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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

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
Barleywine

Barleywine in Health-Related Spreads

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Tarot Symbolism

The Star As "Organic Nurturing"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: File under "Fanciful and Farfetched Philosophical Finagling." Forgive me for having a little fun with this one, but I just came across a remark in Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Master-Class about the Star bringing "nurturing" that sent me down this path.   A great deal has been written about the fact that the woman in the Star is pouring water concurrently into a pool and onto the adjacent bank, the metaphysical implication being that the scenario is one of two minds, the Un
Barleywine

Barleywine in Tarot Symbolism

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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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Tarot Symbolism

The Devil: A Vortex of Temptation, Seduction and Addiction

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Recent years have seen a trend in the tarot community to devalue or even neuter the negative implications found in traditionally difficult cards under the premise that “there are no bad cards.” Mary K. Greer once observed in an online conversation that this sanitizing isn’t entirely justified, and I agree.   The Devil is a perfect example. Many modern readers interpret it as offering abundant sensual stimulation at best (for example, an exciting and liberating week-end f
Barleywine

Barleywine in Tarot Symbolism

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Tarot Symbolism

The Colors of Compromise

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Along with pictorial iconography and suit-and-number theory, color symbolism plays a major role in our interpretation of the Tarot de Marseille cards, and some TdM authors have gone on at length about the significance of the different pigments used by 17th Century printers. I decided to stick my oar in the water.   The metaphysical implications of the primary colors Red (desire), Blue (emotion) and Yellow (intellect) are well-known to most students and practitioner
Barleywine

Barleywine in Tarot Symbolism

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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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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
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Barleywine in Professional Readings

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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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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
Barleywine

Barleywine in Spirituality & Magic

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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

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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Esoteric Tarot

Repurposing the Chaldean Decans for Tarot Reading

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I see quite a bit of interest here in the Chaldean decans. I've worked with them in ways that go well beyond the usual approach but didn't find a good fit for this material in the existing Forum topics.. The Golden Dawn’s alignment of the tarot cards with the astrological (aka “Chaldean”) decanates (36 ten-degree segments of the zodiac beginning on the Vernal Equinox) has intrigued me since I first picked up the tarot in 1972 to complement my practice of astrology, but I have
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Barleywine in Esoteric Tarot

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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
Barleywine

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
Barleywine

Barleywine in Reversed Cards

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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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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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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
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Barleywine in Esoteric Tarot

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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

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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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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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Tarot Symbolism

Court-Card Competence

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Conventional wisdom regarding the level of competence exhibited by the members of the tarot court is that the Kings have mastered their element while the Pages are utterly inexperienced, with the Knights and Queens falling somewhere in the middle.   The progression is assumed to be linear, but I just came across the idea that the Pages are blissfully ignorant and may not appreciate the risks, the Knights are worse off because they know just enough to be dangerous to them
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Barleywine in Tarot Symbolism

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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
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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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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
Barleywine

Barleywine in Tarot Humor

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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
Barleywine

Barleywine in Divinatory Methods

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