"the unknown" as the key significator??

[hieronymous]

hi

i'm new to this forum. i've been studying tarot for a couple of years and still feel like a rank beginner!

did a reading the other night using an extended celtic cross spread. for the first time ever, "the unkown" [the blank card] came up in position one. this one has me scratching my head...

for those of you who use the blank card, how would you interpret this?

thanks!
-h.

 

[AprilFool]

...for the first time ever, "the unkown" [the blank card] came up in position one. this one has me scratching my head...

Hi, and welcome to AT!!

What deck are you using? That will help a bit as the more experienced folks begin to chime in to help! I'd be stumped by any blank card in ANY position in a spread!

 

[Alta]

I know the Robin Wood has a blank card but you don't list that one in your Profile. In her system, getting the blank card means "the readings stops at this point".

I take all extra cards out of the deck, they aren't tarot and so I don't use them.... precisely for this sort of confusion.

Alta

 

[hieronymous]

this was w/a standard rider-waite deck. most of the time, when the 'unknown' comes up, it makes sense; 'this is something we don't want you to know about right now!', or else sometimes [when i'm doing an extended spread and it comes up in a secondary position] to emphasize the primary card.

i don't take it out because i find it useful, and as i say, it usually seems to make sense when i get it. but this one has me a little confused.

some ideas i've had:
- the question itself is too important to be 'given away' by summarizing it w/a figure, and requires more thought on the part of the querent
- the question itself is complicated and far-reaching and therefore not directly representable in the best way w/another card
- the question is too vague, or it is ambiguous [maybe the querent asked 2 interrelated questions?]

 

[canid]

I know the Robin Wood has a blank card but you don't list that one in your Profile. In her system, getting the blank card means "the readings stops at this point".

I take all extra cards out of the deck, they aren't tarot and so I don't use them.... precisely for this sort of confusion.

Alta

Huh. I've never heard of that. I just went & checked my Robin Wood box & it didn't come with a blank card. I got it earlier this year; perhaps the older versions include it?

This is an interesting thread.

 

[starrystarrynight]

I, like Alta, also always take blank or "extra" cards out of my decks before using them, so I don't have any "relationship" with them or their possible meanings. At first, I was going to say that if I did come up with a blank card in a position in a specific spread, I might just think there is no energy coming from that area. But then, that doesn't make sense, either. There is always some kind of energy for a positional meaning card in a spread, and if it is insignificant, then that would be dealt with by dignities or possibly reversals. At least for my way of thinking/reading.

So. I don't know.

I DO think you have to know your cards before using them. There is nothing to intuit from a blank card, so even if you aren't familiar with a deck, you can usually interpret the images by what jumps out at you using your basic reading instincts. But a blank? Not so much.

As far as the Robin Wood system of having a reading stop where the blank card turns up...how could that help when it's the first card to show up? STOP! Do No Pass Go. Do Not Do This Reading For Any Reason!!!

p.s. I (along with many others) don't use significators either. So, there's another monkey wrench for you to consider doing/not doing.

 

[Jaqueline]

The new deck I just got, the Maroon, has a card labeled "the reader" - it's just a shadow-type figure. Since this deck didn't come with a book, not sure if it's to be used, or was just the publisher using up a corner of card stock! Anyway, those extra cards, I take them out - never thought of using them.