Timing of cards?

Agathe: Your system very intriguing for its astrological correspondences & I can see it to work.

For my purposes, I would likely switch the decanate associations for Pentacles & Swords.


Found this old thread. Food for thought:

Seasons and the Suits
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?threadid=7295

I know what you mean after reading the thread. You suggest swords to indicate winter and pentacles fall. It's not a bad idea at all.

I am just wondering how does Tarot really work with all the possible ways of telling time. Or is it that they are our cards and they "know" our own system?
I'm just curious.

Every individual's perception of Tarot cards, their imagery & possible associations subjective. So is the relationship with one's cards.

Thus, what may 'work' for one person will 'not work' for someone else. In the same way that certain decks 'speak' to some people, but the same decks will 'not speak' to all.

That means each one of us brings a background of personal ideas, understanding & life experiences to reading the cards. The interpretation of the cards depends on &/or 'influenced' by those factors & likely other factors or variables. Such as the conditions under which the cards read, the state of being, so on.

Any associations or approach developed by a reader will work for that reader, provided some type of consistency observed. Whether of the spontaneous/intuitive; or a blend of logic & the intuitive. Sometimes even the 'book meanings' will work also.

Where timing concerned, a matter of learning by practice & observation. Also being open to that suggested by the card image, number, &/or suit.

The associations or the interpretive for the same card may not be the same for every reading, but change according to the particular reading's dynamics, including the nature of the query & any surrounding cards.

time

I find its hard to predict things beyond six months.The readings I do are preety good up to about three months.I think after that things like free will and change can alter the outcome of the reading.For me the tarot gives me not so much an actual predictable event as it shows instead the most likely senerio or shows potential possiblitys.As far as timming an event I use an intuitive interpetation of the cards I pull.For example 8 of wands to me says the event is happening soon but I try not to put an exact time on it.I think you develope your own knowing of time when you use a deck.It does become a part of you.......

In addition: using Tarot cards is akin to learning a new language--that of the archetypal or universal symbols. Familiarity with those images & other imagery--such as the numbers, the astrological, the colours, shapes--all contribute to establish a means of *communication* between the cards & the self. & results in a working relationship.

This applies to the non-Tarot decks, too.

Changes by one's own volition (free will) or outside forces can influence an outcome, but I have seen many instances where timing as suggested or inferred by the cards to be fairly accurate or on-target. & thus, more of the predictive variety.

In those instances, it may be that certain conditions subject to forces out of the immediate control, based on particular factors already 'in the works'.

In nigh all instances of timing, that was not looked for but developed during the course of a reading.

The most immediate I have foreseen apparently occurred whilst I was reading for a client. The furthest in advance was decades later. In the latter case, the client was told "Later in life".

Although i haven't been using the cards for timing i was deciding what i would do if i did.

After a lot of thought i decided the cards would start the year in March as that's when Aeris begins. So removing the aces the cards equal 52
so one would correspond to every week.

And the aces would correspond to each particular season.

Wands would begin on the 21 march with the 2 of wands (march/april/may)

Summer would correspond to Cups
So the Ace of Cups would mean sometime in Summer(June/July/August)

Autumn would correspond the Swords (September/October/November)

Winter obviosly relates to Pentacles (December/January/February)

For the majors i decided they would correspond to around the time of their astrolgical associationSo like the Emperor is ruled by Aeris so anywhere in that time is when it would occur.

For the cards ruled by planets, that's where i had trouble.

The Fool to me seems an immediate card so i decided even though it's ruled by Uranus that it would mean today or very soon.

The Magician would equal a week (even though mercury takes a year to go round the sun) but the Magician is very about action.

The High Priestess, being ruled by the moon would equal 1 month.

The Empress would equal 9 months to a year because of the symbolism of pregnacy in the card (and because venus takes one year to return).

The Wheel of Fortune was a difficult crad for me to decide. Jupiter takes 12 years, so i decided its quarters would be 3,6,9 or 12 years. But that doesnt seem rite to me as this card is more immediate.

The Hanged Man would equal 10 days to a fortnight because in Norse Mythology that's how long Odin hung upside down on a tree for - 10 days. Neptune takes just too long.

The Sun was simple, being ruled by itself then it would just equal one year.

Judgement is ruled by Pluto and it take sthe longest to return. So for this card is would seem unlikely that the event will occur.

The World is ruled by Saturn which takes 30 years, so this could mean the event will occur in your lifetime. Or possibly if it was reveresed a very long time or not at all.

If anyone has any other suggestions particulary about the minors or the planets please contribute.

your formula is quite interesting Muser257. Especially with the major arcana. i had been taught differently, however, i rarely use the timing method in my readings, unless the spread itself suggests one. i found the timings confusing and hard to decipher myself, as i am still learning. however, i do like your method.

this is how i was taught- (with a regular deck of playing cards, which of course can be adapted to the 78 deck)-
diamonds/pentacles are for winter,
spades/swords are for spring
hearts/cups are for fall
clubs/wands are for summer

i was also taught to start off with the ace and work through the cards for each week of the corresponding season. the joker was used for the date of Feb. 29, and so, hopefully he doesn't show up unless there is a leap year.

however, as i look at my RWS deck of tarot and the scenes shown on the Aces seem to me that:
The Wands/clubs should be for spring.
the Cups/hearts should be for summer
The Swords/spades should be for winter
& the pentacles/diamonds should be for fall

the pictures to me seem to mimic those seasons. the Ace wands shows leaves beginning to sprout on the wand the hand is holding. The Ace cup has water falling so gracefully from the cup, and the water lilies in the water, reminds me of summer, the Ace of pentacles show a scene that seems like the fall to me, leaving the swords to winter, though I honestly have to admit, swords also seems like fall with the leaves falling off the sword.

timing is very confusing with tarot reading, so i generally try to stay away from it. however, i guess like anything else in tarot, it is something that is so personal, each reader will figure out the best system for them and stick with it. just like with reading individual cards.

It's funny this has come up. I've been thinking about timing a lot lately and last week have come across a method in one of the books I'm reading that I REALLY like.

The book is Tarot Card Combinations, by Dorothy Kelly. Here's how she explains it and I'm quoting from the book....

"There are 14 cards in each suit. Less the Ace = thirteen cards. These are the weeks within each season. (The Aces represent the seasons)

The day cards are represented by the Major Arcana and predictions are restricted to within 3 weeks, 21 days of the week within the season card. The Fool 0, depicts the immediate events-those that take place within the week of the prediction.

Take up the cards, shuffle, and deal face up until a season card is dealt, for example, the Ace of Wands. Reshape the deck, shuffle again, then deal until a card of the same suit is dealt, for example, the III of Wands. Again, suffle and deal until the first Major Arcana is dealt, for example, the Chariot VII.

When doing a timing reading, use the event card that the inquirer has based the question on as the significator card. Ask the inquirer to shuffle the cards and deal them face upward, one on top of each other until the first Ace card appears. This will represent the season. Place it alongside the significator, from left to right. The cards are reshuffled and dealt one on top of the other until a card of the same suit as the season (Ace) card is dealt. This is placed next to the season card and represents the week. Reshuffle the deck and deal the cards until a Major Arcana is dealt. This represents the days before or after the week. For example:

Ace of Wands = Spring
VII of Wands = the 7th week
The Hermit IX = within 9 days of the 7th week of spring.

You can now tell your client when you think the event will take place."

I don't know about you, but I found this explanation fairly confusing at first. But once you pull out the cards and try it, it's really very simple

oh! - You'll also need a calendar handy

LP~