The “Five C’s” Conflict-Resolution Spread

This spread applies my expanded interpretation of the "crossing" card as used in a Celtic Cross reading. I treat it not so much as a "problem" card as it is a "major motivator," which can represent either a challenge or an opportunity (and sometimes both at once). All cards are dealt face-up and reversals can …

The One-Card Draw as “Barometer of Well-being”

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A long time ago I lost interest and confidence in pulling a daily card to reflect the circumstances and events of the upcoming 24 hours. I found that it was simply too static and failed to offer much "breathing room" for the environment to evolve without bringing intuitive guesswork to bear on its …

The Three-Card “Tarot Sentence”

It has been proposed that the three-card line forms the basic "sentence" of tarot reading, and adding more cards to the series only augments but doesn't supersede the original narrative. Three cards in sequence can be read in a number of ways: as a traditional "Past/Present/Future" outlook; in the Hegelian sense of "Thesis/Antithesis/ Synthesis;" according …

Rethinking the Three-Card “Timeline” Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a recent post I gave a brief nod to the idea of scrapping the venerable "Past/Present/Future" three-card, left-to-right, timeline spread and replacing it with a more relevant sequence: "Present/Immediate Future/Extended Future." While examining prior events may be admissible in a large spread like the Celtic Cross where most of the emphasis is …

The “When” and “Where” of Prediction

While creating my "Magical Prescription" situational spread, I was struck by a new insight regarding the use of tarot to determine not only how, but also when and where circumstances or events might play out in a particular scenario. In the past, I've always considered the "when" to be a specific point in time and …

A “Magical Prescription” Situational-Management Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here I've applied a little "arcane lore" to the creation of a new situational awareness-and-management spread. The four positions could be read as the sequential milestones of a "winning strategy:" "Awareness," "Intention," "Action" (as in "taking your best shot") and "Discretion" (or not showing your hand too soon or in the wrong company). …

“Actions with Spirits”

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the title of a 16th-Century book by Dr. John Dee and the scryer Edward Kelly that is a seminal work of Enochian magic. Here I'm borrowing it to launch a discussion on using divination (principally the tarot) for contacting ancestors and other disembodied beings. Recently I've noticed an increase in interest …

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" …

The “Way of Wisdom” Mixed-Media Situational Development Spread

Here is a ten-card mixed-media (cards and dice) spread that can shift over time between action and inaction as the suggested "best" response to circumstances. Each of the five selected positions has a modifying card that can influence its expression (this is one of my few spreads that includes built-in auxiliary cards). The side-column that …

An Expanded Past-Present-Future Spread with Psychological Inferences

Here is an enlarged Past-Present-Future layout that places the standard three-card array within a matrix of psychological inferences derived from elemental associations. This approach adds substance and nuance to the situational outlook in the form of behavioral or attitudinal patterns that are either aligned with or indisposed toward the developmental scenario. If there is supportive …