Learning to read tarot is fun and always interesting, but sometimes a reader can be stumped when the tarot spread gives cards that make answering the question difficult. For example: the question is about love and you get swords and coin suit cards. Where are the cup cards for this reading?
Beginner Tarot readers (and I was a beginner too at one time) rely on memorizing that little white book that comes with the tarot deck. While keywords can help interpret the cards, you need to do more. You need to relate the cards and their keyword meanings to the question.
So for this case study, I used a three-card spread with the Tarot Vieville-Jacques Vieville, Paris 1650. Note: this is not from an actual reading but is based on the topic of friendship from several readings and Joan is a fictitious client.
Learning Tarot Reading: Relating The Card Meanings to The Question: A Fun Case Study
Question: What is happening with a friendship that seems to be changing?
Before I start shuffling the cards and laying out a spread, I ask my client, how she is feeling about the friendship. Is she upset? Is she sad? Is she okay with everything, but just wants some clarity? These questions are helpful because they can help you give answers that are needed from the cards and it also helps the client express what she is feeling about the situation and why she is asking the question.
My client, Joan, tells me that her friend had an awful time coping with life's pressures. The friend's job was not working well for her in pay and had become a dead-end job. Also, she has not taken care of herself as she is not working out and not eating healthy, resulting in her gaining weight. Joan has taken her out to healthy lunches and walks. Joan has spent time listening to her friend's problems. Joan had some unpleasant get-togethers and this friend had been acting angry towards her. Recently, her friend accepted a better job with better pay. Life now is good except that her friend has excluded her from social gatherings with mutual friends. When Joan asks her friend why she is being left out and mistreated, her friend claims she doesn't know what she is talking about. The two women have been friends since high school and are both in their late twenties.
So now I know my client is confused, and hurt by this friend's behaviour towards her.
She needs clarity in:
What may have led to this impasse in her friendship
Should she continue with the friendship or break the friendship
Should she be hurt
Is she misreading i.e. the anger, the exclusion
Where to go from here? Can Joan make things better?
I have Joan think about the situation while she shuffles the tarot deck. This helps Joan connect her energy with the tarot deck. When she hands the deck back to me, I fan the cards face down on the table.
Pictured left: a tarot deck is fanned with cards face down on the table.
I ask Joan to select 3 cards while thinking about her situation regarding her friend.
Here are the cards she selected:
Eight of Wands
The Tower
Knight of Cups
The summary of this reading is towards the end of this article.
First, let's take a look at each card and use the general meanings for each card. Then we will relate the card meanings to the question.
Eight of Wands
The suit of wands expresses desire, passion and the element of fire. Keywords that come to mind when I see a card from the suit of wands are creativity, career, stamina, passion, and sexuality. Because it represents the element of fire, energy can be described as fast and impulsive. The wand when thrown creates a path. The suit of wands can also be called the suit of clubs. Clubs are used in sports and medieval battles so we can also associate this suit with sports and competition. The number eight indicates some analysis should be involved when working out a situation. Eight is made of combinations of twos (as described in the Marseille Tarot revealed by Yov Ben Doav). Eight is made of 2+2+2+2 and number two indicates opposites or a duel. Eight can also be divided into equal parts.
So when we put this together, the eight of wands card's meaning is that this situation is complex and must be analyzed. Some paths have crossed and we must take time to regroup and see where certain actions are taking us. A person can lose their way fighting for something because they do not realize the consequences of their actions. One may also feel that any progress is blocked no matter what they do or the direction they take.
see more on numerology in tarot https://www.margostarot.com/post/numerology-in-tarot-the-basics-and-meanings-to-numbers
One important thing that new readers of tarot have to remember:
*** Take your time and look at the card***
What do you see? Do you see the wands criss-cross with no spaces? Do you notice that nothing is growing within the wands? The flower at the top has no connection. This is true for the bottom flower. The wands are interlocked tightly so that paths are clearly defined and there does not appear to be any chance of making a bend in any of the paths or change directions. This is a very tight working order that is involved in the situation.
see more on colours and numbers used in tarot https://www.margostarot.com/post/tarot-language-reading-the-cards
The next card is the The Tower XVI:
The Tower card is a major arcana card. It's one of the trump cards. There are twenty-two major arcana cards and the Tower card is the 16th major arcana. Arcana is a Greek word for secret or mystery. In English, arcana would mean knowledge that can only be learned or given via special means i.e. rites of passage, enlightenment or event. The tower indicates a shift or a change; perhaps a shock. This change is disconcerting, a release, or a breakthrough from a confining situation. A person feels like they have removed all restraints and broken through barriers. The number sixteen is made of 10 and 6 or 10 plus 6. Ten is the number of totality and represents closer to the divine. Six is the number of balances and is represented geometrically by the hexagon. The hexagon is a shape that is made up of six equal sides. Multiple hexagons can fit together without leaving any empty spaces. It's said to be the perfect shape in nature.
see more on The Tower XVI https://www.margostarot.com/post/the-tarot-s-tower-card-not-so-scary
In this Tower card, we see a human figure looking up at the sky and he looks like he is pleading for answers to his problems. The clouds indicate confusion, but we see the sun's rays through the clouds. There is a flesh-toned colour on one of the clouds and it is the centre cloud. Flesh tone or beige colour represents a human element. Maybe the situation doesn't have to be confusing. We are making things confusing. There is an outline of animals on the ground that are shaded grey. They appear to be sheep trying to find a path they should follow. The tree trunk is flesh-tone and has roots firmly grounded into the earth reminding us that we are responsible for our grounding. what is raining down? Possibly ideas, revelations or a problem being broken down into smaller pieces.
The third card is the King of Cups reversed
Court cards are referred to commonly as the people cards. When you see a court card (King, Queen, Knight or Page in any suit), it represents a person or a part of the client's personality. The suit of cups represents our emotions involved in the situation. A cup can be filled and emptied
with love, joy, sadness and anger). A cup can also be filled with wine or water. When a cup(s) appears upside down it can indicate negative emotions or feelings and even toxic behaviours that cause fear in others.
The colour yellow is used for the ground. Yellow is a colour of gold and glory. It is also the colour of optimism. In tarot, the ground covering being yellow suggests that the ground is illuminated by the divine and is the correct path to follow.
The cup also represents our spirituality. It acts as a vessel for holy water and can indicate baptism. A reversed cup can indicate losing faith or a toxic association with a religion based on manipulation.
Knights are mounted on horses and indicate movement and energy that is quick and advancing. Knights represent courage, honour and bravery. They can represent a person with ideals and values. Their blonde hair symbolizes youth and innocence. A Knight is older than the Pages of the Court cards and learned a few lessons about devotion. Their sincerity is attractive and they know it and there is a danger that this person can be manipulative. Knights, especially from the suit of cups, can be very romantic. Their acts of romance can be genuine, however, some knights can be very cunning and use their charm to get what they want. Knights can have a purpose or a cause that they are dedicated to, but there are Knights who are self-delusional and use a cause to get what they want. The Knight holding the cup is seen as offering his/her heart i.e. a proposal or a gift of love and devotion, but when this Cup is upside is what is being offered good for the recipient? Notice there
beige colour (or flesh colour) underneath the yellow landscape. When the card is upside down this is more visible suggesting that a person has more selfish motives to
get others to follow their path.
see more on the court cards https://www.margostarot.com/post/tarot-court-cards-an-overview-of-reading-the-court-cards-in-tarot
So, now that we have looked at each card, let's put together a reading to answer Joan's question: What has happened in her relationship with her friend?
The Eight of Wands suggests Joan feels trapped in a friendship that is not moving in a positive direction. She is feeling trapped by negativity and no matter what she does for her friend, she cannot make her happy. She makes herself available to her friend, but her friend is not there for her. Joan does feel trapped in this negative friendship. Joan's acts of kindness and support for her friend are taken for granted and are expected. There is no way for Joan to make it clear to her friend that her support is not appreciated. Her friend is cold and emotionally ungiving toward Joan. However, Joan is now seeing her situation for what it is: a toxic friendship. Every time her friend calls Joan, Joan drops whatever she is doing and goes to care for her friend. The Tower card shows that Joan finally realizes that her friend is mistreating her and is not likely to change in the near future. The objects raining down on the human figure in the card are reminders of all the things that were given or done for the friend. It is also a reminder of the things or opportunities Joan has missed out on while she was occupied pleasing her friend. The Tower is the 16th card of the Major Arcana (the word arcana meaning secret) and for a major arcana to appear in this spread indicates that Joan has or is about to learn a lesson about herself. When a major arcana card appears in a reading, there is a message that there is something within us that we have to reflect on. The reversed Knight of Cups can be an indicator of a romantic individual, but remember we relate the cards to the question. The Cup in the card appears upside down which indicates disappointment and sadness. When I look at the card, I am drawn to the landscape and the direction of the horse in the spread. The landscape is golden yellow and beige representing the two different outlooks on the friendship: Joan sees the friendship as a good connection for her, but the friend has other motives indicated by the beige part of the landscape. The horse and human figure in the Knight of Cups is in the direction of the Tower card indicating that the friend who is represented by the figure in the Knight of Cups is using Joan's people-pleasing tendencies to get what she wants out of Joan. Joan should take ownership of her power and start making choices regarding friendships. If Joan chooses to accept that this "friend" is using her generosity:
Joan will understand her people-pleasing tendencies lead to people taking advantage of her
Joan will start her journey by making genuine friendships
Joan will remove these people from her life or manage them in a way that they don't take anything (including her time) away from her because she has started to recognize the types of friends that are using her
Joan learns how self-reflecting can help her find ways to deal with difficult situations
If Joan does not accept that her "friend" is a negative factor in her life, the situation will continue.
To wrap up this reading, we look at the eight of wands. The Eight of Wands is from the minor arcana which means that this situation will be temporary and Joan will be able to handle this. The feelings of sadness will be temporary because Joan has learned a lesson about herself that she will not forget.
Tarot is a wonderful modality and if used correctly we can discover wonderful lessons about ourselves and how we can become better human beings. I believe we are here to learn and to become the best version of ourselves.
I am always interested in how someone else would see this reading. If you like, please share your insights in the comments.
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