May 31, 2022Richard Gere, the Dalai Lama, and a cartomantic hitI have many stories of my own about how we confuse emotions with reality, when in fact, when you think about it, you realize that all emotions are subject to manufacturing. The ‘reality’ that goes into them is the reality of what is being broadcast in the media, the immediate…Tarot6 min readTarot6 min read
Oct 31, 2021Halloween: Exacting Justice and RevengeI woke up to the recurrence of the letter O. Hallooowen, All Hallooow’s Eve. ‘Ooo, I how nice!’ I said to myself, when I noticed in my inbox a review written by Emma Giannini of my latest book, Tarot for Romeo and Juliet: Reflections on Relationships. Before I thought of…Tarot5 min readTarot5 min read
Sep 8, 2021What art collectors say beyond the graveYesterday I commemorated the death of a mentor and best friend. Historian and card collector K. Frank Jensen left this world five years ago, joining the army of spirits that he surrounded himself with at this own home. As he collected all sorts of antiques, not just cards, from African…Tarot5 min readTarot5 min read
Aug 4, 2021Which one first? The importance of sequenceLast night in an interview with The Sword of Damocles, I got a question that I am often asked: ‘which book of yours should I start with, if I want to read the cards like the Devil?’ Although I never think of it myself, as I write the books in…Divination7 min readDivination7 min read
Jul 14, 2019What a Mountain, a Shopping Channel, and Cards Have in CommonOn top of the mountain in Norway I think of language, expectation, and storytelling. Imagine this scenario: You climb to the top of the mountain — make that a mean top. If you tell others about it, the most common reaction would be to know what it was like. ‘What…Tarot4 min readTarot4 min read
Jul 5, 2019STUBBORNNESS OR RESILIENCE?I often think about the difference between resilience and stubbornness. Resilience, thanks. Stubbornness, no thanks. I don’t negotiate. Confronting this difference, however, is worse than merely thinking about it, as the idea of ‘no negotiation’ suddenly acquires a tangible dimension. Luckily for me, when it happens that I have to…Tarot2 min readTarot2 min read
Jun 27, 2019STEPPING INTO MATURITYMost motivaltional talk springs out of immaturity. — I took a walk with the dog last night. It was midnight and very hot. The neighbor was out in her garden. As I passed her house, she stopped me to congratulate me on the recent purchase of a house. She knows where it is: ‘It’s a wild place, right…Motivational9 min readMotivational9 min read
Jun 21, 2019AS IT HAPPENS: HOUSE MAGICMagic is a case of ‘as it happens’. — This month has been eventful. I felt like a 5-year old playing ‘house’ who then got to think about the difference between that kind of magic and the magic of putting in a bid for a house, and being ready to pay for it cash in hand. Not a small…Spirituality7 min readSpirituality7 min read
Jun 13, 2019BEAUTY AND THE INFINITE CONVERSATION WITH THE CARDSHere’s an analogy between the art world and the Tarot for divination purpose. It’s all about looking. What you put forth as an artist and a Tarot reader is the way you look at something, your cards or pictures. …Tarot3 min readTarot3 min read
Jun 5, 2019NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESSPeople reading my work here and elsewhere know already that I have enemies. Today I’ll talk about the enemy called ‘shallow thinking’. There’s nothing that gets my sword out of its scabbard faster than shallow thinking, whether this be my own or that of others. That is to say, this…Tarot5 min readTarot5 min read
