Hello All,

In the interest of growing and learning as a community, I thought it might be an interesting endeavor to post a weekly tarot spread. Because there may potentially be so many diverse individuals offering their two cents into the mix, I thought a universal topic might be appropriate, so for this week I chose to lay out a spread on the "Course of major global affairs". The sense I gave in meditating with the cards before hand was something more nonverbally geared specifically towards "What sorts of changes and fluctuations are present in the global community and how can we as the populace responsibly act on those fluctuation for the betterment of our world?"

Now, I'm an american, so there may be a particular trend in the cards I pull out towards issues of american interest. Also, this is a pretty broad topic not often addressed with tarot cards - which I thought would make it an interesting exercise in exploring the more universal symbolism that the tarot cards can have regarding society, the world, and our global community as a macroscopic entity.

The second issue that I felt warranted some attention beforehand is the matter of the spread itself and the symbolism I place on the spaces - I would of course love to hear other varieties on the classic Celtic Cross spread, as far as which places mean what, and because the purpose of this particular reading included being placed here for community discussion, it is more than likely to fit with more than one paradigm of symbolism.

Originally my idea was to do a reading like this once a week for group interpretation and discussion, but a thought that occurred to me after having done the reading and recording it was that we might address other issues of an appropriately universal nature based on consensus or suggestions on this thread. So, if you have an idea for next weeks reading, by all means, I'd love to hear them!

The other side of that coin, however, is to do the same reading each week, on monday (day of the moon, cycles, appropriate for this particular subject matter), and then interpret long term matters such as recurring cards and the cyclical movement of particularly meaningful patterns in the reading each week over time - I've observed tendancies like that in my own weekly or monthly readings.

This purpose of all this, is for the benefit of everyone here, and myself as well. I had the idea because I've been reading cards for several years now, and I've only had one formal teacher, who basically taught the Case method of interpretation. The indepth study was my own work, rather than instruction, and I've always wanted to get involved with some group work on understanding the relationships between the cards in a more comprehensive manner. And that's what we're here for: sharing perspective, experience, and wisdom to benefit all of us.

So, all that on the table, let me describe my own schema for the Celtic Cross as a starting point, as I personally believe that the intended symbolism of each of the card stations impacts the cards that land there and they're relationship to one another. If we can then be mindful of the world this week, hopefully we'll get some sense as to whether that schema stands, if it was more universal to this community, or if there is a greater Schema pushing through because of the universal and community nature of the reading and it's inclusion here.

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This is the basic celtic cross spread familiar to pretty much anyone with a tarot deck. I actually typically read with two layers, representing the internal and external aspects of a given subject, but thought that for this particular purpose a single layer would be more amiable to group work. However, if anyone thinks reading with both layers would be a more interesting approach, then we can certainly go that direction.

Now, my own personal interpretation is not significantly different from the traditional approach, but let me elucidate my method here for comparison's sake. I'd also love to hear differences among other readers on the forums.

1. Significator - I don't pick a specific card for the significator, but rather draw this card like any other, and it's intended to represent the underlying state of the subject, the primary figure that the other cards refer back to.
2. Present - This card is read as the present state of mind, situation, or most pressing matter.
3. Root Cause - this card represents the inner state in the individual giving rise to the present card.
4. Past - this card is the past situation or state of mind that evolved into the present.
5. Divine Cause - This card is always hardest to interpret, but gives insight into the cycle from past to future, and typically shows an interesting reflection with the root cause; it represents the divine influence, one might also say Karmic influence, initiating the present situation.
6. Future - what, on it's current course, the present is evolving into.
7. Psychological Influences - The nature of the influence that the subject's psychological state is having on the development of the present situation.
8. Physical - The influence of the physical upon the development of the present situation; sometimes it's the individual's actions in the physical world, sometimes people around them, sometimes health issues, etc.
9. Spiritual - The influence of the individual's spiritual state, ideals, etc., upon the development of the current situation.
10. Outcome - Different from the future in that it represents what action or state is necessary to make the best of the card in position 6.

And that's the basics of how I do it - beyond that, it's a matter of finding connections and patterns between the cards, which I find to be easier when I use two layers - a pair of cards will match up to another pair of cards far easier than just one card and another will match, beyond the element, or the number.

I'll place this weeks spread in the following post to preserve the first one in successive pages. If it makes a difference, I read with the Rider Waite deck for most purposes, although I also read with the Celtic Dragon deck - although I've read with it less over the last two years.

peace

This post has been edited by Vagrant Dreamer: May 5 2008, 08:25 PM