As many of you know, I love tarot spreads. Mostly I love inventing them. And reading about them. And sometimes even using them. I like shaking things up a bit, so I like to add little something extras to my readings. Like what, you ask? Well, I’ll save those for another time (I’m polishing and tweaking for my next book…Tarot Spreads for Beginners). In the meantime, let’s look at some ideas from someone who taught me a lot about spread design. In Teresa Michelson’s book Designing Your Own Tarot Spreads, she included a chapter on “cards that stand a little outside the main reading and have an added purpose.” The most commonly used card of this type is the Significator. That

One of the things I’ve been working on lately in my tarot practice is detachment. I’ve discovered that when I am detached from the outcome of the reading (in many ways and on many levels), then my readings are most inspired. Lately, I’ve not been looking at my client at all, just the cards, and letting the information flow. When I look at my client, their reactions register and interfere with my detachment. Weird. I know. But recently I was browsing Tarot: Theory and Practice by Ly de Angeles and read this: Practice: Learning Objectivity—What do you really see? Please set aside a space in an area where you will not be disturbed for the duration of your training time and have

Whether you write professionally, for personal enjoyment, or journal, Corrine Kenner points out that “any blank page can be intimidating.” In her book, Tarot for Writers, Corrine devotes an entire chapter to breaking writer’s block. Her ideas are, of course, excellent for doing just that. But I also think they can be great journal prompts or tarot meet up exercises. Here’s a few for you to try: 1. Complete Description Describe a single card in as much detail as you can muster. Start at the top and work your way down. Then describe the background and work your way toward the foreground. Notice the predominant colors as well as the mood and emotion in the card. Describe

The Ace of Pentacles is one of my favorite cards. But this was not always the case. Pentacles in general have always been my suit of choice, but I never favored the Ace until I noticed that Arthur Waite tells us that this card is “the most favorable of all cards.” Usually I don’t pay much attention to Waite (I find him dull and incomprehensible, although some of my colleagues assure me is incredibly funny with this amazingly dry wit. But then, there is no accounting for tastes, is there?), but in this case, I’m clinging to his words simply because they please me. In addition to pleasing me, Waite’s phrase inspired a modification of a technique I like to use. I think of this