The “Onion of Revealing” Situational Well-being Spread

It does look a bit like an onion, doesn't it? But the idea behind the title is that situational well-being in any state of affairs can have both an "inner" and an "outer" dimension, with the reader's task being to peel back the layers to get at the heart of the matter. Something that seems …

“Tell Me Something I Don’t Know”

I've heard those words, preceded by a slightly petulant "I already knew that," out of my sitters' mouths more times than I care to remember. I'm always baffled by people who, seeing plainly that the tarot is capable of accurately describing a past that is unknown to the reader, can be so unenthusiastic about giving …

The “Build It As You Go” 3-Card Vignette

My aversion to very small spreads is well-known; in most cases, even three cards don't do much for me. However, I often find ways to extract meaningful subsets from larger patterns, especially if there are compelling indicators bringing them to my attention. The "cross" section of the Celtic Cross spread with its "past-present-future" triplicity is …

The “Mole’s-Eye View” Event-Horizon Spread

I'm not a fan of spreads that have no specific meaning for each card (also known as non-positional spreads). Speaking strictly for myself, I think they can leave the reader groping for relevance and potentially taking far too long to come to closure on a reading if the goal is to be diligent about providing …

Invoking or Evoking? A Case for Spirits

As I often say, I'm "devoutly nonreligious" in every orthodox sense but I do believe a persistent, non-human (or superhuman) primal intelligence, and maybe even a subordinate hierarchy of lesser spirits, inhabits the subtler realms of existence, and that we can communicate with it (or them) if we actively develop the sensitivity. (Before I get …

A “Simple Yes-or-No Spread” Update

I don't do many yes-or-no readings because I think the tarot is more effective at telling stories. But today we had a contractor scheduled to come and hydro-seed our new lawn, and they hadn't arrived yet as of 10:00 AM. Because contractors in our area can be notoriously hard to pin down to a commitment, …

Utility, Overkill or Elegance: A Spread Designer’s Dilemma

"Once upon a time there were three bears . . . oops, I mean tarot spreads that lived in a binder on my bookshelf. There was a great big 'father' spread, a middle-sized 'mother' spread and a tiny 'baby' spread. One was too large and hard and one was too small and easy but the …

A “Two Paths” Example Reading

The Question: "What is the best way to approach local metaphysical (formerly "New Age") shops about getting card-reading gigs at their establishments? The Deck: Conver Ben-Dov (CBD) Tarot de Marseille All images copyright U.S. Games Systems, Inc, Stamford, CT This reading will test both the spread and my provisional TdM "pip" card meanings. The court-card …

The “Two Paths You Can Go By” Decision-Making Spread

Popular culture is often a goldmine of spread ideas and titles. In this case, the line "Yes, there are two paths you can go by" from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was tailor-made for a decision-making spread. After completing my "pips" cycle of essays, I decided to create a spread specifically for "pips-only" use. This …

Bursting the Bubble

The bubble I'm talking about isn't the thin membrane of false assumptions and wishful thinking that begs to be pierced by way of earnest but unsolicited advice ("I hate to burst your bubble, but . . .), it's the veil of semi-secrecy that many of us as diviners operate behind for most of our days. …