The Fox Flower Method is Kitsune-Inspired Tarot Reading for Conflict Analysis.
The Fox Flower Method is a Tarot reading technique rooted in the Fox Spirit of East Asian folklore. This method emphasizes the interplay of elemental functions across the pip suits, focusing particularly on structured inquiry into the causes and potential direction of a conflict.
The Kitsune (‘キツネ’), meaning ‘fox’ in Japanese, known for its trickster nature and operation beyond duality, serves as the guiding spirit of various spreads, offering insights, striking unexpected balance, and uncovering pathways for resolution. Kistune favors a reveal that shows what we resist seeing or are otherwise failing to acknowledge, as is the way of keen-eyed messengers motivated by wiles and gifted with extrasensory perception.
This method was inspired by my deepening practice of Nonreading, which has attuned me to perceiving the cards beyond their placement on the table. As sifu Camelia, once remarked to me, “Once you see it and you get it, you cannot not see it anymore. That’s when a transmission happens.”
My awareness of the Fox Spirit and its relationship with basic elements crystallized while watching the 2024 Korean film Exhuma. The film’s narrative revolves around a powerful Japanese Onmyouji, “Gisune,” who possessed great spiritual power and was likened to a fox—a creature revered in Japanese folklore as the similar-sounding Kitsune, who are known for their ability to shape-shift and blend into human society.
In Exhuma, Gisune’s influence extended beyond the physical realm, symbolized by his manipulation of Korea’s land energy through the strategic placement of metal rods, an act that metaphorically “split the spine of the tiger,” representing the Korean peninsula. The protagonist, Hwarim, learns that the only way to defeat Gisune is by understanding and applying the elemental principles of Feng Shui—specifically, using the concept of wet wood working against burning metal.
Immediately, my mind’s eye conjured clubs and swords, followed by cups and coins bringing water and fire. How would a string of cards visualize each side of this fight?
My efforts to understand what the ending to this story meant and fascination with the Kitsune—perhaps linked to my earliest memories of the written word, which are tied to a picture book my parents illustrated for me, telling the story of a family of foxes—inspired me to develop a reading method that draws on similar principles. The Fox Flower Method seeks to deepen queries by understanding elemental interactions and the cycles they represent, offering a richer, more dynamic cartomantic view of what is going on.
The research and writing included here traverses story, ritual, and embodied modes of communing with cards that touch upon various lessons of our Nonreading module. I’m treating this website as a living archive and will update it as the spirit moves me.
HISTORIA PERSONAL
The inspiration for this method draws from historical texts, such as Tanikawa Kotosuga’s Wakun no Shiori (1777–1887), which explores the etymology of the Kitsune and its connection to the word for ‘cat’ (neko). This linguistic link emphasizes the mystery surrounding the Kitsune and ties its origin to Boy, my li hua mao(‘Fox Flower Cat’) who presides over my Tarot readings. He is fond of cuddling strangers who seem particularly distressed and purrs loudly when the cards are cast.
