The Quintessence Spread

Quintessence, the Quinta Essentia, the Fifth Element: to philosophers and alchemists it’s the spiritual dimension underlying the material world; the subtle fluid that binds all creation together; the spirit that shines from the heart; and the vital force that animates the four elements.

We can extract the quintessence of a situation with a spread found in nearly every European tarot book. Four cards are laid out to the left, right, top and bottom like the center of the Celtic Cross. A fifth card in the center distills the essence of the four cards.

The spread positions are organized into two sets of polarities. The cards on the horizontal axis could be pro-con, positive-negative, help-hindrance, past-future, or self-other. The two vertical cards might be advice and outcome, what is known and what is hidden, the foundation and the crown, or the advice and the result. Use your imagination to adapt spread positions to the question.

For the fifth card, add up the sum of the four cards, reduce the sum to a number below twenty-two and put the corresponding trump card in the center.

French and Italian tarot readers use just the major arcana with this spread. I’ve turned the European method on its head by using only the minor arcana except for the trump card in the center. I read this card as the underlying theme, lesson or message of the reading.

Let’s see this spread in action with a reading I did recently for a fairy tale princess.

Last month a waif in ragged clothes rushed into my booth in the market square. She looked up and down the street nervously before pulling the curtains tight and telling me that she snuck out of the house while her stepmother and stepsisters were being fitted for ball gowns.

Then she tells me somewhat defiantly that she can’t pay for a reading because her stepmother keeps her trapped at home doing all the heavy housework. She doesn’t get spending money, just leftovers from the family meals and a few miserable rags to wear. But she tells me she can probably sneak out of the house again next week while her stepmother and stepsisters are at the hairdresser and repay me by helping with my housework.

It was a slow day, and I felt sorry for the poor mite, so I motioned her to sit down. The false bravado fell away and she became the sad, vulnerable child she really was. “Is it ever going to change?” She asked in a quivering voice. “Am I ever going to wear nice clothes, have friends, maybe even a boyfriend? My stepsisters have everything and I have nothing! My stepmother hates me and treats me like a slave”.

I shuffled the minor arcana of my 200-year-old Italian deck and laid out four cards in a cross to give an overview of her situation and a possible future. Here’s what I told her.

The Two of Swords shows what is working against you. See that young, healthy laurel branch with the red berries? There’s so much youth and vitality and potential in you, but it’s held in suspension, as if floating in a bubble. But the walls of this bubble are thin and easily breached. Your situation is not crushing you. You’re just in a holding pattern until your moment comes to emerge into the sunlight.

The Queen of Cups is working for your benefit. She’s a loving, maternal figure who has your best interests at heart. Look at that large chalice festooned with a garland. It looks like the queen has a gift for you.

{My client snorts cynically and says it certainly isn’t her stepmother. Then she tells me a sad story of how her mother died so long ago she can barely remember her; but she still takes flowers to her grave whenever she can sneak away from her chores. She finds comfort and peace praying at her mother’s grave, and she often feels that her mother is watching over her.}

The Nine of Coins at the top shows a way to rise above your situation and transform it. I realize nothing in your life up to this point has given you a reason to believe this is true — but this card is asking you to have faith and believe that the universe is basically generous and supportive. If you believe your circumstances can change, and if you can envision a better future, then the universe is waiting to grant your every wish.

The Three of Cups on the bottom shows future possibilities. The heart-shaped vine supporting the top cup promises much love and happiness in your future.

{These cards seem to taunt me. How can I talk of great wealth and love to someone in such dire circumstances? But I’m bound to read what I see. As long as I’m truthful, the cards never lie to me}

The sum of the four cards is 18. (I count the court cards as 2, 3, 4 and 5). The quintessence of this spread is Trump 18, the Moon. Magic in the moonlight. Midnight – when the moon rides high in the sky. Everything in this spread – the wealth, the love, her mother’s spirit, seems like a misty illusion to her – the foolish dreams of a kitchen drudge. I encourage her to believe that it’s all possible and it all can become real. With magical assistance, her life will be transformed. She says she’ll go to her mother’s grave that night and pray that this reading comes true.

{Now that my client is queen of a neighboring realm, everyone knows how her mother answered her prayers, and how a prince was bewitched at the stroke of midnight. I can’t help but think the red berries on the Two of Swords are those greedy stepsisters’ bloody toes. When I squint my eyes, I see a foot encased in a slipper on the bottom card. And doesn’t the top card look like an aerial view of Cinderella seated in her glass coach?}

Postscript: Cinderella has become a kind and generous monarch, loved by her people. She didn’t forget the old fortune teller who encouraged her to believe in a better future. Thanks to Cinderella’s generosity, I quit that drafty booth in the marketplace. Now I read my cards in front of a cozy fireplace in my snug cottage on the edge of town.