AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many years ago, Wiccan author Scott Cunningham wrote at least one book of guidance and advice for the "solitary witch," the isolated practitioner with no coven to call home. My experience over the last fourteen years as a professional tarot reader seeking sophisticated fellowship echoes that unhappy sense of seclusion, The regional communities … Continue reading The Solitary Diviner and the Unholy Alliance
Leveraging Reversals
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the past few weeks I've offered a handful of spreads that include a fixed series of reversed cards in contradistinction to an equal number of upright cards. The idea is to identify an alternate path to the same objective that is less obvious in nature, symbolic of a detour into an unfamiliar … Continue reading Leveraging Reversals
Dexter and Sinister: The Straight and Crooked Paths
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In classical astrology, planetary motion was tracked in two directions: dexter (toward the right or counterclockwise through the signs) and sinister (toward the left or clockwise through the houses). On a monthly, annual or multi-year basis depending on their orbital speed, the planets traverse the signs in sequential order from Aries at the … Continue reading Dexter and Sinister: The Straight and Crooked Paths
The “Tarot Magic” Invocation Spread: Second Cut
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After reading further into Donald Tyson's Tarot Magic, I decided to add a couple of new features to this spread. Tyson mentions that in traditional evocation, the Triangle of Art is drawn with its apex pointing away from the Circle of Summoning. The idea is that when the aspiration identified as the focus … Continue reading The “Tarot Magic” Invocation Spread: Second Cut
Super Bowl LIX Forecast: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs
UPDATE: My formal prediction could not have been more wrong, but it's very interesting that the "Oh-by-the-way" comment I made at the end of the essay was almost completely on-target: it proposed an unimaginable 48-to-28 score in favor of the Eagles, when the actual score was 40-22 with the Eagles handily defeating the Chiefs. As … Continue reading Super Bowl LIX Forecast: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The premise behind this exercise is that the querent has something he or she would like to eliminate from present and future circumstances - it might be a difficult person or an unpleasant condition. This conjuration applies the cleansing agent of Mars as embodied in the Tower and the four most relevant "Mars" … Continue reading The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
Archetypal Gates and Elemental Focus: A Ritual Matrix and Tarot Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Tarot Magic, Donald Tyson described a hierarchy of tarot trumps based on a Kabbalistic cosmology that places the Earth at the bottom as fixed and unmoving; the three "Primal Elements" (Water, Air and Fire in ascending order) as the first three increasingly-subtle "spheres" one encounters when rising from the Earth's surface; the … Continue reading Archetypal Gates and Elemental Focus: A Ritual Matrix and Tarot Spread
Relationship Dynamics at Three Milestones
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not every romantic interlude delivers the promise we see in it; prospects may look good at first, but chances for success could fade for a number of reasons. First, a convenient occasion for coupling must present itself; second, both parties must be available to participate; and third, the reality of the situation will … Continue reading Relationship Dynamics at Three Milestones
“High Road or Low Road?” – A Crossroads Navigation Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not one to interpret the Lovers as a "soul-mate" or "twin-flame" card because the Hebrew letter associated with it is often translated as "sword," implying an important decision to be made by taking a judicious stab or swipe at it. Here I'm using the Lovers to represent my favorite definition, a "crossroads" … Continue reading “High Road or Low Road?” – A Crossroads Navigation Spread
The “Slice of Life” Structured Pull
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question frequently posed by beginners to more seasoned tarot readers is "How do you pull the cards for a reading?" It's a legitimate request since the method of delivery determines which cards appear in the spread. I have always followed the advice of Eden Gray in her 1960 book The Tarot Revealed: … Continue reading The “Slice of Life” Structured Pull
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 