Separating pips, courts, and trumps in readings?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Azdaja	01 Jan 2005
Hello everyone, I've been studying tarot within the context of Qabalah for a bit now, yet have never gotten much into the divination aspect of the cards. Although I can read the cards for divinatory purposes I would certainly consider myself a beginner in this. Recently I had a reading given to me by a friend who is very skilled in divination, and he did something I have never seen before. He seperated the small cards, court cards, and trumps from one another. This of course gave him three piles of cards: one pile of pips, one pile of courts, and one pile of trumps. He then had me shuffle the trump pile and draw a card. Following this I shuffled the court pile, and drew two cards. Lastly I shuffled the pip pile and drew three cards. The resultant layout looked like this: Trump Court Court Pip Pip Pip This method really interests me. It seems especially useful as a tool for teaching - or 'programming' - the diviner to recognize the basic differences between these three types of cards. Now, I have two questions: 1) What do you think of this method? 2) Do you know of any spreads, other than the above, which utilize this method? Thanks for any information or advice you can give.

Wisp Wings	02 Jan 2005
Do you know what type of meaning he applied to these? I am meaning postional meanings. Without this, one can only wonder what he used. There is spreads here that you separate the trumps from the minors and maybe a few as you asked about. Maybe a search will bring them up.

Alissa	02 Jan 2005
Welcome to the forums, Azdaja! I believe your question will get a better response in the Talking Tarot forum, so I'll move this thread to where it can really get noticed. :) Myself, I've never done much separating of the deck like this. It seems an interesting experiment, but when reading for myself, I probably wouldn't use this method as I prefer the flow of the layout to be more organic (for lack of a better word). Best wishes~!

Azdaja	02 Jan 2005
Wisp Wings: The layout was used to help determine what obstacles stand in my way. I believe that the trump represents the general nature and overview of the question. Perhaps also a sort of spiritual 'essence' behind the tangible aspects of what is being asked about. The first court card shows the psychological qualities you must manifest, and the second shows the negative qualities you must overcome. I'm not sure exactly how he read the 3 pips, but I do know that he did not 'blend' the meanings of all three into a single statement. Rather, the first card represented one thing, the second another, and the third yet another. I think that the 3 pips show situations to be overcome and/or actions to be carried out, but unfortunantly as I said earlier, I'm not really sure. Alissa: Whoops. Sorry I put this in the wrong section, and thanks for moving it here. I tend to agree with your statement about prefering the 'flow' of the layout, though I have a continuing problem with figuring out just how to interpret the court cards in a mixed layout. Seperating the cards does somewhat solve that problem, but doubtless causes others.

MeeWah	02 Jan 2005
Azdaja: Welcome to Talking Tarot! An interesting spread pattern--I take it that it forms a pyramid shape? The approach offers intriguing correlations, particularly as Majors represent the spiritual essence of a pattern & the pips the (elemental) manifestations. Perhaps contact your friend to find out the meanings if any attributed to the individual pip card positions? I thought I had seen an old spread that separates the Majors from the minor arcana, but the details escape & not sure I am not confusing it with something else. Occasionally, I separate the Majors from a deck for Yes/No queries, though do not always employ that approach.

ros	02 Jan 2005
I have never done this kind of reading. When I do a 15 card reading, after the reading, I separate the cards and read the spread this way~ Majors, Minors, Court and Aces and see what numbers are common.

purple_scorp	02 Jan 2005
Hi all, at one point, I went on a mad internet-searching frenzy and uncovered many spreads for my journal. I have one that separates the court cards, the minors, the aces, and the majors. I didn't write down the author of the spread so I don't know its origin. It could have been on ATF. (Sorry, I should have done a search.) Finding your soul mate spread 1 2 3 4 1. What is your soulmate like? (Select one card from Court Cards) 2. In what situation will you meet? (Select one card from Minor Cards) 3. How should you approach/charm your soul mate? (Select one card from Aces) 4. Advice. (Select one card from Major Cards) I'm assuming that the Court Cards are used for question 1, because they can indicate physical appearance, and often vocation. purple_scorp

ros	02 Jan 2005
The Haindl Tarot has a spread. It's in the books but I traded them. Who has the Haindl spread?

Satori	04 Jan 2005
When I was more into Voyager Tarot I created a spread that looked like this. Five piles, like the way a five looks on a domino cube: o o o o o In the center I placed the Majors and then around the majors I placed the minors into shuffled piles of the separated suits. When choosing from the pile of swords say: This is what cuts your path. When choosing from the pile of pentacles say: This is what grounds your path. When choosing from the pile of wands say: This is what lights your path. When choosing from the pile of cups say: This is where your heart lies. Last card chosen is the Major. The center around which all the others spiral. When choosing the major say: In the center there is_____________________. Read the cards in relation to the major. Simple but powerful tool. Offers some wonderful surprises too. I'd forgotten about this one...thanks for the reminder.

Moongold	04 Jan 2005
Konraad's Past Lives spread separates majors from minors, but uses the Aces of each suit in aparticular manner. Thirteen introduced a variation from this, where she uses Court cards as well as the Majors in the spread. This really adds interest and effectiveness to the spread.

ros	05 Jan 2005
Found the Haindl Spread (goes something like this) 1 2 3 Major Cards ...1 3 2 4 Minor Cards 1 2 3 Court Cards Read the Minor Cards first 1~ general situation 2~ past that created present 3~ your beliefs of situation 4~ likely results as of now Then the Major Cards second 1~ spiritual past & what you have learned 2~ spiritual challenge at this time 3~ how the situation will change spiritually Read the Court Cards last 1 & 3 helpers & teachers 2~ you & what you are taking from the situation I like separating the cards in any kind of a group. I just find it easier to shuffle, cut and pick the cards. If I had one deck in groups this way I would probably study the spreads more than I do.

The Separating pips, courts, and trumps in readings? thread was originally posted on 01 Jan 2005 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.