Dexter and Sinister: The Straight and Crooked Paths
AUTHOR’S NOTE: In classical astrology, planetary motion was tracked in two directions: dexter (toward the right or counterclockwise through the signs) and sinister (toward the left or clockwise through the houses). On a monthly, annual or multi-year basis depending on their orbital speed, the planets traverse the signs in sequential order from Aries at the Spring Equinox to its antecedent, Pisces, prior to the next vernal equinox. The daily house transits are tied to the ecliptical Ascendant and the West-to-East rotation of the Earth, generating the phenomena of rising, culminating and setting planets.
This was the same approach used to create planetary rulers or “lords” for the signs: starting at zero degrees of Leo, the order of rulership first went counterclockwise or dexter, with Sun (Leo); Mercury (Virgo); Venus (Libra); Mars (Scorpio); Jupiter (Sagittarius); and Saturn (Capricorn), then clockwise or sinister from the same point, with the Moon (Cancer); Mercury (Gemini); Venus (Taurus); Mars (Aries); Jupiter (Pisces); and Saturn (Aquarius) that created a doubling of Saturn energy at the top of the “natural” (or Aries-rising) horoscope. Five of the seven ruled two signs, while the Sun and Moon presided over one apiece. This strikes me as an elegant way to capture seven planets in a twelve-sign array, and it remained in place until the discovery of the three trans-Saturnian planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, which in my estimation added little to the model except unnecessary complexity.
I decided to use this concept to develop a tarot spread, with upright cards populating the layout in a dexter fashion and reversed cards progressing in a sinister manner. The former deliver a straightforward situational narrative and the latter a more convoluted scenario beset with false starts, oblique trajectories, detours and dead ends. Neither is dependent on or indicative of any form of timing.
Begin by selecting a card to represent the querent or the subject of the reading and place it in the center of the table. This card can be chosen intentionally or drawn randomly after the shuffle.
Shuffle the rest of the cards in a way that allows for reversal, then begin pulling cards from the top of the deck.
If the first card is upright, place it just below the 9 o’clock position on the inner ring and lay each subsequent upright card in a counterclockwise orientation to its predecessor, continuing around the circle until six upright cards have been dealt.
If the first (or next) card is reversed, set it just above the 9 o’clock position on the outer ring and lay each subsequent reversed card in a clockwise orientation to its predecessor, continuing in that direction until six reversed cards have been dealt.
If one group of six is filled before the other, disregard and set aside any further pulls of that orientation and proceed until the other group is populated. (See the photograph for guidance; if it isn’t obvious, the “U” and “R” notations represent upright and reversed.)
Examine the inner ring from Card #1U to Card #6U to determine how well-favored the six cards are to one another according to various forms of “dignity,” then add in the significator at each position to create six pairs and judge the extent to which the pairing alters the complexion of the narrative, with a focus on addressing the objective of the reading. Finally, translate the sequence into a “story” that describes the most transparent or unaffected development of the querent’s circumstances.
Assess the outer ring from Card #1R to Card #6R in the same way, this time focusing on redirection of the emphasis away from a clear success path and toward a trajectory that invites complications and difficult transitions. Read the “story” in these cards as one that doesn’t align closely with the querent agenda.
As a last step, compare and contrast the two sets of cards and decide which one offers the most convincing succession of events based on internal coherence, applying various forms of dignity: suit and element; number; rank; polarity; and consistency of their inherent nature. This path should be proposed as depicting the most likely denouement for the situation.
In the example spread, Death turned up as the random significator (I always lay the card in this position upright as the overt target of the reading). Here it suggests something significant that must be brought to an end, and the projected result would be shown by the sixth card (6U or 6R) that offers the most conclusive and compelling “end of the matter” in line with this objective.
The inner ring contains only one elementally hostile pair, the Emperor (Fire) and the 8 of Cups (Water), but the Emperor dominates the combination, producing figurative “steam” that the Ace of Swords can cut through handily. However, bringing in Death at the card-by-card level dampens the spirits of the Sun and the Emperor, yielding a moodier outlook echoed by the 8 of Cups. The 6 of Pentacles as the initial focus implies that some kind of financial arrangement must be terminated, and at first the querent will feel empowered by any decisive action taken to do so. But the 8 of Cups conveys some misgivings about “staying the course,” doubts that the Ace of Swords will annihilate in no uncertain terms. The Hanged Man at the end shows that the querent must wait for the dust to settle before concluding whether the initiative was a success. The phrase that comes to mind is “the jury is still out.”
The outer ring is also predicated on the assumption presented by the “1U” card that the aim of Death is financial divestiture. The Moon indicates that the current situation is not at all clear and the 4 of Swords portends yet another “waiting game” before events can progress. I interpret the 2 of Pentacles reversed as “unstable change” and it is elementally unfriendly to the 4 of Swords, revealing that any step attempted at this time could result in a faltering stumble. The Knight of Wands cautions against being too hasty, and the 6 of Wands that any apparent success might only be a “Pyrrhic victory” in which more is lost than gained. The 3 of Swords at the end brings to mind the concluding line from T.S. Eliot’s poem The Hollow Men: “This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper.” It should not be permitted to get that far.
In summary, the combination of Death and the Hanged Man asserts the wisdom of patience as the upshot of the inner ring, while bringing Death and the 3 of Swords together on the outer ring promotes a “slash-and-burn” mentality from which it would be difficult to recover if such drastic measures don’t pan out. My advice for the client would be to proceed cautiously with the original plan (6 of Pentacles) and be prepared for a delayed resolution that still appears to be achievable despite a little ambiguity in the forecast. (Perhaps confidence in the stock market will evaporate [8 of Cups] and the querent must cut his losses [Ace of Swords], then wait for the effect to sink in [Hanged Man] before doing anything more aggressive.)
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.org on February 5, 2025.
