Cards in the string. Without even studying the cards in the sequence I was able to say that she always seemed to miss the men in her life, and she agreed.
As you count from various cards in a string you will see the patterns emerge. If you land on a card that was counted onto in a previous count, you generally do not have to go further, as you will know how the count will progress. It is amazing how the same cards show up in a count. In this case, they represent a well-trodden path, which the client is familiar with, but wants to break out from. Often what is even more significant are the cards that do not get counted onto. They are easy to miss, but with practice finding them gets easier. When you find one of these cards you need to check in both directions that none of the other cards count onto it. Uncounted cards are the source of the Nile; they represent new directions that the client has never considered, or is uncertain about taking. Generally the new direction represented by that card is worth pursuing by both reader and client. In essence, an uncounted card influences the cards either side of it, and the cards that it counts onto in either direction, but it is not influenced by these cards. You may find several uncounted cards in a string. I am sure you have had the experience of talking about something that looks so clear from the cards but means nothing to the client. It may be that this relates to an uncounted card in the spread. In Catherine’s reading, the Knight of Wands is uncounted, which is how we knew he was nothing to do with her present or past circumstances. It also explained why it was so difficult for Catherine to understand anything about him. The Knight of Wands was revealed as representing a whole new life for Catherine.
Counting from each Court Card helps to see who these individuals are in the life of the client and how they interact with each other. If there are two protagonists represented by two court cards, for example, you may find that one of them counts onto the Six of Wands, ‘Victory’, while the other counts onto the Ten of Swords, ‘Disaster’. Usually of course, things will not be so clear-cut. Using Card Counting helps us not only to avoid the clichés that too often abound with Court Cards, but also places these cards in context. When we include the divinatory meanings, we see how those meanings are changed subtly depending on the direction of the count and from or onto different cards.
Card Pairing is performed to build up extra information about the development of the reading. Start by looking at the outer cards: first and tenth, then second and ninth, and so on until you reach the centre. There will be a card at the centre if there are an odd number of cards. It is permissible to count from any card, so the pairing can start from either side. If you do not want to go through the full rigmarole of pairing, then look only at the cards in the centre of the string. Card Pairing provides an overview, and often throws up extra information that helps to link cards that were not linked in the Card Counting. (Including court cards.)
Elemental Dignities takes us away from the story provided by Card Counting, down to the details of individual cards. We use Elemental Dignities to understand how each card interacts with its neighbours within the invisible links revealed by Card Counting and Pairing. With experience, Elemental Dignities can be used at every stage of Counting and Pairing to add colour to the reading. The rules of Elemental Dignities are very simple but contain a lot of subtlety and sophistication to add nuance to the reading. Elemental Dignities can show us whether the client is blowing hot and cold over a situation, or thinks too much, or is slow to act. The Card Count for a particular card might look straightforward, but Elemental Dignities can tell a different story if the elements alternate between Fire and Water, for example. These elements are inimical to each other and cancel each other out. We use Elemental Dignities to bring forward the subtleties of the divinatory meanings, rather than simply relying on position or whether a card is reversed.
Elemental Dignities helps us to understand the subtleties and relative strengths and weaknesses between Court Cards. Let us say we had the Queen of Disks reversed between the Knight of Wands and the Knight of Cups. We might think that because she is reversed she is weak between the two Knights, but with Elemental Dignities we know that Fire and Water weaken each other, so she is stronger than both of them.
When we combine all the techniques of Counting, Pairing and Elemental Dignities we build up a more complex picture of what is going on. We see the hidden links, we see the hidden influences, and we can tell how these will manifest and what the effect will be. We can advise our clients on which direction will be most profitable, for work, health and love and any other situation. We can see the motives of other people, hidden or otherwise, and how we can come closer to them, or avoid them altogether. As we see the pitfalls, we can advise how to avoid them, or (if that is not possible) how to minimise any problems and move toward better situations. We can also see how likely it is that the client will be able to make those changes. I mentioned that we can safely ignore the positions of the Celtic Cross when working with strings but, if you wish, you can reintroduce those positions to the interpretation (without moving the cards) and add it to all the other information you have discovered.
The Celtic Cross has a clear arrow of time from the Past to either the Future or the Outcome. But using the additional techniques you are effectively bringing in many more potential futures for your clients to choose from. Therapeutically, the more possibilities the better. Of course, as a responsible reader you will be able to advise on the best plan for action. The synergy of the Celtic Cross spread with these new techniques is greater than the sum of their parts.
With practice, the subconscious will do the work, freeing the conscious mind to interact with the client.
Now that we have an overall understanding of how these apparently disparate parts fit together, we can look at each aspect in more detail.
PAUL’S ANALYSIS OF THE CELTIC CROSS SPREAD
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1. Heart of the Matter—Eight of Cups reversed. This card is rather depressing. I always liken it to having the hangover before you go to the party. Hope is given up. |
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2. Opposing Factor—Seven of Cups. Catherine does not want to be caught up in false hopes and illusion. She has been there before, and now she wants clarity, but she does not know how to get it. |
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3. Root Cause—The Sun. Catherine is looking for success, but so far it seems to have eluded her. |
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4. Past—3 of Swords reversed. Clearly there has been a lot of sorrow, upset and loss. Maybe an accident or illness has contributed. Either way, we can see why it is so difficult to get beyond the Seven and Eight of Cups. |
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5. Attitudes and Beliefs—Four of Cups Catherine has lost her beliefs. She no longer knows what she wants, and if she did there are doubts whether the effort is worth it. She is bored with life and does not know what to do. |
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6. Future—Knight of Pentacles. If we did not know already, clearly Catherine is on her own and she is looking for a partner. The good news is that he is there! He is practical, but beyond that it is difficult to say. |
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7. You As You Are—Ten of Wands. Catherine is snowed under. She is under a lot of pressure, which could either be of her own making or from other people. |
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