A “Shots on Goal” Advancement Spread: Elemental Alignment and Orientation as Success Factors
AUTHOR’S NOTE: The phrase “shots on goal” describes a statistic used in sporting events such as international football and hockey to quantify how many legitimate attempts to score a team was able to make during a game (which is usually a function of offensive-line ability to breach the opponent’s defense). There are situations in daily life where we may have several occasions to “score,” few of which are a sure thing. Examples would be job applications, romantic adventures and other speculative exploits of various kinds.
Here is a spread that uses this concept to reflect opportunities for advancement in a situation with a clearly-stated objective. It requires two decks, one to populate the “Conscious Intention” line and another for the random pull. It proposes that there are two modes of influence at work in the matter, an “overt” series of inputs that promotes success and a “covert” set that curbs its achievement.
The idea behind it is that cards that are both upright and elementally friendly to the “baseline” cards (Fire or Air matched to Fire or Air and Water or Earth matched to Water or Earth) will be assumed to assist advancement and are to be placed above the “objective” row. Those that are neutral (essentially noncommittal) or hostile to the “baseline” cards (all other elemental combinations) and/or reversed in orientation will be understood to resist progress and will be laid below the “objective” row. (To answer the “bad-card-in-a-good-position” question, a problematic card “above the line” might be interpreted as being able to bring pressure to bear on reluctant allies, a form of negative reinforcement.)
Here is an example reading to illustrate the application. It involves a man who has romantic intentions toward another person and wants to know his prospects for success in a potential relationship. I worked with him to come up with a sequence of cards that best describes his path to satisfaction, then shuffled the deck and dealt cards above or below the “objective” line as explained above. We selected the 6 of Cups (Pleasure) as his opening move, followed by the 2 of Cups (Love) and the 9 of Cups (Happiness) to show favorable emotional developments, then the Lovers to convey a powerful bond and the Sun as unalloyed bliss. (I know, it’s an idealistic “fairy-tale” saga.)
The random pull began with the Princess of Wands upright. It is hostile to the 6 of Cups so it goes “below the line” but it is upright, suggesting that the object of his affections will not be entirely unapproachable, just very demanding. His “pleasure” won’t come without a “price.” (The image on this card often makes me think of circumstances “coming to a head,” which in this case may not be a pleasurable occurrence. It could also indicate someone who is “rising to the occasion,” a maneuver for which there are a number of unkind epithets.)
The 10 of Wands reversed (Oppression) came next; it is both elementally unfriendly to the 2 of Cups and reversed, implying that he will have to “jump through hoops” to get anywhere. (I’m thinking “the labors of Hercules.”) So far he is having his optimism and patience sorely tested.
The “Turning Point” position brings a major reversal of fortune with the upright, elementally-friendly Chariot giving him a significant “leg up” in the probability of joyful triumph. He’s on a roll!
However, the subsequent Prince of Wands reversed (which is elementally friendly to the Lovers while the Chariot is only neutral) gives me the idea that a younger, more energetic man will vie for the favor of the target individual, slyly “stealing the mojo” of the Charioteer right out from under his nose. My client will have been finessed and upstaged. (The image here is provocative: it could be showing a more aggressive charioteer with his “wheels on fire,” or — being reversed — a “crash-and-burn” scenario for the querent.)
The reversed Ace of Swords, which is elementally friendly to the Sun, suggests that he will have no illusions about what just happened. It portends self-recrimination over failure to “close the deal” and brings to mind the final verse of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
“He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man
He rose the morrow morn.”
On balance, the reading describes a major “missed opportunity” to score a goal due to not capitalizing on a significant advantage. (As an aside, this spread seems to be perfect for relationship scenarios because it plays quite well with psychological implications.)
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on August 23, 2024.
