Missing-Person Update #2: Brandon

The case of Brandon Chicklis is progressing, with a young Massachusetts woman to be charged with his murder. No details of the investigation were provided, other than that he was allegedly murdered in her Ashburnham, MA home and dumped in New Hampshire. http://www.wmur.com/article/1-arrested-in-connection-with-killing-of-man-found-dead-in-rindge/22530232 The first three cards as interpreted in the original reading now come …

The “Barbarians at the Gate” RWS Storyboard

This is the second in a series of "storyboard" studies of the Minor Arcana cards of the Waite-Smith deck, this time examining the Wands. The quote in the title originated in Roman times, although modern readers will connect it more readily to the story of rapacious corporate greed portrayed in the book and movie of …

“A Minute Passed” – The Problem of Prediction

There is an old comedy sketch by Monty Python's Eric Idle that neatly lampoons the slippery art of predicting future circumstances and events. Although the subject of Idle's monologue is anticipatory sexual tension and not divination, the notion of waiting in vain for something to happen is all too familiar. "A minute passed. Then another. Then, another …

The “Boy-Meets-Girl” RWS Storyboard

The "boy-meets-girl" fairy-tale is one of the oldest (and perhaps now most irrelevant) cliches in the annals of romantic storytelling. It struck me that the RWS suit of Cups offers an almost pitch-perfect "storyboard" for the ups-and-downs often associated with these narratives, with a few added wrinkles to make it interesting. In this essay I …

The RWS Tarot as Storyboard

From Wikipedia: "A storyboard is a graphic organizer in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence." I think this definition  is a workable analogy for envisioning the "movie" of a querent's life as it unfolds into the future …

RWS, TdM and Lenormand Binning

I have now added searchable categories for my Waite-Smith, Tarot de Marseille and Lenormand-related posts and am beginning to populate them. These posts aren't as easy to chase down as the Thoth group because they are often tied to broader commentary, so it will take me some time to capture them. As before, use the …

My Thoth Material: Of Gold and Gorillas

I've long considered the Thoth deck by Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris to be the "gold standard" and the "300-pound gorilla" of the tarot world, and my blog is graced (or littered, depending on your level of tolerance for Crowley) with numerous dedicated posts and incidental references to it. I decided to create a category …

A Missing-Person Update: Brandon

I originally analyzed the disappearance of 20-year-old Brandon Chicklis in June, and noted that it didn't appear he was buried (he wasn't) but that he might be drowned (he wasn't that either). His body was later found on the side of a road in New Hampshire. https://parsifalswheeldivination.com/2018/06/30/where-is-brandon-a-missing-person-reading/ But this case continues to get more interesting, …

The “Needs Fulfillment” Relationship Spread

I don't know how this one escaped my initial push to post all of my spreads here. I created it back in 2016, but it has since been eclipsed by shorter, simpler spreads. Still, in going back over the guidance text, I find that it has value in more complicated situations, not all of which …

Tarot de Marseille: Built for Comfort, Not for Speed

"Some folk rip and roar, some folk b'lieve in signs But if you want me, you got to take your time Because I'm built for comfort, I ain't built for speed" Built for Comfort (Willie Dixon/Howling Wolf) There is something (well, actually 40 "somethings") about the Tarot de Marseill that eludes a facile approach to …