AUTHOR'S NOTE: When it comes to designing line spreads for tarot reading, I typically employ an even number of cards only in situations that require a choice between two options, or when invoking the four classical elements represented by the suits. One thing I learned from Lenormand reading is that an odd-numbered line will always … Continue reading Cresting the Wave: A Case for Odd-Numbered Lines
Tarot Spreads
“Attitudes and Behaviors:” A Themed Tarot Profile in Four Arcs
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread adopts my current view that the Major Arcana in a reading seldom show significant events in their own right, but rather overarching themes and environmental backdrops for the mundane conditions reflected in the court and pip cards. (During more than 50 years of practice I've encountered very few instances where major … Continue reading “Attitudes and Behaviors:” A Themed Tarot Profile in Four Arcs
Chains of Conjecture: A Multi-Path Decision-Making Method
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A single run of cards can be silent, inconclusive or even contradictory in its testimony when the querent is facing a "multiple-choice" dilemma within a decision-making scenario. This is where having two or more chains of cards to analyze as a group comes into its own. Each option offers a separate narrative regarding … Continue reading Chains of Conjecture: A Multi-Path Decision-Making Method
Confessions of a Spread-Fiend: An Unfashionable Opinion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There, I've said it again: I'm hooked on creating and using positional tarot spreads. Of course, those who believe tarot reading should be entirely open-ended and unstructured will never agree with me. Intuitive interpretation won't tolerate many strictures, but in my opinion it also doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the dependability … Continue reading Confessions of a Spread-Fiend: An Unfashionable Opinion
Syncretic Card Selection: Alternatives to the “Straight Deal”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In The Book of Thoth, Aleister Crowley discussed metaphysical syncretism as it applied to spiritual beliefs and practices across a wide range of ancient cultures, drawing parallels between them when it struck him as significant. At a more humble level, I employ syncretism ("the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions") in … Continue reading Syncretic Card Selection: Alternatives to the “Straight Deal”
An “Open Field” Tarot Tableau
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This array is a "prepared" layout that randomly selects 25 cards from the population of 78 to set up a more limited range of probable circumstances. It is an outgrowth of my extensive work with the Lenormand Grand Tableau spread. Once the 5x5 arrangement is established, a second step locates the "starting point" … Continue reading An “Open Field” Tarot Tableau
Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is common wisdom that tarot readers should stay well away from anything related to medical diagnostics and prescriptive health recommendations. But that doesn't mean the subject can't be broached in terms of general well-being, as in "What does my overall health forecast look like?" The following is entirely experimental and should be … Continue reading Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread
“Judgment Call” – A Decision-Making Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread tackles the premise that many decisions in life present a three-fold situational tableau: the transcendent level of higher wisdom at which the conscience operates; the conscious realm of thought where we try to apply logic (and often rationalization) to the matter; and the subconscious domain of purely emotional engagement. These dimensions … Continue reading “Judgment Call” – A Decision-Making Spread
Planetary Energies and the “Personal Power Profile”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After previously analyzing the nature of the pentagram as it is used in tarot imagery, I decided to create a tableau that brings it to bear on a "personal power profile" that can be used for self-awareness or to assess the character of another party to the matter in question. This layout should … Continue reading Planetary Energies and the “Personal Power Profile”
The “Ace in the Hole” Developmental Arc Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread is intended to show the development of an opportunity along the most favorable elemental lines. The "Ace in the Hole" card is a wild card that is dealt face-down and then aligned with the most advantageous path when it is turned face-up. The idea is to build a five-card reading around … Continue reading The “Ace in the Hole” Developmental Arc Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 