Well, I won’t say
too much.
I did very much enjoy it. It was the first
book of fiction that I have read alone for my own amusement in some time. (Mostly I read nonfiction, or else fiction aloud with my partner at bedtime - but that moves slower!) It hooked me quickly, and I was sneeking a chapter every chance I could.
The Octavo that gives the book its name was interesting in a couple ways. After the significator was chosen by the querent, only one of the 8 cards was drawn each night. And the cards were not
merely shuffled and cut, but rather dealt repeatedly in spreads-of-8 (and then gathered, reshuffled, recut) until a card showed up a second time. That 2nd arrival was what signified that it was the appropriate card signifying a person there to stay. It was then placed into the next spot in the spread to await the next night.
The cards all represented people, and the way of interpretting them was fairly familiar to us here: Mrs. Sparrow commented on the suit, number, and illustration. The suit meaning and the numeralogical significance showed that person’s life situation, aspiration, or disposition; the illustration was usually much more concrete: the characters were usually recognized as belonging to the cards when they passed through a pose exactly like that of the card.
The reader was also a seer, and this particular spread was associated with her visions: If she had a vision for someone, the spread would help them play it out. The lynchpin was that they *determine who all 8 people were* - once they knew their position in the Octavo, they interact with them to bring out the potential of the vision.
Although no one that I know of is currently having visions for me,
I’d like to try the spread for myself. I haven't given much
sustained reflection to the
rôle those around me play in helping me fulfill my “plan.” But it certainly resonated with me that there are people in my life who seem particularly
connected and somehow
important to keeping me aligned. I just haven't thought to pursue that, connect
them, and bring it all together.