Rethinking the “Knights’ Crossing” Spread

UPDATE: This turned out to be a fascinating reading. The facility where the exams are performed has a new scanning machine, and the technician was both inexperienced and under-trained in its use. She botched the first set of scans even after making two attempts, and I had to sit for a third one when that …

The Psychology of Tarot

I often mention that tarot isn't especially effective for probing the psychology of an individual or a situation, such as occurs when we're trying to penetrate the thoughts and feelings of someone who isn't present at the reading. If Carl Gustav Jung hadn't laid the groundwork with his exploration of archetypes, I doubt the major …

Paired-Deck Reading #1: A Family Matter

A few of the Lenormand writers I follow have mentioned the practice of merging tarot or oracle cards with a Lenormand deck, usually by drawing a handful of cards from an alternate pack as a postscript to the Lenormand reading. I've never found this particularly useful, but lately I've been thinking how it might be …

The Thing About Oracles

I have to admit that I just don't "get" the current crop of oracle decks. I have several and a number of them are quite beautiful, but they don't really speak to me in any useful or meaningful way. The main problem, at least for me, is that each deck has its own unique system …

A Celtic Cross Health Reading

In yesterday's post regarding my upcoming physical examination, I mentioned that a follow-up Celtic Cross reading would be justified by the testimony shown in the preliminary five-card tarot line. I went ahead and did that using the Albano-Waite tarot, with reversals. All images copyright U.S. Games Systems, Inc, Stamford, CT In this context, the numerous …

Shootout: Tarot vs. Lenormand

One of the advantages of having more than one arrow in your cartomantic quiver is that you have choices as to which one to bring to the target. The disadvantage is that you have to choose. My main reading tool from 1972 until 2012 was the tarot, and specifically the Thoth deck. But when I …

“Yes, But . . . .” – A Cautious Take On Prediction

A woman wants to know if her husband is cheating on her. A man wants to know if his wife is going to file for divorce. A businessman wants to know if a proposed investment would be a wise move. A high-school graduate wants to know whether it would be best to go to college …

A “Counting Round” Example Reading

Rather than doing a new reading to test my ideas on card-counting with my "Knights' Crossing" spread, I decided to apply them to the "Mueller's Madness" reading I did yesterday. All images copyright Lynne Boyle The five-card line derived from the 3x3 square was Book-Man-Mice-Clover-Fish, which I would read as "The individual who is the …

Counting Round: A Step Beyond

In re-reading Caitlin Matthews' book The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook, I became reacquainted with the technique of "counting round" the cards in a layout in fixed increments from the significator or topic card. This creates an additional narrative path that Matthews suggests can be read as a separate line, after interpreting the pattern in the …

Mueller Madness

Washington DC is practically foaming at the mouth over the projected release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report within the next few weeks. The fact of the matter is that, unless criminal indictments arise from Mueller's document, it isn't likely to be made public. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/you-may-be-disappointed-mueller-report-n971601 I decided to do a Lenormand reading using my "Knight's …