Reading the Cards That Are Not There
The best tarot readings are detailed and nuanced. A great tarot reading will also offer some sort of homework or aftercare – suggestions, referrals or exercises for the client to do after the reading is over to help the client achieve his or her goals.
Often we get more information in a reading by interpreting the same cards on many levels. We all know each card has many meanings. What some readers don’t realize is that sometimes many of those meanings may be true at the same time, in the same reading.
We also get more information by adding clarifying cards, or by asking questions and pulling cards in a dialogue format.
Some readers get more information by using companion skills and tools – palmistry, mediumship, pendulum, psychometry or other card oracles, for instance.
Another way to get more information is by reading the cards that aren’t there. What? How can you read cards that aren’t there? Today I offer you four easy ways to do exactly that.
- Turn it Around!
Sometimes desirable cards show up in present or future positions.This is great, but what happens if they show up reversed?If this is the case, the trick is to figure out what the client would need to do to turn the card right side up.Do that by looking to the surrounding cards for clues, referring to companion skills or tools, or by asking the specific question “What turns this around?” and pulling another card.
- Control the Forces of Time
Many spreads use an element of time; positions of Past, Present and Future, for instance.What if there is a card that refers to a past injury, but it shows up in the Present position because the client is still experiencing the wound?If this is the case, the trick is to help the client take that energy out of the present and move it into the past.Use the same methods to do this as in item number one.The question you can ask is “How can we move this energy into the past?’”
- What’s Missing in the Distribution?
Look at the distribution of suits, and see if one is missing entirely.What does that missing element signify in your clients’ life?Add that to your interpretation.
- Who’s Absent?
You will often see an incomplete set or run.In fact, this happens more than you might think.When you see three Aces, or three Knights, or three of any rank and number – interpret the one that is not there as the missing key – the action the client needs to take, or the strength the client needs to muster.
When you see a run – many numbers of the same suit – look to see which numbers are missing.Interpret these missing cards as the steps or concepts the client might be missing on the journey to fulfill his or her goals.
Each reader can take these four steps and adapt them to his or her own reading style. With practice, you will find your ability to discern important details from the cards significantly increasing.
Do you have any tips for other tarot readers? Please feel free to share them on this community blog!
