Supporters and Detractors: A “Human Factors” Developmental Spread

The rationale behind this spread is fairly self-explanatory. None of us “live, and move and have our being” in a total vacuum. Even if other people have no direct or apparent involvement in the circumstances of the reading, we may still have cautionary feelings about them from a “what if” perspective that can color our outlook and actions. In that sense, we may step carefully around such people even if they have given no indication of being aware of or interested in our affairs.

The premise here is to take all of the cards with human or humanoid figures on them from a separate deck than that used for the three-card developmental line. (There will be many of these in an RWS-style deck and quite a few less in the Thoth or a TdM-style deck.) These cards will be used to populate the three nominal “person” positions. The main deck is shuffled in a way that allows reversals, and the three-card “My Path” row is dealt from this deck as a series of “base cards” showing unbiased developments in the matter. If a base card is upright, a card is randomly pulled from the “other people” sub-pack and placed in the “Supporter” position above. If the base card is reversed, the “person” card is placed in the “Detractor” position below. These pairs are then read as exhibiting either a mutually “enabling” influence (which could further enhance a favorable emphasis or make a less-encouraging one even more likely to develop), or a “blocking” disincentive that stymies movement “for good or ill,” which suggests an influence opposite that of the “enabling” cards and may not always be a bad thing. The querent will be the best judge of which is which once the possibilities are pointed out.

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on August 17, 2022.