Clarifying who's who in a Reading?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

obsidian_queen	14 May 2005
well I've been through the index and didn't really find a thread specifically addressing this question I have, so here goes. How do you get clarification when ppl other than the ones you recognize immediately show up in a reading? I mean, for instance, if you did a reading and the cards, as a by- the- way reference, speak of someone from your past trying to reunite with you, but then you had at least 2 major breakups w/ diff ppl,.. how would you discern who it was? Or if the cards say that there's someone in your work environment that's interested but haven't yet made their intentions known, what method do you use to confirm/ dismiss whoever you think it might be? Just wondering about this, because I haven't been able to find a definitive method for doing this.

Citrin	14 May 2005
Hmmm. I just go by first impression, and who fits the best with the 'personality' in the card.

mike gorth	14 May 2005
You could use a claryfier card or two and/or If you are doing a reading for someone else, ask them if that sort of person is within the question Mike Gorth

tarotbear	15 May 2005
It can be very tricky ... especially when you find a lot of Court cards showing up. I am sure there are threads on separate Court cards. You learn to see them as different personality types and 'see' whom strikes a chord in you. Sometimes it's fairly obvious, but sometimes you have to make an educated guess. Remember - Queens can be men and Kings can be women! LOL!

obsidian_queen	15 May 2005
Thanks guys, that helped. One thing though, what if you're reading for someone else and this court card shows up..now I know ppl have different value systems for the cards and some ppl may say if during a Celtic Cross spread the Knight of Pents showed up in the past position: "a young man with dark hair and eyes" or "a young man who may be in your work environment" etc..in both cases, where the querent is concerned, that could be ANYBODY. So, supposing they ask after everything is said and done, "could we look into that guy from my past that came up? That sounds like it could be my ex but I'm not sure" Can I then do a separate spread using that card as a significator? Somehow I feel like just pulling an extra card from the deck to clarify doesn't quite cut it..I at least would have to SHUFFLE the deck since for some reason I feel like if i just pulled an additional one it wouldn't be speaking about that one aspect of the reading.

Citrin	15 May 2005
obsidian_queen wrote: Can I then do a separate spread using that card as a significator? That sounds like a great idea! I've been thinkin' of doing the same thing.

Ace	15 May 2005
obsidian_queen wrote: well I've been through the index and didn't really find a thread specifically addressing this question I have, so here goes. How do you get clarification when ppl other than the ones you recognize immediately show up in a reading? I mean, for instance, if you did a reading and the cards, as a by- the- way reference, speak of someone from your past trying to reunite with you, but then you had at least 2 major breakups w/ diff ppl,.. how would you discern who it was? Or if the cards say that there's someone in your work environment that's interested but haven't yet made their intentions known, what method do you use to confirm/ dismiss whoever you think it might be? Just wondering about this, because I haven't been able to find a definitive method for doing this. I would lay out a card for each person I was thinking of face down plus perhaps one for "could it be someone I didn't consider?" then flip them up. If they are reversed, or very negative, that would be a no. See if that works.

obsidian_queen	15 May 2005
Ahhhh! Thanks Ace! That just might work. I'll try it and let you guys know. Cirin, I might still stick with doing another spread with the court card as significator, but now only if I want the "story" behind this person etc. I really was looking for something that would give me either confirmation or that would rule out a suspect if you will.

miss_apples	15 May 2005
Its really hard when the question is about a crush, because sometimes you will ask how he/she feels about you and a bunch of court cards will come up and youre all like....um, ok could this be me or another man/woman he is thinking about...lol. But yeah I always go on my first impression :)

obsidian_queen	16 May 2005
yeah miss apples...I absolutely hate when that happens, cuz as a new and budding reader that tends to confuse me. Do you decide beforehand that any courts that show up will represent ppl, or do you allow for the cards to symbolize attitudes and ways of doing things too? Right now my biggest stumbling blocks are the pages...if they show up next to other courts I could decide well, ok this person's got a kid, or that person is an adult, but has a youthful approach to life..or the other day I pulled the king of wands and the page of swords reversed..and for some reason I just saw an image like in those comics where a guy is talking and there's a little speech bubble over his head with the words in it..I saw the page as the speech bubble and the suit as the words/subject matter..it was reversed, so I figured someone might be saying something well meant but coming over as harsh..which is what happened. *Deep Breath* Sorry for rambling I got off track..the stumbling block i have with Pages is if they show up as an outcome in a Spread. Are they like the Aces? New Starts? what? Now I guess I diverged from my initial question, but it sort of popped up as I received responses you know?

Ace	16 May 2005
obsidian_queen wrote: Do you decide beforehand that any courts that show up will represent ppl, or do you allow for the cards to symbolize attitudes and ways of doing things too? Right now my biggest stumbling blocks are the pages...if they show up next to other courts I could decide well, ok this person's got a kid, or that person is an adult, but has a youthful approach to life..or the other day I pulled the king of wands and the page of swords reversed..and for some reason I just saw an image like in those comics where a guy is talking and there's a little speech bubble over his head with the words in it..I saw the page as the speech bubble and the suit as the words/subject matter..it was reversed, so I figured someone might be saying something well meant but coming over as harsh..which is what happened. Sounds like you did quite well actually. Now: try this for size: don't decide ahead of time what ANY CARD will mean or signify. Just see what they signify in the reading at the time. No rules, just right. Ace

obsidian_queen	16 May 2005
hehe..good point Ace. I guess I wanted to reduce the confusion I feel whenever I'm faced with those particular cards popping up... again it's a matter of learning to listen to myself..kind of hard when I'm reading for myself, because I over analyze and kind of muddle through things. Ack.

The Clarifying who's who in a Reading? thread was originally posted on 14 May 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.