Shifting around the cards

[Farzon]

Not sure if this wouldn't be better off in Using Tarot Cards... I just read a thread about clarifiers and noticed that it might have helped the OP to simply switch the card's positions.

In my experience, when doing a the card spread, it can be extremely helpful to switch the cards around and look for: what does the center card have in common with the other two? Does it separate them from each other? Does it block or engage a progression? Or do the surrounding cards culminate in the middle one?

Of course, this is more easy with fully illustrated cards, but on an abstract level, it also works with pips. And doing so in every possible combination will result in a much deeper understanding of the single cards in the context of the spread.
Does anyone else do this?

 

[DesertDream]

I do this once in a while, it helps with creating storylines when divining. A man i know who i read for a few times did this instinctly as i welcomed him to doing the spread interactivly. And he doesnt know a thing about tarot! So it must be helpful.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

Well, I don't swap the cards' positions, if that's what you mean, but I definitely look at their positions in the pattern of a spread to determine how they might be relating to one another, if they block or enhance each other etc. Elemental dignities play a role here, but I tend not to use those in too mechanical a manner.

 

[Farzon]

Well, I don't swap the cards' positions, if that's what you mean, but I definitely look at their positions in the pattern of a spread to determine how they might be relating to one another, if they block or enhance each other etc. Elemental dignities play a role here, but I tend not to use those in too mechanical a manner.

Yes swapping the positions is what I mean. I do it with three card spreads, where there are no specific positions. When I draw three cards, I try not to see them as past, present, future or something like that - I interpret the meanings of the whole combination as one unit.

And I find Elemental Dignities very helpful, too. The swapping is only a helpful method to analyse the connections, because you are not limited to abstract thinking - it's more like visualizing the connections.

But you're right, it's by no means necessary for an in depth analysis.

 

[Grizabella]

The only time I might switch the card positions is when I've done a three card spread with no named positions and a Major is one of the three, or if there are 2 Majors and one Minor, I might put the Minor card in the middle flanked with the two Major cards. I don't do this every single time the cards come out that way but it definitely does help at times. There are other instances where moving the cards might apply.

As an example, imagine you've had a mother coming to you with questions about a problem she's having about what kind of sexual values their teenage son is showing by his actions. The cards come out King of Wands, Queen of Cups and the Page of Pentacles in that order. I'd take the Page and put it between the King and Queen--he advocates sowing wild oats where she believes that sex should happen only within a loving relationship. This conflict in parental values is making the son confused and besides, he's more interested in reading books and doing science experiments than sex right now. After all, he's only 12. Moving the cards like that brings a clarity to them that might be harder to recognize the way the cards fell when drawn.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

Yes swapping the positions is what I mean. I do it with three card spreads, where there are no specific positions. When I draw three cards, I try not to see them as past, present, future or something like that - I interpret the meanings of the whole combination as one unit.

I also do three cards spreads without specific positions, although sometimes the cards seem to innately suggest some specific kind of order. But exploring all the different relationships between them makes some kind of sense here, and I should experiment with that.

And I find Elemental Dignities very helpful, too. The swapping is only a helpful method to analyse the connections, because you are not limited to abstract thinking - it's more like visualizing the connections.

But you're right, it's by no means necessary for an in depth analysis.

But interesting nevertheless.

 

[Nemia]

Mary Greer's "Tarot for Yourself" talks about permutations - moving the cards in the spread and discovering new aspects of meaning. (I wrote about it when I started experimenting with the Deck of 1000 Spreads http://www.1000spreads.com/2014/01/nemias-discoveries-working-with.html )

I never use clarifiers, quintessence or shadow cards etc; I get along better with a limited number of cards (between three and six, ideally four) that I really "squeeze" for their last drops of meaning. Permutations, i.e., switching the cards' places in the spread, is one of the techniques I use to get most from the cards I have without pulling more cards.

 

[khatsar]

I don't do this personally, but it's clearly a technique that yields good results for many very talented people. The underlying idea makes a lot of sense, so I may try my hand at it sometime.

 

[giustizia]

I like to pick up and hold each card when I do a reading for myself, but I've never actually shifted their positions around. I've always felt like the right cards will turn up in the right places, especially in more structured spreads. I'm also a verbal learner, so I feel like I can best pick up on the relationships between the cards when I'm talking or writing my thoughts out.

I think that this would be a great technique to try for oracle decks though, since they seem to lend themselves to more abstract and free-flowing messages. Maybe for spiritual readings? I'll have to experiment with this too!

 

[LadyV]

I never thought of switching positions around in three card spreads. I assumed that doing so would be a form of manipulation, but I guess if the cards have no designated positions, it can't really harm the reading. This is fabulous advice.