Abundance or Absence by Card Type: Feast or Famine in Tarot Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Judging from the amount of dialogue about it on the internet tarot sites, there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the consequences of receiving multiple cards of the same type (number, suit, rank, etc) in a spread. Many of the key historical figures in the tarot world (Waite, Crowley, Mathers and others) … Continue reading Abundance or Absence by Card Type: Feast or Famine in Tarot Reading

Reversed Court Cards: Perverse or Preoccupied?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I recently came across an opinion in the tarot literature that a reversed court card in a spread will typically highlight the negative character traits of an individual when that card stands for another person who is involved in the situation and not a psychological or universal/spiritual concept. Given my nuanced approach to … Continue reading Reversed Court Cards: Perverse or Preoccupied?

“Transparent Luminosity” in Tarot Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Last night I dreamed that I was discussing with someone the unforgiving nature of watercolor painting, and when I awoke I drew parallels between that and the conduct of a tarot reading. I've had some formal training in the art of watercolor, and one thing that stuck with me is that, unlike tempera … Continue reading “Transparent Luminosity” in Tarot Reading

The “Scattershot” Spread: Shotgunning the Tarot Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I sometimes encounter people online who will only read a random cluster of cards with no formal spread positions. I've created a few layouts that embrace that kind of neutrality and here is the latest one, although it goes from scattered to structured in three operations. It owes its premise to two-thirds of … Continue reading The “Scattershot” Spread: Shotgunning the Tarot Reading

A Case for Tarot Divination (with Insights on Self-Reading)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: While reading Michael Snuffin's The Thoth Companion, I encountered one of the most lucid explanations of the goals and methods as well as the advantages of performing divination with the tarot cards that I have ever seen in print. I'm summarizing it here since so much of it agrees with my own beliefs. … Continue reading A Case for Tarot Divination (with Insights on Self-Reading)