The “Mystic Gyroscope” Developmental Insight Spread
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This spread was (or is soon to be) published in the online magazine AstroLogic, although I retain all rights. The Cosmic Tarot is copyright of AGM Urania/Königsfurt-Urania Verlag GmbH, Ringstraße 32, D-24103, Kiel, and the Rohrig Tarot is copyright of U.S. Games Systems, Stamford, CT.
Here is a tarot spread designed around two astrological themes: a clockwise cycle that follows the diurnal motion of the Sun, and a counterclockwise revolution that emulates its annual progress through the zodiac. (This rotational offset inspired the “gyroscope” metaphor.) It is read in four sets of four cards each, the “History” (or Inactive Past) of the situation; the “Recent (or Active) Past;” the “Present;” and the Future” (both Immediate and Long-Range).
The clockwise cards are to be read as the “overt” or visible development of the situation, and the counterclockwise cards as the “other side of the story” (as well as the “longer view”) for each phase. The eight main cards are dealt first followed by the eight counter-cards. The idea is to present the main cards as upright and the “counter-cards” as reversed (thus giving them a “covert” spin), turning the cards in the draw accordingly if they come up the other way around. The Significator represents the Querent or the situation itself, and can either be pulled randomly from a trumps-only pack or chosen intentionally; it is to be placed upright as a “known quantity.” If desired, two different decks may be used, one for each card cycle.
To test this spread, I performed a reading on a hypothetical situation using the Cosmic Tarot for the main cards and the Thoth-based Rohrig Tarot for the counter-cards. The question involved a woman who had suspected for some time that she was the victim of deception and who was seeking confirmation and advice. I intentionally chose the Devil from the Cosmic Tarot as the Significator. It was unknown whether the circumstances involved an emotional state of affairs or a more materialistic viewpoint.
The “History” of the situation (that which is inactive and no longer subject to change) included the Moon and the 2 of Cups as the “overt” cards, with the Princess of Swords and the 10 of Wands as the counter-cards. The Moon makes it clear that the entire situation was founded on deception, and the Princess of Swords that she was young, impatient and impressionable at the time. The 2 of Cups implies that she was sure she had found her “ideal partner,” but the 10 of Wands indicates that the other party only wanted to control and coerce her.
The “Recent Past” (that which is still actively affecting her attitudes and behaviors) presented the World and the 7 of Pentacles as the “overt” cards, with the 5 of Cups and the 9 of Disks as the counter-cards. The World suggests that she was riding high not that long ago but the 5 of Cups shows that things were starting to erode in the background. (The 5 of Cups is titled “Disappointment” in other Thoth-based decks but the Spanish translation in this deck — although it means the same thing — phonetically sounds like “deception,” the subject of this reading.) The 7 of Pentacles, conveys declining satisfaction, and the 9 of Disks makes me think that some form of material benefit had been withheld from her. However, there also seems to be some wistful nostalgia for the “good old days.”
The “Present” brought in the 10 of Swords and the 6 of Pentacles as the “overt” cards, with the 8 of Swords and the 2 of Wands as the counter-cards. The 10 of Swords gives the impression that she still feels “crucified” by recent developments, while the 8 of Swords intimates that she had no idea it was going to come to this. The good news with the 6 of Pentacles is that she is in a favorable position to recover some of what she lost, although the 2 of Wands implies that she will have to back down on her righteous indignation a bit — “get off her high horse” — to let it proceed.
The “Future” offered the 4 of Wands and the 10 of Cups as the “overt” cards and the 8 of Disks and the 7 of Swords as the counter-cards. The 4 of Wands suggests that she will continue to regain momentum in her recovery, but the 8 of Disks (“Prudence”) indicates that she will need to avoid becoming complacent about it since any of the Fours can “run out of gas” prematurely. The 10 of Cups as the “Fallout” or long-term consequences card portrays her as emotionally at peace with the import of the 4 of Wands; she’s clearly moving on and that makes her comfortable with the outcome. However, the 7 of Swords (“Futility”) still nags at her with a sense that she may have left too much on the table but she has no recourse and should just let it go.
The bottom line here is that the deception was confirmed with the very first card in the spread, the Moon, although it took quite a while for her to truly feel victimized with the 10 of Swords. The nature of the “Recent Past” and “Present” cards suggests that she was being compromised financially rather than emotionally, although I can’t rule out one of those online “relationship scams” that works both ends by relying on the vulnerability of lonely people to steal money from them. That she turns the corner as the Present gives way to the Future is a positive development, during which the counter-cards indicate that she becomes wiser in her ways.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on November 19, 2022.
