Dynamic Tarot Reading
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This certainly isn’t the only way to read the tarot cards with deftness and fluency, but it came to mind while I was contemplating the raised sword in the right hand of Justice as “barring the way” of the card to the reader’s left, seemingly fending off a past that is trying to overtake the situation. She could be saying “None shall pass until they convince me that it’s in my best interests.” While I’m a firm believer in positional spreads for the convenient cues they provide, I try to handle them like evolving “scenes” in a play rather than independent “acts;” we need not “bring down the curtain” before each character enters. (I find this to be one of the weaknesses in the “Past/Present/Future” reading since it’s rare that we experience life in such orderly and well-behaved installments; one phase tends to meddle in the affairs of its neighbor.)
When interpreting the cards in a tarot spread, it’s easy to pay entirely too much attention to the meaning of each one based solely on its position, while only sketching out a tenuous connection between it and the rest of the cards. We then struggle to merge the sequence of stand-alone images into a convincing “storyline,” particularly when the individual cards contradict one another. (This requires the “fine art of synthesis” and is the tarot reader’s “Holy Grail.”) I think of the ensuing act of desperation as the “Lego-block” approach to reading that envisions the cards simply as “bricks in a wall.” Although a tarot “line spread” is invariably read from side-to-side, this analogy assumes that Card “A,” as the underlying scenario, is figuratively laid beneath Card “B,” the “developmental” phase, and the latter is topped with Card “C,” the crowning “conclusion.” The bottom or “foundation” layer provides the narrative groundwork that describes the preliminary circumstances; the next tier is the transitional “middle course” that tightens the focus and brings the matter to a head; and the top row provides the “capstone” (or outcome) of the reading. This functions well enough for simple questions but it is about as imaginative as the work of a brick-layer.
As we all know, the Universe is in constant flux, nothing stands still for long and there are few absolutes; these realities make grasping the dynamics of divination that much more difficult. In a previous post I floated the idea that three cards in series can be viewed according to the computer programmer’s coding routine of “input, throughput and output.” Everything that conveys the initial conditions of the matter can be rolled up into Card “A” (or, as we shall see, a group of cards with the same purpose); everything that amounts to an “in-process” link in the chain of emerging circumstances is captured in Card “B;” and everything that constitutes the product of their interaction surfaces in Card “C.” In complicated matters — short of just pulling more cards to fill in any gaps — the reader will often have to stuff a considerable number of diverse factors into a narrow interpretive framework, liberally sprinkled with inspiration, imagination and ingenuity (as well as a good deal of interstitial “intuitive guesswork”). It argues for a larger spread, but herein lies the challenge.
The diviner’s objective when plotting the course of future circumstances is to determine the scope of each phase and the situational juncture where it leaves off and the next one begins; the succeeding cards in the sequence will either encourage this “bridging” evolution or work against it. For example, if Card “B’s” imagery bears a figure facing or gesturing to the left (i.e. toward the “past”) and staring down Card “A,” it may frustrate the latter in executing its prime directive of “getting out of the gate” with its agenda intact, while if Card “C” presents the same obstacle then the best intentions of Card “B” may come to naught or at least be compromised in their effectiveness. It goes without saying that if Card “A” is in the same condition and appears to be avoiding “eye contact” with Card “B,” the entire project could be in jeopardy or require extraordinary effort to move it forward. (Some authors [Jodorowsky, Matthews] recommend adding a card [or cards] to the left of Card “A” until the open-ended “gaze” arrives at a conclusive insight, but that is beyond my scope here.) Each instance suggests a mule flattening its ears, lowering its head and digging in its heels, and any uncongenial card combinations can further diminish the likelihood of success. In the worst cases the overall premise of the querent’s initiative may be defective and the outcome “dead on arrival.” We are seldom quite so pessimistic in our outlook, but the possibility exists when there are exceptionally discordant cards in the mix.
While this conceptual overview is predicated on the three-card line spread that flows from left-to-right, it will work just as well with any layout for which it is possible to segment the array into a logical “A-B-C” progression. The 10-card Celtic Cross spread offers a perfect example of this. The cards that “set the stage” for future developments (Cards #1 through #5 of Eden Gray’s clockwise “cross” design) provide a detailed panorama of “initial conditions” preparatory to the “Near Future” card (Card #6), which constitutes the “first step” in the transitional phase that also includes Cards #7, #8 and #9. The “Outcome” or “End of the Matter” (Card #10), stands alone in the Card “C” role. With more cards serving in both the Card “A” and Card “B” capacity, the reader must exercise considerable discretion in deciding whether each phase will develop smoothly from beginning to end or only progress haltingly in stop-and-go fashion if at all. In extraordinary cases it may not be worth the effort for a beleaguered querent to try keeping it all together, and the individual must decide whether to “hold ’em or fold ‘em.” Although skilled and experienced practitioners may be adept at “turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse,” in such convoluted scenarios any “clumsy stitches” are likely to show. Here the storyteller’s art of dynamic discourse often comes to the rescue, if only to buy time while we gather our thoughts for a more relevant presentation.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on March 29, 2023.
