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About this blog

A blog for all things related to divination, but mainly for my tarot, Lenormand and horary astrology writing and personal spreads culled from my external blog listed in the Links Directory.

 

Entries in this blog

Reversed Cards

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

Barleywine in Reversed Cards

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Professional Readings

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

Barleywine in Professional Readings

15
Esoteric Tarot

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

Barleywine in Esoteric Tarot

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Divinatory Methods

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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Professional Readings

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

Barleywine in Professional Readings

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Divinatory Methods

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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Tarot de Marseille

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
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Barleywine in Tarot de Marseille

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Divinatory Methods

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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

"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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

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
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

"Attitudes and Behaviors:" A Themed Tarot Profile in Four Arcs

I do very little psychological profiling with the tarot (that's what natal astrology is for) and no mind-reading if I know that's what the querent is after, but here is a new spread that shows promise in that regard.   AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread adopts my current view that the Major Arcana in a reading seldom show significant events in their own right, but rather overarching themes and environmental backdrops for the mundane conditions reflected in the court and pip cards. (During more th
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

Chains of Conjecture: A Multi-Path Decision-Making Spread

Back to business. Here is another new spread, this time for "multiple-choice" decision-making scenarios. AUTHOR'S NOTE: A single run of cards can be silent, inconclusive or even contradictory in its testimony when the querent is facing a "multiple-choice" dilemma within a decision-making scenario. This is where having two or more chains of cards to analyze as a group comes into its own. Each option offers a separate narrative regarding the likelihood of success, effectively creating a
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

Confessions of a Spread-Fiend: An Unfashionable Opinion

On to a related subject: positional tarot spreads. I suspect many will part ways with me here. AUTHOR'S NOTE: There, I've said it again: I'm hooked on creating and using positional tarot spreads. Of course, those who believe tarot reading should be entirely open-ended and unstructured will never agree with me. Intuitive interpretation won't tolerate many strictures, but in my opinion it also doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the dependability of its vision. It's entirely too subj
Barleywine

Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Divinatory Methods

"He's Gone to Plaid!" - The Danger of Over-analyzing

“They’ve gone to plaid!” — Barf (John Candy) to Lone Star (Bill Pullman) as Spaceballs One overshoots their interstellar Winnebago in Mel Brook’s Star Wars parody, Spaceballs.   AUTHOR’S NOTE: An author I’m presently re-reading holds the opinion that sticking with one or two definitions for a tarot card is “lazy” when a wide range of meanings is possible in any situation, and it can result in what he describes as “under-interpretation” that can fail to identify important issues. Having
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Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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Tarot Syncretism

Syncretic Card Selection: An Alternative to the "Straight Deal"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In The Book of Thoth, Aleister Crowley discussed metaphysical syncretism as it applied to spiritual beliefs and practices across a wide range of ancient cultures, drawing parallels between them when it struck him as significant. At a more humble level, I employ syncretism ("the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions") in the development of tarot spreads that use more than one divinatory method to arrive at an answer: cards and dice; cards and dominoes; c
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Barleywine in Tarot Syncretism

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Tarot Humor

A Tarot Conversation with Myself

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This one is just for fun! (Well, maybe there’s an uncomfortable truth or two and a little sarcasm mixed in with the merriment . . . ) Me the Inquisitor: “Why do you read the tarot cards?” Me the Mad Scientist: “I want to get under the skin of objective reality and see what makes the Universe tick.” Me the Hedge-Mystic: “Because they’re there?”   Me the Inquisitor: “How does tarot work?” Me the Mad Scientist: “It’s a function of the subconscious mind that taps
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Barleywine in Tarot Humor

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Tarot de Marseille

"Grounding the Archetypes" - A Three-Card Daily Draw Spread

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just encountered the idea that whenever we receive a Major Arcana (aka "trump") card in a reading, we should immediately pull another card to describe its practical (as opposed to its universal or spiritual) significance for the querent's future. I'm no fan of using clarifying cards in my work, but I can see how this premise might be adapted for a "daily-draw" inquiry (or other simple, short-range prediction) that uses the full deck.   My current approach to the trump
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Barleywine in Tarot de Marseille

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Reversed Cards

Reading Reversals: "Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun"

On a par with my dim view of the social-media take-over of tarot reading, reversal has been one of my favorite topics over my last eight years of blogging. Here it is again, and I know many here have opinions on the subject. AUTHOR'S NOTE: "You're missing half the fun" is one of my favorite rebuttals for those who avoid reading reversals because they find the practice unnecessary, inconvenient or confusing. (My title alludes to the old Doublemint gum commercial.) But, unless we delibe
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Barleywine in Reversed Cards

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Health-Related Spreads

Zones of Vulnerability: A General Well-Being Spread

Here is one that has received a lot of favorable "buzz" in the other places I've posted it. AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is common wisdom that tarot readers should stay well away from anything related to medical diagnostics and prescriptive health recommendations. But that doesn't mean the subject can't be broached in terms of general well-being, as in "What does my overall health forecast look like?" The following is entirely experimental and should be viewed accordingly.   Here is a spread
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Barleywine in Health-Related Spreads

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Divinatory Methods

"Judgment Call" - A Decision-Making Spread

I decided to put this here rather than in spreads since it has quite a bit of explanatory text to it. Also. not everyone is familiar with (or uses) the "quintessence" or "numerical essence" calculation, AUTHOR'S NOTE: This spread tackles the premise that many decisions in life present a three-fold situational tableau: the transcendent level of higher wisdom at which the conscience operates; the conscious realm of thought where we try to apply logic (and often rationalization) to the m
Barleywine

Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

9
Spirituality & Magic

Spiritual Housekeeping: "Releasing" and "Banishing"

Here is something completely different.   AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was conversing with someone online who is apparently dealing with an "earthbound spirit" in the house, one that is feeling a bit annoyed about being "stuck" although to date there have been no outward signs of this, just a general atmosphere of psychic malaise. My suggestion was that perhaps some kind of "releasing" (or even "banishing") ritual is in order. I fully expect to be asked for recommendations, so I thought I would organ
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Barleywine in Spirituality & Magic

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Tarot Symbolism

Death As . . . Well, "Death"

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I find it immensely revealing that, in historical tarot decks like the Tarot de Marseille, the Thirteenth Arcanum (“Death” in our less-superstitious age) was typically left untitled, embracing the principle of sympathetic magic that if we don’t name something, we can pretend that it has no power over us.   Modern interpretation has added layer-upon-layer of deflection to that “avoidance” tactic with the same goal in mind (suppressing or obfuscating the obvious): “Oh, it
Barleywine

Barleywine in Tarot Symbolism

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Professional Readings

"The Compleat Solarian" - A Lesson Learned

AUTHOR’S NOTE: File under “Every card has both positive and negative meanings.”   It is generally assumed that the Sun is an entirely favorable card that bodes no evil; even when reversed it suggests a “passing cloud” rather than a gloomy long-range forecast. But there is another way to look at it.   I recently performed a professional reading for a client who was facing a bureaucratic gauntlet of reviews and approvals and wanted to know how it would fare. The upright Sun was
Barleywine

Barleywine in Professional Readings

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