multiples of a card but different suits

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 29 Mar 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

quan_yin	29 Mar 2002
Hi, Sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I will ask again. I get a lot of readings with multiple suits of the same card. Like 3 6's, or 2 Kings, etc. I know it's significant when this occurs but I am not sure what the significance is, other than a general sense of "choices are important here" or maybe "pay attention to older men?" For example, if I get 3 6s in a spread, I pay attention to where they fall (past, future, etc), and that is helpful. But I do not always grasp the signicance they have with each other. And I suppose there's something important about the 1 missing 6 that I should notice? I guess that's a longwinded way of asking: if I have a spread of 6 of pent, 6 of cups, 6 of wands but no 6 of swords, that has a different sense than 6 of cups, 6 of wands, 6 of swords but no 6 of pent? Same question if I have 2 of Kings. I suppose it matters a lot if it is King of wands with King of cups, vs. King of swords with King of pent. And of course, what if all 4 of the suit show up? Thanks. a.

Talisman	29 Mar 2002
'Lo all, quan_yin, I'm glad you posted this, and I look forward to reading the responses. Seems, in my tarot experience, I'm always reinventing the wheel, discovering like an amazing revelation what others have always known. But, I really began to feel I was on my way when I learned to look for repititions in a spead (suits, majors, numbers, etc., etc.), and also to read what is not there as well as what is. Like finding the key to open a secret door. Then, a spread (I always use three cards or my own spread) has so much more depth. Again, great question. Talisman

amyel	29 Mar 2002
Have you read a book called "Tarot, Plain & Simple" by Anthony Louis? I'm sure other books have a similar section, but the way he lays out his book is by suite/number ranges, i.e., he discusses all 6's together. I find this helpful because you can see the similarities of all the like pips toghether. He does the same for the court cards. In his intro to the pips, or minors, he states that 6's = "re-establishing harmony". Like Talisman, I believe that these sorts of patterns are significant, just as a reading heavy with majors or reversals would be. But I am not very good at numerology (because I just don't have the patience to really learn & apply it - I am much more visual & not very math-sy), so I look for patterns. This is why I tend to use patterned spreads and not 3 cards spreads - because I look for the patterns....it would take longer then I have time for at present to explain this and perhaps belongs in another thread, anyway. So, sorry I'm not much more help. I will also keep track of this thread, because I am very interested in what some of our more experienced readers have to say about it.

Mojo	29 Mar 2002
Great topic! Anyone who bothers to read my ramblings knows that I don't put much stock in patterns or memorized meanings or definitions. So I don't really have any hard and fast guidelines I can share here. Except that when 3 or more of the same numbered cards comes up in a reading, I will generally associate the theme of the reading with the corresponding sefirot on the Tree of Life for the pip cards. Since court cards often refer to people in a reading, I don't really alter my interpretations if a lot of them pop up. I interpret the sefirot of the Tree of Life as folows: Aces: Knowledge, higher ideals, spirituality Twos: Intuition and creativity Threes: Logic and reason Fours: Natural talents, ability to act on ideas Fives: Learned skills, ability to react and adapt Sixes: Heart, emotions, love Sevens: Drive, determination, power Eights: Direction, vision, clarity Nines: Urges and desires Tens: Grounding, getting down to basics As an example, a recent reading I did contained 3 sevens.... Pentacles, Swords and Wands... it was a basic 7 card spread (no meaning to the positions) concerning career. With three sevens at play, I immediately focused on his own determination (or actually the lack of it considering the three cards in question) for improving his situation. This felt to me like a case of apathy. He didn't like the situation he was in, but he wasn't motivated to do much about it either. Instead, he was just coasting along being a slacker (7 of Pentacles), being argumentative and difficult (7 of Wands), and probably even doing some "getting even" with the boss (7 of Swords). He wasn't happy with the situation, but he felt trapped and this just took the drive out of him (yes, the Devil was in there, too!).

truthsayer	29 Mar 2002
gail fairfield in "choice centered tarot" does a lot of work w/ numerology and number repititions. the book was recently reprinted but i think it has a different name now. if you see a book by fairfied, it should say somewhere on the cover what the original name was.

VGimlet	30 Mar 2002
Tarot Companion by Tracy Porter has a whole section on what multiples mean, depending on the cards. ie, Four Aces mean an important time ahead that may bring either great happiness, or disappointment. I am paraphrasing here, because I don't have the book right in front of me.

The multiples of a card but different suits thread was originally posted on 29 Mar 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.