AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those who have been following this blog for the past nine years know that I take a dim view of overly impressionistic tarot reading because it banks on unalloyed intuition and poses the risk of subjective bias that can overshadow more objective interpretation, derailing the literal point-of-view and leaving it without a voice. … Continue reading Insight and/or Instinct: Finding the Middle Way
Tarot Opinion
The Diviner’s Art as “Pondering the Manner of Things in the Dark”
"Do you ponder the manner of things in the dark?"-from Glitter and Gold by Barns Courtney AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've occasionally summoned the Biblical phrase "through a glass darkly" when describing the tarot reader's quest for insight as one of murky supposition. Its a useful metaphor to ponder when a reading wanders too far from illumination … Continue reading The Diviner’s Art as “Pondering the Manner of Things in the Dark”
Common-Sense Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tonight I’m coming to you from the Viking Sky Mediterranean cruise ship in Barcelona, on which we’re traveling to Italy for a destination wedding. (I managed to connect on my iPad.) There is an intriguing notion in Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot that a tarot reading should not be obliged to portray future developments … Continue reading Common-Sense Tarot Reading
The “Medium” is Not Always the “Message”
". . . the media, not the content that they carry, should be the focus of study."- from a Wikipedia analysis of Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media The Extensions of Man AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been having an energetic but mostly unproductive online conversation about whether the cards in a tarot spread should be approached as a … Continue reading The “Medium” is Not Always the “Message”
Inviting Intuition into the House: The Vampire on the Threshold
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'll be in transit for the next week and I wanted to get this slab of absurdity out the door this afternoon even though it's breaking my rule of one post per day. File this one under "rhetorical raving" if you like; it's a bit over-the-top. Every time I encounter someone reading the … Continue reading Inviting Intuition into the House: The Vampire on the Threshold
Prediction, Projection or Presumption: Crossing the Line into “Hornswoggling”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It may seem that I'm constantly bashing intuitive guesswork when it is applied indiscriminately to interpretation of the tarot cards, but it's not just a grumpy traditonalist's private crusade. There is enough concern in the community over preferential bias in the form of subjective projection and speculative presumption to make it a worthwhile … Continue reading Prediction, Projection or Presumption: Crossing the Line into “Hornswoggling”
Further Thoughts on the Art of Tarot Spread Creation and Use
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A popular opinion among mystical tarot readers is that formal (aka "positional") spreads are too rigid and therefore hamper performance of the fluid, freestyle interpretation those practitioners favor. As a long-time creator of such spreads, I can confirm that it doesn't have to be that way. Pursuing their oracular muse, they prefer pulling … Continue reading Further Thoughts on the Art of Tarot Spread Creation and Use
Parsing the Past in a Celtic Cross Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before the Jungian tinkerers got hold of it, the original Celtic Cross spread had two positions that reflected the querent's prior circumstances, and these are still in use by many traditional readers. There is a popular belief that there is no point in having a "past" position in a tarot reading because the … Continue reading Parsing the Past in a Celtic Cross Reading
“Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)”
"We got to realize that ninety-nine and a half just won't doNo, got to have a hundred, oh yeah"- from the rhythm & blues song by Wilson Pickett AUTHOR'S NOTE: Today - for the third or fourth time in nine years - I've reached 100 consecutive days of posting on this blog, which is nowhere … Continue reading “Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)”
“Peace, Power and Openness:” A Tarot-Reading Mantra
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whenever I consider silently chanting an intention-and-protection spell prior to beginning a tarot reading, I'm reminded of the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost movie Hot Fuzz, in which Timothy Dalton played the leader of a creepy cabal of local activists whose members kept muttering in unison and in a morbid monotone "The greater good, the … Continue reading “Peace, Power and Openness:” A Tarot-Reading Mantra
