AUTHOR'S NOTE: First a disclosure. Ever since the day I returned to public tarot reading in 2011, I've been a vocal critic of remote divination in general, and especially of that offered by online practitioners in the form of "psychism-with-props" (cartomantic clairvoyance or precognition). But here I'm approaching it a bit differently, beginning in the … Continue reading ‘Tis O’er the Hills and Far Away: Clairvoyance as a Hedge Against Cold Reading
Cultural & Social Commentary
The Thing About Fences (or “If You Can’t Trust Your Mother, Who Can You Trust?”)
"Before I built a wall I’d ask to knowWhat I was walling in or walling out"- from Mending Wall by Robert Frost AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've written about Frost's poem in relation to tarot reading in the past, focusing on the idea that "good fences make good neighbors" even though Frost didn't believe it himself. At … Continue reading The Thing About Fences (or “If You Can’t Trust Your Mother, Who Can You Trust?”)
The Problem of Replication in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not a scientist by education or profession, but my understanding of the cardinal rule for any scientific experiment is that, to be accepted as legitimate, the conclusions must be reproducible (i.e. "replicable") with a high degree of confidence via later independent trials, ideally at an unaffiliated laboratory. I'm also not an occult … Continue reading The Problem of Replication in Tarot Reading
Programmed to Receive: Psychism and “Blind Faith”
"Relax," said the night man. "We are programmed to receive."- from Hotel California by The Eagles AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Real Magic, his fascinating and - for this metaphysical maverick - highly influential 2018 book, parapsychologist Dean Radin mentions that in common discourse the tenets of psionics (including psychism) are subsumed under the neologism psi (pronounced … Continue reading Programmed to Receive: Psychism and “Blind Faith”
“Three Sizes Too Small:” My RWS Apostasy
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've worked with the Thoth deck for over 50 years because I think it cuts much deeper than the rest. I'm also fond of the Tarot de Marseille (TdM) and the Lenormand cards, and I'm chipping away at playing-card divination, the I Ching and geomancy. The Waite-Smith (RWS) deck is far down in … Continue reading “Three Sizes Too Small:” My RWS Apostasy
Divination As Ritual Practice
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A recent r/occult sub-reddit thread explored whether divination is only superficial fortune-telling or whether it can take on a deeper, sturdier and more intense ritual form. Tarot and the I Ching were the main focal points. When I began pursuing Golden-Dawn-based study and practice in the late '70s after having worked with predictive … Continue reading Divination As Ritual Practice
The Tarot Reader and the “Sword of Truth” – The Perilous Pursuit of Speculative Divination
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”- Attributed to Mark Twain (with thanks to Dean Radin for the tip) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those tarot readers who champion freestyle improvisation and dismiss matter-of-fact appraisal of the cards have an implacable "sword of truth" … Continue reading The Tarot Reader and the “Sword of Truth” – The Perilous Pursuit of Speculative Divination
“Implements of Instruction”
" . . . shovels and rakes and implements of destruction . . . "- from Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay is not for the softhearted or the soft-headed. It's another unapologetic critique of contemporary divination (specifically tarot-reading) with just a hint of ironic self-reflection. Proceed at your peril! As I … Continue reading “Implements of Instruction”
Scrubbing Tarot of its Myths, One-by-One
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the last fifteen years I've been on a quiet crusade to liberate the practice of tarot from the numerous popular myths about what should and shouldn't be done before and during divination with the cards. I last wrote about it at some length in a 2020 essay titled "The Myths of Tarot: … Continue reading Scrubbing Tarot of its Myths, One-by-One
An “AI Reckoning”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In online discussion groups I frequently encounter ill-tempered sniping over whether specific written content is an original creation or whether it was assembled via internet "scraping" by generative AI. Because of my admittedly literate writing style, I've been waiting for the day when I'm accused of such derivative chicanery. To see where I … Continue reading An “AI Reckoning”
