How do you read TIME in tarot?

[GeminiMoon87]

This is my question:

a) In general, how far in advance can tarot card readings predict? I understand that tarot is generally open-ended and almost anything goes, but from your own personal experience / practice, how far in advance do you try to read?

b) When asked a question such as "when will this event take place?", and you pull the 3 of wands, would you read this as 3 months or after some sort of move has taken place? Do the numerals on RWS come into play at telling time at all?

Thanks!!!

Roxy

[Sulis]

When someone asks me a 'when' question I usually change the question to 'what needs to happen in this person's life BEFORE 'x' happens?
Then I just lay out three cards and read them.

I'm not good at timing any other way and I don't think tarot is (for me it's not anyway).

[Splungeman]

I think you're right on track there, Sulis. Time measurments like seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, etc...are all methodical conscious minded creations by people to track events. Tarot likely does not work on this system. That's my thought anyway. I think you'd have to be quite a skilled diviner to be able to translate Tarot intuitive flashes into time units.

Just my opinion anyway...

[MoonLitCrystal]

At the beginning my mom and I sat down with our books and tried to figure out exactly how to read time. Then we found out that everyone has their own methods. A lot of people let each suit represent a season, but it varies greatly as to which suit represents which season. After a while we just said to heck with it (well I did anyway, I think she still tries sometimes).

I too try the "What has to happen before X happens" method, because that actually puts it into a context that I can comprehend.

As for how far in advance I read...generally I don't like to do anything over one year. (Heck I realize that anything can change in an instant, and a reading I do about tomorrow might not even be accurate.) The further and further I go out, the more I warn the sitter. Generally I won't even mention it for anything under a month, but then as we approach 2 months, 6 months, a year, I let them know what's up. I usually say something like, "You have your own free will and so does everyone else, so someone could change these events before they actually happen. This reading is like a snapshot of what would happen if everything stayed exactly the same as it is now." Usually most people get it, and they are even happy to hear that they can change the path if they want to.

I've had people ask me "Will X ever happen in my lifetime?" I've done it, but strictly for entertainment purposes.

[celticnoodle]

there has been many threads posted here on AT regarding this matter. and there are many schools of thought on it also. it rather depends on how you, the reader, wish to use the timing with the cards.

I learned this way, (below) and though I've sometimes used it, I've also tried other ways. can't truly say any one way is 100% correct, but it is one school of thought that is used by many, especially when reading with a regular deck of playing cards--(52 cards + the joker)--which is what I first learned to read with & learned these timings.

if you count the weeks of each season, they each last 13 wks. You would disregard the page in a tarot deck for this, and go right from the number 10 card to the knight, queen & king cards. knight = 11wks, queen=12wks, and king would =13 wks.

then, depending on the suit of the card you would determine the season. I think these suits correspond with these seasons:

SPRING= PENTACLES (March 21 to June 20)
SUMMER= CUPS (June 21 to Sept. 20)
FALL= WANDS (Sept. 21 to Dec. 20)
WINTER= SWORDS (Dec. 21 to March 20)

Now, I was also told that if the joker in the deck of cards was turned up, that it suggested either that the date is unknown, or it was recognized as Feb. 29th.

[berrieh]

Generally, it just comes through in the story.

I've tried pinpointing it, but if it isn't in the story the cards show me, I'm usually not that likely to 'hit' it.

Sometimes I pull a card specifically for timing. As long as I stick to one predetermined system (which includes "outs" for the Tarot---cards that mean, "You don't get to know" and "It's up to you" and "It depends on what so and so does" because those are all options, and sometimes there is no answer).

But in good readings, I find timing just sort of comes through. As Sulis says, it's about the order of events.

[Bronwyn1]

Often times I will incorporate a month, like "by the end of June" or by week's end" what will yadda, yadda, yadda.....

[MeeWah]

Almost all of time associations or indicators have occurred without actually including time as a position, but as part of a sequence of events & usually read intuitively.

Sometimes based on the card number &/or suit; whether Major Arcana (to encompass years or whenever the lesson learned) or minor arcana (days, weeks, months), but flexible according to the query & the tone of the cards.

The timing factor has been accurate in various readings. For example, from within an hour to many years later. Respectively with warning a client regarding a "potential violent encounter" at any time (involved an estranged spouse after leaving my house) to a client's marriage "later in life" (she married at 50).

That vision of violence through an impulsive throwing an extra 3 cards at the end of a reading session because I felt there was more information, but not addressed in the prior cards.

[Saturness]

Usually, a certain spread covers a determined period of time. In the horseshow spread, the 'near future' card covers the next 2 weeks and the 'distant future' position is 4-6 weeks from the reading.

In the Celtic Cross i ain't sure, but i personally use a similar method. 2 weeks for near future , 4-6 weeks for distant one (usually the 'outcome' card, in case the question is more general).

I never saw time with tarot, although certain symbols in the cards have helped me to figure it out. Many card with the moon mean night, lots of sunny cards, day, and things like that. I don't think it's really 'time' though.

The only deck i know that predicts time is the 'Playing Card Oracles', because the cards are meant to be a calendar. Unfortunately, it is not tarot, it's an oracle.

When the sitter asks for time questions, i talk to them and help they to rephrase it to something they can actually do. Instead of 'when will John Doe ask me out?', something like 'what can i do to make John Doe pay attention to me/ask me out?'. Time is, unfortunately, something humans have no control over...actions, on the other hand...

My 2 cents.

[rwcarter]

I haven't actually used this system, but as part of my study of the Ancient Egyptian Tarot, I'm looking at Golden Dawn Astrological associations of the cards. I don't know how well this is going to type out , but I'll give it a try....

Zodiac      Ruler       Court     Minor     Dates
Emperor     Tower       QW        2W        21-30 Mar
Emperor     Tower       QW        3W        31 Mar - 10 Apr
Emperor     Tower       KnP       4W        11-20 Apr
Hierophant  Empress     KnP       5P        21-30 Apr
Hierophant  Empress     KnP       6P        01-10 May
Hierophant  Empress     KS        7P        11-20 May
Lovers      Magician    KS        8S        21-31 May
Lovers      Magician    KS        9S        01-10 Jun
Lovers      Magician    QC        10S       11-20 Jun
Chariot     Priestess   QC        2C        21 Jun - 1 Jul
Chariot     Priestess   QC        3C        02-11 Jul
Chariot     Priestess   KnW       4C        12-21 Jul
Strength    Sun         KnW       5W        22 Jul - 1 Aug
Strength    Sun         KnW       6W        02-11 Aug
Strength    Sun         KP        7W        12-22 Aug
Hermit      Magician    KP        8P        23 Aug - 1 Sep
Hermit      Magician    KP        9P        02-11 Sep
Hermit      Magician    QS        10P       12-22 Sep
Justice     Empress     QS        2S        23 Sep - 02 Oct
Justice     Empress     QS        3S        03-12 Oct
Justice     Empress     KnC       4S        13-22 Oct
Death       Judgement   KnC       5C        23 Oct - 02 Nov
Death       Judgement   KnC       6C        03-12 Nov
Death       Judgment    KW        7C        13-22 Nov
Temper.     Wheel       KW        8W        23 Nov - 02 Dec
Temper.     Wheel       KW        9W        03-12 Dec
Temper.     Wheel       QP        10W       13-21 Dec
Devil       World       QP        2P        22-30 Dec
Devil       World       QP        3P        31 Dec - 09 Jan
Devil       World       KnS       4P        10-19 Jan
Star        Fool        KnS       5P        20-29 Jan
Star        Fool        KnS       6S        30 Jan - 8 Feb
Star        Fool        KC        7S        09-18 Feb
Moon        H. Man      KC        8C        19-28 Feb
Moon        H. Man      KC        9C        01-10 Mar
Moon        H. Man      QW        10C       11-20 Mar

OK. Getting those columns to line up wasn't easy.....

Abbreviation Key:
Court Cards
Last letter is the Suit - Pentacles, Cups, Wands or Swords.
The remaining characters are the rank - Knight, Queen or King.

Minor Card
Letter is Suit designation as listed in Court Cards above.
Number is the rank of the card.

So the way to read this monster is that the 2 Wands covers from 21-30 March, the Queen Wands covers from 11 March - 10 April and the Emperor and the Tower both cover from 21 March - 20 April. Every card except for the Aces and Pages have a date association in this table. There may be other date associations for those cards in the GD system, but that's not my focus of study (right now), so I don't know what they might be. Also the Magician covers two periods (21 May - 20 Jun and 23 Aug - 22 Sep) since it rules two signs as does the Empress ( 21 Apr - 20 May and 23 Sep - 22 Oct).

Hope this helps somebody.

Rodney