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Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading Sunday December 14 -- Shabbat December 20, 2025

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   This week's reading will use the Motherpeace Tarot deck by Vicki Noble.   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:          How Can I Express Generosity:                                             XI                         Gevirah                      'Justice'  
Natural Mystic Guide
Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading Sunday December 7 -- Shabbat December 13, 2025

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   This week's reading will use the Tarot Illuminati by Kim Huggens and Erik C. Eunne.   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:          How Can I Express Generosity:                                             Five of Wands                  
Natural Mystic Guide
Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading Sunday 11.30 -- Shabbat 12.6.25

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   This week's reading will use the Guardian of the Night deck by MJ Cullinane.   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:          How Can I Express Generosity:                                             Ace of Wands                          
Natural Mystic Guide
Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading Sunday November 23 - Shabbat November 29, 2025

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   This week's reading will use the Ark Animal Tarot by Bernadette King.   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:          How Can I Express Generosity:                                         
Natural Mystic Guide
Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading November 16 - Shabbat November 22, 2025

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   This week's reading will use the Inner Child Cards by Isha Lerner and Mark Lerner; illustrated by Christopher Guilfoil.   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:          How Can I Express Generosity:                                       
Natural Mystic Guide
The taxonomy of decks of cards

The cradle of tarot (So many decks 2)

By the time playing card decks had become prevalent in Europe, the Kingdom of Sicily was the Korea of its time: There were two political entities claiming to be the real Kingdom of Sicily. This reminds us, that there was no unified Italy at the time. The old kingdom of Sicily split in 1282, and it wasn't until 1816 the two claimants reunited into one kingdom, the strangely named Kingdom of the two Sicilies.    North of these two rivalling southern countries, the Papal States (Holy See)
Scandinavianhermit
If You Ask Me----

More Gold Foil

I've been browsing the gold foil decks on Amazon. To my surprise I found that there are lots of them but they're all called Gold Foil so I just figured they were all the same.  I was wrong.  I've now ordered three more decks, all different patterns and trimmed with all different borders and backs.  These are spectacular decks so of course I'm collecting them now.  I can't help myself.  They're so mesmerizing that it's almost like they're alive.     The cards are very slippery so you ha
Grizabella
  • Grizabella in Tarot
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

The Reversed Seven of Wands: "Kneecapping" the Enemy

AUTHOR'S NOTE: When upright, the 7 of Wands represents "Valour" or extraordinary courage in the face of daunting odds. This is clearly reflected in the Waite-Smith version, which shows a harried warrior being set upon by six adversaries who have crowded him into a corner. At that moment in time he has yet to give an inch even though his prospects appear to be dim.   But all is not lost. He is holding the "moral high ground" as well as the tactical advantage (as any reading of US Civil
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Digging Deeper: Creative Consulting vs. Counseling

Here is another essay on the subject of professional tarot reading.   AUTHOR’S NOTE: While all tarot reading for other people is advisory in nature, some professional diviners possess the qualifications and credentials to counsel their clients in a therapeutic way, while those who don’t should be careful to remain within the bounds of informal “consulting.” I may bring decades of life experience, philosophical study and tarot practice to the table, but I lack the official certification to
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Force Over Form: Leveraging the Elements

AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Leveraging" is the act of pressing one's advantage in ways that optimize the benefit in practical terms; it's the concept behind the Biblical proverb of "moving mountains" with simple conviction and affirmation (aka "faith" but I don't subscribe to that concept, preferring to say that I'm a "man of certainty"). Here I will attempt to explain how it can be applied to our interaction with the elemental correspondences in tarot reading.   This act of will entails bri
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

The "Spiritual Tribunal" Astral Contact Spread

Here is one for the spiritual mystics and pendulum users to play around with.   AUTHOR'S NOTE: All of the spirit-contact methods I'm aware of assume that we're going to encounter precisely the entity we're seeking (ancestor, god-form, elemental figure, spirit guide, etc.) whenever we ask. But I've never been convinced that disembodied beings are lurking at the threshold of the Astral Plane, just waiting for us to reach out, nor are they necessarily sympathetic.   Here I'm postul
Barleywine
Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading Sunday October 12 - Shabbat October 18, 2025

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   This week's reading will use Whispers of The Tao by Dr. Ric Neo.   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:          How Can I Express Generosity:                                             Four of Cups                                     
Natural Mystic Guide
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Sensible Divination: Oh, My Stars and Cards!

This one goes a little farther afield. It's mostly for the astrologers here.   Those of a certain age will remember Bullwinkle Moose exclaiming “Oh, my stars and garters!” whenever something surprised him, and I certainly resemble that remark (chronologically if not semantically since a certain rude three-letter acronym now replaces such quaint language).   AUTHOR’S NOTE: When I began my esoteric journey as an astrologer in 1970, I was trained to see the birth chart as a stat
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

The "Pattern-Reader" Prevails!

Here is an admittedly biased discussion of professional reading style.   AUTHOR’S NOTE: As I approach the end of my re-reading of Paul Fenton-Smith’s Tarot Master-Class, I came across his view of the four types of professional tarot reader: the Mystic who endeavors to channel guidance from a spiritual source; the Nurturer who “just wants to help” and the Pattern-Reader who adopts a more deductive style when examining the cards in a spread, presuming that there is a message hidden in their
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Here's Looking at You! - Gaze as a Directional Indicator

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The concept of facing, gaze or regard has a long history of use with the Tarot de Marseille, although fans of more modern decks tend to disregard it.   Here is a spread that applies the facing and orientation of one of the 16 court cards to choose which of four 3-card sets becomes the reading scenario. It's important to select a deck in which the court cards exhibit a distinct regard that doesn't look straight out of the scene.   The standard RWS works we
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Refreshing the French Cross Spread

I've now been working with the tirage en croix (French Cross) spread for some time and have given it a functional "face-lift" that still avoids succumbing to the siren-call of psychological and esoteric interpretation. (I'm also a Lenormand reader and have gained considerable inspiration from its pragmatic focus.) This is my second effort to slightly repurpose this spread. AUTHOR'S NOTE: The five-card French Cross spread (traditionally known as the tirage en croix) is one of my favorite sma
Barleywine
Natural Mystic Guide

Tarot Netivot Star of the Week Reading Sunday October 5 - Shabbat October 11, 2025

Feedback -- Questions and comments are welcome.   This reading gives us insight into energies that we can focus on during specific days of the upcoming week as well as throughout the entire week as a whole   Today's reading will use the Connolly Tarot by Peter Paul Connolly and Eileen Connolly..   Here are focal points for our meditation:   Sunday:                How Can I Express Generosity?                                        Five of Pentacles       
Natural Mystic Guide
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Functional Spread Design

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In a previous essay I described topical readings aimed at exploring "department-of-life" conditions (romance, career, finances, health, education, etc.) as often involving a "functional" dimension that presents the seeker an opportunity to pursue; a situation to understand; an agenda to advance; a decision to make; a problem to solve; a crisis or conflict to manage; etc. I've been thinking about how spread design can best accommodate these factors.   I believe the
Barleywine
If You Ask Me----

Gold Foil Tarot

I got this deck just out of curiosity more than anything a couple years ago.  I didn't expect to like it or use it.  I've never liked the RWS even though I did finally use it when I was learning.  And plastic?  OMG no!   But once I got it, I had an awakening.  Yes, plastic! Yes, gold foil!  I really like this deck!  It comes in a very sturdy little box that has a magnetic closure and will fit in pocket, purse or backpack.  It's heavenly to shuffle once you get used to it.  It's beautif
Grizabella
  • Grizabella in Tarot
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

"Was It the Right Question?" - Incompatible Cards in a Reading

Here is a companion piece to my previous essay. AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m indebted once again to Paul Fenton-Smith for bringing another intriguing topic to my attention in his comprehensive book, Tarot Master-Class.   It happens more often than seems reasonable, especially if we assume that our attempts at divination are guided toward the truth: the cards in a spread will fail to come together in any kind of coherent narrative and instead present what a boss of mine once called a "mish-m
Barleywine
If You Ask Me----

Info in, Info out---Presto Change-o

This book is so interesting and full of information. I don't agree with everything but there's a lot of new (to me, anyway) stuff that I didn't know that will add to my store of knowledge that will eventually be there when I have occasion to need it.  Those are the kind of things that will just appear when into a reading.  The things you don't actually remember but that will float up from down deep when you're reading.   For anyone who doesn't know what I mean, I'll try to explain it. 
Grizabella
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Shifting Gears: The Multi-Phase Reading

I'm always interested in hearing how others read in a face-to-face setting (remote reading is another matter about which I have a few curmudgeonly opinions). The following is an explanation of the in-person methods I've developed over five decades of practice.   AUTHOR'S NOTE: From the day I first encountered it in 1972, I've followed Eden Gray's suggestion that we can disregard asking sitters (those who "sit" for a tarot reading) to tell us their specific question or concern prior to
Barleywine
Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

Cresting the Wave: A Case for Odd-Numbered Lines

Here is another, much simpler, spread for your consideration and use.   AUTHOR’S NOTE: When it comes to designing line spreads for tarot reading, I typically employ an even number of cards only in situations that require a choice between two options, or when invoking the four classical elements represented by the suits. One thing I learned from Lenormand reading is that an odd-numbered line will always have a “hinge card” or turning-point in the middle that serves as a catalyst pointing t
Barleywine

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