Abundance or Absence by Card Type: Feast or Famine in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Judging from the amount of dialogue about it on the internet tarot sites, there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the consequences of receiving multiple cards of the same type (number, suit, rank, etc) in a spread. Many of the key historical figures in the tarot world (Waite, Crowley, Mathers and others) have written about the appearance of three or four cards of any one category in a reading, but in my opinion much of that material is both fanciful and outdated. I get very little value from those definitions.
In astrology there is the principle of preponderance (and its complement, deficiency); all of the planets and sensitive points are on-board in every horoscope, but not all of the signs and houses are uniformly populated by those features. It has been common to assume that, when there is an abundance of emphasis in any sign or house (the technical term is “stellium”), a lot of activity will occur in that department of the native’s life, while when there is none, either that area will be quiet or it will require special attention (which may be the same thing). Some similarities exist between astrology and tarot when there is a surplus or deficit of related cards in a tarot spread, and I’m proposing a more utilitarian approach that doesn’t try to be too mystical about it.
Because there are fourteen of any one subset, tarot suits (and by extension, elements) are likely to experience these extremes. A large number of cards in any suit will strongly suggest that the querent will be heavily engaged in its concerns, while a total absence of that suit shows no pronounced focus on its doings (which may be either good or bad under the circumstances). It stands to reason that the more we have of one or two suits in a reading, the less likely we are to have many (or any) of the others, creating a shortfall in that energy. In my own work I always look for the latter since it can imply difficulty in managing those aspects of the situation signified by the missing suit(s). For example, if we need the inspiration of Fire to motivate us but have none, we may be lethargic and can struggle to “rise to the occasion.”
With sixteen court cards, there is always a reasonable chance of having two or more appear in a spread. This is where some tarot authorities have “gone around the bend” in trying to be prescriptive about the implications. I can certainly accept three or four Pages in a reading as “a gathering of young people” or, conversely, several Kings or Queens as a “gaggle of geezers” (hey, I can say that since I am one). Beyond those distinctions, I might just see it as a “crowded house” with loads of personal interaction. It can be even more telling if the courts are of the same rank, since this can indicate a commonality of purpose or resolve. Ronald Decker posits that the Kings are solar, the Queens are venerable (i.e. “venusian”), the Knights are martial and the Pages — which he portrays as “travelers” — are lunar; it can be challenging to withstand the onslaught of three or four feisty Knights who may be spoiling for a fight. Where they don’t represent people in the situation, a large number of court cards can show a range of temperaments, attitudes or behaviors that the querent may experience in the matter, some of which will most likely conflict with the rest. When no court cards are present, the querent can justifiably say “Whew, I dodged that bullet!”
Since there are only four of any one number in the Minor Arcana, the likelihood of getting two or more in a pull is considerably less, while it is not unusual to have none of that denomination show up. When they do proliferate, the occurrence can be instructive. For, example having three or four Twos could mean that there are too many options available in a decision-making scenario, resulting in vacillation (I’m reminded of Dr. Doolittle’s “pushmi-pullyu,” a llama with a head at both ends that goes nowhere fast). Several Fives could mean serious instability when trying to stay on top of changing conditions. I usually pay no mind to the absence of any number, but maybe I should; for example, no Fours could mean lack of practicality in circumstances that demand it.
I’ve left the trumps for last since I’ve modified my stance on their impact. In her book The Tarot Revealed, Eden Gray observed: “If the majority of the cards in a layout come from the Major Arcana, there is a strong indication that there are powerful outside forces at work on the subject’s affairs.” While I agree that they represent “outside forces,” fifty years of practice have made me skeptical about the strength of their influence; I just haven’t seen it manifest routinely in my own readings, whether they appear singly or in droves. For that reason, I now treat them as indicating the environmental theme or situational backdrop against which the mundane affairs of the Minor Arcana play out. If several of them crop up in a spread, I might view them as evidence of competing agendas in the “big picture,” but seldom as unavoidable intrusions that must be reckoned with or else.
Preponderance is an area of tarot interpretation that I feel has been overstated by the “experts” but undervalued by the rest of us. As a harbinger of trending motifs in the matter, several cards of the same type — or none at all — can generate a distinct flow and direction in development of the narrative, making it a useful addition to the diviner’s toolbox. (Having none of a specific category reminds me of Ross Perot’s “giant sucking sound” as other influences rush in to fill the vacuum.) Outside of that advantage, I prefer to generalize their effects solely as expressing the presence or absence of energy and not necessarily as storytelling milestones.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on March 29, 2024.
