A Simple Event-Timing Spread

Accurately  foretelling the time-frame for an anticipated event is the second of the "Three Great Challenges" facing any diviner. The primary focus of a predictive reading is obviously "whether" the event is going to happen at all; next comes "if yes, when?" The question of "where" is a distant third, usually overshadowed by secondary considerations …

Taking the Pulse

As an online essayist, I try to stay abreast of which blog posts attract the most attention so I can continue to pursue similar topics  in my work. WordPress archival statistics don't seem to be flexible enough for a real-time, on-demand roll up and ranking of the individual posts or categories that have drawn the …

Why Waite? Why Now?

After a couple of recent conversations with what I can only think of as "traditional tarot snobs" (which is not necessarily a bad thing, it was just painfully obvious that I was talking to a wall), I decided to revisit my opinion of the Waite-Smith deck (if only because the traditionalists damn it so vehemently). …

A “Triple-Decker” Mind/Body/ Spirit Example Reading

I performed this spread to project my own circumstances over the next six months, using the Waite-Smith Centennial Pocket Edition with reversals. I deliberately chose a scenic deck for its "facing" possibilities, but the spread can be used with non-scenic decks like the Tarot de Marseille by using the odd-or-even directional model mentioned in the …

The “Triple-Decker” Mind/Body/ Spirit Six-Month Life Reading Spread

I have a strong interest in tarot spreads that function on multiple levels, particularly of the "mind/body/spirit" type. This is my second three-tiered spread to explore that territory, this time using "facing" and dispensing with the astrological correspondences. This one is developmental in nature, offering a six-month forecast, rather than a real-time "snapshot." Here is …

A Small-Spread Overview

In my own practice, I consider any spread of five cards or fewer to be "small."  I find  anything in that range to be of little  use in complex scenarios with numerous variables that often have their most telling influence from behind-the-scenes. A small layout leaves a lot unsaid "between the lines" (that is, in …

“How Long, How Long”

In 1928, Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell recorded one of the first blues "standards," How Long Blues, with the lyrics: "Heard the whistle blowin', couldn't see no train Way down in my heart, I had an achin' pain How long, how long, baby how long" What, you're asking, does this random piece of music history …

An American Football Prediction: Super Bowl LIV*

UPDATE: Since the 49ers won the coin  toss but chose to defer possession to the 2nd Half, the Chiefs took first possession of the football and therefore got the top row of the spread as Team "A." As predicted, Team "A" did in fact blow the game open with three touchdowns in the 4th quarter, …

Cartomantic Snobbery?

The snooty elitism of wine snobs is well-known. Much of their recondite vocabulary speaks of properties that apply to anything but fermented grapes. To be fair, I have come to the conclusion that some red wines do present the fanciful and not-entirely-agreeable sensory impression of "raisins" or the slightly more desirable "black currants" in both …

A Star to Steer By

Old wine in new bottles . . . Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will no doubt have noticed that I tend to recycle certain ideas that have become almost axiomatic for me, and I trot them out whenever the occasion warrants it. There are a couple here but …