“Hot” Cards

Many of my ideas about Lenormand reading spring from my numerous fertile conversations on the Aeclectic Tarot forum with authors Andy Boroveshengra and Mary K. Greer before they both moved on - and then we all did. This one is no exception. I've written on this subject before (links below) but I wanted to sharpen …

An Experiment with Dominoes and Cards

Here is a two-phase spread that uses a normal shuffle and face-down deal of tarot or oracle cards to "set the stage" for the three-card reading and a random draw of dominoes to choose which cards to read. This turned out to be more complex than using dice for the selection step since any number …

Magic du Jour

I recently came across a discussion in the "r/occult" Reddit feed about something called "Gallery of Magic," which is apparently a series of books (reported by detractors to be dumbed-down grimoires full of angelic names in modern Hebrew) that purport to demystify (I would instead say "denature") ceremonial magic for today's instant-gratification crowd. As a …

An Experiment in “Symbolic Parallels”

Here is a 15-card spread that explores the notion that cards will complement one another according to the position they hold within the 78-card series, essentially creating pairs of "symbolic parallels." It is intended to show the querent's psychological orientation to the subject of the reading as it develops over time, from initial awareness to …

The “Double-Entry” Situational Bottom-Line Spread

I had intended to make this spread emulate a double-entry book-keeping ledger with a "credit" (profitable) side and a "debit" (less-rewarding) side, in which the "bottom line" would be a "zero-sum" proposition using the "quintessence" method. But the only way I could get a numerical zero out of it was to use the reversed version …

“Adjectivitis” – The Tarot Writer’s (and Reader’s) Albatross

I have to confess that the comma is my enemy, particularly when it is used to link an endless array of modifiers that would be best boiled down into a single compelling noun or trenchant adjective (for that matter, the more sophisticated semi-colon is at most a "friend with benefits" and not a faithful consort …

Do the “Loosen Up”

While writing my recent post about the the ability of the court cards to receive "inspiration and support from Above," I stumbled upon an epiphany that deserves further exploration. At the end of the essay I wrote: "I will continue to see tarot royalty as hobbled by their inability to “loosen up;” in practical reading …

“Co-divination” – Parallel Paths and Diminishing Returns

A common complaint of professional diviners is the persistent and occasionally aggressive client who asks the same question repeatedly, often without allowing the previous answer a decent chance to unfold, and expects a more agreeable outcome. The most annoying of these is the person who visits multiple readers with the same intent, and who isn't …

Half-Measures

Here's another tidbit from Paul Marteau's Tarot de Marseille book. In describing the "inverted" or reversed image of the Knight of Cups, he says "The power of the card is only reduced in half, being too active for the effects to be extinguished; there are delays or impediments." One popular assumption about reversed cards in …

Head to the Sky

I've resumed reading Paul Marteau's Tarot de Marseille book after a month's hiatus and immediately encountered another interesting idea. He mentions that the Knight of Cups is bare-headed and therefore "he is directly receiving inspiration and support from Above." In contrast, although Marteau doesn't elaborate further, it struck me that those members of the tarot …