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Thoth Journal: Virtues I, Justice and Fortitude

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The so-called cardinal virtues of Justice, Fortitude (Strength), Temperance, and Prudence are all (well, maybe all) represented in the Tarot deck. Only three are explicitly given as cards, though. Between this post and the next, we’ll look at what’s visible, and what may be invisible.

We go from cool and cerebral to seriously hot and lusty in the Thoth. Crowley used the pre-Golden Dawn order for these two cards, so Adjustment (Justice) is number 8 and Lust (Strength) is number 11.

Justice (Adjustment)

justice, known as adjustment in thoth tarot

I got this definite sense of burden with the Adjustment card. Our lady Justice is perched on her toes, and those large scales are suspended from her headdress. She seems comfortably balanced with that phallic sword between her thighs (well, maybe the card’s not as cerebral as we thought!). The sense of perfect balance and the power of the feminine at the same time is palpable. She alone decides, but not without passion. Large and in charge, she is.

According to Lon Milo Duquette (Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot), there was a lot of debate on this one between Crowley (writer and mystical curmudgeon) and Lady Frieda Harris (the artist). He won on keeping it simple. She won on balancing on toes. The lady is supposed to represent Ma’at, the Egyptian goddess of justice, and I do get that Egyptian feel. Not sure there’s a way to escape Crowley’s sensuality in his cards, even in this blue/green cerebral sort of setting.

Fortitude (Lust)

strength card, called lust in thoth tarot

Lust is the ultimate example of Crowley’s worship of the power of the feminine in a way that’s kind of disturbing and apocalyptic in this card. Here’s a nude lady astride a multi-headed beast, orange and red all around, leaning back to accept the serpent’s desire (he’s staring at her vulva). She holds what looks like a red womb in one hand with rays coming out of it. The beast seems to trample traditional piety depicted by praying hands and what looks like a sad nun’s face. At first it looked like Lust might just be a slave to her passions, but with her hand firmly on the tether of the beast, she is definitely in charge even as she’s open to everything.

Balancing (oooh, reference to the previous card!) acceptance with direction seems to be the message. We have desires, can we direct them in a way that serves us at all levels? According to Duquette, this card is quite disturbing to a lot of people (mostly Western culture, I should think) since this lady is the archetypal whore of Babylon. But Crowley’s idea is that she is like the whore because she accepts all desires and transforms them in the grail/womb she holds in her right hand. Powerful stuff, as always with this deck. Challenging, and yet it all works together to form a singular vision from human archetypes found all over the planet.

And Crowley’s not the only one who uses the Strength card to depict taking control of one’s passions—the Druid Craft Tarot does also, along with other decks, I’m sure.

Patterns . . .

So, both cards speak to balance and the power of the feminine (illustrated in more traditional decks by a woman gently controlling a lion), which is kind of interesting since these two cards can be used in the 8th or 11th positions in the deck.

I love patterns; patterns are cool . . .

In the next post, you’ll get an opportunity to pick your candidate for the elusive virtue of Prudence.

Tarot Journal: Magicians Compared

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magician universal waite
© US Games, Inc.

Today, I’ll compare the Magus from the Thoth deck with RWS (Universal Waite version) and Druid Craft magicians.

The Thoth will always be a contrast to most other decks, particularly these two RWS types. Overall for the Magician card, it’s a contrast between concrete and abstract, working with objects in a scene in the real world vs. playing with alchemy and objects suspended in the unconscious dream world of Crowley and Harris.

The RWS Style Magicians

The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) and Druid Craft Magicians share the authoritative stance of a master. They hold their wands high in the right hand, and have a table in front with the tools of the suits, along with the infinity symbol. It’s over the RWS Magician’s head and on the belt of the Druid Craft one.

Pamela Colman-Smith in the RWS added roses and lilies. I found out that the frame of roses over the top of the RWS Magician originates in a Roman practice where that which was spoken of at the table framed by the roses was secret knowledge, not to be repeated elsewhere. So the Magician carries the secret of using magickal power in the world. Lilies usually indicate purity or possibly death. The Magician seems to have potential power over both sex and death in the symbolism of this card.

tarot magician druid craft
© St. Martin’s Press

The Druid Craft Magician is located at a central symbol of Druid power, Stonehenge, and has a hen looking on. The hen pulls in the energy of the feminine with its association with women tending chickens and gathering eggs at home. In some stories, the hen is a symbol for the female seer or witch. So, our Magician is not just a symbol of masculine power (we leave that to the Emperor). The Magician also wears a cloak of raven feathers, a power animal for Celtic myth and Druidry. No living plants, though, in contrast to the RWS. The color contrast is pretty profound between RWS and Druid Craft, with subdued colors in the Druid Craft and dawn just breaking. Compare this imagery to the recolored Universal Waite with its bright reds, yellows, greens and whites.

The Thoth Magus

Magus Thoth
© US Games, Inc.

The Thoth is in some respects, a whole different animal. While the other Magicians represent the usual aspects of mastery of magickal knowledge and tools and the ability to use them in the world, the Magus seems much more self-absorbed.

With the Magus, this absorption in the joy of his own knowledge and power to manipulate the universe is much more obvious. Like the Druid Craft Magician and unlike the RWS, he is looking up and not out of the card. He’s suspended in the air (a common phenomenon in the Thoth) by winged sandals and very much epitomizes the Mercury/Hermes, the Greco-Roman Trickster god. The trickster metaphor is also associated with other interpretations of the Magician, particularly the older Tarot de Marseille card style. In this case, though, there’s more of an alchemical theme of the mercury as that fascinating liquid/solid element with magical properties. And the Magus is the only one of the three that visibly portrays the negative side of this card, with the monkey god climbing up to disrupt our Magus’s fun.

In Summary

Ultimately, they all represent the power of ego tinged with the first awakening of wisdom leading the manipulation of energy and magick in the world. As with all things where the ego is involved, a shadow side appears, in this case the risk of becoming drunk on one’s own sense of power. The trick, as the Druid Craft Magician shows, is to allow the entire energy of the cosmos to channel freely through you, to listen as well as to speak, and to remember the virtue of humility.

Thoth Journal: Princesses and Potentials

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Taking a look at the Thoth Princesses (translate to Pages for RWS-style decks, or Knaves for the Marseille). Aleister Crowley and his artist partner, Lady Frieda Harris, have built a rich set of symbolism over the traditional archetypes in the Tarot, and the Princesses are a very special part of that symbolism. The inimitable Alison Cross, expert on all things court card, once posed some questions to help those of us in a little tutorial of hers to parse the significance of the Thoth princesses. Here are my answers.

Does he/she stand for beginnings?


Princesses. All young, each one very powerful-looking for her seeming age. Sweeping lines. Two in movement (Wands and Cups), two still, one seemingly in study (Disks), the other seemingly in defense against a threat (Swords). Not seeing obvious beginning symbols . . . checking DuQuette (Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot) . . . ah, here it is. The Princesses have a special relationship with the Aces. Crowley assigns each Princess and Ace to a quadrant of the Zodiac and a geographical region. It’s quite a web he weaves for the entire court.

Tentative steps in an untried direction?


Well, they’re young and sexy, I’ll give ‘em that (maybe not so much the Princess of Cups, but she’s still pretty cool). Untried directions, yep. The two movers (Wands and Cups) are headed off in new directions quite dramatically, as is the Princess of Swords to deal with whatever she’s swinging her sword at (something abstract of course). The Princess of Disks is the only one not moving, but light is shining on her from below, and she seems almost to be summoning something from the Earth.

Traditionally, they are also messengers – is that what you want them to be here?


Each seems to be conjuring something or presenting something to or leaving something for the viewer. A bright multi-petaled disk, an arc of light or a stone pedestal, a tiger or sun wand, and a sea turtle. Actually, the Princess of Wands may just be pointing you to the flaming Yellow Brick Road to Oz.

How do Pages relate to their suit?



Clouds, dark and billowy and shafts of light for Swords. The green of her body and clothing is not standard for the suit, but is likely dictated by the complex esoteric color scheme explained in the beginning of the book. She’s right out there ready to fight.
A semi-abstract forest of brown trunks, what looks like a large fur cloak, and green roots going down into the light from the Earth flank the Princess of Disks. She definitely looks well fed (or pregnant—my, my!?) and studious.

And the Wands thing is quite typical, all fire and red/orange/yellow, dragging a tiger behind her.
The Princess of Cups floats in an abstract blue and yellow sea with a fish, and the sea turtle (her skin is even green).

Are there common features to the beginnings of the Major Arcana, the beginnings of the Minor Arcana and the beginnings of the Court Arcana?

Commonalities between the Fool and the Princesses: A tiger and flames (in the Wands), the diamond crystal in the Princess of Disk’s staff, the reptile (turtle) in the Cups (vs. the crocodile in the Fool), the green clothing on the Princess of Swords.

And as previously mentioned, the Princesses are all wedded by astrology and elemental relationships (they are as a group in with the element of Earth, even though each also represents the element of their suit) to the Aces. The Aces are also the ground of being in the world, dense with matter.

Not your daily draw kind of deck, the Thoth, like I’ve said before. Each Princess carries a version of the Ace’s object with them, be it the disk, the torch, the cup or the sword, in similar style and color.

What’s Your Take?

Lots to look at without even cracking the book. And then, when you do, the Thoth Tarot gives you layer upon layer of symbolic meaning. Almost overwhelming, really, but also very, very fascinating. All hail the Princesses and all hail the power of potential!

I do recommend trying out these questions on the appropriate initial characters in the Court cards of your favorite deck. See what patterns develop. Let me know in the comments what you find out!

Thoth Journal: The Fool 0

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I’ve recently gotten back to my Thoth Tarot and thought it would be good to revisit and expand upon my initial impressions of this multi-layered take on the Tarot system. I find the deck both fascinating and challenging to use. It’s got this “in your face” very direct set of messages, and does not shy away from illustrating the negative as well as the positive. I will begin this series with my take on the Thoth Fool.

The Symbols on the Card

Thoth Fool

The Thoth Fool has plenty of symbolism to spare. Lots more stuff than in the RWS version. He fills the card and seems to have already stepped off the cliff, but is suspended, and not in free-fall, so that’s good, I think. He doesn’t seem concerned about his current situation. The animals (tiger and crocodile) don’t seem real friendly; the tiger is actually biting his leg. He seems to be carrying his star chart with him in the blue bag. The sun is not behind him but is shining out from his genitals. There’s a butterfly, Holy Spirit-like dove and a cadeucus swirling around his upper body. Below his crotch are three flowers, one upright, the other two fallen downward and pointing at what looks like two tiny intertwined babies. The Fool also has a weird crystal-looking cap and little horns on his head. His arms are up at head level, and he’s holding a diamond-shaped crystal in one, and what look like flames or a torch in the other. Also a bunch of grapes is hanging out just below one arm. Two symbols are on the bottom of the cards . . . Uranus and the symbol for Air.

Interpreting the Thoth Fool

So, what does it all mean? I get the sense that this Fool may not be so foolish. I get a feeling of power over all aspects of creation, as if all of creation is flowing from him into whatever journey he takes. Since he’s suspended in the air, there isn’t the same sense of moving along a path and off a cliff to anywhere. He carries the Universe (the last Major Arcana card) inside of him already and seems to be at the point of creating a new world and feeling the first aspects of that world, including fire, pain (from the tiger), the idea of life followed by death, change and process (the flowers). So, take that risk, step off that cliff, but do it knowing that you have the power to create the wings to fly across to the next adventure. It’s all within and you are ready to let it out.

The Mythology and Alchemy of the Fool

Lon Milo Duquette, the author of Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot (I will be using his perspective throughout this series) emphasizes the relationship between the Fool as the beginning and the Universe as the end; they have that egg shape thing in common. Life is a series of spiraling circles of experience. The Fool represents non-being, the Tao, prior to manifestation. Note the encompassing of myriad mythological symbols from various cultures; he includes it all. There’s also a certain focus on sexual, procreative energy related probably to Crowley’s interest in sexuality. The sun is right there in the sexual chakra. The babies turn up later, by the way, in other Major Arcana cards as part of the great archetypal Fool’s journey.

The Fool includes both masculine and feminine energies, but I get more of an impression of the masculine energy from this card. Something new is manifesting through your or around you, stepping into the new. Up to you how you accept that into your life. Ready for a change; ready for birth into the duality of existence, into pleasure and pain? Here it is.

A Tarot Spread from a Lenormand 3X3

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lenormand-3-card-draw
Scythe, Fish, Lilies from the Gilded Lenormand

The Lenormand fortune-telling system has become very popular over the last several years, and new decks are proliferating (some quite faithful, some way out there away from the tradition). There’s been the usual fuss when something people have been using a certain way gets popular and then starts to lose its foundation. Folks often take the easy route and simply adapt it to what they already know, in most cases, the Tarot.

My Take on the Lenormand Method

I am mostly a traditionalist when it comes to the Lenormand system. It is not about the art in the cards, but about the linguistic system of divination used with the cards. Use of intuition is limited if you want the system to be effective in telling you what’s going on around you and what may be coming up to challenge or gift you in the future. This system requires a lot of memorization and putting together of concrete meanings. Takes lots of practice to be decent at it, and I still consider myself an intermediate student after more than five years.

Lenormand’s Gifts for Tarot

What I am doing, though, as I practice this system, is to allow it to influence my Tarot reading, rather than the other way around. Lenormand helps me keep my Tarot readings more grounded in real-world human concerns and connected to all of the person who sits before me, not just their soul stuff.

More specifically, I’ve been using the Lenormand 3X3 spread to do Tarot monthly forecasts. It works really well for a 1 to 3-month projection and creates some cool connections among the Tarot card meanings.

The 3×3 Spread and Interpretation

Here’s a sample draw accompanied by the Lenormand interpretation patterns from Andy Boroveshengra (excellent cartomante and fortune-telling philosopher; check out his book on Lenormand):

2013-sept-monthly-3x3

The cards (from the Gilded Tarot Royale by Ciro Marchetti) are drawn and placed top to bottom, left to right, so the positions look like this:

1-2-3
4-5-6
7-8-9

So, we have:

IIHP-10P-QS
2S-XVDV-6C
XWH-VIICH-4W

Here’s how I read these:

Stage 1

I look at the fifth (center) card for a focus, and then the first card for a trigger that caused that focus. I then combine the four corners for the real question, or issue.

The Devil is my focus card, a challenge to resist temptations and realize I am free to choose. This challenge is triggered by my intuition. Hmm. So, intuition = bad, or intuition = good?

What’s the real issue? IIHP + QS + XWH + 4W: Deciding which to listen to, the intuition (IIHP) or the intellect (QS) to take advantage of good luck (XWH) and create a solid foundation for success (4W).

Stage 2

I read cards 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 for what is going to happen in the situation.(The diamond perspective)

10P + 2S + XVDV + 6C + VIICH: This is a Lenormand 5-card line. I’m going to consider the center card the focus, and pair the cards to see what’s up. What’s my potential for handling this situation of staying disciplined against temptation?

10P + VIICH looks good. Take charge of my finances and abundance will follow. This will take discipline.

2S + 6C indicates a blockage by the Two of Swords caused by a focus on the past, or maybe looking behind me into the past to resolve it.

10P + 2S indicates to me some kind of mental block or denial about the money thing (see how complex this Lenormand system gets? Lots of combinations to make a story).

6C + VIICH indicates to me that I need to take charge of the past because it is influencing me negatively at present.

Notice that the power cards are on the ends, and the Two of Swords and Six of Cups are right next to the Devil card.  To me this whole string says that I’ll be challenged to release mental blocks about finances and take charge of, or move beyond past patterns to avoid problems this month. 

Stage 3

I read the three vertical columns as the past; present; and, future, and then the diagonals.

Past: IIHP + 2S + XWH = I’ve been having a hard time deciding between following intuition and sticking to intellectual approaches (and getting stuck there), which has kept me from taking advantage of opportunities.

Present: 10P + XVDV + VIICH = Now, here the Devil stands between abundance and movement/taking charge, tempting me to…what? Hmmm. Is my ego getting in the way, or will better financial situation help me take charge of life and move on? Depends on what role you give the cards in their positions.

Future: QS + 6C + 4W = Let the Lady of the Mind rule the past and build the structure for future stability. I will be looking to the past to provide clues to a career move that will be well worth celebrating, I think, and it will be an intellectual approach that will get me there. 

Diagonals:

IIHP + XVDV + 4W = Using the insight of the Priestess to avoid feeling trapped in my own mistakes and get to celebration?

QS + XVDV + XWH = Using intellectual approach to avoid feeling trapped by my own mistakes and take advantage of good luck?

Stage 4

I get the quintessence by reading cards 1 + 3 and 8 and 7 + 9 and 2. (Triangles perspective)

(IIHP + QS) + VIICH = Wow! So, I will be asked to combine my intuition and intellect to take charge of my career and financial situation and avoid the trap represented by the Devil.

(XWH + 4W) + 10P = All good! If I can pull this off, it will be awesome! Luck is on my side to create greater financial stability this month.

Thank you for your patience! See how this all works together to form a picture when you’re done, but not always before you’re done?

The Complete Divination Story

Looks like I’ll need both my intuition (HP) and intellectual resources (and since it’s the Queen, the ability to work with others) to work through a challenge mired in past mistakes (the Devil and the 6 of Cups). Looks like I can prevail (VIICH), and that I have some good luck on my side (XWH), but I’ll have to make sure I don’t ignore the realities of the challenge (2S) that I face. Stage 4 gives a pretty cool combination of the inner tools I have and the external situation/results I can gain if I apply those tools properly.

Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you want to get together to try this out, contact me.

Reading Accuracy: 30-Question Tarot Challenge Q 24

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Q: How accurate do you believe your readings are (or, do they accurately convey messages from spirits/deity at all)?

This question gets into the debate over Tarot as fortune-telling tool and Tarot as psychospiritual development tool. I come down kind of in the middle on this one.

Fortune-Telling Mode and Accuracy

Well, I’ve actually gotten quite a bit of validation on my readings to free reader applicants at the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI). Specific real-world validation that the cards spoke to the external circumstances surrounding the question. Gives me a bit of goosebumps just remembering some of the feedback from querents.

But, self-fulfilling prophecy on the part of querent and reader? The symbols on the cards being so malleable that they can be used to explain anything (given concrete info from the querent)? I’m not sure.

I think I will continue to take these validations at face value, although I never start a reading with the idea that I’ll be telling a person if their mom will die in a week, or if their boyfriend/girlfriend will come back. I think querents should be empowered to make their own decisions, with the Tarot maybe reminding them of the options they have in any given situation. I also won’t read on a third person’s projected feelings or actions directly for ethical reasons, but I don’t read strictly on a psychological enlightenment basis, either.

I do believe that we can get an idea of what the emotional energy of a situation is and even some of the specifics around the situation because of my belief in empathic energy communication through the quantum field. But that’s just my theory.

Psychological Mode and Soul Work

Osho Zen Tarot

I like these kinds of readings best. We get to have a deep conversation about the inner work of the querent. I like to read the cards together with them and discuss their meanings in general and how the querent sees them. Feels more like an equal partnership seeking enlightenment.

The validation or “accuracy” here is in the response of the querent to the cards and their meanings. Again, self-fulfilling prophecy may very well be at work, but the symbols are designed to awaken what is already within (they are archetypal for a reason).

I also believe that the quantum field and the entire field of energy of the universe feeds into our interpretation. We are all star dust after all. I agree with Carl Jung that there is a collective consciousness that we can tap into either with or without symbolism (but symbols are nice cues), and that consciousness affects us energetically, as we affect it.

I think the accuracy of Tarot is built into its symbolic connection to the collective human unconscious (regardless of religious tradition). If it weren’t “producing” interesting results, decks would simply collect dust on the shelves.

Accuracy can be interpreted in a number of different ways, but I definitely find the Tarot useful in bringing out information and options that might otherwise remain hidden.

If you are a fellow reader, I’d love to know what you think of accuracy, and whether or not you read for specific concrete answers or just personal reflection. I will also be asking this question over at my new MeWe group, The Cartomancer’s Salon if you’d like to join the discussion.

I found the questions for this series at a Tumblr account that no longer exists. A lovely person named Rhee started the thing. These are great prompts for telling stories about one’s journey through the world of Tarot, so I’ve started the series again on a weekly basis so you all can get to know me better, and also share your own answers to the questions in comments or links to your own posts. I’d love to hear from you!

Learning Curve: May Day Tarot Blog Hop

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I like this curve. I know that “learning curve” often indicates one that makes the learning more challenging, but in Tarot’s case, I just find it fun and mind expanding.

Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop for May Day/Beltane of 2019. Our blog hop wrangler, Joy Vernon, has challenged us to write about our continuing education with Tarot. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of new perspectives to gain from history and new deck creators and writers.

I love using my learning of Tarot to do two things: add to my symbol knowledge in general, and see what symbolic elements and sources deck creators use to theme their decks. So many fascinating perspectives!

The RWS

Universal Waite, © US Games, Inc.

The original Rider-Waite-Smith deck gives us a great start based more on Pamela Colman-Smith’s illustrations than the pat meanings that Arthur Waite uses in the LWB. Pamela used her own imagination, some traditional meaning elements and images from the Renaissance decks to create a wealth of symbols for us to explore. I’ve just finished reading Pamela Colman-Smith: The Untold Story, which has great insights into Pamela herself, her artistry in general and the development of the deck. I originally thought of her as “just” an illustrator, but I found out she was so much more, and especially a free spirit and great storyteller. Now I can see the important narrative elements in her illustrations for the Tarot deck.

I find myself using her deck more often now that I’ve read her story.

I find the some decks more than others provide me with all-encompassing worlds and mythologies (or philosophies) to bring new insight to the Tarot. My current favorites include the Mary-el, Lee Burstyn’s Universal Marseille, and the new Dreams of Gaia Tarot. All different Tarot worlds with great depth and breadth appropriate to each set of images.

The Mary-el Tarot

© Schiffer Publishing

Marie White has a great mind and great soul. When I first saw some of the images for her Tarot deck, I was totally intimidated. The richness of imagery in her paintings, my visceral responses to the “grotesquery,” sensuality and downright complexity of her images was overwhelming. So, I procrastinated on getting this deck. I ams so glad I did not give up, though, on getting it. Marie’s companion book is wonderful! Through her eyes, I began to see the beauty of her mixing of mythological traditions. Her breadth and depth of knowledge of deep psychology and human archetypal symbolism from many different cultural sources opened my mind to very deep interpretations of the Tarot symbolism.

This deck is great for inner work, and I have learned so much about myself from working with it and Marie’s perspective.

The Universal Marseille Tarot

© Lo Scarabeo

And now for something completely different. There are many Marseille decks out there, but Lee Burstyn’s interpretation of Claude Burel’s 18th-century cards is still my favorite. He introduced me to the idea of using Plato’s concept of the soul in three parts (Desire, Will, and Reason) to organize the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana (with Robert Place’s The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination as his source material). I learned so much from this three-phase process for the inner journey that I apply it whenever I use these cards, but also in general when thinking about the Fool’s Journey.

For the Minor Arcana, which are all non-scenic pip cards in the Marseille, Lee keeps it nice and simple with interpretations based on numerology and suit and court card personality combinations that feel very natural and yet refreshingly different form the RWS. I love taking these cards out and getting away from my RWS images, especially for daily readings.

Dreams of Gaia Tarot

Dreams of Gaia © Blue Angel Publishing

My latest out-of-the-RWS-norm deck is the Dreams of Gaia Tarot by Ravynne Phelan. Normally, I get a little apprehensive when deck creators put in extra cards and go well off of the traditional structure. In this case, though, it is worth the mental shift effort.

Ravynne wanted to include some basic psycho-spiritual concepts that don’t occur on their own in the Tarot. The result is a great inner-work type of deck, but you’ll have to work to release your preconceived notions of what the Major Arcana cards are about. She begins with the Fool as Choice and the Magician as Child, has both masculine (Youth) and feminine (Maiden) card counterparts in the High Priestess position (yes, there are more than 22 cards in the Majors), along with a homage to Crone and Sage energy (our elders), and then gets more abstract with Knowledge, Wisdom, and Love cards among others.

At first I wanted to rebel against this expansion of the Majors, but after studying the symbolic threads (dragons, third eye) that ran through the images and writing up a little diagram of Ravynne’s extra facets of the original archetypal symbols, I learned to love the new perspectives I could add to my readings.

The Learning Curve Continues

I remain in awe of these deck creators, from Pamela to Marie, Lee to Ravynne, who continue to plumb past and present human interpretations of experience to instruct me in the infinite universe of the Tarot. They will continue to be my teachers.

Don’t forget to take this opportunity to plumb the depths of our bloggers’ perspectives on Tarot learning using the links below.

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The Question in Cartomancy

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This is one of my biggest challenges in Tarot and other card reading systems, the question. I tend to be too vague, usually, for myself anyway. I’m often too positive. I do believe in focusing on my own response rather than other people’s reactions (believe in that create-your-own-reality stuff).

I’ve learned over the years that a good, and fairly specific question, is the best bet for a satisfying message from the cards, and I make sure to help my querent create one. Here are some examples of questions for my self and others that work for me in my readings:

  • What are my best first steps to find an audience for my new business?
  • What should I focus on in my work today?
  • How should I approach the project of eliminating financial debt?
  • What are my three best options for finding a new love interest?
  • What should I be aware of as I go to my doctor’s appointment to get the most accurate result?
  • How can I create time for contemplation and connection to Spirit?

Notice the lack of yes/no questions in the list. Hey, we’ve got 78 cards; why restrict ourselves to yes or no? There’s so much more information in the symbolism. That said, I do use yes/no questions with the Lenormand reading system (only 36 cards with much simpler symbolism and standardized meanings). I find the Lenormand most useful for very specific questions on daily situations. I save the woo-woo, career, and long-term love-life questions for the Tarot.

Easy to see the more complex symbolism in the Tarot above. The names for the Lenormand cards show their simplicity: Stars, Scythe, Child.

Would love to hear from you all on how you form questions, and what sorts of questions you deal with most often. Also, what your favorite phrasing is for a daily draw question, if you have one. I do daily draws and am always curious about other readers’ approaches.

© 2013 – 2020 Joanne Sprott