Reprise:
Umbrae said:
Let’s do this one column at a time using WhiteRaven’s original cards.
VII of Cups
III of Cups
VIII of Swords
Let’s look at the positions. Stick with me on this, cuz we’re going to go a tad ‘outside’.
Lay the cards horizontal like a three-card PPF spread.
Past, often tends to be things we drag around. Emotional baggage. We don’t drag intellectual baggage, it’s emotion. So this is not really how a person feels about the relationship, it’s more like where they were emotionally when they got into the relationship, or what they developed and started dragging around while in the relationship.
Remember – we’re looking at a dynamic here. Is it a new or old relationship?
If the relationship is new, Person 1 may have not necessarily been disillusioned, but may have been ‘in a hurry to love’ and chose on a whim.
Position two is similar to a here and now present position in that Wants/Needs is a current present thing. Look at the 3 of Cups. What does it tell us? Is it a want or a need or a present circumstance (the third alternative I never discuss). In this case it’s a Want/Need (read across…we’ll cover it when we get there – don’t try to jump ahead)
Position three is like a future. 8 of Swords. They will most likely be going through a tough time, will feel victimized…(self-inflected, and imaginary persecution…why? Well that’s jumping way ahead.
One other note here…whereas the past tends to be about emotional issues – the future tends to be intellectual. We think about the future, we plan. We don’t plan our past, we brood about that. So that’s a partial clue as to self-inflected wounds rather than collateral damage.
NONE of these columns exist individually. They are all interactive with EACH OTHER (with the exceptions of card one in the outside rows).
WhiteRaven said:
Third column - Person 2
Magician
V of Pentacles
II of Swords
I’ll try to stick close to accepted LWB meanings for learning purposes. However it’s impossible for me to not color accepted meanings with my own take on cards (which I will try to explain). And I have to state this because here we have The Magician, in the Feels/Brings or Brought to the Relationship space.
Boy oh boy…
Ususally The Magician is seen as a card of control. He brought control to the Relationship? He Feels control? Let’s dig deeper. Here, hold the flashlight while I explore.
The Magician is something Person 2 is dragging around. Why? Usually it’s because somewhere just before, they felt stepped on, used abused and tossed out. They got hurt. And they were ‘innocent’. “If he/whe/it only understood me! I tried and they got walked over me and broke my heart! And I’ll never ever ever let that happen again. I’m in control now…” The problem is that The Magician stands alone.
The 5 of Pentacles in the Needs/Wants/Now area. Okay…so the LWB talks about poverty but we are discussing feelings. Thinking of Fives as Givurah, this card, in this space, is about self induced punishment. It’s a dark card here – unresolved issues of the past would be strongly indicated IMHO.
Now let’s start putting this together.
Look at Person 1 & 2’s root cards. 1 was indecision, with a necessity to choose and a feeling that one had to do so quickly (perhaps a fear element). “Did I choose correctly?” is their yoke.
Person 2 emotionally distant, controlling or self willed attitudes were a perfect match – they balanced.
They balance on The Emperor. Now The Emperor one half of an entity. The Emperor needs the Empress. The Emperor is tired of being a warrior; he cannot be a warrior and rule. He is about disciplining his baser desires.
The Emperor ‘binds’ the two well. He is also about metaphorically ‘slowing down’. Good for both Persons 1 & 2.
You know how most of us read from left to right? We number from left to right? Change that.
Here. When reading across – read from the Strong Card. Outside row only.
We always read towards the center. The Center Row is the relationship. It exists as its own entity and yet as a result of the persons involved. So we look for the strongest Person card.
Row One was The Magicin in Column Three.
Row two is the Dark Card. The 5 of Pentacles. Does Person 2 need to punish themselves? They sure feel they do. But it’s a want. A guilt. It’s paired with The Magician.
Person One is the 3 of Cups. Cool card. Well Person 1 knows she wants to know she chose right…. Between you and I that’s a need. She’s gotta be able to dance. We have a harvest festival, a Martyr, and The World.
Here, the Tarot tells us we have a balance. So let’s let it sit for a bit and we’ll come back to it. It won’t go anywere, it’ll wait.
Here I where it gets fun. And I have to color these cards a bit.
We have the penitent as Person 1. It’s like Person 2 was contagious. The emotion crosses over. 8 lies on Hod, and swords are intellect. This is a card of thinking gone awry – thinking that has gone out of balance. Here is delusion – but because of the timeline (Future/Expected Outcome) this card serves as a warning.
The 2 of Swords. I love this card. It’s so deep. There is a sense of mastery to this card, as a balance for the 8 of Swords it’s wonderful and scary. There is a satisfaction from Person 2 that they were indeed contagious, not from a maliciousness on their part but from a misunderstanding of the true potential of love.
They balance off the balance of Justice – they both believe and feel they got what they deserved.
A lot of majors here – this is a strong strong layout.
But will it work? Will it be a good relationship?
It sure can be. If both parties understand their past, it can serve as a good foundation. Person 2 is the key.
Look at those last three cards – if Person 2 uses their mastery with the swords to help rescue Person 1 – If Person 2 realized what they have done/are doing to Person 2…and they can’t be told…they wear a blind fold (hey – it covers their ears…).
Outcome…the Juggler…the 2 of Pentacles. It’s a difficult balance – not without possibilities – but not without serious work. A good ship with a good crew can weather sever storms if they work together to reef the sails.