after studying and practicing the techniques of astro-geomancy, I turned my attention to lithomancy - divination with stones - with the same objective: to integrate elements of lithomancy and astrology in a single system. Lithomancy normally uses a prepared surface (often a cloth) upon which one casts the stones or found … Continue reading An Astro-Lithomancy Experiment
Not Your Daddy’s Clergyman After All
I spent decades wrestling with ways to translate Temperance into practical interpretive terms, never once realizing that the Hierophant posed just as big a puzzle for me. I was content thinking of the latter as showing traditional values and conventional wisdom of a practical sort, primarily due to its correspondence to the conservative fixed sign, … Continue reading Not Your Daddy’s Clergyman After All
The “Inner Life” of Tarot
There is a punch line from an old and very non-PC joke, (for which I apologize without revealing any more) and a response from John Lennon's book In His Own Write, that together neatly summarize all we think we know about the inner workings of a tarot reading. Q: “How do it know?” A: “You … Continue reading The “Inner Life” of Tarot
The Art of Spread Creation
In the last six years I've created over sixty complex tarot spreads and a few for the Lenormand system that I posted for community use on the Aeclectic Tarot forum (and over a dozen since). What set my spreads apart from the usual forum contribution was the full-color graphic presentation for each layout (rather than … Continue reading The Art of Spread Creation
Who You Callin’ a . . . ?
. . . narcissist. In a forum exchange about which cards best portray male narcissism, I came up with a near-perfect expression in Brian William's Post-Modern Tarot.
The Tree in the Oval
In her 1970 book The Complete Guide to the Tarot, Eden Gray teamed up with astrologer Mary Beckwith Cohen to attempt a redistribution of the Major Arcana to the Qabalistic Tree of Life by disregarding the paths between the sephiroth and instead placing the zodiacal trumps in an oval around the Tree. She called her … Continue reading The Tree in the Oval
Diamond Sky (No Lucy)
No words . . . just something to feed your eyes (and your head). I know, I know . . . Freud would have had a field day with this one!
The How – and Why – of Shuffling
Recently I've been involved in a seemingly endless on-line debate over how to shuffle a tarot deck to get the best result. Overhand shuffling, riffle shuffling faro shuffling and simply mixing the cards face-down on a tabletop all have their proponents, along with unique approaches like dealing the deck into several piles and than randomly … Continue reading The How – and Why – of Shuffling
Rota Fortunae: Ticket to Ride
In my unpublished book on tarot spreads, I made the following statement about the Wheel of Fortune: It sits in the eleventh position of the sequence, mid-way between Key 0 (the Fool) and Key 21 (the World), bringing to closure the first half of the Fool's journey of self-discovery and stimulating a fresh start with … Continue reading Rota Fortunae: Ticket to Ride
