Shortly after I returned to professional practice a couple of years ago, I had a client who sat down at the table and said briskly "Don't tell me any bad stuff!" I assured her that even the less agreeable insights that may arise in a tarot reading can be worked with creatively and constructively to … Continue reading Bad Stuff
Tarot
The “Bounce”
I'm delving into a subject here that may be difficult to grasp, so bear with me. Some of you - but not many, I'd wager, given the demographic of the tarot community - know what a "dead-blow" hammer (or mallet) is. It's a striking tool used in applications like metal-working, sculpting, wood-carving, cobbling, jewelry-making and … Continue reading The “Bounce”
Wait For The Ricochet
There is a 1970s hard-rock song by Deep Purple called Child in Time, replete with Ian Gillan's visceral moans and screams (remember "Primal Scream Therapy?"), with a verse that has me thinking about "outcome" cards. "Sweet child in time You'll see the line The line that's drawn between Good and bad See the blind man … Continue reading Wait For The Ricochet
Literal Tarot: The Book
I finally got around to compiling 100 of my self-designed tarot spreads and organizing them into a book of around 200 pages, give-or-take depending on how they translate into bound-book format. I'm shopping it around to small esoteric publishers right now. My forum mates on Aeclectic Tarot used to urge me to do it but … Continue reading Literal Tarot: The Book
The Literal Tarot
It sometimes seems to me that trying to learn tarot as a neophyte in the 21st Century is like stepping into quicksand with cement overshoes, especially when talking to those ad-hoc mentors who see intuition as the only reliable arrow in a reader's interpretive quiver. The idea that there is any kind of intellectual bedrock … Continue reading The Literal Tarot
Eden Gray: A New Age Icon
I thought I was going to have to do some prodigious legwork to write this post, but Mary Greer saved me the trouble with her informative blog article on Eden Gray. Read hers first, since summarizing her excellent research for my own purposes would be pointless: https://marykgreer.com/2008/03/27/eden-grays-fools-journey/ There was little in the way of popular … Continue reading Eden Gray: A New Age Icon
The Chrysalis Tarot: A Deck Interview
The Chrysalis Tarot is an unconventional deck that fascinates me, although I truly can't say why. I've had it for a couple of years, take it out once in a while to admire it . . . and then put it away. Certainly its quiet luminosity strikes a strong sympathetic chord in my artist's heart … Continue reading The Chrysalis Tarot: A Deck Interview
Where Is Patrick? – A Missing-Person Spread
This is the kind of "cold-case" situation I've decided to concentrate on. This young New Hampshire college student went missing in 1987, possibly in connection with a drug deal. http://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-unsolved-case-file-disappearance-of-patrick-merrill/19673486. I used my "Train To Nowhere" missing-person spread and the Tarot of Dreams, with reversals. I chose the Page of Swords as the Significator, https://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com/2017/07/31/the-train-to-nowhere-missing-persons-spread/ … Continue reading Where Is Patrick? – A Missing-Person Spread
A Miscellany of Cards
I have quite a few divination decks that I never use for any purpose other than admiring them as works of art. In order to become more familiar with them over time, I decided to perform an exercise here. On a periodic basis, I will randomly choose one of my decks and draw a card … Continue reading A Miscellany of Cards
A “Chaldean Mirror” Example Reading
I decided to test my "Chaldean Mirror" spread with a weekly rather than a daily focus. I found out Monday that I did in fact break a rib last week, so I wanted to explore what the upcoming week looks like for my physical condition. I used the Liber T, Tarot of Stars Eternal for … Continue reading A “Chaldean Mirror” Example Reading