How to find dates with tarot ?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

paulo32	05 Aug 2003
How to find anny date with tarot ?

dadsnook2000	05 Aug 2003
I've both raised this question and have shared answers to it. In my view some of the spreads have general "times" associated with certain positions: the CC spread has the 'just passing' and 'near future/likely outcome" positions on either side of the central cross. In other cases some tarot readers/authors have specific systems that point to a broad or narrow date range. One book which I purchased a few months ago offers a very comprehensive time system: Time Tarot by Alarnah Tobin-Gray and Llyle Wentworth and published by Simon & Schuster of Australia. This book maps out each minor-arcana card against a specific span of days (8 to 12) or several week span or a season. Others have associated certain suites with seasons. I'll leave this 'answer' to your question in this general format until there are more specific questions raised. I'm sure there are others who can provide more experience and expertise in this topic who will join in. Dave.

paulo32	05 Aug 2003
Thanks dadsnook2000 I have see the book on amazon, is the book good on this subject ? paulo

dadsnook2000	05 Aug 2003
I can't say yes or no relative to your purchase of Time Tarot. In broad terms it seems to associate various minor arcana cards to the astrological sun-sign-decante and the period in which the Sun passes through those sign segments. Other minor arcana cards are linked to full sun transits of certain zodiac signs, while some are associated with seasons. There are rules of use in which the designated "time period" is assigned to next year rather than the current year. Examples are provided for a three card spread, the cross spread, celtic cross spread and five-question spread. *** I haven't applied the system that the authors offer to the extent that I can say it works or doesn't work. I will say this: The intent that is in our minds relative to the spread we are to use and the manner in which we use SEEMS to permit the universal mind to work clearly through our mind. Having a sophisticated system in mind and having the intent to follow it should prove workable as that is the way basic tarot readings seem to work. Good luck, and let me know what you think of the system. Dave.

jog1118	05 Aug 2003
paulo32 you have to see the sticky's in the forums. i learned a lot from them (covers almost everything about tarot) :smoker:

full deck	06 Aug 2003
. . . "I see a tall, handsome stranger . . . er, well, ok, he's *medium height* but he's pretty cool and a nice guy . . . etcetera or Get a little, cute dog, name him "Tarot" and teach him to wrap himself around the legs of women while he is on the leash. Both of you should be picky too. Either way, determined creativity always wins. :o)

Trogon	06 Aug 2003
Well... I use a 5-card Past-Present-Future spread quite often. The Past and Future I think of as generally being a few months, up to 6... the Recent Past and Near Future I think of as being within a few weeks - up to a month... or so. ;) Then, if I need to look further into past or future, I can expand the spread with additional positions. I have found, however, that this is quite variable, depending on what the querrent needs to get from the reading. Hope this helps... a little...

paulo32	08 Aug 2003
Hello And how do you find the exact date Trogon ? bye paulo

samreid26	15 Aug 2003
Good question... very good question...

lunalafey	15 Aug 2003
Every reader & deck duo has thier own way of determining time. Sometimes it's just watching a reading unfold and then reviewing how the deck relayed this info. I make notes in my readings when it comes to astrological signs & such. This is something I have not come close to understanding. I got a book for my b/f who is new to tarot, "tarot companion" by tracy porter...there is a chapter on timing in this book: '.....numbers 2,3,7 or 9 card from the minor apperars immediatly before a major.....conjunction...querent is beginning a new cycle there is also this breakdown wands: 2/2 days 3/3 days cups: 2/2 weeks 3/3 weeks swords: 2/4 weeks 3/6 weeks pentacles: 2/ 2 months 3/3 months ***all 7 are a week 9's- have 2 stages 9+19 days=28 I have not tried this technique, it does not appeal to me, but it might work for someone else.

matfav	15 Aug 2003
Timing with the cards wands - fire -summer cups - water -Winter Swords-air- fall Pentacles-earth - spring Majors - NOW Minor numbering indicates months /or years depending on the question example How many years? ect

Elle	15 Aug 2003
I have tried this method and unfortunately, it did not work for me. Hope others have better tries! Here's where I think personal will comes into play and messes with "time". The cards are always changing because of the ability to change attitude and thus, outcome/time. Warmest, Elle Edited to add: RE: the method mentioned by Lunalafey

Umbrae	17 Aug 2003
"Here is the deal with timing… I have never met two people with the same personal time, and there is only one way to find your ‘personal time’. Journaling. One of the benefits of keeping that journal of yours is that you are learning your own system and concept of time. Timings set by cards will always be wishy washy, and over-ridden by your personal time. As you learn and grow, you will find things tend to shift. Here is suggestion for you; start doing readings for friends, but do not tell them of the results. Write your readings down, and seal them in an envelope to be opened at a future date. This way, the reading cannot influence future actions or events. Secondly, it provides a benchmark as to how your timing works. I can tell in a layout roughly how many weeks or months in the future I am looking at, but it came from experience, and I know it is not the same for everybody. And thirdly, like the exercise where we did readings with some cards face down, you may find that your readings vary from actual events and time. Knowing how you work with this concept we call time is important. It’s part of learning. The other key to keeping a journal is when you have major life-changes, your timing system may change. My timing has changed drastically in the last two years, and I’m still coming to terms with that aspect of my own readings…hey…I’m human. I now have to add extra time to my readings. Should you use a static timing system, the old this means this and that means that, you will discover that is too rigid. I have found that timing is more loosey goosey than other aspect. There are so many variables involved for an event...to be ready for you." The above is plagiarized from an unpublished source, with permission.

full deck	17 Aug 2003
I'm curious; why not simply ask a time-specific question, focusing upon the period in time that one is interested in?, i.e., "what will happen in the next three months?" Another approach (used by some) is the use of a Minchiate deck, employing the zodiac cards. I have even heard of some fellows keeping the the zodiac cards separate from the rest of the deck and using it as a time-specific function within a spread but this was a customized reading style used which one would have to develop carefully. Considering the difference between chronological time and perceived, subjective-internal time, I'm not sure how effective this would be. This strikes me as being an easier approach to the consideration of time in a reading since the zodiac does nicely cover the time within one year. Another question relating to time in a reading involves sampling. When I would do a statistical analysis of, say, a piece of music, graphed out by bars (bars + tempo indicating the total time of the piece); if I were to measure the density of notes played, I could sample from each bar, every 4 bars or every 8 bars. The sample size directly influenced the visual graph of the music's form; a sample cell size that was too small would result in a more erratic shape in a graph ( # of note attacks over passage of musical time), that had no real value as a representation of structure, whereas a sample cell size that was too large would produce a graph that was too vague in shape to show what was really happening during the unfolding of the music within its timespace. As an analogy, If we did daily readings -- all relating to events for each day -- would these readings really show a developing trend, would they really be very useful? I suspect that daily readings and their relationship to time are not useful in that it predisposes one to rely heavily upon reading and far less upon using one's own common sense and wisdom in making daily decisions and does not adequately take into account the process-oriented nature of one's subjective experience of time that occurs in larger periods of measurement. Perhaps it's is a bit like thinking of Max Planck's "quanta" as discreet particles (small time periods) instead of " quantum waves" (larger periods of time). Likewise, like the physicist that asks "are 'quanta' particles or do they occur in 'waves'?", we could consider "Is it more effective to focus on specific, time-oriented events as opposed to reading for the trend of a time-period and the processes it represents"?. A reading that focuses more upon trends that occur within a longer span of time is probably more helpful, giving one a more accurate view of events that occur out of our personal (subjective) experience of time. Other than that, perhaps a calendar is more useful for determining time-related events.

The How to find dates with tarot ? thread was originally posted on 05 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.