This isn't a spread per se, it's a simpler substitute for the initial step of the "First Operation" of the Golden Dawn's Opening of the Key method. Instead of separating all 78 cards into four stacks and finding the Significator, only sixteen cards including the Significator are selected for the matrix, four in each elemental … Continue reading “In the Court of the Crimson King” 3-D Elemental Matrix
Tarot
Cold Reading Then and Now
"Cold-reading" is an interesting subject; it seems to mean something entirely different now than in the past. In my own experience, it used to describe reading with zero prior knowledge or information, simply drawing insight from the cards or other tools of divination with no preliminary "warm-up" clues from the sitter. But it now implies … Continue reading Cold Reading Then and Now
“Is this love, or is it just confusion?”
Jimi Hendrix could have been channeling a dysfunctional 2 of Cups when he wrote the lyrics to "Love or Confusion:" Oh my head is pounding pounding Going 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round Must there always be these colors? Without names without sound? My heart burns with feelin' but Oh but my mind is … Continue reading “Is this love, or is it just confusion?”
Hangin’ Out
It has always seemed to me that the Hanged Man gets a bad rap. After all, patience is a virtue and in my experience the “sacrifice” almost universally applied to interpretation of this card often means relinquishing time or initiative rather than irretrievable loss of anything more concrete. Inaction can even be the most prudent … Continue reading Hangin’ Out
“Double Whammy” Yes-or-No Sample Reading
I performed a test reading with the "Yes-or-No" spread posted earlier, using the Fournier Tarot de Marseille. I asked a simple question about whether an upcoming activity would turn out well. (Note that where the cards are bi-directional, I consider them to be upright). Card #1: 10 of Cups - Cups = Yes; Upright = … Continue reading “Double Whammy” Yes-or-No Sample Reading
The “Double Whammy” Yes-or-No Spread
This is an intense little spread that is more complicated than it looks. It uses only the 56 suit cards and also two standard dice, and is designed around the astronomical Earth-Sun-Moon cycle. The waxing lunar cycle builds toward "Yes" and the waning cycle fades toward "No." The idea is to first lay out the … Continue reading The “Double Whammy” Yes-or-No Spread
The “Fool’s Insight” Spread
This spread uses the Fool card from a second deck as a kind of impartial observer of the situation described in the reading. It represents an archetypal Inner Fool “holding up a mirror” ( the cards in the spread) to reflect the querent's wisdom or folly in the matter at hand. The idea for the … Continue reading The “Fool’s Insight” Spread
Location is Everything
As most experienced tarot readers know, the cards are less than stellar at identifying where an event forecast in a reading is likely to take place. Locations determined solely from the images are often far afield from the reality of the querent's circumstances. A related question is where a missing item has concealed itself. I … Continue reading Location is Everything
The “Truth vs. Lies” Conflict-Resolution Spread
This spread weighs whether the true or false aspects of the querent's situation and environment will have the upper hand in determining who comes out on top in a conflict. (As I like to say when performing divination, "The good guys don't always win.") It has the feel of a "trial by combat" to it. … Continue reading The “Truth vs. Lies” Conflict-Resolution Spread
The “Spirit Contact” Communication Spread
This is an odd one inspired by discussions on the Aeclectic Tarot forum about using tarot cards to contact ancestral spirits. It takes into account the hazards of invoking the Lower Astral plane when indiscriminately opening oneself up to unfiltered psychic influences. P7D-Ancestor Spread
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 