Clarifying a card

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

judylea1	22 Mar 2005
On a couple of occasions recently I got an outcome card that didn't seem to relate to the rest of the spread or I just didn't understand even after exploring the meaning of the card. Is it really wise to do further cards to clarify the outcome card? Is there a particular spread that would be good for this? Just wondered what others experience on this was.

Sulis	22 Mar 2005
If I don't get a card, particularly the outcome, I often pull another clarifying card. I've recently done this when I didn't get the message from a court card too. Love Sulis xx

Thirteen	22 Mar 2005
Like Sulis, the easiest thing to do is just pull another card and place it over or next to the card that's confusing you. This is your clarifying card and you can just flip it off the top of the deck (or pull out of a fan--however you normally pull cards). You can put down clarifying cards next to any positions that aren't clear to you. No need to do a whole other spread. Seeing the two cards together (original and clarifying) can often make a big difference.

Requiella	22 Mar 2005
How about looking at the same spread/cards with a different deck? Sometimes this can bring up subtle differences in meaning that I haven't thought about.

Fulgour	22 Mar 2005
Please don't get me wrong, because I really don't know. This is something that has never been shown to me and I have no experience with it and I do not understand it. I'm just not clear on what an optional clarifying card is. If one or two are good, why not more... and still more? Maybe sometimes not getting an answer is the answer.

Thirteen	22 Mar 2005
Fulgour wrote: I'm just not clear on what an optional clarifying card is. If one or two are good, why not more... and still more? Heh. You haven't done clarifying cards, have you? I can tell you from experience that if you put down more than one card you'll get a repeat. So, for example, your first clarifying card is, say, The Hermit, your second will be, something like 8/Cups, and third will be, oh, the Hanged Man. Now there are certainly differences between these, but they all emphasize and echo messages of solitude, being on your own, etc. Trust me on this, Fulgour. From experience, the deck gives you only one clarification--and if you ask for more, it will just repeat what it said the first time around. So there's no point in laying down more than one.

tarotbear	23 Mar 2005
I am a big fan of clarifier cards, especially for court cards which I view differently (it seems!) from most people. For example, I always use a claifier with a page or knight card since I see Pages as news and Knights as changes and use a clarifier card to get more information about the news or change. The important thing is to lay out all the cards you need for the entire spread first, then go back and pull a clarifier if you need one. If you get a card you don't see clearly while laying out the spread, do not use the next card to clarify the preceeding one. I usually use only one clarifier, two if the clarifier is a court card! If you are going to pull more than two, IMHO you should just do another complete reading. ~also IMHO - if the reading ends with a Court card, it is possible that the Card is not the outcome but rather the person who will bring you to the outcome. Instead of clarifying that last Court card, my suggestion is to use it as the significator and do another reading asking how this person will help you reach the outcome. :smoker:

Elven	23 Mar 2005
Hi judylea1 hows things? This is going to sound a little bit different than the other posts, but when I was learning to read, my teachers taught me to do 3 layers of cards for the one reading. I mainly read in this fashion, so that a clarifying cards is not necessary - only in extreme cases. But if I have done a single layer spread - lets say the Celtic Cross - and I need to clarify the outcome, I will pull and place another 2 cards next to the outcome card to the right. These cards are from the top of the deck or I will ask the querent to choose two cards from the deck and ask them to ask the cards to clarify the outcome. I think whatever you feel provides you with the information you need should be used. It maybe pulling the outcome card from the spread and using it as the signifier, replacing the other cards, reshuffling the deck and laying out 1-3 cards below it, to give a bit more in depth interpretation. Yes its like another spread but the question is to ask for a concise clarification of the outcome. Sometimes the outcome is a questioning card like I find the seven of cups. Court cards are another I also like to clarify. Try and find what feels the most comfortable for you! Hope this has helped a bit. Elven x

judylea1	28 Mar 2005
Thanks to all for the suggestions!

Deana	29 Mar 2005
I agree with Fulgour...the spread is the spread and I don't do a clarifying card or another spread. If I don't understand the outcome, I ponder it awhile and try to figure it out or let it be. If, in a few weeks it hasn't resolved itself, I may do another spread and it may be time to understand or things may have happened that make it more clear. My husband has a bad habit of pulling out clarifier cards at every reading...he's just constantly pulling clarifiers and I'm always telling him to stop because the clarifiers always muddle the meaning of the rest of the spread. It can be a totally positive upbeat spread and his clarifiers will be The Devil, The Tower, Death, The Ten of Swords. Clearly the deck is telling him to stop asking about it.

Fulgour	29 Mar 2005
I found a seven card spread that uses clarification cards, which then actually makes it a fourteen card spread... but I liked how, going into the reading, it was planned. Court Cards look like the most frequent use for clarifiers, and that is something else I don't understand. I decided to identify my Courts by Sign-Planet-House which provides a huge amount of information. Also, because of the many attributes, the Court Cards relate very naturally to every other card in the spread, even if just by being different. The Queen of Wands a brief look: Aries - Pioneering, Straightforwardness, New Beginnings Mars - Ambition, Competition, Passion, Boldness, Sexuality 1st House - Physical Self, Personality, Early Childhood Then of course, she is the Queen from the suit of Wands.

psychic sue	29 Mar 2005
tarotbear wrote: I am a big fan of clarifier cards, especially for court cards which I view differently (it seems!) from most people. For example, I always use a claifier with a page or knight card since I see Pages as news and Knights as changes and use a clarifier card to get more information about the news or change. The important thing is to lay out all the cards you need for the entire spread first, then go back and pull a clarifier if you need one. If you get a card you don't see clearly while laying out the spread, do not use the next card to clarify the preceeding one. I usually use only one clarifier, two if the clarifier is a court card! If you are going to pull more than two, IMHO you should just do another complete reading. ~also IMHO - if the reading ends with a Court card, it is possible that the Card is not the outcome but rather the person who will bring you to the outcome. Instead of clarifying that last Court card, my suggestion is to use it as the significator and do another reading asking how this person will help you reach the outcome. :smoker: I agree with TB that if I get a court card in the outcome I usually clarify. I hadn't thought of doing another spread with that card as the significator though. NOW I see where signifactors are useful! Thanks TB!

caridwen	29 Mar 2005
I find clarifiers a bit dodgy. No matter how I do it - reshuffle asking for a clarification or pulling the next from the top or cutting the deck etc they just confuse me more. I reckon if I'm confused by a card I'm confused and it's there to confuse me. It means I have to work on the card and work out why it's there, give it extra attention as it were. confused? lol:D

Dylan	29 Mar 2005
Well i have yet to try using one yet, still trying to keep things simple, although if it helps, its definately worth doing. I shall wait until i get stuck, then try one.

The Clarifying a card thread was originally posted on 22 Mar 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.