What is a blog without a blurb about the author? I hope my beliefs and personality are evident in my writing, but here is a brief story of me as related to why I have this blog.

My first interest was reading and studying the tarot. I’m not sure when I first came across the tarot, but it was in the early 90s that I discovered the spirit of the tarot and got commercially published decks. (I have a handmade deck that I might have produced earlier than this.) This time period was a bit of an occult “boom” and I was always at the local New Age shop and chain big-bookstore, looking for books, decks and information. Always hungry for knowledge, I approached tarot from diverse sources, although my biggest influences at the time came from and The Golden Dawn related literature.

Shortly before starting this blog, I was experiencing tarot burnout. This is a phenomena that others have experienced. Part of it was that I approached tarot too rigorously and shut out some of its spirit and mystery in the process. I believe we need to keep some of that mystery in the tarot, rather than break it down and believe we can ferret out all of its secrets.

I took a break from the tarot at this point, and discovered Lenormand cards (the “Petit” or 36 card deck) and playing cards. The Lenormand are a European oracle deck that is attributed to the famous French fortune-teller, Mlle. Lenormand. It is a symbolic deck, so these cards are read based on the associations triggered by the symbol that appears on each card. There are different general meanings associated to the symbols according to the nationality and tradition one learns from. Although I’ve worked with what I call the traditional/German approach, I mostly tend to utilize the streamlined methodology developed by Sylvie Steinbach. (Which allows for much easier typing of readings to share online, I might add!)

Playing cards were fascinating to me because they are traditionally stark. You get a white card with big, bold suit symbols without ornamentation. There is something enjoyable about reading these without outside influence from the artwork. (Assuming the use of a standard deck and not, say, transformation cards.) This is also the roots of cartomancy that influenced the original tarot readers, at least judging from older works that I’ve read. Every playing card reader that I’ve studied gave me something to take away. My favorites are Leo Martello, Cicely Kent and Sepharial. Notables along my path are Ophiel and Chita St. Lawrence.

I worked with these oracles and tried some others. Gradually I came back to tarot. I truly enjoy working with cards; doing and thinking about oracles and divination is spiritually satisfying to me. I’m always looking to explore approaches and to refine my style, and I am driven to push the boundaries of what cards can do. That is one of the reasons I have adopted the tagline “Cartomantic Detective” for my blog: I want to know what else can be found out there. Or within.

I do have interests outside of cartomancy. A random sampling at the moment is technology, videogames, hypnosis, reading (voraciously), origami, music and pilates. Some roles I play are romantic partner, home owner, pet caretaker, computer professional, artistic guy, good listener, lover of animals and creative thinker.

When I started this blog, I wasn’t sure what kinds of people or subjects I would be doing readings about that I would share on my blog. So let me state the requisite legal disclaimer is that my readings are presented for entertainment only. I’m not a lawyer, accountant nor doctor. Every person is responsible for his own decisions and for choosing how to live her life.

My general beliefs and reading style should be somewhat evident through the posts in my blog. I believe that a card reading can provide guidance and forecast probable outcomes. Cards — inanimate pieces of processed trees, no matter how much we enliven them in our imaginations — should not be making decisions for anybody. They can be a great help in making decisions but the subject of a reading needs to stay in the driver’s seat.

Please leave comments if you find my blog helpful or interesting. Also let me know if you’d like to see me write about any particular topics.Thanks for dropping by!

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