Recently, James Ricklef asked several regular users of Tarot how they think giving readings with the cards actually works. He published the answers on his blog in two posts located HERE and HERE. In his posts he begins by sharing his own theory and that of Robin Wood. He also shares the beliefs of Rachel Pollack, Mary K. Greer, Thalassa, Julie Cuccia-Watts, Lon Milo DuQuette, Pamela Steele, Mike Hernandez, Joseph Ernest Martin, Robert M. Place, James Wells, Bonnie Cehovet, Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman, Lisa Hunt, Ferol Humphrey, Katrina Wynne, and myself (James even included a nice little drawing to make my theory clear). So here are 18 theories as to how the Tarot works,

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Debra Moffitt, author of Awake in the World and the new Garden of Bliss. Everyone wants to find happiness, but what if there is something deeper, something more lasting? Happiness is good. It's a wonderful feeling that comes from buying a new dress or eating an ice cream cone. It may be connected with having physical desires met, but happiness can be fleeting and temporary. Joy dives deeper and last longer. It touches into the spiritual and comes from within. Bliss is the ultimate harvest of spiritual life; it's an experience that transcends the physical and, according to wisdom traditions, it is our true nature. If you want to find that path

In a recent post, Psyche gives some excellent information on how to give a Tarot reading. Specifically, she advises that the information the reader gives should be presented in a manner that is useful to the person receiving the reading. This sounds like it should be elementary information—if the information presented in a reading isn't useful, it's basically meaningless data. However, Psyche's idea is actually a rather advanced concept. In fact, it is often one of the most challenging aspects of giving a Tarot reading. The reader has to give up being centered on himself or herself and turn all attention to the client. The reader, in seconds, has to determine how to best convey

This past weekend at the Readers Studio, I noticed that some of my fellow attendees are becoming very interested in Lenormand decks. They like that Lenormand gives very specific, very clear readings. Once familiar with the cards, which have specific meanings rather than a range of meanings like tarot, and the reading method, usually but not always the Grand Tableau, they can answer questions with little ambiguity. Tarot, on the other hand, has become more and more vague, with a focus on spiritual teachings and a presentation of possibilities. Tarot has not always been what it is now. Card meanings have grown, evolved, and deepened over the past decades, with an emphasis on a spectrum of