The use of all-major readings and decks.

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

bleuivy	25 Jan 2005
Hi. I've got a question that I'm sure there is a thread about already somewhere, but I couldn't find it using the search feature, so I figured I'd just post it here. I've been reading tarot cards off and on for about two years, but I've never come across a specific spread that uses only the majors (or, for that matter, only the court cards or minors.) However, I know there are decks that are only the major arcana. So here's my question: do people actually use these decks for readings, or are they just collector's items? If you do use them, or just use the majors from one of your favorite 78-card decks, how do these readings turn out? Finally, I think doing readings using just the majors, minors, or court cards would be a fascinating way to learn more about the inner workings of different tarot decks. If anyone knows any spreads or has any advice or thoughts on this, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!

Fudugazi	25 Jan 2005
I do Majors-only readings fairly often - when I want a broad-brush view of something. It's fairly common in my part of Europe to do such readings, and several people I know here only ever use the Majors (with the Tarot de Marseile, or a Swiss deck, or the Oswald Wirth, for instance, which are good decks for reading with Majors, as well as some decks that only have Majors - but any deck with strong Majors would be good). A short reading I find works better with the Majors - e.g. three cards (there are some very good threads on AT that discuss three-card spreads, or make up your own, it's a very flexible thread); the classic spread in francophone culture is the tirage en croix - the cross reading - a five card reading that shows: 1. the querent, 2. something/one that opposes the querent, 3. something that helps - will help - the querent or gives assistance to what opposes the querent; 4. the direction in which the querent is going/the answer to the question. The fifth card, in the middle, is the quintessence: you choose it by adding up the numbers of the four other cards and reducing it (by theosophic reduction) to a number between 1 and 22 - the corresponding card to that number is the quintessence card, that synthesises your whole reading. For example, last night I did an all-Majors tirage en croix, and got as "opposing the querent" VIII - La Justice. The totality of the 4 cards also came to VIII (when reduced) so I took it that Justice was THE card to look at, since it was both "opposition" and "quintessence". (BTW if you use the system that has XI-Justice and VIII-Strength, it makes no difference to this method).

Fullmoonsinger	25 Jan 2005
Patricia McLaine wrote The Wheel of Destiny which is an all Major Arcana spread that combines the 12 astrological houses with the 10 tree of life sephira for a total of 22 cards! The book gives the meanings for each Major Arcana in each position. Takes 450 pages. I used the book to help me learn about astrology houses. She is much stronger in astrology than Kaballah. Here's her web site: http://www.patriciamclaine.com/books_by_pattie.htm MoonSinger

tinkerbell	25 Jan 2005
hey helvetica, that "tirage en croix" spread looks really good! think i'm going to have to sneak off tonight and get the cards out....... i haven't ever really looked at any "majors only" spreads so i'll have to give it a whirl! thanks! tink xx

Fudugazi	25 Jan 2005
yes, hi tinkerbell - it is good. You can also use it for all-78 card readings, with the same system (obviously court cards don't have a number, but you count the others to get the quintessence card).

bleuivy	25 Jan 2005
Helvetica, that spread looks really good. I'll give it a try some time this week to see how I like it. For some reason, spreads with math in them seem more interesting to me oftentimes. Strange, huh? As for the Patricia McLaine reading, the book looks fascinating, but I think I'd like to try out a spread similar to that one without reading about what each card means in each position. I'd like to try muddling it out for myself. The spread sounds good, though, so I'll look around online to see if I can find a spread similar to it somewhere else.

Diana	25 Jan 2005
I do the Tirage en Croix differently. I use it kind of like if it were a court-case. 1) What is positive for the querent - the "defence" 2) What opposes the querent (what is negative) "the accusation" 3) The Jury (who sums up the first two positions) 4) The Judge (who gives the verdict) 5) I add up the numbers like Helvetica pointed out to give the Quintessence - the kind of final Summing Up. I use Majors only readings very very frequently. Especially for Past/Present/Future readings.

Fudugazi	25 Jan 2005
Diana wrote: I do the Tirage en Croix differently. I use it kind of like if it were a court-case. 1) What is positive for the querent - the "defence" 2) What opposes the querent (what is negative) "the accusation" 3) The Jury (who sums up the first two positions) 4) The Judge (who gives the verdict) 5) I add up the numbers like Helvetica pointed out to give the Quintessence - the kind of final Summing Up. Oh, I like that, your Honour! I'll give it a go. Although usually juries are dead silent! (they can ask questions in writing) Tirage en Croix seems a flexible tool - this is the third version of it I've seen. That's already a positive.

bleuivy	26 Jan 2005
Diana wrote: 1) What is positive for the querent - the "defence" 2) What opposes the querent (what is negative) "the accusation" 3) The Jury (who sums up the first two positions) 4) The Judge (who gives the verdict) 5) I add up the numbers like Helvetica pointed out to give the Quintessence - the kind of final Summing Up. I also really like this way of laying down the cards, Diana. I guess I'll try both and see which one I like better. Thanks!

The The use of all-major readings and decks. thread was originally posted on 25 Jan 2005 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.