Methods of time predictions

zephyr_heart

I recently found in a previous post that concerns about the method for predicting times.

One of the ways of predicting times is using each suits to tell how long will this ... (insert with one or the other: occur, come, happen, end, etc.). The most common method is using the wands used to predict days, the swords to predict weeks, the cups for months, and the pentacles for years. The courts are used, too; with pages as 11, knights 12, queens 13, king 14.



The other common method is assigning the 40 minors; with the 4 aces specifically to indicate the seasons. Swords for springs, wands for summers, cups for autumns, pentacles for winters. The other 36 minors are then used to point specific dates at the calendar with some association to the zodiac dates, with approximately 10 days each.

  • 2 to 4 Wands for dates in Aries
  • 5 to 7 Pentacles for dates in Taurus
  • 8 to 10 Swords for dates in Gemini
  • 2 to 4 Cups for dates in Cancer
  • 5 to 7 Wands for dates in Leo
  • 8 to 10 Pentacles for dates in Virgo
  • 2 to 4 Swords for dates in Libra
  • 5 to 7 Cups for dates in Scorpio
  • 8 to 10 Wands for dates in Sagittarius
  • 2 to 4 Pentacles for dates in Capricorn
  • 5 to 7 Swords for dates in Aquarius
  • 8 to 10 Cups for dates in Pisces

Just curious, anyone know methods other than these two? Or if I mentioned incorrectly or partially in this list above? Any resource would be welcome.

Thanks and Regards
Zephyr Heart
 

nisaba

In the late 1980s I came up with this ...
 

zephyr_heart

Nisaba's timing method

nisaba said:
I've done the timing thing in hundreds of threads over the last year! I'm surprised you haven't seen it. Nay, profoundly shocked.

Well, here goes again, tagged with NISABA'S TIMING METHOD for the benefit of the search engine next time y'all howl at me that I haven't told you.

1) The time intervals are predicated on the speed of the suits.

Coins, as Earth, is slowest-moving, so represents years.
Cups, as Water, is second slowest, a little faster, so it is months.
Swords as Air, is faster still, so it is weeks.
Wands, as Fire, is fastest and most energetic of all, so it is days.

Aces through to tens are that time-interval multiplied by the face-value (ie, Ace Coins would be one year, Four Wands would be four days).

Pages are eleven of the time-unit, Knights twelve, Queens thirteen, and Kings fourteen. This already provides the deck with a bit of overlap. (If I was using an ordinary playing deck, I would make Jacks eleven, Queens twelve and Kings thirteen).

Drawing a Major tells you this, and I usually say exactly this to clients: "The Tarot doesn't know how long it will be. It is entirely up to you. This card is about [name the principle issue of the card]; when that has been resolved and dealt with in your life, then and only then will it come to happen. If you want it to happen faster, then work through your issues concerning this card faster".

NOTE WELL!!!

This method DOES NOT WORK if you simply pull a card from the remainder of the deck you've already done the main spread with. It also has a track record of occasional failure if you use a second deck that is accustomed to being used for readings - it will keep trying to tell you stuff instead of just figuring out timings. Keep one deck entirely separate, one you have never read from. I recommend very simple decks - Marseilles-style decks are excellent. I personally use a Ancient Tarot of Bologna which I have *never* used for readings, and have been using for upwards of seventeen years for timings - if someone tried to do a spread with it, the deck wouldn't know what hit it. And from feedback I get as well as from my own observations, it is stunning just how accurate timings are when the deck has never been trained up to do anything else, and has been used consistently for this purpose.

And practically, how is it done? If a client asks for a time-frame and my intuitive feeling draws a blank, I pick up my timing deck, put it in their hands, and say "Shuffle briefly. Then cut the deck WHEREVER IT WANTS TO COME APART".
Click to expand...
Questions:
1. Must use separate deck(s)?
2. The Majors can't be used then?

nisaba said:
And on timings, and only timings, I can almost do the morally bankrupt thing with a clear conscience, and run huge newspaper adverts screaming

[size=+2]100% ACCURACY![/size]
Click to expand...

Hilarious :joke:
ROFL :D
 

nisaba

zephyr_heart said:
1. Must use separate deck(s)?
Click to expand...
It seems to work better if the deck is one that hasn't been trained up to do readings, yes. It also means that you have the full deck in play for the timings - what if you pulled a card from the same deck that the main spread came from, and the card which would have been accurate is not in the remaining deck you pulled from?

zephyr_heart said:
2. The Majors can't be used then?
Click to expand...
As I said <grin> The Majors *are* used. They give the message that the timing is completely up to the person the reading is for: they need to deal with the issue of that Major card before it can come about. If they complete that business quickly, it will be sooner than if they complete that business slower - the timing is entirely in their own hands, and the card tells them what they need to deal with first.
 

yirabeth

Nisaba, I copied this posting of yours into my tarot journal waaay back when I first joined the forums (giving you credit of course) But one thing that's always bugged me is..how do I know what to make my timings deck? Is there any special criteria I should use?

I know that sounds like a silly question (which is why I was never brave enough to ask it before..LOL!) but I just don't know what should be a good timings deck...

Thanks :)

~Yira
 

zephyr_heart

Well, anyone know any method other than this two? Cause this will be a list for a reference.
 

214red

there is the rachel pollack way of turning over all cards until you get an ace and thats the season, then the next card of that suit thats the weeks into that season, and then the next major is the days after the weeks

So :
Ace of swords- winter
2 of swords- 2 weeks after the start of winter
empress- 3 days after the two weeks into winter

so 16 days into winter

some schools beleive each card is assigned a degree in that sign which relates to exact timings.

you can simply pull one card and see how it feels time wise...
 

firecatpickles

I use a much simpler version of Option "C" in the opening post:

Rank the pips from high to low, K-2. The Aces are the solstices and equinoxes. K-2 indicate the week after the equinox or solstice. (Pages mean "immediately.")

For example, the King of Wands would be 1 week after summer solstice; the Queen of Wands, 2 weeks; the 2 of Wands, 12 weeks.
 

Sulis

I find it easiest to ask 'What needs to happen in X's life before XXXX can happen?'.
 

alice_addams

yirabeth said:
Nisaba, I copied this posting of yours into my tarot journal waaay back when I first joined the forums (giving you credit of course) But one thing that's always bugged me is..how do I know what to make my timings deck? Is there any special criteria I should use?

I know that sounds like a silly question (which is why I was never brave enough to ask it before..LOL!) but I just don't know what should be a good timings deck...

Thanks :)

~Yira
Click to expand...

Yirabeth, I know your question was directed to Nisaba, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. ;)

When I read her suggestions for selecting a deck (one that hasn't been used for readings, and that contains non-scenic pips) I immediately thought of the Tarot of the Dead. It's a deck I love, but haven't really used due to...well, non-scenic pips, so that works perfectly!

Additionally, I closely associate Death with Time (after all, everything will meet death in time). Saturn's rule over time is another thought, as Saturn is also associated with the sickle, a death symbol. After trying out the time method with this deck, I really feel that is how I was meant to use the Tarot of the Dead...it works so well and seems very fitting. So, a big thank you to Nisaba for sharing!

Of course there are tons of other decks that could be used just as well, but in my personal collection, this one is tops for time! I'm sure you have your own ideas of what sort of symbolism best represents the passage of time, and you should go with that. :)

Another random thought: If you like to keep stones around your decks (as I do on occasion), a fossil would be a nice thing to keep with a deck you will use for telling time.
 
World Card vs. Death card in terms of endings/completions Testing the cards