ways to choose significators

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kit	11 Aug 2004
I was wondering about the different ways others select a significator (one of the court cards used to respresent the querant during a reading). I know lots of people don't use them. I use a significator occasionally, generally trying to link the personal and physical charcteristics of querant and card as well as astrological sign but that's difficult when you don't know the querant well. I have heard/read of a number of different ways of choosing a significator. Are they really that important? Do many people use them? yianna

Francesca	12 Aug 2004
They seem to have gone completely out of style! I think I learned from one of the Eden Gray books lo these many years ago, that the querent should choose a card, not necessarily a court card. Someone might be more of a High Priestess or something. I don't like to take a card out of the deck though.

DuskHawk	12 Aug 2004
I usually don't bother with them...Now that I think of it I have only used them like once or twice. Instead of the significator I place a card in it's place as how the situation is.

Aun	12 Aug 2004
I don't use significators too oftem, but sometimes I feel like using them. To me a significator works just like placing a photo of the person next to the cards. - Is it necessary? nope. - Does it help? maybe, depending on that which you feel is right to do.

cartarum	12 Aug 2004
signifactors are mostly for focus. you may want to pick a signifactor that accurately describes one specific aspect of a situation. then there are different veiwpoints you must consider. is this only what the querent is experiencing? is this what another is experienceing? the important thing is to choose the correct signifactor; you will know if you did. although there are all kinds of answers, only about twenty percent of them will lead you to a definite conclusion, a definite resolution. other wise, you are simply misinterpreting another answer, making it your own. one good idea, if you are married to the idea of using signifactors, is to use the aces. i personally, would avoid using the ace of swords and wands though, for sentimental reasons. for emotional matters, ace of cups. for material matters, ace of pentacles. the more you know about the cards, the more effective a signifactor is. so read alot of books, and get a good idea of what is there. ~A~

Shade	14 Aug 2004
I have the wuerent shuffle and cut the cards once to find their significator.... leaves room for a lot of options.

BlueLotus	14 Aug 2004
If I have a picture of the person for whom the reading will be conducted, then I would rather use that instead. However, I noticed that even in this case a court card would usually come up in the reading depicting the 'significator' better than I could possibly have thought. For example, I always thought that a certain person was a queen of cups, but whenever I did a 'passive' reading for her, she turned out as a queen of swords. :confused: Not quite surprising since she was a Pisces sun but exhibited traits of her moon in Aquarius when down or under stress . Botton line, let the cards speak to you and do not force the issue, even if the querent chooses a significator, you will find out that the cards have their own mind.

The ways to choose significators thread was originally posted on 11 Aug 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.