Amethyst Rose
February 17th, 2005, 01:05 PM
How to do a Reading
Now, I know that you've all done readings before, since you've been reading with your partners over the last 3 weeks. Those have been basic, bare bones, readings and they are the simplest readings to do. There is alot more involved in other readings, that involves more than simply knowing what the cards mean.
Some people choose to use a signifier card in their readings, I personally don't use one, but a lot of people find it very helpful to the reading to use one. A signifier card is a card, usually of the court card or major arcana, that represents the querrant. It is used to focus the reading more on the querrant. To find your own signifier go through the court cards and try to find a card whos qualities match your own. If you can't find a court card, then search through the major arcana. Then, when it comes to doing the reading, lay the singifier face up, and put the first card of the reading on top of the signifier. When reading for a person you don't know know well, you can simply use the basic characteristics of the court cards to represent the querrant -- King of Cups for an older married man, etc. Like I said, you don't have to use a signifier, but if you've never tried, play around with it and see if it improves the quality of your readings at all.
How you actually do a reading can be a very personal thing. Some people cleanse themselves and their space before a reading, some meditate or ground and center, some cast a circle before readings. I have done all of the above, but don't do it on a regular basis. The only thing I do do, is lay the cards out on a piece of black velvet. I find that the black background helps bring out the images on the cards better. No matter what you choose to do to set the stage for your reading, it's a lot easier to do a reading without any distractions... either a one on one reading, or if in a crowd, with the spectators being very quiet. I recently did a reading for a friend, and all my friends were watching, and laughing and making fun at her results. It was like pulling teeth trying to get meanings out of the cards. I ended up wrapping up the reading quickly and giving everyone quick past life readings, because they're simple and don't require much intuition or concentration.
Before we get into spreads and such, we should consider what you do before you lay down the cards, that is, shuffling. This is also something really personal, and there are many different ways for a person to shuffle their cards. I personally get the querant to shuffle the cards any way that feels comfortable to then, until they feel "done", while concentrating on their questoin. Others however, cut the deck into threes, or half, or don't let anyone else touch the cards. It's really up to you what you decide to do.
When it comes to answering a querant's question, its also up to you on how you decide to go about that. Some times I get people to ask a specific question, (specifically when reading professionally), and tell me that question, other times I get them to not tell me the question (sometimes people don't want you to know what they're asking). Sometimes I just do general life readings, it all dependson what the querant wants.
So, you've gotten yourself comfortable and read for a reading and the cards are shuffled and question considered, how do you lay out your cards? There are so many different spreads, there's no way I can go into all of them in this lesson, so I'm just going to cover the basic ones. I rarely use a standard spread, however, so don't be thinking that you're stuck to that restriction. I just let my hands deal the cards how they will...using my intuition to organize the placement of the cards as well as to do the reading. That said, here are some basic spreads that you can work with:
Single Card: This is what you've been doing so far. Just simply deal one card and read it. This spread is great for personal meditation at the beginning of every day or for getting quick answers.
3 Card: The basic 3 card spread has you lay the cards in a Past-Present-Future configuration, and use the cards for a quick prediction... reading about past and present influences and the outcome they will have on the future.
5 Card: This is an extension on the 3 card spread, on the the layout now is for Distant Past-Recent past-Present-Near Future-Distant Future. You can even expand this into a 7 and 9 card readings, if you want to.
Celtic Cross: This is, by far,the most common tarot spread that is taught and found in books, with good reason, there's a lot you can do with a celtic cross spread. The basic layout of the celtic cross is like this: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/celtic.gif This image show a signifyer being used, but that's not how I read my celtic cross. There are actually a couple of different things that you can have the cards represent, it really depends on what you've been taught. A site that I found gave these meanings: 1. The Crossing Card: something the querent needs the be aware of to resolve the situation. 2. The Foundation: What the question is based on. 3. The Near Future 4. The Crown: what is permeating the question 5. Recent Events 6. The Querent: how the querent feels about the question and other details 7. The Querent's Surroundings 8. Hopes and Fears 9. The Final Outcome. But like I said, I read the celtic cross differently, so I want you to be aware that there are different ways that you can read the celtic cross. When I read it, the cards represent: S. the querrant, 1. forces working on the querrant, 2. distant past, 3. recent past, 4. near future, 5. distant future, 6. Querrant (how their effected by the last 5 cards), 7. Influences, 8. hopes and fears, 9. outcome. I think that I was taught a different lay out of celtic cross, and over the years I unknowingly modified it to fit myself, so if you want to do that, feel free.
Oh, I mentioned before that there are a lot of different things you can do with celtic cross. One of my favorite spreads when I was just learning to read, and I was single, was the romance spread. For this spread, only use the major arcana and the Cups cards. Shuffle the MA and draw two, as Signifier and #1. Then shuffle the Cups and draw the next 4 cards. Then shuffle the MA and the Cups together and draw the remaining 4. You can modify the reading to read for finances and work, etc.
Horse Shoe: The horse shoe spread is very useful in determining the two possible paths a person can take. I usually use this spread, when a previous reading ends on a decision the querrant needs to make. I take the last card of that reading, and build the horseshoe off of that card, to show the outcomes of the two possible decisions. The horseshoe reading looks like this: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/horse.gif. When I use this reading, I use the one branch to represent one outcome, and the other to represent another. Now, that's me. The standard reading of the horseshoe is as follows: 1. The Past. 2. The Immediate Present. 3. The Immediate Future. 4. Something occupying the querent's mind. 5. The attitudes of others. 6. An Obstacle. 7. The Final Outcome.
Past Life: The simplest way to do a past life reading is to use a 3 card spread and have the 3 cards represent an aspect of a past life, sex and age-situation-cause of death, is typically what I use. It actually takes reading the cards to see what the'll tell you, and in what order however. This is just how I do a past life reading.... I find that past life readings work best if you make your own spread for it. The reasearch I've done on the web seems to indicate that that's what a lot of people do.
12 month spread: This is a spread that I made up when I was first learning the cards...it was really quite helpful in learning the cards and was great for future divination. The idea is to simply lay out 12 cards, one for every month, in whatever configuration will fit your work space, and read the events that will happen in the upcomming months.
Like I said before, there are tons of different possible spreads that I could cover here, so I'm going to give you the links to a bunch of spreads. Also, it'd be prudent to pick up a tarot spreads book, if you're interested in learning a lot of spreads.
Spread sites: http://www.tarotpassages.com/spreads-readings.htm
http://home.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/spreads.htm
http://www3.sympatico.ca/terrir/spreads.html
Okay, so now we get to the most difficult part of tarot reading, and something that the majority of tarot readers just ignore or plain don't know how to do. Card meanings in certain configurations. While it can be enough to read the cards how you see them, it is important to know that certain cards when paired together are even more significant to the reading. This is particularily true if you get ballancing cards, like Emperor and Empress, or opposing cards like the Devil and the Star, or reinforcing cards, or cards of similar meaning, like the Moon and 7 of Cups, in the same reading. Also if you get more than one of the same number together, like if you got 3 threes, then that is numerologically significant. This can take further research on your part, but here's a basic numerology list of what certain numbers may mean in a reading:
1 Creativity, independence, originality, ego, self
2 Empathy, cooperation, consideration, over-sensitivity, co-dependence
3 Artistic expression, sociability, friendliness, superficiality, wastefulness
4 Practicality, application, loyalty, rigidity, repression
5 Freedom, adaptability, travel, inconsistency, abuse of senses
6 Love, responsibility, understanding, meddling, jealousy
7 Spirituality, mental analysis, wisdom, fault finding, suppression
8 Executive ability, management, power, materiality, unscrupulousness
9 Artistic genius, humanitarianism, romance, emotionalism, dissipation
So, it's important to keep your eyes out for patterns in the cards, and when you find them, to read beyond what the images on the cards say, to what the cards say by how they have been arranged. If you get opposing cards in a reading, it often means conflict in indecision between those two aspects. If you get reinforcing cards, this tells you that that aspect of the reading is very strong and imposing and shouldn't be ignored. If you pay attention to numerology, you can attribute that meaning to the reading as well. When you get further into tarot readings and study you'll also find that the meaning of a card can change, based on the influence it's neighboring card has on it. For example, while the Queen of Wands represents (in the Waite deck) a dark woman or acountrywoman, friendly, chaste, loving and honourable, if the card beside her signifies a man, then she is interested in someone else. If however, the card beside her represents a woman, then she is interested in the Querent. So how the heck did you know that?!! you ask.... it's taken a lot of research and practice...eventually you begin to notice patterns when you read...certain cards always seem to represent the same thing...and reading books and websites help alot. To get a better sense of which cards are opposites and which are reinforcing, have a look at the card descriptions on this page: http://www.learntarot.com/cards.htm Near the bottom of each description it lists opposing and reinforcing cards for that particular card...it's really quite useful.
Now, I know that you've all done readings before, since you've been reading with your partners over the last 3 weeks. Those have been basic, bare bones, readings and they are the simplest readings to do. There is alot more involved in other readings, that involves more than simply knowing what the cards mean.
Some people choose to use a signifier card in their readings, I personally don't use one, but a lot of people find it very helpful to the reading to use one. A signifier card is a card, usually of the court card or major arcana, that represents the querrant. It is used to focus the reading more on the querrant. To find your own signifier go through the court cards and try to find a card whos qualities match your own. If you can't find a court card, then search through the major arcana. Then, when it comes to doing the reading, lay the singifier face up, and put the first card of the reading on top of the signifier. When reading for a person you don't know know well, you can simply use the basic characteristics of the court cards to represent the querrant -- King of Cups for an older married man, etc. Like I said, you don't have to use a signifier, but if you've never tried, play around with it and see if it improves the quality of your readings at all.
How you actually do a reading can be a very personal thing. Some people cleanse themselves and their space before a reading, some meditate or ground and center, some cast a circle before readings. I have done all of the above, but don't do it on a regular basis. The only thing I do do, is lay the cards out on a piece of black velvet. I find that the black background helps bring out the images on the cards better. No matter what you choose to do to set the stage for your reading, it's a lot easier to do a reading without any distractions... either a one on one reading, or if in a crowd, with the spectators being very quiet. I recently did a reading for a friend, and all my friends were watching, and laughing and making fun at her results. It was like pulling teeth trying to get meanings out of the cards. I ended up wrapping up the reading quickly and giving everyone quick past life readings, because they're simple and don't require much intuition or concentration.
Before we get into spreads and such, we should consider what you do before you lay down the cards, that is, shuffling. This is also something really personal, and there are many different ways for a person to shuffle their cards. I personally get the querant to shuffle the cards any way that feels comfortable to then, until they feel "done", while concentrating on their questoin. Others however, cut the deck into threes, or half, or don't let anyone else touch the cards. It's really up to you what you decide to do.
When it comes to answering a querant's question, its also up to you on how you decide to go about that. Some times I get people to ask a specific question, (specifically when reading professionally), and tell me that question, other times I get them to not tell me the question (sometimes people don't want you to know what they're asking). Sometimes I just do general life readings, it all dependson what the querant wants.
So, you've gotten yourself comfortable and read for a reading and the cards are shuffled and question considered, how do you lay out your cards? There are so many different spreads, there's no way I can go into all of them in this lesson, so I'm just going to cover the basic ones. I rarely use a standard spread, however, so don't be thinking that you're stuck to that restriction. I just let my hands deal the cards how they will...using my intuition to organize the placement of the cards as well as to do the reading. That said, here are some basic spreads that you can work with:
Single Card: This is what you've been doing so far. Just simply deal one card and read it. This spread is great for personal meditation at the beginning of every day or for getting quick answers.
3 Card: The basic 3 card spread has you lay the cards in a Past-Present-Future configuration, and use the cards for a quick prediction... reading about past and present influences and the outcome they will have on the future.
5 Card: This is an extension on the 3 card spread, on the the layout now is for Distant Past-Recent past-Present-Near Future-Distant Future. You can even expand this into a 7 and 9 card readings, if you want to.
Celtic Cross: This is, by far,the most common tarot spread that is taught and found in books, with good reason, there's a lot you can do with a celtic cross spread. The basic layout of the celtic cross is like this: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/celtic.gif This image show a signifyer being used, but that's not how I read my celtic cross. There are actually a couple of different things that you can have the cards represent, it really depends on what you've been taught. A site that I found gave these meanings: 1. The Crossing Card: something the querent needs the be aware of to resolve the situation. 2. The Foundation: What the question is based on. 3. The Near Future 4. The Crown: what is permeating the question 5. Recent Events 6. The Querent: how the querent feels about the question and other details 7. The Querent's Surroundings 8. Hopes and Fears 9. The Final Outcome. But like I said, I read the celtic cross differently, so I want you to be aware that there are different ways that you can read the celtic cross. When I read it, the cards represent: S. the querrant, 1. forces working on the querrant, 2. distant past, 3. recent past, 4. near future, 5. distant future, 6. Querrant (how their effected by the last 5 cards), 7. Influences, 8. hopes and fears, 9. outcome. I think that I was taught a different lay out of celtic cross, and over the years I unknowingly modified it to fit myself, so if you want to do that, feel free.
Oh, I mentioned before that there are a lot of different things you can do with celtic cross. One of my favorite spreads when I was just learning to read, and I was single, was the romance spread. For this spread, only use the major arcana and the Cups cards. Shuffle the MA and draw two, as Signifier and #1. Then shuffle the Cups and draw the next 4 cards. Then shuffle the MA and the Cups together and draw the remaining 4. You can modify the reading to read for finances and work, etc.
Horse Shoe: The horse shoe spread is very useful in determining the two possible paths a person can take. I usually use this spread, when a previous reading ends on a decision the querrant needs to make. I take the last card of that reading, and build the horseshoe off of that card, to show the outcomes of the two possible decisions. The horseshoe reading looks like this: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/horse.gif. When I use this reading, I use the one branch to represent one outcome, and the other to represent another. Now, that's me. The standard reading of the horseshoe is as follows: 1. The Past. 2. The Immediate Present. 3. The Immediate Future. 4. Something occupying the querent's mind. 5. The attitudes of others. 6. An Obstacle. 7. The Final Outcome.
Past Life: The simplest way to do a past life reading is to use a 3 card spread and have the 3 cards represent an aspect of a past life, sex and age-situation-cause of death, is typically what I use. It actually takes reading the cards to see what the'll tell you, and in what order however. This is just how I do a past life reading.... I find that past life readings work best if you make your own spread for it. The reasearch I've done on the web seems to indicate that that's what a lot of people do.
12 month spread: This is a spread that I made up when I was first learning the cards...it was really quite helpful in learning the cards and was great for future divination. The idea is to simply lay out 12 cards, one for every month, in whatever configuration will fit your work space, and read the events that will happen in the upcomming months.
Like I said before, there are tons of different possible spreads that I could cover here, so I'm going to give you the links to a bunch of spreads. Also, it'd be prudent to pick up a tarot spreads book, if you're interested in learning a lot of spreads.
Spread sites: http://www.tarotpassages.com/spreads-readings.htm
http://home.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/spreads.htm
http://www3.sympatico.ca/terrir/spreads.html
Okay, so now we get to the most difficult part of tarot reading, and something that the majority of tarot readers just ignore or plain don't know how to do. Card meanings in certain configurations. While it can be enough to read the cards how you see them, it is important to know that certain cards when paired together are even more significant to the reading. This is particularily true if you get ballancing cards, like Emperor and Empress, or opposing cards like the Devil and the Star, or reinforcing cards, or cards of similar meaning, like the Moon and 7 of Cups, in the same reading. Also if you get more than one of the same number together, like if you got 3 threes, then that is numerologically significant. This can take further research on your part, but here's a basic numerology list of what certain numbers may mean in a reading:
1 Creativity, independence, originality, ego, self
2 Empathy, cooperation, consideration, over-sensitivity, co-dependence
3 Artistic expression, sociability, friendliness, superficiality, wastefulness
4 Practicality, application, loyalty, rigidity, repression
5 Freedom, adaptability, travel, inconsistency, abuse of senses
6 Love, responsibility, understanding, meddling, jealousy
7 Spirituality, mental analysis, wisdom, fault finding, suppression
8 Executive ability, management, power, materiality, unscrupulousness
9 Artistic genius, humanitarianism, romance, emotionalism, dissipation
So, it's important to keep your eyes out for patterns in the cards, and when you find them, to read beyond what the images on the cards say, to what the cards say by how they have been arranged. If you get opposing cards in a reading, it often means conflict in indecision between those two aspects. If you get reinforcing cards, this tells you that that aspect of the reading is very strong and imposing and shouldn't be ignored. If you pay attention to numerology, you can attribute that meaning to the reading as well. When you get further into tarot readings and study you'll also find that the meaning of a card can change, based on the influence it's neighboring card has on it. For example, while the Queen of Wands represents (in the Waite deck) a dark woman or acountrywoman, friendly, chaste, loving and honourable, if the card beside her signifies a man, then she is interested in someone else. If however, the card beside her represents a woman, then she is interested in the Querent. So how the heck did you know that?!! you ask.... it's taken a lot of research and practice...eventually you begin to notice patterns when you read...certain cards always seem to represent the same thing...and reading books and websites help alot. To get a better sense of which cards are opposites and which are reinforcing, have a look at the card descriptions on this page: http://www.learntarot.com/cards.htm Near the bottom of each description it lists opposing and reinforcing cards for that particular card...it's really quite useful.