“All The World’s A Stage:” A Three-Tiered Short-Term Development Spread

This spread illustrates my long-held opinion that the Major Arcana rarely show significant "big-deal"events in a short-term reading; they may create an environment conducive to such events but they seldom "pull the trigger" all by themselves. Instead, they provide an archetypal "stage-setting," "thematic backdrop" or "environmental prompt" for the situational drama delivered by the Minor …

“Intuition Pandering” (or “The Soft Underbelly”)

Alternate Subtitle: "I Don't Know What It Is, But I'll Know It When I See It" Intuitive truth, that is. For the last few years in these essays I've nibbled around the edges of what it means to read the tarot cards "intuitively," but only in the last few days has my grasp of the …

“So Many Words . . .”

Those four syllables were spoken (well, written) by tarot author and entrepreneur Marcus Katz during a recent online conversation about the symbolism that has been attached to the tarot cards since the advent of esoteric contemplation with Etteilla in the 18th Century. It came across as a slightly rueful acknowledgement of the monumental effort involved …

The “What-If?” Alternate Reality Lessons-Learned Spread

Yesterday I came across a question on the r/tarot sub-reddit asking whether we can put "what-if" questions to the tarot. For example, "What would have happened if I had made a different decision than the one that landed me where I am now?" An ideal specific subject might be "Where would I be in life …

The Long Shadow of Jung

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In retrospect, I probably should have titled this essay "Saving Tarot from Psychology" as mentioned in the last paragraph, but I decided to let the original title stand as more representative of the overall thrust. More to the point, I already have an earlier essay with that title. I'm greatly amused (I used …

The “Jodo’s Judgement” Situational Breakout Spread

The “syncretic” approach to esoteric study and practice has fascinated me ever since I first encountered Aleister Crowley's exhaustive and rather intimidating catalog of mystically-linked assumptions in The Book of Thoth, and in his even more relentless source material, Sir James George Frazer’s Golden Bough. I often combine ideas from more than one metaphysical discipline …

A Quick “Semi-Commercial” Soft-Sell

If you're new to this blog, this is just a quick reminder that it isn't monetized on the basis of "clicks." At least not by me. WordPress rides on my coat-tails and puts up ads, even though I have no say in them, never see them myself, and can't get rid of them unless I …

Tarot Taboos

This subject comes along with some regularity on the tarot forums and social-media pages, especially among new readers: "What topics can't (or shouldn't) we attempt to read with the cards?" My personal opinion is that almost any matter is fair game as long as the question is worded with finesse (although I do draw the …

Rachel Pollack: A “Best-Case Scenario” Reading

Author's Note: It may be presumptuous of me to do this without being asked, but those of us who have ever met Rachel are deeply concerned about her condition and I wanted to capture that interest in an appropriate appeal to the tarot. It seemed fortuitous that I have her Shining Tribe deck. UPDATE: This …

The “Gatekeeper and Keymaster” Best-Case Scenario Spread

The title of this spread comes from the two demonic characters ("Zuul" and "Vinz Clortho") played by Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis in the first Ghostbusters movie. The premise was rife with thinly-veiled sexual innuendo about the "gate" and the "key," but it seemed like a good basis for a tarot spread. The spread uses …