One of the advantages of having more than one arrow in your cartomantic quiver is that you have choices as to which one to bring to the target. The disadvantage is that you have to choose. My main reading tool from 1972 until 2012 was the tarot, and specifically the Thoth deck. But when I … Continue reading Shootout: Tarot vs. Lenormand
Learning
A “Counting Round” Example Reading
Rather than doing a new reading to test my ideas on card-counting with my "Knights' Crossing" spread, I decided to apply them to the "Mueller's Madness" reading I did yesterday. All images copyright Lynne Boyle The five-card line derived from the 3x3 square was Book-Man-Mice-Clover-Fish, which I would read as "The individual who is the … Continue reading A “Counting Round” Example Reading
Counting Round: A Step Beyond
In re-reading Caitlin Matthews' book The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook, I became reacquainted with the technique of "counting round" the cards in a layout in fixed increments from the significator or topic card. This creates an additional narrative path that Matthews suggests can be read as a separate line, after interpreting the pattern in the … Continue reading Counting Round: A Step Beyond
Mueller Madness
Washington DC is practically foaming at the mouth over the projected release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report within the next few weeks. The fact of the matter is that, unless criminal indictments arise from Mueller's document, it isn't likely to be made public. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/you-may-be-disappointed-mueller-report-n971601 I decided to do a Lenormand reading using my "Knight's … Continue reading Mueller Madness
Deja Vu All Over Again
A forum post this morning got me thinking about which Lenormand cards might indicate a series of identical events. The discussion centered on the Ring as a possible indicator, since it can show a recurrence, but it doesn't strike me as an inherently iterative card. I might see it as repetitive in the sense of … Continue reading Deja Vu All Over Again
A Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down Example Reading
I put the unsatisfactory reading I did yesterday through my new "dead or alive" model as a test case, using the Joie de Vivre tarot. The situation involved a young girl in Connecticut who went missing in 1973 while riding her bike a short distance from home. She went to retrieve an item that she … Continue reading A Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down Example Reading
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down: A Missing-Person Subroutine
Yesterday while performing a missing-person reading on a young girl, I came upon an implausible scenario that pointed out a flaw in my spread methodology. I presently have two spreads to examine these situations. One is more locational, asking "Where is X?" while the other attempts to answer "What happened to X?" The second one … Continue reading Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down: A Missing-Person Subroutine
Wall-eyed Whinging*
*from an Old English verb, "hwinsian," which means "to wail or moan discontentedly." As I continue to explore the "build it as you go" approach to positioning a topic card in a small Lenormand spread, I decided to tackle the subject of what is likely to happen with Donald Trump's border wall. I selected the … Continue reading Wall-eyed Whinging*
Tools of the Trade
Yesterday I was talking to Maria Kay Simms, whose publishing house, ACS Publications, produces many astrological reference works such as the American Ephemeris series and the American Atlas. I asked her how many people still hand-calculate charts in the computer age, and mentioned that I haven't done so in decades. She replied that those who … Continue reading Tools of the Trade
The Node Knows
The last time I thought seriously about the lunar nodes - apart from my study of traditional astrology - was in 1985, when astrologer Robert Hand made a statement at a lecture in Belmont, MA that "the nodes mean connections, period." By this he meant connections (North Node) or, alternately, separations (South Node) between people. … Continue reading The Node Knows
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 