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Plain-language guides to the history, methods and evidence behind tarot, astrology, numerology, palmistry and more.
TarotA brief history of tarot: from playing cards to modern decksTarot started life as a card game in Renaissance Italy. Here is how it slowly became the reading deck most people know today.TarotThe Celtic Cross tarot spread: positions and how to read itThe Celtic Cross is the best known ten-card tarot spread. This guide walks through each position and shows how to read the whole layout as one story.TarotThe Major Arcana and the Fool's Journey: reading tarot as a storyThe Fool's Journey reads the 22 Major Arcana cards as one story, from a fresh start to completion. Here is the story, card by card, and where the idea came from.TarotTarot, Jung and synchronicity: a reflective conversationMany modern tarot readers borrow ideas from the psychologist Carl Jung. Here is what he actually said, how it links to tarot, and where the link stops.DivinationThe I Ching: change, hexagrams and a living traditionThe I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest books in the world. Here is how it grew, how its 64 hexagrams work, and how people consult it.MindThe neuroscience of intuition: pattern recognition and the mindA gut feeling is not magic, but it is not nothing either. Here is what researchers have learned about intuition, when to trust it, and when to slow down.AstrologyHow astronomical ephemerides support chart calculationsEvery birth chart starts with astronomy: where the planets really were when you were born. Here is how those positions are worked out, and what they do and do not prove.AstrologyPlanetary hours: a history of unequal seasonal hoursLong before clocks, the day and the night were each split into twelve hours that grew and shrank with the seasons. Each hour was given a planet. Here is how the system works.AstrologyThe twelve astrological houses: a symbolic map of the skySigns tell you how, planets tell you what, and houses tell you where in life. Here is a plain guide to all twelve houses and how they are calculated.NumerologyPythagorean and Chaldean numerology: the two methods comparedThe same name can give two different numbers depending on which numerology chart you use. Here is how the Pythagorean and Chaldean systems work, side by side.EnergySolfeggio frequencies: listening, claims and evidenceSolfeggio frequencies such as 528 Hz are popular for meditation and sleep. Here is where the idea really came from, what the evidence says, and how to enjoy them safely.PalmistryThe 2D:4D digit ratio: what finger proportions can and cannot tell usIs your index finger shorter than your ring finger? Scientists have studied this ratio for decades. Here is what it is, how to measure it, and why it cannot read you as a person.PalmistryChiromancy and chirognomy: a guide to hand-reading traditionsPalmistry has two halves: reading the lines of the palm, and reading the shape of the hand. Here is what each one looks at, where they came from, and how to read hands responsibly.PalmistryDermatoglyphics: how friction ridge patterns formYour fingerprints formed months before you were born and will stay with you for life. Here is the science of friction ridges, and what they can and cannot tell us.PalmistryThe simian crease: anatomy, variation and folkloreSome people have one straight line across the palm instead of two. Here is what this crease is, what it does not mean, and how palm readers have traditionally seen it.