- from Ain't Wastin' Time No More by the Allman Brothers Band. AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a classical astrologer I don't agree with the elemental assignments for the four "humours" (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic) presented in a slightly different form by Robert Anton Wilson in Prometheus Rising, but his fourfold model of human sociopolitical behavior … Continue reading Tarot Profiling: “Don’t Need No Gypsy to Tell You Why”
Divination
Room with a View: Sublimating the Major Arcana*
*Sublimate: to refine or purify; to elevate AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been saying for several years that the Major Arcana (aka trump cards) are more about background themes than significant events. In my own practice over the last five decades I just haven't seen them amount to much when they appear in a routine fortune-telling scenario. … Continue reading Room with a View: Sublimating the Major Arcana*
The “Elastic” Tarot Reading: Stretching the Narrative
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This innovation is a real "stretch" (and perhaps even a dead-end) but I'm always seeking unique approaches to spread use. This one is just more "out there" than most, although the goal of overcoming an insurmountable roadblock is legitimate. Tarot readers who prefer to use positional spreads (for the record, I'm one of … Continue reading The “Elastic” Tarot Reading: Stretching the Narrative
The Self-Defining Diviner
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although my previous multi-decade retirement from public divination was a consequence of my rustic circumstances, this time I'm going back into relative hibernation by choice. I plan to continue blogging at my customary rate, but I've decided not to seek broader external exposure unless it finds me first. I suppose at this point … Continue reading The Self-Defining Diviner
Jumping Hurdles: A “Race to the Finish” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread was inspired by my reading of Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot and her "Six Controversies" (aka "Six Points") spread that examines "points of contention or strife in the seeker's situation." In my own model I'm using the idea of "hurdles" as represented by figurative potholes or boulders that place obstacles in the … Continue reading Jumping Hurdles: A “Race to the Finish” Spread
Learning to Read the Tarot Cards: A Non-Mystical Guide
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Short of sitting in a classroom with them, I may not be the best person to teach beginners how to read the tarot cards because supervised "learning by doing" is far more effective than anything "canned" in the way of self-study (including YouTube presentations, which I don't do anyway). I developed my own … Continue reading Learning to Read the Tarot Cards: A Non-Mystical Guide
The Primary/Secondary “Tarot Ledger” Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A comment on one of my Medium posts led me to the idea that it would be productive to bin the cards pulled for a spread into "Primary Scope/Direct Answer" and "Secondary Scope/Rest of the Story" sub-categories, resembling a double-entry financial ledger. So here goes! I began by shuffling the deck to allow … Continue reading The Primary/Secondary “Tarot Ledger” Spread
The Structured Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've never been one to approach a tarot reading as if I'm throwing darts at a dart-board. If I'm going to roll the dice (which I sometimes do, quite literally) it will be with focused intent and not entirely dependent on serendipity and its accomplice, intuition. I owe my sitters more "beef" than … Continue reading The Structured Tarot Reading
The Fatigue Factor
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm beginning to suspect from the recent lack of engagement that I've exhausted even my most ardent followers at the same time as I'm entering a new phase of expanded exposure. The increased popularity, although still minuscule, is gratifying but I value those who have been with me for the last nine years … Continue reading The Fatigue Factor
“One Must Know These Things”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Excuse the minor autobiographical redundancy in this essay; its repetition was essential to my purpose. A few years ago my son asked me how a guy who cuts down trees with a chainsaw can make such "girly" cocktails, an anomaly he found to be out-of-character (not that he doesn't quaff them willingly). Short … Continue reading “One Must Know These Things”
