As much as I would love to be a highly successful tarot reader in a face-to-face professional environment (it's where I do my best work and offer the most value), I've come to realize that my true calling is undoubtedly as a writer. In all modesty, I haven't come across much modern writing on cartomantic … Continue reading An Inevitable Conclusion
Divination
So Mote It Be
My head is crammed with allusions this morning. The title refers to the Masonic, Rosicrucian and Neo-pagan benediction at the end of a ritual or prayer, where "mote" means "may" or "might." I'm thinking that "it might happen" is often the best we as diviners can muster when trying to fathom the likelihood of projected … Continue reading So Mote It Be
Mystics With Statistics
The title has a certain "ring" to it. This is another chapter in my ongoing inner debate over mysticism vs. empiricism. Warren Zevon once wrote a song called Desperados Under the Eaves that included the lines: And if California slides into the ocean Like the mystics and statistics say it will Although those mystics probably … Continue reading Mystics With Statistics
A Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down Example Reading
I put the unsatisfactory reading I did yesterday through my new "dead or alive" model as a test case, using the Joie de Vivre tarot. The situation involved a young girl in Connecticut who went missing in 1973 while riding her bike a short distance from home. She went to retrieve an item that she … Continue reading A Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down Example Reading
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down: A Missing-Person Subroutine
Yesterday while performing a missing-person reading on a young girl, I came upon an implausible scenario that pointed out a flaw in my spread methodology. I presently have two spreads to examine these situations. One is more locational, asking "Where is X?" while the other attempts to answer "What happened to X?" The second one … Continue reading Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down: A Missing-Person Subroutine
No Thanks, I’ll Pass
On dream analysis, that is. Last night I slept so soundly that I had an almost unbroken series of anxiety dreams, for no apparent reason. (The t-shirt lies!) These were so entertaining that I had to write them down and share them. First I was being pursued by a relentless but incompetent zombie who couldn't … Continue reading No Thanks, I’ll Pass
Original Kipperkarten: First Thoughts
I recently received the Original Kipper Wahrsagekarten from Germany and have been scouring the internet for information on its use. (I'm aware of Toni Puhle's book, The Card Geek's Guide to Kipper Cards, but the consensus seems to be that it is best used with her own deck.) Kipper is a system of cartomantic divination … Continue reading Original Kipperkarten: First Thoughts
Home of the Strange
Imagine an unhinged Frank Sinatra crooning: Home, home of the strange Where the seer and the astrologue play Where seldom is heard a Discordian* word And the skrys are not cloudy all day. (Sorry about that, Dr. Higley. And yes, Sinatra did record Higley's original in 1946) I finally have my reading space and occult … Continue reading Home of the Strange
The Skeptic’s Confession
It may surprise you to see an admission of skepticism in a post by the author of a divination blog. But in fact I'm doubtful about the legitimacy of much that currently passes for truth in the metaphysical scripture of the unseen. For example, I'm a non-believer in the "Law of Attraction," which as far … Continue reading The Skeptic’s Confession
The “Ivory Gambit” Spread
Lately I've become fascinated with using dice and tarot in combination to produce unique forms of divination. Here the gambit (opening move) is provided by rolling dice to identify four trump cards to serve as the basis for the reading. Those trump cards are then used to extract four sets of "reading" cards from which … Continue reading The “Ivory Gambit” Spread
