"Future" Position in 3-Card Spread

On a three-card spread being Past-Present-Future, how far in the future does this normally indicate? I understand there can be no hard set rules for this, but just in your experience, what is the most it has indicated?

The reason I ask is that I had a 3-card spread done for me about a year ago, when I was having a serious health-related scare, and the cards were;

Past= Devil
Present= Star
Future= Strength

The reader said she couldn't decide the Strength card meant I would come out stronger in the end because of what I was already going through, or if I would need Strength to deal with what was to come. (As I mentioned, it was a health-related question and rather complicated). I must admit that the first two cards were perfectly accurate for the situation though.

Timing is notoriously difficult to predict in Tarot readings and yet its the one things that many people ask. It may have been useful for the reader to have expanded the reading for you at the time and asked a question similar to what Sulis has suggested here, but for people to guess this now would not help you, in my opinion.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=109786

As you can see from the responses, timing is not reliable for most readers. Perhaps you could do a reading on it yourself, just around the Strength card.

Strength means that in the future, you will be courageous and healthy and stronger for all that you've been thru.

Hi Jaidyn, I agree with Moonbow about timing. Have you considered that Strength in the 3rd position could have been counsel on the best way to handle your difficult situation or maybe was affirming that you have the inner strength to come through the difficulty with patience, will and faith in yourself?

Maybe one of the reasons that timing is so difficult in Tarot is that Tarot is a tool of the "present," and as the present (both outer and inner) changes, so will the response from the cards. Just a couple of thoughts.

Thank you all for your responses.

IsisSophia- No, she hadn't mentioned that possibility. I never even thought that the "Future" position could not only be indicative of a possible outcome of a situation, but also could be a suggestion on how to approach the future. Thank you much for that information, because as I am now trying to learn how to read the cards myself, I'm sure it will be helpful!

does anyone just decide what the time frame for a reading will be prior to drawing the cards? I usually make a conscious thought that the cards i'm choosing that relate to outcomes/future will cover a specific time frame, usually 3 or 3 to 6 months but doing it for weeks is equally valid. Though i'm still very much in the learner category with tarot, it seems to be working reasonably well. Would be very interested in what others think of this.

I usually decide or intend upon a time frame for my readings, simply because I believe the saying that "where intention goes energy flows". I will usually state a time frame when shuffling for myself or when reading for others before the shuffle so that we are both clear about where we are going....at least thats the intention of course future predictions are subject to changes owing to the actions/words of the querent & others. But at that point in time, thats the focus of the reading

sparkles said:

does anyone just decide what the time frame for a reading will be prior to drawing the cards? I usually make a conscious thought that the cards i'm choosing that relate to outcomes/future will cover a specific time frame, usually 3 or 3 to 6 months but doing it for weeks is equally valid. Though i'm still very much in the learner category with tarot, it seems to be working reasonably well. Would be very interested in what others think of this.

Click to expand...

yep, I do that.

I do it too.

valeria