Sunday, June 15, 2008

Past, Present and Future: 3 card Tarot spread.

This is a simple spread.



Often it is used to know a matter's past present future.



Although simple, in the hands of an experienced Tarot reader, it would reveal much to him.




On Saturday Evening, Apol and I had the pleasure of meeting another Tarot reader in singapore. I requested the reader to do a three card spread for Wen and I.



For the purposes of the spread, the reader only used 22 major arcana cards and the spread is as follows.



According to how the person saw it.

Wen has some dark secrets which he is unable to let go of based on the devil.
the present card is the best card in the deck and is cycle of luck as good.
the last card is a new beginning.

According to how i see it.


This spread shows the following aspects.

Firstly, in the past, perhaps Apol had lost of control, giving into lust, bad acts and such.
The present sees a realization of control of enlightenment and achievement.
The future sees Apol questing for more knowledge and control of himself.



According to how the person saw it.

I had a higher calling for higher purpose in the past and i am not doing what i am to do.

The temperence explantion is saying that there should be action since all elements are there.

The person explained that the magician is also initiation of actions and all elements are there.

In my terms, i disagree with the meanings given for judgement. there is no higher purpose for me to do or calling in the past.

It is more like i need to let go of the past issues.

the meanings for temperence given by the reader is vague and very shallow. the person kept stress on luck cycles and of good fortunes. i don't understand why. to me the temperence meant art of alchemy which is to take actions from thoughts and to fulfill them in reality and to change my perceptions and dreams and fulfillment.

the meaning for the magician is to let my will be done an emphasis of the 2nd card.

After meeting the reader, our assessment of the reader and from our conversation with the person is disappointment. We had expected that the person possessed some level of higher understanding in tarot. Instead the person has not even achieved the 1st level of the art which is mastery of the major arcana. In our course of conversation, i did offer to guide the reader and give some pointers, but i was flatly refused and challenged by the person in stating that the person had his own methods and will not accept information. Thus the person's cup was too full and satisfied with the current cup not wanting to change and get a bigger cup? Or the student is not ready? or the master is not worthy for this student?

In my opinion, the 3 card spread should include all 78 cards as each is different and each card will give further emphasis of the others. Using all majors, as a tarot reader beginner, it seems acceptable but one would fall into the trap of comfort with them and forget ever using the balance of the deck.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've given this spread some thought, and I would like to add a caution to the reading.

While it is not inaccurate, the reader used only the major arcana, and did not do reversals. This in my opinion severely limits the possible interpretations available.

By using only the major arcana, the intricacies of the minor arcana is left out. The suits of wands, cups, swords and pentacles were not always present (although they were present in some cards), and this leaves out valuable insights as to the reference of the reading. Are the cards referring to career, relationships, studies, or ambition?

Also, the major and minor arcana indicate to me internal and external forces respectively. This allows me to look at a reading and advise the querent on what he can and cannot affect, and how best to approach the outcome. By not including the minor arcana, the reader is either choosing to only look at external forces, or not taking the issue into consideration.

The lack of reversals here further limited the depth of the readings. While there are some readers I know who do not do reversals and are still accurate, reversals are thought in the Rider-Waite tradition as they give additional meanings to the cards. The reader was working on only 22 possible interpretations.

Further to that, a three card spread is very general. Using only upright major arcana with this spread, there's a possibility of only 66 interpretations (a one in twenty-two chance of each card coming up in each of the three positions). Compare this with 234 possible interpretations if a full deck is used, and 468 possible interpretations if a full deck and reversals are used. While more interpretations do not necessarily mean a better reading, having more possible interpretations allows a good reader to better understand and appreciate the reading; which in the end translates to better advice. That's what we look to the Tarot for after all, is it not?

That being said, I would still like to extend my thanks to the reader for the time and effort it took to do the reading. And as always, I wish you all all the best in your journey with the Tarot.

SHIMURE said...

Dear Wen,

Hmm the total combination without minors and reversals show be 9240.

22 x 21 x 20 = 9240.

However, the reader used only major arcana for the purpose as i pointed out of trying to explain something in a vague sense.....

fine tunings are all in the minors.

the power of the cusp,

the power of telling time accurately

and lots of other stuff.

the reader did stress that secrets are not to be revealed.

Even when we revealed ourselves to be tarot readers of no mean ability, the person refused to admit the inadequecy of study and experience and goes on trying to justify it as suited for the purposes.

In my opinion, a candle tries to show the sun how much light it can shine......