AUTHOR'S NOTE: Over the past few weeks I've offered a handful of spreads that include a fixed series of reversed cards in contradistinction to an equal number of upright cards. The idea is to identify an alternate path to the same objective that is less obvious in nature, symbolic of a detour into an unfamiliar … Continue reading Leveraging Reversals
Tarot Techniques
The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The premise behind this exercise is that the querent has something he or she would like to eliminate from present and future circumstances - it might be a difficult person or an unpleasant condition. This conjuration applies the cleansing agent of Mars as embodied in the Tower and the four most relevant "Mars" … Continue reading The “Purge of Mars” – A Banishing Sigil
The “Slice of Life” Structured Pull
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A question frequently posed by beginners to more seasoned tarot readers is "How do you pull the cards for a reading?" It's a legitimate request since the method of delivery determines which cards appear in the spread. I have always followed the advice of Eden Gray in her 1960 book The Tarot Revealed: … Continue reading The “Slice of Life” Structured Pull
Waking Hours: A Daily Draw in Three Acts
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I like working with "prepared" decks that let me create discrete layers of significance in a single reading. This typically involves splitting the deck into trump, court and minor-card sub-packs and dealing them separately. I'm also not a fan of the vague, single-card daily draw: "Today it's going to be wall-to-wall 10 of … Continue reading Waking Hours: A Daily Draw in Three Acts
The “Skirmish Line” Head-to-Head Conflict Resolution Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In ground combat, an expeditionary skirmish line exists when a sparse detachment of infantry faces a larger enemy force across contested terrain. This is not a pitched battle, a melee in which all available resources are thrown into the fray by both sides, but rather a "scouting, feinting, harrying or blocking" mission such … Continue reading The “Skirmish Line” Head-to-Head Conflict Resolution Spread
“Wang Hai’s Cattle”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While contemplating the Chinese legend of Wang Hai, who lost his livestock (not once but twice!) to jealous rivals in the kingdom of Yi, I decided to create a tarot spread that addresses this possibility in present-day terms. In the past I've used the upright or reversed orientation of the cards in a … Continue reading “Wang Hai’s Cattle”
“Home-Court Advantage” in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A staple of tarot reading is the "dual-path" spread that is intended to highlight the more auspicious of two choices for the querent's consideration. They come in many shapes and sizes (typically parallel rows or columns, and sometimes "forked" arrays) but are usually brief. Ideally, each path will be neutral before the cards … Continue reading “Home-Court Advantage” in Tarot Reading
Devil, Devil, Who’s Got the Devil?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sometimes you just know something fishy is going on but you can't put your finger on it where to look for it. Here is a spread that mimics the Clue motif (we recently attended the stage performance in Boston); it uses the Golden Dawn's method of deciding on a "significator" card, then dealing … Continue reading Devil, Devil, Who’s Got the Devil?
Pre-Reading Prep – “A Moment of Silence”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Questions come up frequently in the online tarot community regarding what, if any, special preparations experienced diviners make before they embark on a reading session. This is usually focused on spiritual practices like prayers, invocations or meditation; environmental considerations like lighting, seating and music; and "props" like crystals or incense. Around the time … Continue reading Pre-Reading Prep – “A Moment of Silence”
Randomizing and Shuffling: “Generating White Noise” and “Creating Order Out of Chaos”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In previous posts I've mentioned in passing that the purpose of the shuffle is not to randomize the cards but rather to subconsciously arrange them in the proper order to tell the story. Judging from the responses I received (or more tellingly, didn't receive) nobody really "got" what I was trying to say. … Continue reading Randomizing and Shuffling: “Generating White Noise” and “Creating Order Out of Chaos”
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 