tarot body language

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ros	30 Dec 2003
Would anyone explain how you read the directions on the card. e.g. Chariot- faces you directly so I figure that is definitely at this moment of the reading. Knight of Wands & the 6 of swords (for example only) they both face different ways. If you lay a spread out in a line or read cards like a story, how do you know which is in the future or which has been in the past. Do you go by the middle card in the spread, meaning the left is the past & the right is the furture, Or do you always have to have a significator card & then look at the direction the card is facing before or after the card. Six of Swords facing towards the middle of the spread or to the significator card could mean that they are stuck in their journey to peacefulness because the boat is going towards & not away from the middle or sign. card. Just looking for different reading ideas.

cjtarot	30 Dec 2003
Hi, I'm sure you will get better answers, but here is my take: The position in the spread determines if it's past, present, future. The direction the card is facing "May" be what that quarent is dwelling on or making his or her decions based on or even a msg to "watch your back" if the person in the card is facing left (I read left to right). What I do is lay the cards out and go with my very first reaction to the card. for instance, in the Sacred Circle the knight of swords is facing forward and came up in the "present" position of the spread. BUT..what the knight was doing was protecting his past...keeping the quarent from dealing with the disjointed past. Thus keeping her from facing past triumphs and failures so that she may learn from them and move forward. It all seems to go back to -yes learn the book meanings, but go with your gut reacion.. Good reading CJ

DeLani	30 Dec 2003
Here's how I do it: Usually, if it is facing dead on, the card is a strong influence (wherever it is positioned). Facing to the left CAN mean dwelling on or dealing with the past. Facing to the right CAN mean looking forward. Facing away means usually denial, retreat, or self-absorbtion. However, that is not 100% of the time. Sometimes who the character is facing can mean something, (e.g., the Knight is looking at the 6 of cups in the spread, indicating a desire to travel back to a childhood home), and sometimes the direction they are facing means nothing. You have to read the spread as a whole story, and rely on your intuition. Nothing is a hard and fast rule. Just an interesting aside, I once did a reading with the Osho Zen where the only 3 minor arcana in the whole spread all had the same type of position - suspended in the air, arms above the head and legs extended. It was really strange.

The tarot body language thread was originally posted on 30 Dec 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.