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Barley's Take on Tarot . . . etc.

A blog by Barleywine in Member Blogs

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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

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
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Tarot Symbolism

"Split-Level Tarot" - A Layered Approach to Reading

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve touched on this subject in written form on several occasions in the past, but this time I’m illustrating it with an annotated image for a specific example, and also applying it to an unconventional analysis of the Tower card. (All cards shown are from the Thoth Tarot, copyright of US Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT.)   Split-level architecture – exemplified by the “raised ranch” – was a popular North American house design in 1950s suburbia: “rec-room” in the finishe
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Tarot Symbolism

"Prediction Bias" in Tarot Reading

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Lately, online pundits who are pushing a psycho-sociological agenda have been all over the topic of “bias” in human relations: confirmation bias, cognitive bias, affinity bias, attribution bias, conformity bias, gender bias, etc. It has me thinking that maybe tarot needs another label: “prediction bias.”   There is already a framework for it in two assumptions: the idea that there are cards that typically say “yes” or “no,” and others that are noncommittal, amended by th
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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
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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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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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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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