An “Ideal vs. Real” Credibility-Gap Spread

Here is a spread that attempts to come to grips with that age-old question: "What should I do with my life at this point in time?" It uses the archetypal qualities of the Major Arcana to "set the bar" for expectations, and a second full deck to show any gaps between the hypothetical "best case" …

An “On-Point” Alternative Choice Reading

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although the issue has already been settled in principle if not yet in fact, a client has reached a "tipping-point" in a major life decision and is seeking additional insight from an impartial Universe regarding the wisdom of a pending action that was chosen and is soon to be taken. I used my …

The “Persona & Shadow” Two-Deck Personality Profile Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've long felt that tarot reading is principally a storytelling art built on anecdotal assumptions rather than a deductively rigorous discipline. It is therefore not ideally suited to the analytical exploration of the human mind, neither the subjective navel-gazing kind nor the psychological profiling of other people. (Natal astrology already has that pretty …

The “Essential Insights” Personal Well-Being Spread

Here is a unique "mind-body-spirit" wellness insight spread that looks at aspects of personal well-being in four ways: the functional ability to manage health maintenance on a routine, day-to-day basis; the adaptive ability or resilience to cope with any occasional "off" days; the kinds of self-help or external intervention that might be considered to enhance …

Turkey-Day Football, 2022: Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions

UPDATE: The game was closer than expected: Bills 28, Lions 25. I didn't watch the game but reviewed the final statistics. As far as I can tell from the numbers, the Bills moved the ball more effectively than the Lions, especially on the ground, even though they suffered more sacks, penalties, punt turnovers and interceptions. …

The “Falling Into Conclusions” 3-Phase Process Development Spread

Here's some more fallout from my study of Etteilla; in his reading examples he talks about one card in a spread "falling into" another, and the meaning of both being modified by their interaction. This spread looks suspiciously like "Production Management 101," but I can see it being used for complex personal or group projects.

The “Crucible” Problem-Solving Spread: An Alchemical Approach

While thinking about using the Temperance card as a kind of "talisman" for my reading sessions (an adaptation of another of Alejandro Jodorowsky's ritualistic ideas), I decided to create a spread based loosely on alchemical principles, specifically Aleister Crowely's assumption that the vigorous interaction of Fire and Water release Air. The premise is that one's …

Trump Indictment: A Yes-or-No Reading in Two Parts

To test my archetypal "Yes-No-Maybe" template, I asked the question "Will Donald Trump be indicted for sedition due to allegedly encouraging insurrection in Washington DC on January 6, 2021?" This was before I learned that an indictment for Espionage Act violations may be even more likely because it is seen as an "open-and-shut" case (if …

The Three-Card Quintessence: A New Twist on an Old Idea

In The Way of Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky points out that the second half of the Tarot de Marseille trump-card series - both in its whole numbers and in its factored integers - progresses by addition of the Roman numerals with no subtraction needed (e.g. while the Devil is 10 + 5 [or X+V] = 15, …

“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 …