Reading Techniques in Action

On New Year’s Day I picked up my free readings for the week over at EnchantedSpirit.com (more about them below). One of my favorite features, “Tarot Treats”, delivers a card for the week on Sunday that I like to work with throughout the week.

My New Year’s Day card was the Ace of Swords – the perfect talisman for someone who has just resolved to do more writing and blogging in 2012. So far this week I’ve used two of my favorite techniques with this card.

I shuffled just the minor arcana of the Soprafino deck while asking for a message about how I can support Ace of Swords energy in my life during the week. When the deck felt well-shuffled, I went through it card by card until I found the Ace of Swords, and pulled it out along with the cards on either side of it. This gave me a spread where the cards work together synergistically rather than being compartmentalized into separate spread positions. Then I took the sum of the three cards (10) and found the corresponding trump card (Wheel of Fortune) to give me the theme of the reading.

The Ace of swords look like it’s emerging from the Six of Cups – a background of steady emotional energy and deep commitment. The intellectual inspiration of the Ace is carrying me toward the Three of Swords where I work happily on various writing projects.

I was a bit mortified to find myself identifying with the fox on the wheel frantically trying to keep up with all his tasks and deadlines while chasing after material rewards. But then I saw the wheel balanced on the sword tip in place of the crown, reminding me it’s better to be at the center of the wheel instead of spinning around on the rim; better to choose how I spend my time instead of just reacting to whatever task or opportunity is in my face at the moment.

The Wheel of Fortune is also about lucky breaks and sudden opportunities. I’ve gotten lots of little insights and creative inspirations this week, but I really want the skies to part and a thunderbolt hit me with a major inspiration. That sounds like a topic for another reading with the Wheel of Fortune as the significator!

To sum up the techniques:

• Decide on a card to signify your question. Shuffle then pull the significator out of the deck with the two flanking cards. Read as a unified story.
• Add up the sum of the cards and read the corresponding major arcana card to give a larger view, a theme, or wise counsel.

On another note, I’d like to mention one of my favorite tarot and astrology resources. I’ve been reading cards for myself for about forty years and think I can do it better than most anyone since I know myself better. But if I want an incredibly insightful and down-to-earth reading from a pro I call on Rebecca at Enchanted Spirit.com. Subscribers to this site get an amazing amount of astrological and tarot information every week. I couldn’t live without her reminders of the planetary transits several times a week. She also sends out a tarot card for the day and the week, a weekly reading, and an in-depth reading every month with your choice of spreads. If I feel like giving myself a reading but I’m at a loss for what topic to explore, I often use her emailed readings as a jumping off point for my own explorations. If you’re a tarot reader interested in astrology, this website is a wonderful resource.