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Almost everyone practicing Tarot at the beginning or middle of their path has found themselves in a situation where it's unclear what the cards are saying.
Comprehensive guide on how to do and interpret Tarot spreads, focusing on question framing and holistic card reading.
Key Takeaways
- Always ask open-ended questions to unlock the full depth of Tarot meanings.
- Interpret cards as a connected whole, not in isolation.
- Reframe closed questions to reveal the true underlying concerns.
- The question guides and limits the interpretation context, improving clarity.
- Tarot encourages active engagement and self-reflection rather than passive prediction.
What the video covers
- Many beginners struggle with interpreting Tarot cards because they focus on individual cards rather than the whole spread.
- Tarot cards describe interconnected events, so interpreting them separately loses important context and meaning.
- The flexibility of Tarot can overwhelm readers, causing confusion due to many possible interpretations.
- The video emphasizes the importance of asking open-ended questions rather than closed yes/no questions for effective Tarot readings.
- Closed questions often mask the real problem; reframing questions helps uncover deeper issues and promotes active participation.
- Tarot readings should shift the querent’s mindset from passive to active by focusing on actions rather than outcomes.
- The question posed sets the context and boundaries for interpreting the cards, narrowing down the vast meanings to relevant insights.
- Vague questions lead to vague answers; clear, detailed questions improve the accuracy and usefulness of Tarot readings.
- The video also discusses practical steps in the preparatory stage and interpretation process using real examples.
- Tarot reveals root causes rather than superficial symptoms, which can be challenging but ultimately more insightful.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Tarot Interpretation Challenges
- 04:37Reframing Closed Questions in Tarot
- 09:03The Role of Questions in Tarot Readings
- 13:19Preparatory Stage and Drafting Interpretations
- 18:02Dealing with Complex Tarot Archetypes
- 22:19Mixing Meanings and Contextualizing Cards
- 25:08Emotional Dynamics in Tarot Readings
- 29:51Advanced Interpretation Techniques
- 34:52Clarifying Cards and Final Insights
- 39:09Historical and Mythological Background of Tarot
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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While you can still find decent books, articles, and references online about the meanings of the cards, there's nothing on how to actually do spreads.
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It's a strange thing. The cards seem familiar, but how to connect and interpret them when they appear in random combinations often proves impossible. Because of this, people are often inclined to interpret cards individually, which is a mistake. After
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all, they are, generally speaking, describing one and the same situation. The events in each person's life are tightly intertwined. Consequently, the meanings of the cards illustrating these events are also connected. By interpreting them separately, we lose sight of the full picture, a huge
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number of details and semantic intersections that give rise to new ideas and clues for action. The problem of interpreting cards largely stems from the incredible flexibility of Tarot, and many people prove unable to handle this freedom. When looking at
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the cards, there are so many interpretation options in your head that it starts to boil, and in the end, the person simply gets confused. This video is dedicated to solving the problem described. We will look at the preparatory stage before a spread, and
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also examine the interpretation process itself using examples from real practice. In our wonderful language, there are many types of questions. In the context of Tarot, we are interested in those that differ in the scope of their answer search. There are two
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types of questions in this category: open and closed. An open question is one that implies a large number of possible answers. For example, what country are you from? In response, one could receive the name of any state, of
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which there are around two hundred on our planet. A closed question, however, narrows the search space for an answer down to two options: either yes or no.
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Either one or the other. And it is precisely such questions that should be avoided at all costs when working with Tarot. Cards do not give yes or no answers. They do not contain the names of two universities from which one must
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choose. Therefore, there is no point in asking whether an ex misses me. In such cases, as the author of one of the finest books on Tarot aptly put it, it is best to simply flip a coin. Tarot is
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a very multi-layered and meaning-rich tool. Accordingly, we try to ask only open questions, because only they allow the meanings of the cards to unfold in their full entirety. If a querent comes with a closed question, you can dig a
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little deeper and find out the real problem behind it. For example, a woman asks if she will be able to comfortably settle into a new place. She is asking a closed question, and it always assumes the presence of worst-case and
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best-case scenarios. No one wants trouble for themselves. Based on this, in this example, one can assume that the querent has doubts about their own capabilities. It was precisely this doubt that prompted her to phrase the question in that way. She fears that
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she won't be able to settle into her new job or will feel uncomfortable, and is trying to find arguments or external confirmation of a more favorable outcome. That is the real problem with which this woman went to the cards for
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advice. A closed question in a Tarot context is the result of a failed attempt to formulate what is truly troubling. Knowing this, it is worth trying to formulate a new question that relates directly to the problem at hand
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. Instead of "Will I be able to?", it is better to ask "What is likely to prevent me from settling into the new place?" or, better yet, "What do I need to do to successfully settle in?" You must agree that it is much easier to
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interpret a reading when you receive such a question, rather than a closed one. Pay attention to the last wording from our example. From "What will happen?" We shifted to "What needs to be done?" It turns out that the framing
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of a question can shift one's state of consciousness regarding the situation. In the first case, the querent was a leaf fallen from a tree, drifting aimlessly down the river of life in an unknown direction. In other words, events were just happening to them. In
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the second case, however, they become an active participant, influencing the outcome with their own actions. It always makes sense to try to shift the querent from a passive position to an active one through the phrasing of the question. It is simply more effective
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from every possible point of view. Moreover, the cards often do this themselves. Instead of answering "What should I do with my life?" by outlining a career field, Tarot might show how to overcome obstacles to self-discovery, because that is the only way to find a
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real answer. No one should go into music just because the cards told them to. That will not become their life's work. In all likelihood, the real choice always happens within. In such cases, Tarot does much the same as we
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saw in the example above. It goes a step further and tries to point to the real problem—to cure the flu, not just treat the cough. This characteristic of Tarot is often why many people are unable to read their
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own spreads; because they are being shown the root, while they try to look at the pattern on the leaves.
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Nevertheless, there is another, simpler, but much less elegant and effective way to handle closed questions. Simply do two readings. The first for the "yes" option, or "what will happen if A" and for the "no" option, "what will
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happen if B?" As you can see, phrasing a question is not a trivial task; it has its own pitfalls and unique possibilities. Attentiveness to how a question is framed is the key to a more successful interpretation of a reading.
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The vaguer the question, the blurrier the answer. A dismissive attitude toward framing questions largely explains why many people cannot explain their readings, often leading to vague and inaccurate descriptions. It is not the cards that are to blame, as they
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are interpreted by people. And if the question posed is not clear and understandable enough to the interpreter, there is a high probability they will eventually drown in a flood of their own interpretations. What function does a question serve
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in Tarot work? At first glance, it is simple. It seems like there is nothing even worth talking about here. But based on the example shown earlier, we have already seen that one can always go a step further behind the veil of
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the familiar, thereby getting closer to reality. Tarot is capable of answering any questions concerning any sphere of human life. A whole lifetime would not be enough to list all possible manifestations of even a single card, and in a spread, there are from two to
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five or seven. And more. How do you know which meaning of a card to use in your interpretation right now? That is what the question helps us with. If you look closely, it outlines the boundaries of the context within which
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we will interpret the cards. It carves out a tiny piece from the vast reality described by the Tarot deck. A question is a narrow path in an infinite field.
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You could have chosen absolutely any direction, but the question gives us a specific vector. It restricts our thoughts, building walls for our mind so it doesn't wander aimlessly, keeping it searching for answers here and relevant to the topic at hand.
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Therefore, a question must be clear. If you are asked: "What will happen in my life?" You can answer without a spread: "Well, anything." It is a completely different matter when a question is detailed and precise. For example: what
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do I need to do to achieve noticeable improvements in my self-realization in the career sphere soon? Everything here is excellent: the context, the career, the established timeframe, the goal, and the phrasing implies readiness for active steps. But that is not all. Our
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task at the preparatory stage is to
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For example, in addition to the question, I always ask for a brief description of the situation and the zodiac signs of the querent and other key participants. This allows for providing the most concrete answers without falling into the endless. It
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could be this way, or it could be that way. Oh, by the way, it could be like this too. Narrow the context in every possible way before starting the spread . You are not a carnival magician. It is better to ask for additional
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information and work efficiently, helping to solve a real problem or providing an opportunity to look at a situation from the outside. Rather than pretending to be a great mage and giving vague predictions that are forgotten by evening because they have
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absolutely nothing to do with you. A young woman works in a very responsible position at a large company. She gives her all to her work. Her career is on the rise, and she feels happy with the results, her status, and everything
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else that comes with a successful life. But there is a problem that brought her to tarot cards. Her family doesn't want to let her go. Her relatives are constantly pestering her with their problems. She has to settle their
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disputes, calm them down, cheer them up , give advice, deal with their affairs, and so on. From the outside, it might seem like, well, there’s actually no problem here. Family is important.
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What’s wrong with a grown daughter talking to her parents? But just imagine yourself in this woman’s shoes. You have a career, and you are passionate about it. Things are going well. You pour immense effort into your work. You face huge responsibility
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every single day. And in your downtime, you’re forced to deal with the petty problems of relatives busy with their own lives. Over time, a series of setbacks began at work. Our heroine is running out of strength because she is
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spending it on the wrong things. And her question is: what is the most likely outcome, and how can she keep her family from hindering her career?
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At the start of a drawing, you don't even outline shapes; you just apply spots of color. A larger spot here, a smaller spot there. The artist sketches out shapes and masses. A writer also creates a draft of their work first.
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They sketch out the main plot lines, characters, and settings without getting bogged down in tiny details or focusing on writing style. A sculptor also does rough work first, hacking out the basic outlines from stone or wood without worrying about tiny wrinkles,
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folds, or dents. In business, new ideas start as rough sketches with almost no requirements attached. And all these drafts are only refined later, becoming clear and fully formed. Developing a tarot reading interpretation is as creative as any other human activity.
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Accordingly, it goes through all the same stages of creative work. The first of these is already defined—it is the draft. The essence of this stage is a generalized description of what the cards reveal. This summary should be brief, within two or three sentences,
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connecting all the cards together. These are the broadest strokes of the story we are analyzing. Our heroine pulls the Six of Cups, the Devil, and the Chariot. The Six of Cups, roughly speaking, depicts a situation of emotional fulfillment, lightness,
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naturalness, cheerfulness, and a lack of worry. Clearly, this is the state the querent aims to reach. All this goodness becomes available to our heroine through career self-actualization, which in turn requires liberation from her omnipresent relatives. The next card is
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the Devil. The Devil is the embodiment of the very concept of evil. If translated into a psychological plane, it manifests as the shadow archetype.
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It is the perfect time to recall a well-known mantra. Power lies where it hurts or where we fear. The shadow is a vast psychic structure containing all suppressed mental content. It is, in fact, the complete inversion of what
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the individual believes themselves to be. If someone stands for total freedom , their shadow will harbor terrifying despotic traits. And so, we hear liberal influencers demanding that everyone who disagrees with their idea of free speech be banned and silenced
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online. Everything in the psyche exists there because it carries a psychic charge. Every emotion, image, symbol, feeling, dream, desire, character trait , and complex is charged to some degree . Much of this resides in the shadow because, at some point, it felt
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inconvenient, unnatural, or unworthy of existence. At some point, it became impossible to view these things as part of an ideal self. All this content ends up repressed, hidden from the ego's view. The ego creates an illusion that these terrible impulses, thoughts, and
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desires don't exist, but in reality, they are always here. And therein lies the power, because they are charged with energy. When the ego runs out of that energy, there is nowhere else to get it. This is, in effect, a
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description of our heroine's situation. The Devil speaks to this when she, for the hundredth time, exhausted and unwilling, picks up the phone to listen to her relatives 'pointless problems and requests; she suppresses her anger, sending it straight into the shadow.
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She has almost no energy left, and she has started making mistakes at her precious job. That is where her focus should be, not on petty squabbles between mom and dad, dad and sister, sister and mom, mom and the dog, and so
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on. In such crises, a person either breaks or explodes. If the Hanged Man were in the spread, we could confidently say she wouldn't hold out and would fall back into the clutches of a family that would hate her for it
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forever. But here we have the Devil, which means an explosion is inevitable. The girl's shadow will manifest on its own. One day, she simply won't be able to hold back anymore. She will scream at her relatives, tell them to get lost
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, say exactly what she thinks, and hang up. This is literal, highly destructive , poorly controlled behavior where the shadow breaks free against our will.
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But, as mentioned, this is energy that seemingly didn't exist just five minutes ago. Psychic force, meticulously repressed for years, rushes out with a crushing flow, like water released from high pressure. We are used to thinking of negative emotions as some sort of evolutionary
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error. Rage is bad. Being angry is harmful, wishing harm is dangerous. Those who say this are simply asking the wrong questions. Forget about what it is like. Ask yourself: why do we need it? Why does a human being need
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rage? A terrible emotion, uncontrollable, destructive behavior— how could it possibly be useful? Yet no other emotion or feeling is capable of putting so much energy at your disposal in such a short time as rage. And it is needed to crush obstacles, to destroy
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what stands in our way. How this might happen in our example, I described a little earlier. The next card in the spread is The Chariot. It fits very beautifully into the interpretation under consideration. The Charioteer in Tarot, among other things, depicts the
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process of separating from collective values and establishing personal ones. In simple terms, this is called separation. This is exactly what our querent wants: separation from the family. An adult, working in a very responsible position, living alone, still psychologically not separated
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from their relatives. They cannot refuse them. They cannot state their demands, to leave them alone, because they actually need to attend to their own affairs and generally follow a personal path as an independent charioteer. And a rather coherent
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picture emerges. Our synthesis of all three cards could sound like this: " Under the pressure of circumstances, the querent will have to borrow strength from their shadow, which is about to reveal itself in all its glory ." However, through negative emotions,
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the querent will be able to distance themselves from relatives and set clear boundaries. This will help channel energy into career matters and thus arrive at the desired self-realization.
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While extracting this essence from the spread, we have already gained a lot of information regarding what will happen.
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It remains to flesh out the resulting brief description in detail. Usually, relying on the result of the first stages of interpretation, I simply carefully reconstruct my thoughts and write them down as a text. This is how a comprehensive and detailed reading is
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formed. The next stage consists of analyzing your associations that arise in connection with the images, symbols, and concepts depicted on the drawn cards. We must not forget that we are within the narrow, defined limits of the context. For instance, the very
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name of the Devil arcana catches my eye . One of the first associations that comes to my mind is the concept of an enemy. The Devil is the enemy of God, the shadow, the image of evil and the
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enemy within the soul of every person. During the previous stage, we looked at the fifteenth arcana in exactly this vein. Who in our example is an enemy to whom? Our heroine internally strives to separate from intrusive relatives. She
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draws the Devil arcana. This could also suggest that she herself will become the enemy. Her relatives will not understand her. She will become an evil , ungrateful character to them, someone who has abandoned them. And here I would like to draw your attention to
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the very possibility of interpreting in such a way, where we can examine from different sides how an arcana plays out in a situation. People who work with Tarot usually forget that a Major Arcana is a very large and
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all-encompassing thing. The Chariot is not just a ride. The Hierophant is not just about getting an education, and The World is not just a finished house.
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A Major Arcana card in Tarot represents huge and very powerful archetypes, if we use Jungian terms. Archetypes have an interesting property of manifesting on many levels at once. A Major Arcana card appearing in a spread suggests that one of these archetypes is
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currently active not only in a specific situation but in the querent's life in general. Wherever you look, it will be visible. So, the Devil as an enemy manifests in our spread also as the role occupied by the querent in the
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eyes of their conservative relatives. She will turn away, separate herself, and will be accused of ingratitude and many other various sins, at least for the time being. Also, another association draws attention: the very root from which the word "devil"
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originates. The root "dia" in Greek means to divide or separate. This fact, firstly, builds a solid bridge to the next card in the spread, The Chariot.
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Secondly, the idea of separation or " a-division" is clearly visible in the example we are analyzing, and thirdly, we can note the idea of destruction also present in this card. Before this, we talked about the destructive side of
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the shadow. But what is destruction? Destruction is the decay of a whole into parts. That very separation, as opposed to fusion, the joining of many into a single wholeness. Therefore, the very concept of separation is perceived in culture as a rather negative process
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and fits perfectly into the image of the Devil. Chopping into pieces, decomposition, cutting, negative emotions that contribute to destruction , and even leaving the family, if we consider this meaning symbolically rather than literally. All these images speak of destruction and are therefore
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perceived negatively. Next comes The Chariot. The separation discovered in the Devil rhymes in many ways with The Chariot. While in the fifteenth arcana it was, let's say, secondary or hidden, in The Chariot it is one of the main
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meanings. My first associations in connection with the seventh arcana card are as follows: separation, ego, road, and goal. The concept of a goal is depicted on the card from the Crowley deck as a grail in the hands of the
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charioteer. The cup is turned with its bottom toward the viewer and is therefore depicted as a circle. And every circle has a center, just as consciousness has its own center. This is the ego. The ego complex is that
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structure of the psyche with which we identify ourselves. When we say something in the first person, we are speaking about our ego. Furthermore, the ego itself is also what separates for the sake of its own development and strengthening. From the point of view
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of analytical psychology, the ego is generated by the unconscious and soon after separates from it almost completely. In any case, it creates such an illusion for itself, but that is a separate topic. The point is that human consciousness, like a teenager,
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feels a need for separation from that of which it was a part just recently.
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Again, the connection to the Devil card is interesting. The Luciferian myth, or even a whole class of similar myths, including, say, the story of Prometheus , is a symbolic expression of the birth and development of human consciousness.
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The Devil spoke to us about separation, and another of his cultural manifestations, Lucifer, tells us the same thing. But now, in the context of the ego’s separation from the unconscious. The Charioteer depicts a person who realizes who they are.
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Self-awareness is possible only on the condition of separating from what birthed you and what you were once a part of. Independence is developed by breaking with the past, including collective values. In the early stages of development, we identify ourselves
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with a multitude of external things. Whether it be a political ideology, a specific religion, social views, and so on. But none of this tells us about who we are. Describing ourselves through external factors, for example, when in response to the question: "Who are you?
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" We answer: "I am an electrician" or " I am a musician." We are not describing ourselves; we are just providing a reference to a phenomenon from the external environment. When we get rid of external impurities inside, we then,
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finally, find out who we really are. One expression of this idea is the aforementioned early separation. From this perspective, the Chariot speaks of growing up, forging an image of oneself and one's destiny. On the Chariot card in the Waite deck, for instance, there
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is a fitting image. A city being left behind by the main character. The city symbolizes, among other things, society and its established collective values, which remain somewhere behind a person seeking their own path. Like the heroine of our example, the Charioteer
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figure discovers their purpose. She knows what she wants, what she needs, and is moving toward that goal. The querent is faced with a choice: peace of mind at the cost of a ruined career, or a period of intense anxiety that
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pays off with the chance for full self-realization. The girl has to choose what to sacrifice. Both options seem quite equal, but that is not the case. In reality, somewhere deep inside , the choice was already made long ago.
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All that is missing is the spirit to carry it out. The burden of guilt is an indicator of a maturing personality, as it implies an understanding of responsibility for one's decisions.
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Complete innocence is infantile. Deep down, the girl will, of course, feel the weight of her decision, but there is no other way. It is interesting that the feeling of guilt also falls within the semantic field of the fifteenth
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arcanum, discussed earlier. After all, according to general cultural notions, the devil was cast down from heaven for his crimes, and sinners, that is, those guilty before God, suffer in his hell until the end of time. By using associations in this simple way, we
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have shed light on many details and even discovered additional information. Of course, there is no need to use absolutely every association that arises. Usually, a couple of thoughts arise, persistently pushing their way into our consciousness. When we look at
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a spread, say, a card title catches your eye or the composition reminds you of a certain silhouette, and you can't get that image out of your head. Most likely, that is exactly what you need.
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Do not hesitate to mix meanings and even associations from different cards. A spread is a sort of alchemical cauldron, where all parts mix into a single whole. And it's not just about the context that unites all the drawn
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cards. As I said before, Tarot is a depiction of archetypes and their accompanying narratives. Let’s not dive into the details right now. I will only say that the entire collective unconscious consists of a vast multitude of archetypes. They possess
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the property of being what we call holographic. Meaning, once you start deconstructing one, you inevitably, and without noticing, shift into the next.
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In short, in theory, you can draw out the entire collective unconscious through a single archetype. It’s like the Wikipedia effect, where you start with an article about Alexander the Great and a couple of hours later find yourself on a page about deep-sea
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jellyfish. This means the collective unconscious exists in a state of total contamination. Contamination is the combination and intermingling of meanings. To put it crudely, this concept is often used in language. For instance, a saying composed of two others, like "strike while the iron is
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hot" mixed with "don't leave the checkout," or words like "crusheby," are examples of contamination.
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Archetypes exist in this state, and as a consequence, so do Tarot arcana. This does not prevent us from clearly delineating their meanings. However, we must realize that this is done only to facilitate perception, awareness, and learning. The more you study Tarot, the
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more blurred the boundaries between the arcana become. On the other hand, we notice another property revealed to us in our example. Mulling over. The theme of one arcana or another, in any way or from any angle, we inevitably revolve
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within its semantic field. Therefore, the probability of falling out of the designated context is not that high here. A consequence, a deduction, or an association—anything is, one way or another, inscribed in the discussed arcana. Let’s take the Emperor
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arcanum. And everyone has a different attitude toward the subject of power. For one, it is strength; for another, a living nightmare; for a third, it is oppression; and for a fourth, it is just one huge mistake. All thoughts and
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shades of emotion associated with the concept of direct power will enter the meaning circle of the Emperor, just as with the concept of evil and the enemy we singled out in the Devil card. So, in our spread, everything has become
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clear. We used some techniques and discovered non-obvious methods like mixing meanings. Now, before moving on to the next example, it is worth reinforcing and structuring what we know at this moment. First and foremost , we look at the context of the
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situation. Context is our stage and scenery, the setting and direction of the action. And that is not even a metaphor. I mean, I usually visualize the places where the querent's situation might be taking place. Based on our previous example, it could be
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the querent's apartment, a relative's home they visit or from where they constantly call, or their office. Next, we define the characters involved. In our case, it is the actor himself and his relatives. From everything told in the previous story example, I paint a
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picture for myself and reconstruct a semblance of a simple plot. Well, let's say, act one. The querent is happy at work and happy at home. This is a past embodiment of the Six of Cups, when there was plenty of energy, and
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everything felt possible. Act two. As time goes by, the relatives continue to call the querent with their problems and requests. The querent is now annoyed, disappointed, or depressed at home and at work. The goal is to return to the former state of feeling
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empowered. Next, we lay out the cards and try to summarize them into one or more key phrases. Depending on the question, we may get either a static description of the situation or a generalized short story. Along the lines of: it was like this, but you
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want it to be like that. And to achieve this, you will have to do this. And, by the way, that thing is waiting for you along the way. First, this step helps to jump-start the thinking process without focusing on details too early.
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This way, you won't drown in them. Second, it helps to get to the core of the spread. And third, it forces you to perceive the whole spread, all three cards drawn, as one single story, rather than several disconnected and
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incoherent ideas. Remember that by the mere fact of asking the question, the querent defines the boundaries of the context that unites all the cards together. There is no point in reading them separately, since in reality they all describe different sides of the
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same situation. After creating our brief description, we form a cloud of words and associations that come to mind related to the images on the cards . We turn these concepts over, look at them from different angles, through the
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eyes of different characters in our scene, and try to understand how these associations play out in this context.
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Much like our mental operations with the concept of an enemy, for example. We looked at it from the perspective of the querent, the querent's relatives, and even from the perspective of his shadow. With this, we refine small details and extract new meanings. I
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might not be the best storyteller, but with this example, I wanted to illustrate the idea that every spread is a story—a small story from a human life. At the very beginning of my practice, I would sometimes undervalue what people came to me with. You might
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think, here we go again with another reading about "loves me, loves me not," or another reading about work or studies and so on. That feeling arises when we aren't truly immersed in the problem. We are looking at the
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situation from the outside rather than from within. To get past this superficial perception, I suggest you view the situations you analyze as stories with their own characters, feelings, and settings. Yes, you might be asked the same love question 200
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times, but each case will have its own unique emotions, states, background, and tangled web of events. For the querent, their story is important, which means it should also captivate you as the mediator between them and the cards. Human life can be
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represented in different ways. For example, as a sequence of events or mental states. Tarot speaks to both of these. Theoretically, we can represent a person's entire life as a sequence of arcana. From this point of view, any reading is just a snippet torn from
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that sequence. This means something happened before, and there are reasons why these specific arcana, and not others, appeared in the querent’s personal story. I know this is incredibly obvious, but I am trying to lead you to the next point. Based on
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the context and additional details regarding the situation, you can almost always understand what led to it. By understanding the archetypal plots associated with the Tarot arcana, you can almost always enrich your interpretation by knowing what came before and how events will likely
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unfold. In the previous example, we saw something similar with the Chariot. We have a purely archetypal situation here : a child's desire to break free from the family and the relatives' opposing reluctance to let their child go.
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Another querent asks what is currently blocking her path to herself, to the person she truly wants to be. The cards drawn: Death, Eight of Cups, Queen of Swords. The last card clearly illustrates the cherished image of her true self. When we first look at a
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reading, we need to find anchor points to build upon. In the first example, this point was the Six of Cups. In the example we are looking at now, it is the Queen of Swords. Knowing the nature of this court card, we can already draw
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several conclusions. The very existence of this aspiration suggests that the querent lacks some of these traits, or they are in a dormant, undeveloped state. In short, the heroine of this example lacks something to be like the Queen of Swords, whom she considers her
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true self. Key aspects of the Queen of Swords are responsibility, meticulousness, clear prioritization and strict adherence to those priorities, professionalism, and communication skills. But pay attention to her title. She is a queen, that is, a figure possessing true feminine power
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. In the Thoth Tarot, Salome is depicted on this card. The myth of Salome tells of a woman who seduced a king, who, in a fit of desire, promised to grant her any wish. Salome asked him to kill John the Baptist, and the king
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did so, subsequently bringing Salome the saint's head on a platter. In this lies her great strength and power over the most influential men of her time.
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She pulled off this whole complex scheme because John the Baptist was attacking her mother. In other words, this power is cold and calculating.
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This is precisely why Salome is depicted on the Queen of Swords card. The querent's zodiac sign is Cancer. We can try to compare the main traits of this sign with the Queen of Swords and find the differences, that is, the
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qualities the querent lacks. However, in this example, I would like to demonstrate the use of a different, more intuitive approach. It is very similar to how we created the association cloud. Only here, we use it as the source material for reflection,
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not as an auxiliary tool. Tarot speaks the language of the person performing the reading. Therefore, personal impressions and associations with the cards play an important role. Cancer is a child, one of the first four signs of the zodiac. A cardinal water sign ruled
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by the Moon. Cancer is not overly rational by nature; its nature is defined by feelings and emotions. The nature of the Queen of Swords, however, is rationality, intellect, and reflection. The querent needs a transformation from the first image to
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the second. And the archetype of transformation is already present in our heroine's life. It is illustrated by the Death arcana. And we can already form an interesting chain of concepts.
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Child, transformation, adult. The cherished ideal for the querent is the airy, celestial Queen of Swords. Adult, strict, and conscious, knowing her strengths and knowing how to use them —Cancers, to which our heroine belongs, handle what is called setting
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personal boundaries quite easily. They are capable of causing hurt. To some extent, they do not care about the feelings of others because, in the heat of a conflict, Cancers themselves are gripped by a whole palette of various emotions. However, it is this ability
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to sacrifice the feelings of even close ones that provides them with resilience . The Queen of Swords does the same thing, but based on rational conclusions. Career is more important than the desires of relatives or friends. Results are more important
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than minor suffering over a missed lunch, and so on. In short, in many ways, the Queen of Swords is similar to the manifestations of the sign of Cancer, but their actions stem from diametrically opposite starting points.
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Cancer's resilience is independence for the Queen of Swords. And this is, perhaps, the main thing the querent is striving for, considering our child-transformation-adult chain. I do not use positional spreads, however, it would be foolish to deny that card
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positions arise on their own in readings. And we have already seen this when we designated one card as the beginning, another as the result, and a third as something else. This approach differs only in that I let the cards
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choose their own positions, rather than fixing them in my mind before the reading. This allows for more flexibility. And in this example, I want to demonstrate exactly how it works. So, Death came up first, and the Eight of Cups second. If we had defined
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the positions from the start, our reflections would be limited to asserting a sense of powerlessness due to the fear of an impending or already unfolding transformation. That is not a mistake, but it is only half the picture. Now I will say something that
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for many will sound blasphemous or unpopular, but sometimes I read the spread backward. How does that work? In our example, we can swap the first two cards. And then, in addition to what has already been said, we get the
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following. Powerlessness from dissatisfaction has triggered the need for transformation. Thus, we naturally develop defined card positions in the spread—defined, but not set in stone.
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We are free to view the spread from a variety of positions if necessary. The first is the active force right now, the process that must be undergone. The second, or the central one, and in some sense the key to answering the question
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, is what prevents us from achieving what we want. And the desired outcome itself is depicted by the third card.
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Nevertheless, to enrich the picture, we try reading the cards in reverse order, and even more, in various permutations, provided that you know exactly what you are doing. If this process yields a consistent picture, then it makes sense to include it in the interpretation.
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The connection between the first and second cards in our example appears more clearly if we remember that the Eight of Cups speaks of emotional lifelessness arising from the suppression of feelings and excessive cold rationalization. Here, one starts to suspect that the querent has already
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tried to achieve their cherished image of the Queen of Swords, but using too crude a method. For the querent, airy consciousness was opposed to their natural lunar emotionality, and they thought they could achieve the former by suppressing the latter, which
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eventually led to an exhausted state. And this is where Death enters the scene. We return our cards to their original positions and see that now this state is supported by the sense of Death's presence. This causes fear in
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itself, but it also generates a new conflict. Now it is about the death of the past self, in whose place a new one will emerge. And now we turn to the given context. For the sign of Cancer, a sensory-emotional focus on the past
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is characteristic. The past has supreme value. It warms and is perceived as a cozy nostalgia that one wants to relive over and over again. Knowing this, one can assume that the conflict lies in a real desire for future changes, but
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also in a deep fear of them. At such moments, all sorts of thoughts cling to the consciousness like leeches, supposedly meant to protect us from danger. For example, why do we need all of this? Everything was fine as it was.
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Or: "Will the results really justify the suffering I've endured?" What if they won't? What if it's all for nothing? "That is how our past speaks to us. And that would be fine, if these leeches didn't paralyze our will. The
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querent's already difficult emotional state becomes even more unbearable with the arrival of the Death arcana. There is a mental understanding of the need for change, but the gut is in hysterics at the mere thought of it. So, the main
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obstacle on the path to one's true self in our example is complete emotional depletion, powerlessness, fear, clinging to the past, and constant rationalization that makes it impossible to perceive one's own emotions as meaningful. The striving for a true image of self has turned
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into self-denial. This is the answer to the question posed. I did another reading for this querent. And here we have something to discuss. The question is as follows. What needs to be done to quickly get through a defining stage in
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life, stay steady, and achieve what was planned? The spread is the Nine of Wands, the Prince of Cups, and the Queen of Swords. Note immediately that if the same card appears for the same person in several consecutive readings,
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it is, of course, a reason to pay special attention to it. If the archetype depicted by a certain card is clearly manifest in a person's current period of life, then that card will appear for the querent time and time
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again. From the standpoint of probability theory, such an event is virtually impossible, yet it happens quite often one way or another.
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Sometimes people get the same cards four or even six times in a row. The Queen of Swords in this spread is again the last one, but she is not the final point. She does not fit that role in
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the context of the question asked, because she doesn't answer it at all. Therefore, we understand that this card is more of a means to achieve the goal.
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In the previous example, the Queen of Swords illustrated the heroine's true self. Within every person is a so-called self, this or that specific deity, creating life events, conditioning an individual's predispositions, and defining their inner essence. In short, the self is
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the true self. And so the Queen of Swords, as its image and a means to reach the goal in this spread, speaks of the need to trust this inner image.
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Tarot is imagery, so it is important to rely on it not only during training, but also in practice. Tarot speaks the language of the person laying out the cards, as previously mentioned. If something persistently draws your attention, it is most likely truly
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important. Let us turn our gaze to the first card, the Nine of Wands. In the interpretation of the previous spread, we found in the Eight of Cups the idea of excessive rationalization leading to the drying up of the soul. In the image
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of the Nine of Wands, we see the sun and the moon. The sun is a symbol of the ego and consciousness. The sun illuminates the world and makes it available for cognition, visible and discernible. Furthermore, it is the
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center of our system, just as the ego is the center of consciousness. The Moon, meanwhile, is a symbol of the emotional and sensory side of the psyche. True power, therefore, according to the Nine of Wands, is found at the intersection of the two.
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In this particular case, the Sun is over-rationalizing. It has turned our heroine's soul into a dried-up, lifeless desert. The querent needs to make room for the Moon. Moreover, the Moon, as you recall, is the ruler of the sign of Cancer, which the querent
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represents. The central idea of the sign of Cancer......from which all its manifestations stem, is fear. In other words, Cancer, like no other, is capable of drawing energy from facing its own fears, which are generated by the Moon. The Nine of Wands is a
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synthesis of the Sun and the Moon, the rational and the intuitive. It is energetic movement and creative force coupled with the ability to listen to oneself and one's intuition. It is the energy of fire, desire, and aspiration, guided by the Moon. Once again, we see
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a hint of the idea from the myth of Salome, depicted on the Queen of Swords . There, too, a woman directed masculine energy. As we remember from the Eight of Cups in the previous reading, the querent could not achieve
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connection because the Moon was, as it were, banished into oblivion by a crudely understood ideal image of the Queen of Swords. So, this is the first part of our brief description.
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Realization requires strength, which is achieved by accepting one's lunar, intuitive side. In the previous reading , the thought flashed that the querent was trying to sacrifice one side for the sake of the other. Here, however, we see an indication of the right path.
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Not suppressing one, but connecting the two. Tarot is an incredibly deep thing. I have already told you that I often read the same layout many times in a row. That is what I did here as well.
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What else does the Nine of Wands say, besides the need to find strength? It speaks of the necessity of movement.
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The querent is required not to stop, no matter what, no matter what leeches of doubt try to latch onto their consciousness. After all, this is the most terrifying thing: to jump into the abyss of the unknown. But our querent
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is a Cancer, and for them, this very jump paradoxically is the source of not only the deepest horror but also the greatest strength. The querent is powerless until they make this leap into the void. And so it turns out that
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one card answered two questions at once : how to gain power and what to do with it. As you can see, the very name of this card is strength. And here I want to demonstrate to you another feature
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of Tarot cards. Any given card is capable of answering any questions you have regarding its central idea. What is strength? What to do with this strength? How to obtain strength, and so on. This multilayered nature of Tarot cards is, for me personally, the
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reason why I do not use huge positional spreads of 7, 10, 20, or more cards. I just don't see the point in it. A standard triplet, if you respect and understand the depth of Tarot, usually contains all the necessary information,
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even when it comes to some minor arcana . The second card is the Prince of Cups . Here is what needs to be said. A court card in a spread doesn't necessarily represent a person, as is commonly thought, and certainly doesn't
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say anything about psychotypes or describe a personality in full. For instance, at home you are a teddy bear, while at work, let's say, you are a strong-willed leader. That means in two different spreads, you will be represented by two different court
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cards. If we are talking about the querent's inner world, the court card is more of an internal psychic figure, a personification of a complex or subpersonality—in short, some psychic structure that has its own will and acts autonomously, without the ego's
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participation. In general, court cards are manifestations of an actor in a given situation. And that actor can be anyone. As has already become clear, this person does not even have to be human. In the example we are considering, things are not quite so
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unambiguous. On one hand, this is a depiction of the querent's animus. On the other, it is the querent themself in some transitional state toward their coveted Queen of Swords. From the point of view of analytical psychology, there exists a figure of the opposite sex in
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everyone's unconscious. For women, it is the animus; for men, the anima. Therefore, when we are in the context of the querent's inner world, if a card of the opposite sex appears, we can at least assume it is a depiction of one
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such internal figure. Furthermore, it is believed that the animus in a woman's psyche is responsible for rationality, thinking, the dogmatic positions of her worldview, as well as personality traits such as persistence, the ability to achieve one's goals, stubbornness, and other things we
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traditionally consider masculine. Once again, the conflict between the rational and the intuitive draws our attention. The elemental correspondences of the Prince of Cups are air and water. Air symbolizes the intellectual, mental sphere, while water symbolizes the sensual and
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emotional one. And you know, I find it very inspiring when, within even one small spread of random cards, there is such an abundance of simple coincidences. The Prince of Cups, whoever he may be, is simultaneously a source of interference for the querent,
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but also a means of overcoming obstacles. This is a very complex figure. Briefly, he can be described by the concept of a Byronic hero. This is a type of character in human culture characterized by cynicism combined with romanticism, the dogma of reason
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combined with inner sensitivity, as well as an all-encompassing sense of sorrow or disappointment toward the world and people, and as a result, a certain disregard for social rules. For example, the well-known Dr. House, Lermontov's Pechorin, and others like
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them. These characters are exactly where that conflict of air and water, mind and feelings, is manifested. On one hand, the Prince of Cups as an animus figure provides the strength needed to overcome obstacles and emerge from a crisis. On the other hand, the
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arcana intensifies the conflict between opposing sides of the psyche. Here, we will once again resort to mental reordering of positions. The Nine of Wands pointed us toward a way out of the current situation, and it is followed by a card that speaks again of
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an seemingly unsolvable conflict. In this case, the Prince of Cups does not illustrate a way out. Obviously, the Prince of Cups is the starting point.
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Therefore, we assume that the Nine of Wands helps to overcome the card that follows it, the Prince of Cups, and his internal conflicts. If we look a little deeper and try to summarize what is being discussed, our heroine, being a
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woman, was likely so inspired by a misinterpreted image of the logical and cold Queen of Swords that she began to identify with her animus. In the female psyche, the animus is responsible for all these rational manifestations, but it is a masculine figure. The Queen of
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Swords is female, meaning she combines lunar feminine irrationality with solar masculine parts. Let’s recall what the Nine of Wands told us. There are no good or bad cards, with the exception of maybe one or two. Every Tarot card
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has both light and shadow sides. Any duality is an illusion of consciousness . For in reality, things are intrinsically inseparable. This is the wholeness of all existence. The relationships between the opposing sides of the cards are quite interesting. If we interpret a certain
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arcana as manifesting in its shadow aspects, then the light sides act as an antidote or, in a sense, point toward the way out of the card's shadow side.
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When we interpret an arcana in its light side, its shadow aspect will act as a warning about potential difficulties. And precisely because I believe Tarot cards are complete and manifest fully, I do not use reversed cards or reversed meanings. In the
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context of our reading, the Prince of Cups also carries a few warnings. On the path to the goal, there is a danger of ending up alone. The Prince of Cups is quite a harmful and even cruel figure. All this is seasoned by the
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nature of the zodiac sign to which the querent belongs. Cancers can be very, very prickly. Multiply one by the other , and you will understand that you probably wouldn't want to deal with such a person. Masculine arrogance can
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also lead into something of a dead end. One way or another, this Prince, as already mentioned, is simultaneously the starting point, the way to find strength within, and a warning. The central card answering the question in this reading is, of course, the first
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card, the Nine of Wands, which indicates the solution to the conflict. Furthermore, the Queen of Swords herself, as an image of the true Self, suggests relying on and trusting her.
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As you can see, throughout our analysis , we have learned all sorts of techniques useful for interpreting readings. Now I suggest we collect all of these into a single list of such techniques. First. Summarizing the spread. This is that broad brushstroke
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that defines the general essence uniting all the cards in the spread. They can be either a static description of a situation or a small narrative.
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Second, a cloud of associations. We look at the cards again and highlight the emerging associations, including the strongest ones in our stream of thought. Consider these concepts from different points of view, through the eyes of different people involved in
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the situation. Most likely, you will find additional information from which you can draw conclusions and add them to your final interpretation. Third. We review the spread several times in a row, reading it from left to right and right to left, asking ourselves various
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clarifying questions. This is how we break down the concrete walls of thinking built by the conscious mind.
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We must keep our minds light. It should hover over the cards, not get bogged down in them. Fourth. A good modern Tarot deck is a subtly and intelligently crafted system. The abundance of symbolism is not there to stupefy you or encrypt secret knowledge
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. On the contrary, the cards are eager to tell you everything. That is what they are made for. Before drawing an additional clarifying card, ask yourself: is the answer to the question definitely not contained in the cards already laid out or in the connections
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between them? A single card in a spread is capable of answering a bunch of all sorts of additional questions. Fifth.
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We try to define positions in the spread based on the given context. It is necessary to find islands of solid ground to lean on within this fog of meanings and build your assumptions.
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These hooks do not necessarily have to be anything complex; quite the opposite , they should be simple and obvious.
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Sixth. Remember that you are working with people, so any knowledge in the field of psychology will give you a huge advantage in working with Tarot.
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And in fact, I will say even more: general erudition, life experience, visual literacy, and a broad outlook can significantly enrich your work. The cards tell you something, but your task is to interpret what is said for the querent, because it is all about them.
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You need to delve into the problem, the question, and the inner world of the querent to look around and find the points where the meanings from the cards intersect with their state of mind. Seventh. Do not exclude an
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intuitive approach. When we are just learning to work with Tarot, we want everything to be simple. That is why many tend to limit the semantic field of the cards to a small list of divinatory meanings. However, that is
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not how it works. You might be hooked by a specific symbol depicted on a card , its name, an association with it, or some small detail. And it is very likely that this is exactly why this card appeared in your spread. If your
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attention persistently clings to something, it is a reason to pay attention to it. If some persistent association comes up, accept it and think it over. Therefore, for instance, it is important to know the occult correspondences of the cards, because
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it enriches the field of associations itself, and the larger it is, the better. Eighth. Remember that you are not a carnival magician. You have no need to elicit surprise and delight from the querent. Your task is to answer the question, point out ways to
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solve the problem, and show the querent the situation from different angles so they can evaluate it beyond their own narrow perception. So don't be afraid to ask for additional information. For example, as I said in the video, I
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always ask for a brief description of the situation and the zodiac signs in addition to the question. Your goal in the preliminary stage before the spread is to narrow down the context as much as possible, within which you will
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interpret the cards. This is very important. This video described both general principles and those according to which I personally work. My method might have seemed rather vague to you, but Tarot is not mathematics, I'm sorry . This field is, by its very nature,
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something formless and fluid. This video is one attempt to structure a method for interpreting such a field that resists full rationalization. You should not unnecessarily burden your mind when working with the cards. In occult discourse, it is generally
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believed that Tarot was gifted to humanity by the god Thoth. He is often identified with the ancient Greek Hermes or the ancient Roman Mercury.
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The Mercurial image, by the way, is represented in the Thoth Tarot on the Magician card. Hermes is the embodiment of play and lightness. There are no fixed semantic boundaries, no nailed-down meanings or positions in spreads. Interpreting a spread is a
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kind of Mercurial mental game. of meanings and ideas, images and associations. This is literally creative work. As I said before, your mind should flutter over the cards. I would be grateful for your likes and comments on this video and for
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subscribing to my channel. The channel already has over a dozen interesting videos on various esoteric topics. I also want to remind you of my original course dedicated to Tarot. With its help, you can study all the cards individually, including the court cards
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, minor arcana, and more. The course includes a unique preparatory module with videos on elements, numbers, zodiac signs, planets, in short, everything you need to know when working with Tarot. On Telegram, for example, I write posts on various
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topics related to esotericism and psychology. And that is where we hold very cozy evening readings, the recordings of which you can watch on my YouTube channel. And, of course, I invite you to our wonderful active chat , divided into thematic rooms. All the
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links to everything I have left in the description under this video. I hope it was useful or at least interesting for you. See you soon.
Topics:Tarot readingTarot spreadsTarot interpretationOpen questionsClosed questionsTarot for beginnersQuestion framingTarot meaningTarot practiceIntuition
