Absent cards / Still making themselves heard

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Oct 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

gloria	25 Oct 2003
I’d like to tell of a reading where, the theory of cards being conspicuous because of their absence in a spread, really did come into play. A friend of a friend was rushed into hospital seriously ill, put into intensive care. I did a reading using 8 cards to try and get an overall picture. What I found incredible was that three of the fours were there, just with 8 cards. And yet the four I would have expected to see (4/Swords, hospital, confinement etc) wasn’t one of them. Well I got to thinking that maybe for some reason he wasn’t in the hospital. Maybe he’d discharged himself, but knew he was too ill to do this. Or had he not made it? Information from my friend was slow coming through, so I did another reading the next day. Lo and behold the 4/Swords appeared this time. But the surrounding cards were looking pretty bad. Well I finally got to hear that on the day I did the first reading, he had slipped into unconsciousness. (In fact someone had said he’d been a whisper away from death) Is this why the 4/Swords wasn’t there that day? He was there in body but not in mind. Thankfully he has since pulled through. Has anyone else experienced absent cards having a say in the reading? Gloria.

Marion	25 Oct 2003
Hi gloria, Yes, sometimes what isn't there makes itself very obvious by its absence. Almost draws more attention to itself that way. That is a very telling example which you described. I notice it most often when you do a reading on a specific area and no cards related to that area show up. For example if you do a work reading and it's all cups. Then I start to think that the relationships or the emotions are dominating rather than normal business drives. Marion

Astraea	25 Oct 2003
That was a strong intuitive hit, Gloria -- it gives me goosebumps. I'm not able to recall having had a similarly pointed experience, but I agree with Marion that sometimes readings which are intended to be about one subject clearly show (through absent cards/suits) that the most important factors lie elsewhere.

gloria	26 Oct 2003
Hi Marion and Astraea, thanks for your posts, shall try and catch up here later on today. Gloria.

The Absent cards / Still making themselves heard thread was originally posted on 25 Oct 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.