AUTHOR'S NOTE: The inspiration for this essay comes from an idea I picked up during my metaphysical studies that can be applied to professional tarot practice: "When we focus on seeking to grasp the answer, we (can) lose the ability to hang onto it." We must cultivate the "quality of mind to hold the answer … Continue reading Grasping and Holding: Readings That Stick
Divination
The “Side-Eye” – Looking Askance at Card Meanings
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In one of my online tarot conversations I've once again fielded the perennial question about the need to use reversals in divination. My response was: "Many people insist that - depending on the context of the reading - they can squeeze contradictory intent out of the upright meaning of any favorable tarot card … Continue reading The “Side-Eye” – Looking Askance at Card Meanings
“Who Shall I Be Today?” – A Tweaked Daily-Draw Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my ongoing study of the Taoist Bagua I encountered the idea that, in the three lines of a trigram, the top line represents Heaven, the bottom line signifies Earth and the middle line shows the individual poised between the two. I've been thinking about ways to relate this model to the three-card … Continue reading “Who Shall I Be Today?” – A Tweaked Daily-Draw Spread
The “Response-Spectrum Tableau” – A Tarot, Lenormand and Dice Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a mixed-media spread that combines tarot cards with Lenormand cards and dice to come up with a tableau that offers a range of inputs for making an important decision. Begin by shuffling a Lenormand deck while concentrating on the topic of interest, then deal five cards face-down from left-to-right in the … Continue reading The “Response-Spectrum Tableau” – A Tarot, Lenormand and Dice Decision-Making Spread
The 3 of Swords as “Patience”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is one I didn't see coming, and I wasn't quite sure where to go with it. But I think I got there in reasonable fashion. I was reading about the Taiji concept of "patience" recently and unearthed an interesting fact: the two pictographs (aka "radicals") that make up the Chinese logogram naixin, … Continue reading The 3 of Swords as “Patience”
The Great Escape: A Conflict-Resolution Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading about the historical view that many ancient philosophers and mystics envisioned a primordial "Cosmic Egg" that coalesced out of formless chaos, from which all life emerged as the culmination of an embryonic seed-state. I decided to explore this concept as the basis for a new conflict-resolution spread that uses … Continue reading The Great Escape: A Conflict-Resolution Spread
“Wishing Won’t Make It So” – The Scholarly vs The Colloquial Tarot
"Your dream. It fadesBut truth. It staysAnd with truth you must live onFrom deep insideYour heart. It criesI wish that dreams lived onBut wishing won't make it soI proved it long ago"- from Wishing Won't Make It So by the Everly Brothers AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a result of my constant study of esoteric topics and … Continue reading “Wishing Won’t Make It So” – The Scholarly vs The Colloquial Tarot
“Untying All Tangles” – A Syncretic Insight
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I love the following definition of the Tao presented in Benebell Wen's I Ching, The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes: " . . . the Tao is described as 'the origin of all things . . . It unties all tangles, it harmonizes all lights, it unites the world … Continue reading “Untying All Tangles” – A Syncretic Insight
The Eighth Nature: Beyond Patience
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This essay quickly became dense as I continue to draw inspiration from The Tao of Thoth, but it winds up with an exercise that you may find intriguing. Although there are seven tenets in Hermetic philosophy as presented in The Kybalion, an eighth metaphysical precept has been proposed that unifies them. One school … Continue reading The Eighth Nature: Beyond Patience
2024 Presidential Election Recap: The Power of Horary
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I had new content prepared for today, but decided to revisit my October 9th "Astro-Tarotscope" reading in response to the projected outcome of the 2024 Presidential election. I've linked the reading below for those interested, but my closing comment in the original analysis is worth highlighting: "While I admit to not being much … Continue reading 2024 Presidential Election Recap: The Power of Horary
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 