One weakness of the traditional method of drawing from the top of the deck is that it leaves a large majority of the cards out of the running for selection. Although I trust the shuffle to bring the "right" cards to the top, I'm always looking for ways to enhance the credibility of the process. … Continue reading The “5:30” Mixed-Media Situational Development Spread
Tarot
The Avatars of Tarot Past and Present
This morning I was thinking about the various "tarot factions" that exist and how I might write about them in a fresh (and satirical) way. The timeline for tarot-card development is fairly well-known, at least in broad terms: early Italian decks were appropriated by French, Swiss and German cartiers for the "Marseille" and "Besancon" styles, … Continue reading The Avatars of Tarot Past and Present
An All-Purpose “One-on-One” Relationship Spread
Relationship questions are the "bread-and-butter" of professional tarot reading, but most of them relate to romantic matters rather than to the more routine type of interpersonal contact. Here is a spread that examines one-on-one connections of any kind from five different perspectives: 1) the overall health of the relationship, along with its condition from 2) … Continue reading An All-Purpose “One-on-One” Relationship Spread
The Golden Art Nouveau Deck Interview
The Golden Art Nouveau Tarot is a gorgeous Italian rendering of the the Pamela Colman Smith designs that makes excellent use of gold-foil accents and backgrounds. I decided to put it through my "deck interview" spread to see what it will divulge about itself in the way of a pseudo-psychological "personality profile." I don't actually … Continue reading The Golden Art Nouveau Deck Interview
The “Undoing”
I've mentioned that I've been reading Jonathan Dee's Fortune Telling Using Playing Cards. In it he describes a "Romany" method of reading that uses reversals (apparently old playing cards weren't double-ended so you could do that easily; now you have to mark them first). In his discussion of reversals he brought up a point that … Continue reading The “Undoing”
Is It . . . RWS, or RSW, or WS or SW (or How About KSW)?
As far as I can tell, the publishing house of Rider & Son hasn't been involved with the tarot deck of Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith in over a century (except perhaps as the seller of reproduction rights until US Games bought them); it is now published in something approaching its original form … Continue reading Is It . . . RWS, or RSW, or WS or SW (or How About KSW)?
Incremental Court Cards
As I continue my study and practice of playing-card divination, I'm gaining some insights into the nature and application of the court cards that can be readily integrated into my knowledge of the tarot courts. The main idea is one of the progressive or incremental unfolding of the hierarchical and numerical energy in human terms. … Continue reading Incremental Court Cards
A Further Refinement: Lunar Month Look-Ahead for July-August
All images copyright U.S. Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT The New Moon for July, 2020 occurred on the 20th of the month, 7/20/2020. After I pulled these cards for my monthly "Lunar Month Look-Ahead," I was thinking about numerologically-derived "birth cards" and "year cards," and was struck by the idea that a monthly "New Moon" … Continue reading A Further Refinement: Lunar Month Look-Ahead for July-August
Trump’s Fate: A “Friends-and-Enemies” Example Reading
I'm probably going to disappoint the Trump-haters again, but I try to "just read the cards" with these sociopolitical readings and not grind any axes. As a "third-party" (Libertarian) sympathizer who subscribes to the maxim "Government is not the solution, it's the problem," I like to put US politics under the tarot microscope. There is … Continue reading Trump’s Fate: A “Friends-and-Enemies” Example Reading
Weasel This!
There is a reasonable assumption that, due to its layered symbolism, any card in a tarot deck can mean almost anything within its broadly-construed conceptual range when encountered in a reading. This elasticity of context is limited only by the diviner's resourcefulness in "connecting the dots," and it could be argued that, in the interest … Continue reading Weasel This!
