Interesting Combinations using a three card system for courts

Little Baron

Was just working through my deck in threes. And realised how interesting some of the three card-ers were.

To begin with, as a note, when I read three cards, I read in a specific way, which I find useful - especially with courts. It is adapted from the Personal Prophecy system.

Say you have three cards. 1, 2 and 3.

If card 3 is a court, we ALWAYS [as a querant] share the messages of cards 1 and 2 with that person. If card 3 is a court, it is ALWAYS someone else.

If card 2 is a court, we ALWAYS share the message of card 1 with that person. If card 2 is a court, it is ALWAYS someone else. Card 3 is what the court in card 2 carries. It is their thing. Their intention.
So if the 'King of Cups' was in position 2 and held the 'Empress' as card 3, we might determine that he was a caring and nurturing person. It is almost like getting a snapshot of their focus or what they want to share with us. I always think of card 3 as their backpack, if card 2 is a court. Card 1, therefore is, maybe how it is shared with us.

If a court is card 1, then that is ALWAYS us, as a querant. We read from left to right. So when a court is in position 1, it is how we are represented, with our focus. The following cards, if have no courts, are purely about what we are doing. If a court hits either positions 2 or 3, then the same applies, as mentioned above. What is inbetween us or 'carried' is the messages between us and the court.

If there are no courts, it is purely about us.

Here are some examples. Since using playing cards, I ALWAYS use this method. Really disables all of that 'is the court me or someone else' stuff.

Examples:

The Fool, King of Swords, Seven of Cups -
This would equal -
US [invisible] >>> Fool [what we share with the king] >>> The king [another person] >>>> Seven of Cups [what the king carries, his intention]

The king is a little immature in this instance, holding the '7'. He is letting his emotions rule his mind and position.
As we [as reading from the left, invisibly] share with the court, the 'Fool' brings chaos into our sharing.
With the '7 of Cups', this king flits from one thing to another and can not make any emotional decision, one way or the other. This is chaotic in our relationship with him.

Six of Swords, Queen of Swords, Ace of Swords -
This would equal -
US [invisible] >>>> Six of Swords [what we share with the queen] >>> Queen of Swords [another person] >>>> Ace of Swords [what the queen's intention is or what she carries and brings to the reading or relationship]

Moving towards a better place. The journey is shared with the queen. She holds the ace, so it is her who makes the first move and effort to instigate a fresh start. Maybe in a word, phone-call, letter.

Page of Cups, King of Wands, Queen of Pentacles -
This would equal -
Page of Cups [US, as in position 1] >>> King of Wands [another person] >>>> Queen of Pentacles [another person that is of importance to the king]

I am the page. I want a love affair, friendship or emotional connection with the King of Wands, for I am cups. He wants a passionate connection; possibly sexual, because he is fire and wands.
He looks towards the Queen of Pentacles [whom he owns, in terms of position]. She is earth and grounding. She could be his wife. Or maybe someone that he relies on financially or physically. Similarly, maybe she relies on his financial or physical output, which would be more likely, since she is receptive - for care and nurture. She grounds him.

Five of Pentacles, King of Cups, The Star -
This equals -
US [invisible, but on left] >>>> Five of Pentacles [what we share with the king] >>>>> King of Cups [another person] >>>>> The Star [what the king carries and brings to the table]

The king has some kind of emotional connection to me. He is emotional maturity. He holds the Star, so he is hopeful and has faith.
But loss is indicated by the 'five'. This is what we share.
This could read two ways. He may provide hope in a hard situation of mine. Or maybe, should we have been in a relationship, he might he retaining some kind of hope of a reconsiliation that we will rekindle after a break up.

Page of Swords, Four of Wands, Three of Cups -
This equals -
Page of Swords [US] >>> Four of Wands and Three of Cups [situations in our life]

I am the page. I want security and stability. I think there is possible commitment in the 'four' - passion within guidelines.
The 'Three of Cups' signifies good times, celebrations. Maybe a happy home and a family is wished for. The 'three' is growth through the realm of emotions. The page may be a little too mentally immature to deal with all of this yet.

Death, Hanged Man, Four of Cups -
This equals -
US [invisible] >>> Death, Hanged Man, Four of Cups [all situations relating to us]

There is boredom and stagnation in the 'Four of Cups'.
Death indicates that change is very much needed. But with the Hanged Man in between, I would imagine that it is not imminant. Laziness might be an issue. Sitting back and waiting, rather than getting up and making new designs on your future.


I hope you find this intersting. I use it so much now that I had forgotten how important it was as it has become so matter of fact in my reading. I had forgotten how useful it was when I discovered it. But don't credit me. It is from Deborah Leigh's book, Personal Prophecy, about playing cards.

LB

If anyone is interested, I used the Renaissance Tarot for the examples.
 

Bronwyn1

This is awesome! I can only decipher 3 card readings in a ppf spread, or if they are a sentence. What an interesting new way to read! Thanks for the incredible amount of time you must have spent typing this. SO many times I've thrown 3 cards and have no idea what they mean or relate to, pertaining to myself of course.
 

moon_shadow

Little Baron, thank you so much for sharing this! I am still at a 3 card reading stage on my practice(well occasional bigger spread), so this will be a great help.

:)
moon_shadow
 

Little Baron

I just noticed your reply Nancy. Thankyou.

I had thought that nobody had found it interesting :( And was worried that I hadn't explained myself properly.

But I am glad that I have.

It is such a simple proceedure. But once learnt [which takes five minutes], it provides a fool proof system, when it comes to court cards. You no longer ask 'Is it me?', 'Is it someone else?', 'Is it part of my personality?'. I now know when one arises, whether it is an aspect of myself or whether it is someone coming into my life. It saves time and I can get to the bare bones of the reading. It is so interesting when a court is in position 2 and they have something over their shoulder in position 3. Recently, I was reading for a friend and in the position of her immediate family, she asked if there was anything she needed to know about her husband. The cards read 'Queen of Cups', 'King of Pentacles', 'King of Wands'. I was both a little amused, as well as shocked. She asked me 'Is there anything that might suggest my husband is gay?'. I looked at the threesome and said 'Well, there is a possibility'. The way that the cards displayed the message could have been interpreted as just that, if you chose to go that way. Because she was on the left, she had to be the queen. In position 2, I saw her husband - being a 'King of Pentacles', I saw him as a provider and stable influence. But behind him, was another person - that 'King of Wands'. Another man, with fire and passion on his side. There was no questioning whether it was an aspect of her husband or anything else. There was another person in the equation. It would not have been 'off the wall' to presume that the second man could have been another lover of her husbands - or at least, an interest in someone who exists in his life. Whoever it is, we are aware that there is a strong and direct influence on the man in question.

In this way, when courts 'carry' cards such as the 'Two of Cups', we can tell that they might be interested in an emotional exchange with us. If they hold a '7 of Swords', might we be correct in trusting our gut feeling that they are a little sneaky? Will a court that 'carries' The Fool bring chaos or unscheduled excitement into our life when he or she arrives. I like the brashness of message in this method. It doesn't allow readings to be vague.

I am so please you like it Nancy.

Best, LB
 

Little Baron

moon_shadow said:
Little Baron, thank you so much for sharing this! I am still at a 3 card reading stage on my practice(well occasional bigger spread), so this will be a great help.

:)
moon_shadow

Thanks Moonshadow.

I think that the more you use this method, the tighter the relationship between the cards get. They start talking more because they have more defined roles.

And you can break big reads down in this way. For example, the reading I did this afternoon had 7 positions. In one position, as an example, I asked for general advice. Rather than just one card in each position, I used a trio in each. Yes, it may seem like a lot of cards, but when you read in threes, you don't notice. It is so much nicer because it punctuates the response. Rather than asking what that one card could mean, in most cases, you have a noun, adjective and verb, like you do in a sentence. In tarot-speak, that might be, as an example, a court, a major and a minor. Reading larger reads in little combinations of three brings readings to life and gives so much more movement. I never had this as much as after developing this method from my Personal Prophecy teachings. It makes reading far less stagnant and confusing.

LB

[Just noticed that 48 people have viewed this thread. This always happens to me. People always view, but hardly ever respond, lol.]
 

room

Little Baron said:
[Just noticed that 48 people have viewed this thread. This always happens to me. People always view, but hardly ever respond, lol.]

You should switch to talking about weather cards and see what happens.

Six of Swords, Queen of Swords, Ace of Swords

Typhoon terrorists. Lot of upward current.

Death, Hanged Man, Four of Cups

A preponderance of fog, but your orchids will thrive. Similar to pushing up daisies.
:lightbulb
 

Enchanted

I've read this through and found it very interesting. It would be great to get a handle on who is who, with the court cards. Almost always a head scratching occasion!

Could you give an example or explanation of how you would read a court in position three, with no other court cards in the spread? I don't think I quite understand that one.
 

Little Baron

Thanks.

Position 3.

If, say, we had the 'Queen of Swords' in Position 3, she would be someone else. Always.

What is hard to explain is that 'we' are always on the left. That could mean either in Position 1 or not shown at all. 'We' are NEVER in Position 2 or 3. That would always be someone else.

So, in your example, with just one court in Position 3, the cards in 1 & 2 are what is shared between us and the queen. We are still on the left, but invisible. Therefore, if the '3 of Cups' and 'Death' were in positions 1 & 2, you might say that there has been a change in the emotional relationship between us and the queen. Or maybe, that a change is required.

Does that make sense? If not, please say.

LB
 

Wandlimb

This is fascinating. Next time I do a three card reading I'll have to give this a try!

room said:
A preponderance of fog, but your orchids will thrive. Similar to pushing up daisies.
:lightbulb

Love that! LOL
 

star-lover

this is brilliant, i will have to read it another couple times get my head round it - but it seems so simple but makes so much sense - and will take alot of confusion about of my 3 card readings with courts in for sure

thanks lb
:D