How do you read the outcome card?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 20 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Hermina	20 May 2005
I've been doing tarot for quite a while now, but I am still in the dark as to how the 'outcome' or 'summary' card should be read. I always change this card to mean 'advice' when I see it in a spread. But 'outcome' is different than 'advice.' I understand how to read it when it is next to an advice card (it would be the outcome of following the advice), but how do you interpret it when it stands alone as in a Celtic Cross spread? Look forward to hearing your thoughts. -Hermina

Sentient	20 May 2005
Hermina, Everyone will have an opinion on this, but I will give you my thoughts for what they’re worth. I understand the “outcome” as being the direction things are headed in if nothing changes. That’s why you’ll also see the phrase “probable outcome,” indicating that anyone can take action to change this future. In short, the future isn’t fixed. As such the outcome card will also tend to give advice, such as “hey, this is where things are going so if you don’t like it you better get busy,” or “this can really be achieved if you can deal with certain difficulties in your life.” Yes, advice and outcome are different, but they are related in that they both speak to the future and our own role in creating it. In the Celtic Cross (as in most other spreads) all of the prior cards provide context for and lead up to the outcome. The other cards give us a fuller picture of what’s going on. An outcome without context would be difficult to understand or have much faith in. Details without an outcome might leave us hanging, saying to ourselves “yeah, but what does all this add up to – where is it going?” I hope I’ve answered your question. Sentient

Ace	20 May 2005
I have all kinds of views of the final outcome card. Many times it is the OPPOSITE of the rest of the reading. I am beginning to think there are times it means, "this is what will happen if you don't do something about it" and of course, it is not what you want so, maybe you must get to work! Ace

inanna_tarot	20 May 2005
Hmm definately a 'the most probable outcome' so the whole free will thang is all covered. Mostly I find that its a negative card - partly because some people I read for are in a tight spot and not really finding the energy to move their butts and change the outcome. Sometimes I get abit fed up and call it the 'worst case scenario'. I tend to avoid outcomes, and work on solutions or key advice rather than outcome because its difficult for some people to really get the idea that an outcome card doesnt really have to be the outcome. Maybe i'm just overtired and my mind is garbled at the moment lol. Sezo x

tarotbear	21 May 2005
In my Celtic Cross reasoning, there are actually THREE outcome cards, but that is how I appreach them. The card #3 is 'outcome #1' - which tends to be immediate - the combination of the first and second cards. Card #6 is 'outcome #2' - what will happen sometime in the near future (as opposed to #1's immediate future.) Card #10 is the 'final outcome' - what will happen is everything is left to it's own devices and you do not intervene. Sometime the three cards all blend together ( which is nice.) Sometime they seem to be in opposition to each other. All things being equal, except for maybe #1 which is about to or already happening, if you don't like #2 and #3 - you can make adjustments to obtain a better future. At least that is always how I have accepted tarot to be. :smoker:

Ace	21 May 2005
tarotbear wrote: In my Celtic Cross reasoning, there are actually THREE outcome cards, but that is how I appreach them. The card #3 is 'outcome #1' - which tends to be immediate - the combination of the first and second cards. Which is card #3? below the middle two or above it? as for the rest, I like that idea Tarotbear, I might try that. inanna_tarot wrote: Mostly I find that its a negative card - partly because some people I read for are in a tight spot and not really finding the energy to move their butts and change the outcome. Sometimes I get abit fed up and call it the 'worst case scenario'. Very good point! I can see it being a "worst case senario" very easily. Most people are just scared and not willnig to change the outcome. Better the enemy you know... Ace

tarotbear	22 May 2005
Ace wrote: Which is card #3? below the middle two or above it? as for the rest, I like that idea Tarotbear, I might try that. Card # 3 is the third card you flip off the top of the deck. It doesn't matter where you put it! Card #3 is card #3 ! LOL!!! O.K., O.K. -- in MY version of the Celtic Cross, card #3 is ABOVE #1 crossed by #2 on it's side. Sometime this is called 'what crowns you.' I then lay out nos. 4,5, & 6 in a continuous clockwise fashion so that #6 ends up at 9 o'clock. I always run nos. 7-10 up from the bottom on whatever side is closest to the Querent. I am very flexible with the Celtic Cross! :smoker: That is because I sit the Querent next to me and not across from me so that they see the reading as I see it. ****edited to add: Are you of those people who flips out the cards in one order, but reads them in a different order? For me, the third card is the third card you read, the fourth card is the fourth card you read, etc. I believe the cards are in the order that you are supposed to read them in. If you flip over cards 1,2,3,4,5 but read them in the order of 1,3,5,2,4 .... wouldn't you be confusing the information? ****

mike gorth	22 May 2005
Sentient gave a very accurate description. The outcome should be read as though you were combining them and seeing what the path would be if all of these factors were incorporated with it. Mike Gorth

stella01904	24 May 2005
tarotbear wrote: ****edited to add: Are you of those people who flips out the cards in one order, but reads them in a different order? For me, the third card is the third card you read, the fourth card is the fourth card you read, etc. I believe the cards are in the order that you are supposed to read them in. If you flip over cards 1,2,3,4,5 but read them in the order of 1,3,5,2,4 .... wouldn't you be confusing the information? **** MM ~ I have a couple of books with spreads attributed to Gypsies, where the cards are laid out in a line from right to left, but read from left to right. You see this a lot in books about regular (playing card) cartomancy as well. I've done it and it worked okay. It shouldn't have, but it did. It feels funny doing it that way, you're right. BB, Stella PS You might be the one who can answer my eternal question - why do all these Gypsy spreads require an ODD number of cards, always?

psychic sue	25 May 2005
I've recently started to read my CC similar to tarot bear. Card 3 as possible outcome and the last card as the outcome. I very often find these two cards are in opposition. It really illustrates free will to me. If you go one way you get outcome at No 3 if you go the other way you get outcome at No 10. I also like the idea of Rachel Pollack's CC's first two cards. She reads one as the "inner" self (the real self) and two as the "outer self" - the face we show to the world. Sue

Emeraldgirl	25 May 2005
I tend to veiw it as the most likely outcome for the situation if you continue on your course. For better or worse.

The How do you read the outcome card? thread was originally posted on 20 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.