Elemental Dignities... Neutral Cards?? Ill Dignified Cards??

balenciaga

kilts_knave said:
If you are using a GD spread, this is exactly what you would do. I take it off the table completely.
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Thank you:)
 

Teheuti

frelkins said:
[3P + 5S] Earth & Air are enemies. x weak . . .
If an Air-type question, the Air rips into the supporting earth like a tornado and leaves a gash of destruction; if an earth-type question, well, some tree branches might end up in the street. Creation, surrender. "It may be a bad day at work, you might not be in a position to keep some idiot from blocking your project so you may have to regroup today and try again tomorrow. And check the spec again, because there might be an error."
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Thanks for doing this. Generally, you have the right idea and the core statements are good, but you are putting far too much into it and making a lot of unnecessary assumptions.

First, using elemental analogies like "air rips into the supporting earth like a tornado" can be very tempting as it is fun and creative, but can also become a trap. It gets in the way of straightforward information, and the analogy is not always accurate. Several people have tried such analogies when working with EDs - but take care. I suggest trying readings both with and without and see what actually works best.

In the first example, I'd stop with "It may be a bad day at work." How do you know that someone else is at fault, or that it will be better tomorrow, or that there may be an error in a "spec"? It seems that all these are assumptions you are making that are not there in the cards themselves.

[2C + 7 C] "Look for the one who really cares for you as you."
Advice, at this stage, is totally unnecessary, premature, and really only a platitude.

I notice that you assume that Wands & Swords will swiftly pass and that Water & Earth are long lasting. I haven't found this to be necessarily so.

[2C + 3P] "You and that new boyfriend of yours are creating the foundation of what could be a long-lasting relationship. Keep up the good work."
'Building the foundation of a relationship' is all that's needed at this point.

[5S = 10S] "could be +++ very strong or ++ strong, depending on how you determine how fast everything will happen"
Air does not mean that everything will happen and be over fast, and the strength of the pair has nothing to do with how soon it will be over. Strength, in EDs, is determined solely by the rules. Two cards of the same suit are +++Very Strong. Here they probably intensify action for 'ill'.

"You can regroup. This could pass quickly. So don't let yourself get down and be prepared to pick yourself back up when the circumstances change and the dust settles."
You are trying to fix things! This is certainly not what the cards say. You actually undermine the information by trying to make it better, when the 'better' is not actually in the cards.

[7W + 2C]"Fire & Water. Enemies. x weak. Both cards are ill-dignified." Good. And, even though the GD wouldn't read this combination, I like the idea of a lover's tiff. But, again, in your description you gave too much information, tried to fix things and fell into assumptions. How do you know they'll both be laughing later?

If you had kept it simple you would have done very well. I'd be careful of assuming that active and passive suits mean swift and slow. In fact, I prefer to not even use the term passive when talking about Cups & Pentacles as it tends toward misunderstandings of the cards.

I welcome any comments from others.

Mary
 

balenciaga

Just want to say...

I want to save this entire thread - thanks to all for the excellent work. I have learned so much - now I want to study it carefully:)
 

mysticmoon

The elusive Book T?

Folks, are there any online sources that list the ED reading examples by Mathers? Is 'The Tarot' book by Mathers the same as 'Book T'?

I'm working my way through '21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card' these days and practicing with some examples would definitely help me! :)
 

Gavriela

It's been a long time since I've looked this up online but supertarot.co.uk had and probably still has some good stuff on EDs.

Liz Hazel's Tarot Decoded is probably the best book I've found on EDs and astrological dignities. Liz doesn't adhere strictly to the GD system, but she explains it very well - and also explains that after you've got it down, the way it's used tends to turn into a 'democracy of one'.

In other words, learn it - then fine-tune/fiddle with the parts you need to, but do it from a base of understanding what it's about.
 

mysticmoon

Gavriela said:
It's been a long time since I've looked this up online but supertarot.co.uk had and probably still has some good stuff on EDs.
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Thanks, I'll have a look, but I am not sure supertarot lists all the reading examples listed in Book T. I'd have loved to work with the examples listed in the source (Book T) first. Is 'The Tarot' same as 'Book T'?
 

mysticmoon

Teheuti said:
Just noticed that the website I gave you http://www.tarot.org.il/Library/Mathers/Book-T.html
doesn't include the all-important example readings by Mathers. Does anyone know if it appears elsewhere online?
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Gavriela said:
Book T online:
http://www.tarot.org.il/Library/Mathers/Book-T.html
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I've not gone through it thoroughly, but the tarot.org text does not seem to have the ED reading examples that Mary mentioned in her post in this thread. Can someone please confirm if this really is *all* of the book? Does anyone have a hard copy?
 

Gavriela

That's all there is in my copy of Book T. Can you reference the post you're asking about?

Do you mean the 'A Method of Divination' part about the OOTK? My GD compendium has that as the next chapter, as Book T is sorta-kinda a book of it's own. Anyway, the next bit is online here (and probably several other places).

http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_bookt20.htm
 
Temperance as feelings 3 of pentacles as negative influences??