Card Combinations

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ninewaters	03 Aug 2003
Halo, I am new to this forum and a greetings to everyone, I must say reading this forum is worth more than tonz of books I ever browse through, Precise and Concise. I know that there are certain combinations of cards, that would qualify for events like death, winning a lottery, sort of things, which will specifically meant the event is coming. I am just a newbie, wondering if anyone would like to share their experience and vast knowledge on this :D

Astraea	03 Aug 2003
Welcome to Aeclectic, Ninewaters! This is one of the best places on the Web, IMO. I think that cards represent concepts, and spreads provide a context for them -- so card combinations represent linked ideas, related to specific placements in particular spreads. The form of a spread might be generic, but its content never is -- each spread is as individual as the person it is intended for. So identical card combinations can mean many different things. I think of the querent and his/her question and life issues, as the "greater context" of a reading; the spread as the "lesser context"; and each card within the spread as words or ideas within those overall settings. "Greater" and "lesser," in this sense, do not refer to valuation, but to relative permanence. The querent is the core of each reading; his or her identity is more or less firmly established. The reading, itself, refers to life issues, which tend to shift. In other words, the querent is more inclusive than his or her circumstances.

jmd	03 Aug 2003
Welcome to Aeclectic, ninewaters (and I hope your name brings us much needed water as we hit level 2 water restrictions here in Melbourne :)). With regards to your question, there may indeed be certain combinations of cards that, with 20/20 hindsight or open depth of insight may clearly indicate these events. The same combination of cards, however, may also indicate something altogether different in different contexts. To give an example, it may be that if one is looking at what the likely outcome of a particularly difficult surgery may be, obtaining a combined Ace of swords together with a five of Cups may indicate much blood spillage. If this is also followed by another card which seems to suggest birth (such as the III Empress), it may be that death may well result. In the recent world-focussed surgical separation of the twins, before even touching any cards, one could sense that the timing was not best - hitting their Saturn return, and Mars retrograde. I cannot remember which cards came out, but the sense was not for a positive outcome - though I certainly did not predict death. Personally, however, I cannot see how useful such usage would be of the cards in most circumstances. Rather, they may be far more deeply useful in assisting the person to understand either what is happening or to assist the person in a particular approach to a given situation. I first began to read in the late seventies (I mean to read cards, not books ;)!), and have only 'foreseen' - with months ahead accurate timing - such clear and important event once in that time. Again, for myself this is not something which I would consider useful, and the weight of responsibility which arises when one says something of this nature to another is far more profound than most of us may properly realise. I'm certain other responses will balance this rather longwinded prose... and again welcome!

Trogon	03 Aug 2003
Howdy ninewaters! I'll also add my warm welcome. :D In regards to your question... perhaps these two earlier threads may help you out; http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10478 http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10282 I hope this helps...

Macavity	03 Aug 2003
You could also try: http://www.learntarot.com/course.htm#lessons e.g. lessons 15/16 which address this very issue. I think ol' Joan B. puts a lot of thought into these, but, doubtless to gain the maximum benefit, leaves a LOT (sic) of practice to the user :D I suppose the problem with documenting meanings for card pairs is that there are 78 choices for the first card and 77 for the second... and 78 x 77 = 6006. (Or one BIG book!) And, at the rate of one draw per day, with no repetition (I reckon) it would be over 16 years till you saw the same pair again ;) As a compromise, for daily readings, I (in common with other advocates here?) do a three card (or so) reading. More cards and more pairs (by reordering) It's still fairly uncommon to get repetitions, but it's more about training the mind to make the connections on the fly, and therein lies the essence of Tarot reading, I suspect... Macavity

Elle	03 Aug 2003
Yikes! I did not realize there were 6006 possible combinations! No wonder - I've been stressing lately that I have been reading Tarot for 12 years and I still can't remember it all...still asking elementary questions of things I should "know" instead of relying on my intuition... I never seem to give up trying... Elle

ninewaters	04 Aug 2003
Astraea: Thanks for your advise on the concepts, as I am still trying to grasp the basics, even though I have been a long-term begineer (perhaps a permanent one :D). No doubt it is the best place for tarot users forum. jmd: E examples you use, is rather quite interesting, nv knew that ace of swords and five of cups actually means blood loss !! Impressive indeed. Definitely it will bring more water to melbourne, if possible also electricity supply in this coming summer :D, water is an element of cup, and nine of cup is a wish card !! Trogon: Your links save me so much trouble, and it is so convenience, and thanks for ya warm welcome :D Macavity: I already been to the site before, I actualli have an entire downloaded copy of the site as reference. Actualli.. there are up to 5 cards combinations (hopefully i am right), so it can be 78x77x76x75x74 = Calculate yourself :D and also 78x77, 78x77x76, 78x77x76x75, all add together ! Elle: Sometimes i faced the same problem too, especially after long time haven't touched tarots, I seem to doubt my instinct and rely alot on the references... To Everyone: Thanks for taking your time on reading this msg, I hope if possible could receive more ideas on the car pairs and combinations, for example, 3 queens, 3 aces and etc... those that looks like they wanna to prove something For example, Death+4 swords+6 swords+judgement+(3 more cards, forgotten) - any 4 of these cards at any order in CC, signifies physical death. I read it in one of the tarot books, and i forgotten. Hope to hear more about the ideas and of cos once again thank you for the warm welcome that you guys put out. :D

Minos	05 Aug 2003
My method: Practice putting random card-combos together. Try to figure out what they mean for yourself. If you want, this may involve consulting the book for their individual meanings, but it need not. Journal. Repeat.

The Card Combinations thread was originally posted on 03 Aug 2003 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.