AUTHOR'S NOTE: A couple of years ago I performed a careful analysis of the Waite-Smith tarot to determine which cards express some kind of active movement. In the end I came up with five Major Arcana, six court cards and ten Minor Arcana as indicators of either acceleration or deceleration in a querent's affairs. (All … Continue reading Range of Motion: An Action-Driven Reading Matrix
Tarot
The “Third-Party” Reading and the Boomerang Effect
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Arguably the most common question put to the tarot after "Does my ex want to come back to me?" is "What does Joe or Mary think or feel about me?" (A bit of wry humor there: inquiries about the mental state of a prospective love interest far exceed those exploring possible reconciliation with … Continue reading The “Third-Party” Reading and the Boomerang Effect
The High Priestess: Secrets Waiting to Pounce
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I began reading Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot a while ago but soon gave up because I found that it departed too drastically from my long-standing Hermetic approach to the Major Arcana. But I recently realized that the passages I objected to were inspired by Chinese cosmology and not by the tenets of Western … Continue reading The High Priestess: Secrets Waiting to Pounce
The “Spiritual Tribunal” Astral Contact Spread
AUTHOR'S NOTE: All of the spirit-contact methods I'm aware of assume that we're going to encounter precisely the entity we're seeking (ancestor, god-form, elemental figure, spirit guide, etc.) whenever we ask. But I've never been convinced that disembodied beings are lurking at the threshold of the Astral Plane, just waiting for us to reach out, … Continue reading The “Spiritual Tribunal” Astral Contact Spread
Why Bother? The Case for Tarot Timing
AUTHOR'S NOTE: When it comes to divination, I have little interest in modern philosophical or scientific theories about the elastic nature of time. My aim is to help my clients understand (and therefore withstand) their circumstances; such academic hypotheses add nothing to the outlook and only serve to complicate it. Events occur in "real time," … Continue reading Why Bother? The Case for Tarot Timing
Dysfunctional Brinkmanship On Display
UPDATE: There has been conjecture in the "court of public opinion" that Donald Trump's "calling out" of the unconscionable profits being reaped by health insurance companies from the Affordable Card Act had a net positive effect in breaking the Senate's shutdown "logjam." I'm not convinced that it wasn't just the mounting stress on the public … Continue reading Dysfunctional Brinkmanship On Display
“Squishy” Tarot Reading
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not long ago I came across a post on one of the Facebook pages that railed against the current "state of the art" (if I may dignify it as such) in on-line tarot reading. The relevant part of the rant is worth quoting here: "I know intuition and the client's question/situation will influence … Continue reading “Squishy” Tarot Reading
Situational Precision in General Readings
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know there is an oxymoron in there somewhere (almost-but-not-quite Pink Floyd's "random precision"), but bear with me. General readings are not usually noted for their situational exactness, so I'm taking this "outside the box." When clients come to me for a reading they are usually experiencing some kind of distress, so I … Continue reading Situational Precision in General Readings
“Not What It Seems” – Cards of Deception, Delusion, Distraction and Distortion
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before I cover the subject of the header, I should mention the general belief that reversal of any card can redirect its upright meaning into unfamiliar byways and thus invite misapprehension. This is one of a host of related interpretations for reversal that I gathered a few years ago, specifically in the following … Continue reading “Not What It Seems” – Cards of Deception, Delusion, Distraction and Distortion
Tarot Timing By Number and Rank
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a unique timing method that uses reasonably expected and objectively determined target dates to zero in on the most likely span of time from the date of the reading to the proposed time of completion. The aim is to partially offset some of the exaggeration that can occur with most methods … Continue reading Tarot Timing By Number and Rank
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 