AUTHOR'S NOTE: The typical way to read a line spread is as an unbroken sequence from one end to the other. I've found that this approach does not always reflect the "redirection" that can be caused by reversal of any of the cards. Here I'm proposing that reversal can cause a detour along the way, … Continue reading Diverging Paths: A “Detour-and-Intersection” Spread
Tarot Spreads
The “Peaks-and-Valleys” Landscape: A Five-Card Reading Matrix
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The most common way to read a tarot line spread is as an unbroken flow of cards from left-to-right (and typically from past to future) with occasional "bumps in the road" caused by less-fortunate or reversed cards. In my own practice, I first examine the whole layout, looking for peaks and valleys of … Continue reading The “Peaks-and-Valleys” Landscape: A Five-Card Reading Matrix
The “Exploded” Tarot Reading: Expanding the Narrative
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In previous posts I've explored different ways to tell "the rest of the story" when the cards pulled for the original spread don't produce a meaningful outcome. Here is another one. (I almost never rely on clarifiers, preferring a supplemental reading that picks up where the first one left off.) The spread uses … Continue reading The “Exploded” Tarot Reading: Expanding the Narrative
A Three-Factor “Mind/Body/Spirit” Well-Being Assessment
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread uses the location in one of three sub-packs of a pre-identified Significator card representing the querent or the issue itself. The structure is based on the three aspects of the Celtic "mind-body-spirit" triskelion. It is intended to be applied when a client feels uneasy about the matter at hand but can't … Continue reading A Three-Factor “Mind/Body/Spirit” Well-Being Assessment
The One-Card Draw as Thematic Stage-Setter
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my opinion, the one-card pull as a daily reading practice is relatively useless except as a way to show the environmental backdrop or atmosphere of the forthcoming 24-hour period. It is static and therefore can't effectively display potential developments in the situation unless we imagine (aka "intuit") them. However, I'm proposing another … Continue reading The One-Card Draw as Thematic Stage-Setter
“Which Way Will It Go?” – A Situational Vector Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When confronted with a situation that can take one of several different paths as it plays out, seekers typically look to "get a leg up" on which way it's going to develop so they can establish a suitable position. Here is a spread that uses a "prepared" tarot deck that is segmented according … Continue reading “Which Way Will It Go?” – A Situational Vector Spread
Intention and Reaction: Putting Tarot to Work
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Poking a little further into the practice of setting a conscious intention when shuffling and pulling the cards, here is a spread with two parallel five-card lines, one with purposely-chosen cards to convey the querent's stated goals regarding the topic of interest and the other with a randomly-drawn series to show the reaction … Continue reading Intention and Reaction: Putting Tarot to Work
The “Quantum Theory” of Tarot Reading
“All around me golden sunflakes/Settle on the ground.”- from Granchester Meadows by Pink Floyd AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was just reading a fascinating description of the behavior of visible light from a quantum physics perspective. Luminosity has been portrayed by scientists as quasi-particulate in that it is transmitted and received in "packets" of massless particles called … Continue reading The “Quantum Theory” of Tarot Reading
Purposeful Divination
AUTHOR NOTE: I was answering a question on one of the occult forums regarding what kind of magic I've found most effective, and I came up with the following response. Although I haven't performed any ritual magic since the mid-1980s, I realized that I now pursue what might be called "purposeful divination" as a form … Continue reading Purposeful Divination
General Life-Reading As “Logic Puzzle”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a common practice, when a client arrives for a reading with no specific question or topic of interest in mind, for the reader to offer a "general life-reading" that explores the environmental theme or tone of the period for which it is performed. Some argue that this type of prediction is of … Continue reading General Life-Reading As “Logic Puzzle”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 