The Role of Rhythm in Tarot Reading
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I was just reading an interview with Robert de Niro in which the actor observed that every dramatic character has a “rhythm” that must be internalized in order to convincingly master the role. It struck me that a competent tarot reading exhibits a similar rhythm that is often a function of the spread design, which acts like a “script.”
I hadn’t thought about it before, but my three primary goals in creating a tarot spread can be expanded into four. I tell students that a spread should address: 1) what you want to know about a situation (reflected in the various position meanings); 2) how much you want to know about it (a factor in how many positions you will need); and 3) how you want it delivered (the architecture of the spread, such as a “line,” “circle” or “triangle”). But there is another element worth considering, one that I’ve touched on in the past when arguing that a spread with the proper “span of coverage” will prevent having to use intuitive guesswork to fill in gaps between cards. (I’m in general agreement with Paul Fenton-Smith that resorting to intuition is largely unnecessary because the cards themselves contain all the information we require, we just have to decode them intelligently and sensitively.) This includes the rhythm of the title, and it is captured in the transition between cards by making sure that the “hand-off” doesn’t leave the narrative hanging.
Struggling with a disconnected or disjointed story-line is no place to be in the middle of a reading. The presentation should turn like a well-oiled wheel, with each chapter segueing neatly from the previous one into the next as we flesh out the plot. The pace of delivery is a key component of the storyteller’s art, and its rhythm is just as important as its momentum. (Think of waiting for the punchline of a joke; we know it’s coming but not exactly when or how.) As the “Master of Ceremonies” (aka spread creator and reader), we can make sure the milestones in our account dovetail with the overall flow and are both explicit and revealing. I try to establish each one as a “mini-climax” that opens the way for the next stage of the chronicle. It seems that few people have the knack for this kind of organization since many spreads I see online are just a jumble of disparate components that may carry the gist of the creator’s intent but don’t deliver a seamless reading experience.
Depending on the cards pulled, it may be that not all of these key themes will appear in the way or in the place indicated by experience, making it necessary to revisit any outlying “wild cards” to assess their contribution to the big picture. I usually wait until the end before I attempt to go back and groom the reading by tying up any loose ends and making sure there is a smooth progression from inception of the story to its conclusion. One of the best aids in making this happen is to perform a “gestalt” overview of the entire layout before beginning the card-by-card analysis, looking for any obvious “peaks-and-valleys” in the flow; think of them as waves that crest or fall across the surface of the pattern. Some cards may stand out immediately as “cross-currents” that will eventually have to be coaxed into alignment.
When properly handled, the Celtic Cross — one of the oldest and most respected spreads in the tarot canon — offers a good example of narrative rhythm. (Not that I haven’t had my problems with Arthur Edward Waite’s original, which I’ve resolved to my own satisfaction.) If we follow the old premise that the “cross” section (which in Eden Gray’s superior design is circular and not cruciform) shows the developmental timeline for events and circumstances (moving from the underlying “heart of the matter” to the near-term outcome), while the “staff” section reveals the querent’s behavioral and attitudinal reaction to what is learned from the “cross” (leading to a final conclusion), we have a built-in model for managing the cadence of the reading. It’s a specimen of comprehensive yet efficient spread-crafting, and I feel that my personal tweaks have made it even more effective.
Here is a link to my own version. Note that I’ve shared this before but not for the same specific purpose; pay close attention to the guidance regarding the interstitial leaps, which vary somewhat from those of Waite and Gray.
https://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com/2017/08/02/parsifals-wheel-a-celtic-cross-variation/
Full Disclosure: No AI content has been used in writing this essay. (It couldn’t hope to keep up with me.)
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on March 17, 2024.
