How do you tell "where"

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Jun 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

JenMae322	02 Jun 2004
I am new to the tarot and I am trying to determine how you tell where something is going to occure. I know they cannot give you an address, but can they give you a general idea? i.e. If the cards suggest a move, can they tell you east coast, west coast, overseas, etc.? Please Help!!! Thank you! :-)

Imagemaker	02 Jun 2004
Hey, another NH person! Now there's 2 of us, welcome! I take location from the image on the card (using pips with images--usually Rider-Waite-based decks). Mountains, plains, woodlands, water . . . and it would depend a lot on how specifically you frame the question.

WalesWoman	02 Jun 2004
Some times it's a play on words as well, I got King Spears, Page Spears and Horned One (Devil) for a place I was asking about and most of the other cards had water, rivers, falls, lakes in them, so after some thought and the cards coming back again, realized it meant the Little Bighorn River or somewhere in that vicinity. In the Legends deck, I also got the Page of Cups, the Page of Swords, to I took it to mean it was also in a general area between the Little Bighorn, Salmon and Snake Rivers. A lot of territory to cover. Now I just need to find a map and see if it is near this particular mountain near Lander, Wyoming. They found the plane but not my cousin.

Luminessence	04 Jun 2004
Make that 3 - I'm in NH too :) I would agree with Imagemaker - I think looking at the backgrounds of the cards is a good way of telling where something will occur. You might want to pull a few cards and see how the images tie together.

Thirteen	04 Jun 2004
You can also pull out the aces, shuffle and see which one turns up to indicate direction. Typically, Swords (air) is East, Wands (fire) is South, Cups (water) is West and Pentacles (Earth) is North. But depending on where you are you might want to change that (i.e., if you're closer to the south pole, then Wands are probably NORTH to warmer climates, with Pentacles SOUTH. You get the idea). Unless you get the World card, you can assume that the distance is not that terribly far. The World, on the other hand, is usually indicative of someplace, well, globe spanning.

Luminessence	04 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Thirteen Unless you get the World card, you can assume that the distance is not that terribly far. The World, on the other hand, is usually indicative of someplace, well, globe spanning. And what if you're using a deck that uses the Universe instead of the World? Would that signify an interstellar voyage? :) That certainly wouldn't be what you were expecting to get in the reading... :P

FlipTarot	05 Jun 2004
Not sure whether this is helpful or not, but the directional associations with the suits are supposed to be: Wands - South Cups - West Swords - East Pentacles - North FlipTarot

FlipTarot	05 Jun 2004
Sorry Thirteen! I just noticed you already posted this information. I should read the thread more carefully in future. FlipTarot

JenMae322	07 Jun 2004
Thank you very much everyone! The books I have never mentioned direction. I would never of know about the 4 points! Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!

Sillanza	09 Jun 2004
The "Tarot in 10 Minutes" has a "where" spread that uses the court cards as locators. I didn't find the spread that helpful, but the locations referenced for each card was a good starting point for me.

Imagemaker	09 Jun 2004
I realized I could remember the suits/directions better if I thought of them alphabetically arranged in clockwise order, starting at 9:00: .. . . . . . . pentacles (N) cups (W). . . . . . . . . . . . . swords (E) . . . . . . . . .wands (S)

JenMae322	09 Jun 2004
WOW....that makes a lot of sense!!!! It makes it a lot easier to remember instead of me running to my notebook! Thanks soooo much!!!! :D

nodntap	11 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Thirteen You can also pull out the aces, shuffle and see which one turns up to indicate direction. Typically, Swords (air) is East, Wands (fire) is South, Cups (water) is West and Pentacles (Earth) is North. But depending on where you are you might want to change that (i.e., if you're closer to the south pole, then Wands are probably NORTH to warmer climates, with Pentacles SOUTH. You get the idea). Unless you get the World card, you can assume that the distance is not that terribly far. The World, on the other hand, is usually indicative of someplace, well, globe spanning. I'm a bit curious Lady-T. How can you get the World if you are only pulling out the Aces? :D:D:D

Thirteen	12 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by nodntap I'm a bit curious Lady-T. How can you get the World if you are only pulling out the Aces? :D:D:D Darn. I've been found out. Um...look, it's Prince William! (dashes very far away).

FlipTarot	18 Jun 2004
I'm know there are astrological (and alchemical?) reasons for the directional associations with the suits, however these are also probably biblical. Since astrology goes back at least to the Babylonians and is probably older than the Biblical texts, it's not surprising. As gets thrashed by that gnarly J Karlin guy on alt.tarot, tarot symbolism is historically (like it or not) judeochristian in origin. Also, as he says, the Golden Dawn people were heavily into revisiting Jewish biblical mysticism - ie the Qabalah. And I guess it's also a logical product of European geography in the middle ages and before. Some FlipTarot (drawing on others, too) theories: 1. Swords = Reason = East: Adam & Eve, the primal symbolic humans or the core of our humanity, were expelled from the Garden to the East of Eden. Their way back was barred by two flaming swords. Note the rich associations eg a boundary defining the costs of independent free will & reason against God and the quest for higher knowledge, ego as a loss of innocence ie the Fall. Also, the three wise men came from the East etc. Reason, symbolised by the sun, rises in the east. 2. For Europeans, the boundary of the known world was in the West. Who knew what came after Ireland?: sea monsters, dreams ie the unconscious. Also, this is where the sun sets in preparation for night and dreams. Hence, west = cups. 3. As Thirteen pointed out, Wands mean energy means warmth. For a European, you head south to get warm. So wands = south. 4. That leaves north = pentacles. Interestingly, north is usually the magical direction, mythologically speaking. (Compasses and lodestones point north, inexplicably to someone in the middle ages). The terrifying Vikings came out of the north. Now, Santa Clause lives at the north pole etc. Historically, the change by occultists of the suit of Coins to that of Pentacles was to emphasize their magickal associations. Blah blah blah .... FlipTarot

kslibra1959	21 Jun 2004
Not to disagree but I learned the directions differently - probably due to Astrology. Wands - East Cups - North Swords - West Pentacles - South In my study of Astrology, I know the calendar as going counter-clockwise...Aries at 3:00, Libra at 9:00. Thus... It's my experience that any method works as long as you are consistent and hold the intent while shuffling/laying the cards. My 2cents!

Sillanza	22 Jun 2004
Thanks so much for the tip, Imagemaker! So simple and neat!

Savoyali	24 Jun 2004
This is getting farther off-topic by the minute, but seeing Imagemaker's graph and reading FlipTarot's thoughts, it all fell into place so gracefully :) Thing is, another suits/directional mnemonic for me are colours, going by the associations as I learned them. Works like this: Cups = West = blue = emotions, subconscious Pentacles = North = green = earthy, physical Swords = East = yellow = mind power, thinking Wands = South = red = passions, fire energy Just thought I'd add this, as it ties into such a neat little bow :D

ros	24 Jun 2004
I don't know if this is correct or not but I do my directions like this North-Coins and South - Cups East- Swords and West - Wands Somewhere I read Cups and Coins support each other as do Wands and Swords. So... I figured this was a good way to remember the direction.

Ivy Rhiannon	05 Jul 2004
I just use witchy reasons for the directions! North-earth-green-pentacles: to represent the earth. East-air-yellow-wands: because it commands astral forces South-fire-red-swords: because it was forged in fire West-water-blue-cups: to drink the ritual drink from

The How do you tell "where" thread was originally posted on 02 Jun 2004 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.