The cards find ways to tell us stories – our stories. Sometimes the cards use number sets to let us know what’s going on. Here’s an interesting example I encountered this week. I’ll keep the details general to protect the anonymity of the person who received the reading. Their story is a common one.

When the reading began I knew nothing about the client – neither the question nor the situation.

When I begin a reading with a general overview I use an eleven-card Celtic Cross. While I do interpret the cards within the positions, I also simply look for trends within the cards and interpret those as well. I make my cards multi-task!

Within this person’s spread were three of the four Minor Arcana fives. Five of Swords and Five of Cups were reversed. Missing was the Five of Pentacles.

Also within the spread there were three twos. The Two of Swords and the Two of Pentacles were reversed. Missing was the Two of Cups.

Immediately I knew the problem.

My client was struggling (Fives) with a decision (Twos) regarding a love relationship (Twos).

Together, here’s what these cards told me.

My client had tried to compromise, and tried to make the best of the situation (Reversed Fives). Not seeing other options to end the difficult relationship (Five of Wands) the client made the decision to walk away (Reversed Twos) even though the client had hoped for a future together (Two of Wands). Now the client wondered if there could ever be any hope of working the relationship out. Did the client do the right thing in leaving the relationship? That was the question on the client’s mind.

My answer came from the cards that were missing. The Five of Pentacles can be the card of the missed opportunity. Because that card was missing from the set of Fives I felt there could be no opportunity to work this out.

The Two of Cups can be the card of perfect love and perfect partnership. Since the Two of Cups was missing from the set of Twos I felt there could be no hope of partnership here.

My client had made the right decision; the only decision possible. Now we could look to the cards to find a path of healing and closure.