Share: Cassandra/Tarot Underground - Interacting with your cards

When You're Ready to Stop Being a Control Freak [link]

I appreciated this post. I'm a strong advocate of having conversations with your cards.

Like buses*

So -

I did a reading and wanted a wrap-up card. Grabbed the Tantic Dakini, thinking "My Cosmic Carrot deck. 😊... Wouldn't it be funny if...?"

Does anyone else's scalp tingle when they make a strong connection with their cards? Mine was tingling like mad, LOL!

*No posts for ages then two come along at once.

April Foolishness

Over on Tarot Talk, we were invited to pull a few cards for an April overview. Pulling cards for the month or the year is not something I ever do, but I had a bit of free time so I joined in.

Seeing as I haven't posted anything in ages, and seeing as I have this ready-made reading, imma stick it here, too.

Russian Tarot (2013 Vektor reprint of the Tarot Avvadona 1994)

Card of the Month: 2 of Swords - Uncertain choices/options. The way is not clear. 

Biggest challenge: 8 of Swords - Feeling overwhelmed, hemmed in, not free to go in the direction I wish to go. 

Biggest victory: 10 of Swords (yes, these were well shuffled) - The problem will be resolved. 

Advice: 4 of Coins - Hold on, stay grounded. Let things be. 

I pulled a card to see if the resolution of the 10 of Swords will be in my favour, or more to the point, to my liking, or not (I may not like it but it could still be in my favour) - 7 of Coins. More “wait and see.” Some rethinking/ reconsideration will be needed. 

And there endeth the reading... Except...

Later yesterday evening, I heard from a relative who'd just had some troubling news about a situation which involves a decision, which will take most, if not all, of April to resolve, and about which there is nothing they themselves can do. Seeing as my heart wasn't really in it for a monthly reading for myself, could I have tuned into their timeline instead?

Heads up! Blog recommendation

I have just discovered a wonderful blog: The Uncrossed Path

If you're into capital-F capital-T Fortune Telling, this blog is for you!

Here's a couple of my favourite observations so far (I'm working my way back through their posts), to give you a feel -

"... [G]eneral readings can be useful, but only up to a point. They provide a landscape, not a verdict. You’ll see where the ground might shift, where something may knock at your door - but you won’t get far if you don’t know what you’re actually looking for... If someone sits in front of a fortuneteller expecting Delphic proclamations without knowing what they want, or without the courage to ask, well, good luck with that."

"Social media 'experts'... constantly reassure us not to fear the Death card: 'Don’t worry, it means change is coming…' And that’s when I die a little inside. Yes, my dears, it means change is coming—if by 'change' you mean the transition from living to no longer living... What might come after is a separate matter entirely..."

This, and their post about card meanings and common sense, reminds me of one of my favourite quotes from Andy Boroveshengra - "The cards are never something else before they are themselves."

One (new to me) way of approaching numerology with the Tarot de Marseille

In his latest blog post, "Returning to the Tarot de Marseille", Jack Chanek mentioned an approach he's tried for assigning a general theme to each of the numbers in the pip cards. A kind of “implicit numerology” based on the trumps. He didn't mention an original source for this method, if such a source could actually be identified, but noted that Caitlín Matthews and Alejandro Jodorowsky both discussed it.

If you set aside the Fool and the World cards, you're left with two sets of ten cards: 1 to 10, and 11 to 20. You can pair these cards up, 1 with 11, 2 with 12..., and the resulting pairs can provide a thematic framework with which to consider the pip cards – 1 + 11 are reflected in the Aces, 2 + 12 are reflected in the Twos, and so on.

1 Magician + 11 Strength

2 Popess + 12 Hanged Man

3 Empress + 13 Death

4 Emperor + 14 Temperance

5 Pope + 15 Devil  (lol)

6 Lovers + 16 House of God

7 Chariot + 17 Star  (“Hitch your wagon to a star”)

8 Justice + 18 Moon

9 Hermit + 19 Sun

10 Wheel of Fortune + 20 Judgement

As you can see, these pairings seem to make some logical sense. I have my own ideas about their relationships and how those could be applied to the numbers, but I won’t state them here. I'd like to leave you clear to make your own connections. Jack did list a few ways these could be perceived – see his post if you're curious.

Have fun.

Significators!

I did my first reading for someone else today since [checks notes...] November of last year! It flowed. Nice to know we (Spirit Team and me) haven’t lost our touch. 😁

It felt great to have a reason to read again, but I’m going to continue to keep a low profile. I prefer to scroll through sites* that offer free readings and be drawn to particular requests. 

Today’s experience did remind me, though, of something I’d like to share -

It reconfirmed the value of a change I’ve made to my reading process over the past year or so. I now select a card as a significator for the focus of the reading, be that a person or an area of enquiry. The card serves as a magickal proxy, much like a poppet, and helps to draw in the energy of situation. 

For years I balked at the idea of taking a card “out of play” to serve as a significator. Plus I didn’t really see the point. Now I appreciate the ‘sympathetic magick’ aspect and I’m finding it does make a difference. Besides, for cards meant to represent a person, I usually take one from another deck, most often my playing cards, so there’s no loss from the reading deck anyway.

If you don’t do this already, try it and see if it does anything for you.

*Not Facebook anymore. I haven’t deleted my account (yet); I’ve simply stopped participating in social media generally. (That’s another thing I can recommend.)

Pattern Recognition

This is how I read. I've struggled to get this idea across. Cynthia Giles - Tarot | An Exploration Project - on the other hand, has done a much better job.

12.31.23  On the cusp of a new year . . .

Anyway . . . that started me thinking about pattern recognition, which I believe is the most important element in the art of Tarot divination (emphasis mine). And though you can look up a card meaning, there’s no Little White Book for pattern recognition.

Yes, a spread or layout is a pattern—but it’s a pattern chosen by the reader. And it’s meaningless without the Tarot cards themselves. A Celtic Cross laid out with pieces of blank pasteboard doesn’t convey any information.

Once a deck of Tarot cards is shuffled, then laid down in whatever arrangement, a meaningful pattern emerges. But it can just lay there, unnoticed, unless the reader is looking for it, and able to recognize it.

There might be one big pattern in a reading, or there may be many patterns. If many, they might be separate, or connected, or overlapping. So there’s a lot involved in identifying not only the patterns but their relationships and levels of energy.

 

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Overly Spiritual Advice – Hardest Man In Tarot (YouTube)

Chris Egon Searle is not just the “hardest” man in tarot, he's one of the most sensible.  

“People... want very spiritual answers that only apply to them...

They want [advice that’s really complicated] because they know they can’t follow it...

They can... use the complexity as an excuse of why it didn’t work.”

I think this goes some way towards explaining why many people who have something that’s concerning them are unwilling to ask a direct question about it and opt instead for a random spiritual message. If they got a clear and actionable answer to their question, they’d either have to do the thing or deliberately ignore the advice.

But How?

My previous post, Why I Read For Other People, was prompted by a ‘chat group’ conversation among fellow card readers. It made me stop to consider how I actually operate as a reader. And out of that grew the post.

That post then prompted someone to ask me how I knew when I was supposed to read for someone.

In my attempt to answer that question fully and coherently it basically became a whole ‘nother post in its own right. 😏

“May I ask how this was, and continues to be, revealed to you?”

“Revealed” is too strong a word for the process. It’s nothing as mystical or powerful as that.

My upbringing and my personality made the idea of being able to communicate with spirit an obvious possibility. I just embraced that possibility. 🙂

Basically, we “talk". I don’t get audible words back (except very, very rarely) but more a kind of immediate “awareness”. 

For context, I should explain that I no longer do paid readings. I hang out in various free reading groups, mainly on Facebook, and occasionally people will contact me directly as well.

Here’s an example, from just the other day, of how I “knew" when to read for someone. It’s a somewhat atypical example, but it gives a sense of how it feels for me.

I’m scrolling through one of those free reading groups. I look at each post... nope, no connection, scroll on.

Nope, 
scroll, 
nope, 
scroll, 
nope, 
scroll,
.
.
.

Then I get to one that I have no more personal interest in than all the others I’ve just scrolled past. But as soon as I lay eyes on it I know the answer to their question is Yes. 

Ah. 

I guess I’d better tell them. 

Because I’ve already been told it’s Yes there’s no need for an actual reading this time, so I pull one card just to confirm and support the answer and I tell them what I get about their situation. End of.

It’s a bit like that. Generally, I just get a “spirit nudge” when I’m supposed to read for someone. Nothing, nothing, nothing, 'That one'.

The vast majority of the time I haven't got a clue ahead of time what the answer is going to be. I’m not a capital “P” Psychic. I just somehow know that I’m meant to pass on a message to this particular person. That’s where the reading comes in. Spirit then gives me that message through the language of the cards.

Those people who contact me directly are a bit more problematic. In those cases, unless there’s some clear reason not to read for them (like they’re rude, you’d be surprised how often, or it’s obviously a dodgy account) I just trust that they were “sent”.

Why did spirit direct me to this person and not that one? I don’t know. Ask them. 

Actually, until I typed this just now I’d honestly never given it a thought. I guess I’ve always figured it was none of my business.

Why I Read For Other People

The Spiritual Path I have taken through life has led me to be a card reader (and witch).

Not a yoga instructor, not a medium, not a reiki practitioner. 

A card reader. 

Therefore, to honour my Path, I must read cards.

I’m compelled by Spirit to read for others. But I’m not going to read for every person who knocks at my metaphorical door. 

Some people are led to me by Spirit. Some just find me. I’m shown which is which and I’ll read for the former. Some readers may define it differently, but this is what I mean when I say I’m “drawn" to read for someone.

I think it’s fair to say that I don’t see this as a personal “service to mankind”. I am not a Light Worker. It’s not my show.

I read because it’s my Spiritual Calling and I go where Spirit sends me.

Seasons Tune: Anything Goes (blog) - link

"Readers' Ethics", however one defines them, do not apply when reading for oneself. There, assuming we wish to grow and develop as readers, we are free to slip our traces and allow our souls to scan the full horizon.

Seasons Tune: Anything Goes

Clarifiers. Don't.

There seems to be a lot of discussion lately about the use of clarifiers in readings. Here's my two-penn'orth.

Let's start with a definition. Collins says "To clarify something means to make it easier to understand, usually by explaining it in more detail."

So when you pull a clarifier card for a card you don't quite understand, the idea is that this card will make the first card clearer by providing more detail. 

Fair enough. If you have some sense of what the first card might be trying to say, having it put another way by the clarifier could help firm up your interpretation, or at least make you aware you were barking up the wrong tree and need to rethink that interpretation.

But too often I see people say things like "The card didn't make sense in this position/context so I pulled XYZ as a clarifier" (or worse, clarifierS). 

They're starting from a position of no understanding of the first card. The clarifier, in theory, will give them more details about that card, but how will more details about something that doesn't make sense be helpful? Now you have twice as much nonsense to deal with.

My advice - that's what you're here for, right? 😉 - is Do the Work. 

Throw everything you know - book meanings, past insights, elements of the image, the other cards in the spread, spatial relationships within the spread, good old intuition - at the 'problem' card. Think outside the box. What could this card possibly indicate in this context? Spend some time on it. Don't just throw up your hands at the first hurdle and say "It makes no sense!"

And when you do finally form an idea of why this particular card appeared in your reading, if you still feel the need for a bit of reassurance, then ask for a clarifier in the form of a direct question - "Is this card saying {insert best guess insight here}?". 

A clarifier needs something to clarify.

You can do it; You CAN read cards - Vincent Pitisci (YouTube)

This is something I always try to get across to people. Anyone can do this. You don't have to be any special sort of anything.

Like Vincent says - "I'm just like anybody else. And if I can do it, you can do it. I'm no big deal." 😊

Serge Pirotte on "Tradition or Intuition"

"The question of using tradition or intuition is one I see often in various cartomancy and tarot groups. Being a traditional reader or an intuitive reader. Well, most people use these terms without even defining them..."

                                                                                     Read more

Tom Benjamin (YouTube) - The Best Beginners Deck & Other Tips For New Readers

One of my favourite traditional Quaker phrases (or QuakerSpeak, as it's teasingly referred to) is "That Friend speaks my mind". It conveys a much deeper sense of connection with what someone has just said than simply agreeing with it.

On that basis - This friend speaks my mind!

Tom Benjamin (YouTube) - Lessons I Wish I'd Learned Sooner

Amen! Hallelujah!

This video will save me a lot of time in the future...

"Oh, you want my take on xyz aspect of tarot?"

copy | paste

You and your cards are a team

I did a reading today for someone, using my 3-card Yes/No, Why, and What Next spread*.

As I shuffled, I asked their question out loud. I'm not one to verbalise questions in any ritualistic sense; I just talk to my cards. 😏 The moment the last word left my lips, the 9 of Cups flipped over in my hands.

That would be a yes, then?

But I decided not to use that as the first card, and instead pulled the top three cards for the spread. The last card I pulled was the Fool.

As I started to get into the reading, it just felt off. The cards didn't fit comfortably into their assigned positions. I looked again at that Fool card and realised what it was telling me. "You've gone too far; you're about to go over the edge."

Tarot Mondo Lirondo

I shouldn't have pulled that card. I should have stopped after the first three. I checked in with my deck – split the deck and checked the card on the bottom – to see if I was understanding it correctly. The Hierophant. Yes, now do as you're told. 😉  The 9 of Cups was the Yes/No, and the next two cards made much more sense in positions 2 and 3.

Reading completed, I checked in with my cards one more time… The Hierophant. (Seventy-eight cards, and...)

Performing a reading is something you and your cards do together. You're not out there on your own. Your cards** work with you. And they'll help if you ask. If you have a question, or you just want confirmation that you're on the right track (or not), pull a card***. Teamwork! 🤜🤛


* Self-explanatory 🙂
** More precisely, what works through these pieces of cardboard, works with you. 
*** This is not the same thing as pulling endless "clarifiers". That just indicates a lack of ability to interpret a card in context, and a distrust or blocking of one's intuition.

20 for '20

To kick off 2020, I'm giving a free mini reading to the first 20 people to comment on my post in Judy Reads Cards - for free! (<-- click here!) on Facebook.

WYSIWYG for Card Readers

I was forcefully reminded today of one of my "Fundamentals of Fortune Telling":

You can't make a positive reading out of negative cards

Well, you can – I almost did – but you shouldn't.

I pulled cards today for someone who had never had a reading before. Naturally, I wanted it to be a nice experience for her. So when I turned one neutral card sandwiched between two negative cards, I unconsciously went into sugar-coating mode.

Mercifully, we were doing this online, and before I started telling her what I saw, she happened to comment that she had a feeling her reading would be a bit on the negative side.

It was like being poked sharply in the ribs.

I looked at the cards again, realised I didn't really like what I saw, and turned the bottom card for confirmation. It was another doozy. So I took a deep breath and interpreted the spread accordingly.

It was a general reading, so it didn't present as "bad news". It was more a heads-up about something to be prepared to deal with. I'm pleased to say she took it well and believed she knew what it was about. And I hope, as a result, she avoids any potential unpleasantness.

Bottom card - I was misled and potentially misleading my sitter

Many readers will tell you there's no such thing as "good" or "bad" cards. That all cards have positive and negative aspects depending on the situation being read for. And this is true, particularly if you use fixed positions, where the focus of the position calibrates the meaning of the card occupying it.

Nevertheless, we can all go through a Tarot deck and divide it into essentially good, bad, and neutral cards.

And I don't often use fixed positions. I lay down a line of cards and take them, initially*, at face value. With 78 cards at their disposal, if the answer is positive, there's no shortage of "good" cards that could appear in the spread. So if I'm given several negative cards, I should accept that they're trying to tell me something.


(*The overall combination of cards and their relationships to each other will temper their meanings. Fundamental #2 - One bad card doesn't ruin an overall positive reading, but likewise, one good card can't save a negative one.)

Keeping my hand in

Discussion prompt on Facebook*:

Post your divination tips.

Yours truly:

• Once you're familiar with your cards and their basic meanings, trust your intuition!
• Ask a clear question and read the cards to answer THAT question; if a card doesn't seem to make sense, consider how it makes you feel and/or think outside the box.
• The cards interact - they tell the whole story *together*.
• Many cards have similar meanings, so ask yourself why you got that particular card and not another; how does it relate to the rest of the spread?
• Did I mention trust your intuition? 😏

Most of my tarot/divination interaction takes place on Facebook and reddit. Not a lot goes on here, apart from my occasional readings and re-shares. I really should work on that. 


*Facebook group: Arcana.Cards