Significators

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Oct 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Gaidheal	06 Oct 2003
I feel as if I really should know the answer to this already, but please bear with me-I'm somewhat of a newbie. I've been reading for some time now, but I've never used a Significator. I keep hearing them mentioned in books and conversation, but have never been able to find a satisfactory explanation for exactly what they are and why they are used. I know they're a card used to represent the querant, but what, exactly, is the significance of a Significator? (no pun intended)

Astraea	06 Oct 2003
I don't use significators, either. It has always seemed to me that the querent is implicit in every aspect of the reading, the whole of which applies to him or her.

galadrial	06 Oct 2003
Hi Gaidheal, I don't us a signifcator either. For the reason mentioned by Astraea, and also because I like to allow every card to come up in a spread on it's own and because it's energy is significant. I impose minimal restrictions on readings; a bit of structure such as a carefully phrased question, or the usual position meanings- shadow aspect, guidance, etc. But I feel using a significator adds a needless extra restriction or expectation. I would rather leave it open whether that card will come up or not.

Thirteen	06 Oct 2003
A signifier is a card picked out to represent the querent. There are different ways to decide which card: random (have the querent pick a card from the deck), deliberately choosen (Reader picks depending on day, mood, personality of querent) OR you can go for one of the court cards and say, "This is your signifier and anytime I do a reading for you, this card will respresent you." This follows very old traditions of, say, a blonde woman having the queen of swords, or an Aries being the king of Wands. Positive about signifiers: it can help keep the spread focused. Reader & Querent may feel as if the cards surround the signifier (cross it, cover it, go behind or before it) as they would the querent. So, rather like sympathetic magic, if a card is "Behind" the signifier, then the event it indicates may feel more literally "behind" the querent. It's as if the Querent was made into a card and set among the other cards that represent his/her past, future, family, etc. It's also kind of fun for the reader to pick the card to represent the querent at this time and place. Say, pick the Hermit for a person who can't seem to leave their house. "So, Hermit, how can we get you to leave your house?"--and the cards play out around that card like a story around a central character. Negative: It takes a card out of the running (in the example above, you've lost the Hermit!)--and they're not really necessary. I've never used or needed them, especially in spreads where there's often a card laid out that represents the person in the here and now.

Gaidheal	06 Oct 2003
Yay! I feel so much better now! I really could not understand what was so necessary about them, but a couple books I've read seemed to suggest that everyone used them. Thanks for the explanation, Thirteen-I guess I did understand what they were, but just didn't really see the need for using one in my readings.

Bosorka	07 Oct 2003
May I have subsidiary question? Somewhere I read that after you pick up your significator, if it appears in reading, it has a significant meaning for you. Well, I don´t seem to underestand what significant is, when I see on position like reactions or final outcome "me". Is there any meaningful way of reading it?

Macavity	07 Oct 2003
I think it depends on the type of reading (spread) used. For certain Golden Dawn style readings the significator is indeed... significant. It was used e.g. as a "marker" to select which (of several) "stacks" of cards to read or indeed to represent the querent in counting techniques defining the interactions between cards. But, as stated here, it seems a pity to remove a potentially important card from the proceedings, unless for such specific reasons. I suspect the concept of using a significator rather "leaked" from the above style of reading into mainstream... and perhaps to little real purpose? ;) Macavity

Thirteen	07 Oct 2003
MaCavity, Haven't heard of this Golden Dawn style reading. Can you give an example of how one is done? And what the signifier means in such a reading?

Macavity	07 Oct 2003
Oh, this is just a reference to the fairly familiar (to this forum anyway?) Opening of the Key spread(s) as described by Paul Hughes-Barlow: http://www.supertarot.co.uk/ootk/ootk.htm Macavity

The Significators thread was originally posted on 06 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.