AUTHOR'S NOTE: In "The Problem of the Fourth" (Part Five of A Psychological Approach to the Trinity), Carl Gustav Jung observed "There are three, but where is the fourth?" There are numerous tarot spreads that use a tripartite motif: past/present/ future; action/reaction/resolution; thesis/antithesis/synthesis; if/then/else; etc. But here I'm projecting that planar model into three dimensions … Continue reading Mastery of Circumstances: The Triangular Pyramid Spread
Of Snakes and Swallows: A Conflict-Resolution Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've had this draft in the queue for some time and decided to finish it. The subject of the example reading was on my mind when I created the spread, but it could be used in any situation where "both ends are arrayed against the middle." As described in Benebell Wen's I Ching … Continue reading Of Snakes and Swallows: A Conflict-Resolution Spread
Calling Forth Answers: A Mixed-Media Problem Solving Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a while since I last explored the technique of using a board-game spinner and an array of tarot cards to come up with a two-tiered approach to reading. In Benebell Wen's I Ching The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, I've been learning about an abbreviated yarrow-stalk method … Continue reading Calling Forth Answers: A Mixed-Media Problem Solving Spread
Tarot as “Mystical Guidebook”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ever since Jungian group-think hijacked the New Age zeitgeist of the early '70s, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the tarot as a tool for innate self-understanding and cognate self-improvement. In that regard it's a pale substitute for astrology, one that offers a gentler learning curve suitable for the casual … Continue reading Tarot as “Mystical Guidebook”
Where Is Carol? – A Missing-Person Case Study
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Carol Gemmiti, a 66-year-old Florida woman with dementia, went missing from Ossipee, New Hampshire on Friday, October 27, 2024. Numerous searches were performed over the week-end but nothing was found so further efforts were temporarily suspended on Monday, October 30. I decided to tackle this case by performing a horary astrology analysis and … Continue reading Where Is Carol? – A Missing-Person Case Study
A Monthly “Astro-Tarotscope” – Harnessing Horary Astrology and Tarot Insights
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not the first writer to use the term "tarotscope;" I've encountered it in various posts over the years. But here I'm applying it to a merger of horary astrology and tarot to come up with a monthly forecast that may well be unique. (I don't believe the hyphenated term in my title … Continue reading A Monthly “Astro-Tarotscope” – Harnessing Horary Astrology and Tarot Insights
“Right, Right, You’re Bloody Well Right”*
*From Bloody Well Right by Supertramp AUTHOR'S NOTE: I debated whether to title this essay "The Woo of We-Are-All-One" (in the saccharine spirit of The Tao of Pooh) but decided to leave that cynical observation for the body of the essay. Current wisdom in the tarot community is that no matter how we read the … Continue reading “Right, Right, You’re Bloody Well Right”*
Reverse-Engineering an Alternate Outcome
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is another novel application of the Golden Dawn's system of astrological correspondences for the tarot cards as presented in the annotated figures of the "Chaldean" zodiac. (See the diagrams below.) In this model, each card has a complementary opposite across the wheel that is of the same polarity (positive or negative) and … Continue reading Reverse-Engineering an Alternate Outcome
The Fount of All Wisdom?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It could be argued that any human activity - no matter how slight - that isn't fully automatic on one hand or totally arbitrary on the other has an implicit blueprint or model that expresses its ideal performance, even if this exemplar is only a personal benchmark that we keep in our own … Continue reading The Fount of All Wisdom?
The Onus of Elemental Discord: Earth/Air and Fire/Water
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While helping a friend with a relationship reading, I was visited by an epiphany regarding the elemental incompatibility of Earth and Air cards. The reading was a series of twelve monthly projections for the year beginning on the Spring Equinox. The spread logic I used was that each month holds a two-tiered arrangement … Continue reading The Onus of Elemental Discord: Earth/Air and Fire/Water