Dropping the Masks: A Shared-Dynamic Relationship Spread
AUTHOR’S NOTE: It’s been a while since I created a comprehensive relationship spread. Here is one that shows the shared dynamic that can bring two parties together but also drive them apart. It sets up two “personality profiles” for the purpose of comparison, followed by a central pair that describes converging and diverging interests between them, and ends with a “binary essence” card (a truncated quintessence that is always a trump card) revealing the overall relationship theme or archetypal quality of the liaison. The design suggests two contiguous arcs that meet on the “tangent line” between them.
Begin by shuffling a tarot deck while concentrating on the relationship potential. Then deal ten cards face-up in the pattern and order shown. Reversals may be used.
Read the matched sets (Cards 1+5; 2+6; 3+7 and 4+8) by performing a comparative analysis that will reveal how the parties will get along in both public and private settings. The four “Encounter Mask” cards suggest what an initial exploratory meeting would be like; think of them as a facade conveying moods and sending messages.
Read Cards 9 and 10 as a sympathetic/antipathetic dichotomy, with converging factors supporting a continued connection and diverging factors edging away from it. These cards can also be read as the pivotal interface between the two pairs of “encounter” cards: 2–9–6, and 3–10–7, creating a more detailed “encounter tableau.”
Calculate a “binary essence” card by summing the face values of Cards 9 and 10, reducing as necessary via Theosophical addition or “casting out nines,” to come up with a total below 22. Identify the trump card of that number and read it as the overarching theme of the relationship. (In my own practice, I subtract the value of any reversed cards — which can can generate zero as well as a reversed “essence” card — and I treat the court cards as “11-to-14.”)
Here is an example reading showing how to tackle it. The hypothetical querent is a woman with an interest in a man who has recently come into her life.
Cards 1 and 5:
The woman’s public face is a very decorous one, while the man’s suggests he is constantly struggling to “make his mark” but never quite getting there. She exudes stability, but I often see this card as reflecting self-indulgent complacency. Strength reversed gives the impression of “trying to keep the wolf from the door.” Maybe this guy just wants a “meal ticket” out of her, but more likely it’s “dinner-with-benefits.”
Cards 2 and 6:
The woman’s private face tells a different story, implying barely-concealed anxiety. The man’s private face hints at being “bored with life.” However, he would also be relatively immune to the woman’s histrionics, which might make him a good match since her trials and tribulations would roll right off his back, like Alfred E. Neuman shrugging “What, me worry?” But — rather than being viewed as conciliatory — that nonchalant demeanor could just send her deeper into depression. I can hear her whining “You never pay attention to my problems!”
Cards 3 and 7:
The “open encounter” cards (i.e. “What you want the other person to see”) are slightly conflicted: she bares (and bears) her frustrations by parading them in front of him. He tries hard not to be critical but it looks like a losing battle. I can see him rolling his eyes and tapping his foot impatiently.
Cards 4 and 8:
The “guarded encounter” cards (i.e. “What you hope the other person doesn’t see, at least not right away”) shows her to be forever seeking salvation but never finding it (maybe she’s a “guru groupie”), a dilemma she would like to keep to herself, especially if it seems that he might be a candidate for funding it; she is reluctant to put him to the test by unburdening herself to him. The man seems to have some concern that she might be a gold-digger, but his lack of success makes him a poor mark. Still, he would probably keep a tight grip on the purse-strings to the point of penny-pinching. I can see a showdown brewing.
Card 9:
The “converging interests” card strongly suggests that they would both like to “live large” but would probably have trouble footing the bill. The Emperor reversed could signify “Champaign tastes on a beer budget.” It isn’t comfortable between the oppressive 10 of Wands and the disconsolate King of Swords reversed. There is an “Emperor’s New Clothes” vibe to it.
Card 10:
The “diverging interests” card makes me think there will never be enough material wherewithal to satisfy them. The 7 of Pentacles is no guarantee of abundance and the combined “nest-egg” of the 9 of Pentacles and the 4 of Pentacles doesn’t seem like it would take them far. Judgement reversed could mean that her endless quest for some kind of redemption could outstrip the 7 of Pentacles’ ability to keep up with the cost of her exploits, while the 4 of Pentacles is sure to dig its heels in.
Binary Essence:
Interestingly, the Empress could very well mean that they will stick together through thick-and-thin. Maybe the sex will be stellar.
Summary: Some people should never meet. On the face of it, she looks like a mess and he doesn’t exactly come across as her “knight in shining armor.” She seems a bit wacky and he looks like an underachieving layabout. That Empress could be their saving grace, or maybe it just means he will get her pregnant, adding to their woes. I don’t see it lasting because she will most likely drive him nuts with her insecurities, which his lukewarm attitude would only aggravate. Of course, I would have to think of a kinder, gentler way to say all of this.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on December 2, 2024.
