The Tarot Workbook

alxberry@gmail.
com 24 Sep 2021

alxberry@gmail.com 24 Sep 2021
THE TAROT WORKBOOK

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO
UNDERSTANDING AND USING
THE TAROT DECK
Originally written by Geof Gray-Cobb

Compiled and edited by VcToria Gray-Cobb
www.camposanto.ca
www.alternativeuniverse.ca
Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Session One – Selecting Your Deck .................................................................................................. 3
Session Two – Understanding the Deck (Minor Arcana) ............................................................... 5
Session Three – Understanding the Deck (Major Arcana).............................................................. 9
Session Four – The Major Arcana ................................................................................................... 15
Session Five – The Fool .................................................................................................................... 21
Session Six – The Minor Arcana: The Court Cards ....................................................................... 27
Session Seven – The Minor Arcana: Pentacles ............................................................................... 29
Session Eight – The Minor Arcana: Wands ................................................................................... 33
Session Nine – The Minor Arcana: Swords ................................................................................... 38
Session Ten – The Minor Arcana: Cups ......................................................................................... 45
Session Eleven – The Significator ................................................................................................... 51
Session Twelve – The Celtic Spread ............................................................................................... 54
Dropped Card ............................................................................................................................... 57
To Cut Or Not To Cut? ................................................................................................................ 57
How To Cut .................................................................................................................................. 58
The Spread .................................................................................................................................... 58
Have You Tuned In? .................................................................................................................... 59
Session Thirteen – Honing Your Skills ........................................................................................... 62
No Big Secret................................................................................................................................. 62
Obstacles ....................................................................................................................................... 63
Sensationalists............................................................................................................................... 66
Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 67
Thought Pause .............................................................................................................................. 68
Let Us Proceed .............................................................................................................................. 68
Session Fourteen – The Celtic Spread: Cont’d ............................................................................... 70
Example Spread ............................................................................................................................ 71
Pending Fate ................................................................................................................................. 73
Personal Status.............................................................................................................................. 74
Environment ................................................................................................................................. 74
Mental State .................................................................................................................................. 75
The Result ..................................................................................................................................... 75
‘Twas Brief .................................................................................................................................... 76
Best Conditions ............................................................................................................................. 76
Session Fifteen – Three Simple Layouts ......................................................................................... 78
Basic Celtic Cross.......................................................................................................................... 78
Basic Cross And Majors ............................................................................................................... 82
Basic Consulting Cross ................................................................................................................ 84
Useful Thoughts ........................................................................................................................... 85
Session Sixteen – The Full Deck: Etteila Spread ............................................................................ 87
Session Seventeen – The Master Therion’s Method (Modified)................................................... 93
First Deal: Influences of the Present Time .............................................................................. 94
Second Deal: Development ...................................................................................................... 97
Third Deal: Further Development ........................................................................................... 99
Fourth Deal: Detailed Development ....................................................................................... 99
Fifth Deal: The Final Result.................................................................................................... 100
How To Extend Your Capabilities................................................................................................ 102
Introduction
Introduction

The 78 cards of a Tarot Deck contain more mysteries than any detective novel.
Where did the cards come from? What do the pictures show? Why is every Tarot
deck similar – but not the same – as all other decks?
The answer to these questions lie hidden in the mists of time. Certainly, the cards,
two decks within one, have been in existence for many centuries.
Legend suggests that they appeared during the Egyptian dynasties, and lay dormant
through the ages except for a few decks which were used and understood by adepts
of the mystic arts.
Yet what is there to be understood in these brightly coloured cards? Everything. The
entire mystery of birth, death, and the Universe are within the symbols on the cards.
So, if we can understand the Tarot, even a little, we can begin to understand who we
are, where we have been, where we are going – and more importantly, why we are.
And if you will accept that last, you will accept this next: that many millennia ago,
people knew the secrets of Magic, which then was natural law, and was known as
magic, with a small ‘m’, just as nowadays mathematics and physics carry the small
initials, while the mysteries of Witchcraft and Christianity take capitals.
So as the knowledge was profaned, as Adam fell and magic was used for Power and
Winning and Accumulating Material possessions – which are as much unnatural
and unnecessary sins today as they ever were – so a few compassionate adepts gath-
ered their knowledge into pictorial form (for the Mysteries defy being expressed in
words), analyzed the subconscious minds of evolving persons, and set their magic
down on cards.
They knew that somewhere, somewhen, the symbols of their trade would speak to
the minds of those who were ready to understand.
1
Introduction
So was the Tarot Created: the Major Arcana (Arcana = “secrets”, from Latin) of 22
cards which match the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the 22 paths of the
Tree of Life in the Qabala, plus the Minor Arcana – 56 cards of four suits each run-
ning from Ace to 10, followed by two female and two male cards.
Then during the Inquisition, where arcane knowledge was cause for burning at the
stake (and times have changed but little since), the Church found the decks of Tarot,
and perhaps some insightful priests felt the power of the cards. In particular, the in-
ner forces of the Major Arcana were recognized, and they were destroyed. The lesser
cards of the Minor Arcana survived as playthings for kings and nobles, yet even then
the sweet virgin Pages were removed.
Yet one Major Trump refused to be exorcised by the fire-breathing Church. The Un-
numbered One, The Fool, Zero, Le Mat, The Trump of Trumps who wanders through
the deck as man incarnates, survives today.
The suits of Pentacles have become Diamonds, Wands have become Clubs, Swords
have become Spades and Cups have become Hearts. The brave Knights have become
surly Knaves or Jacks, and the rich symbolism of the deck has been swept into
amorphous black and red shapes.
Yet open a new deck of bridge cards – and there, grinning at a world who tried to ef-
face him, is He Who Would Not Be Vanquished – the Fool, in motley now, universally
called the Joker.
So how to proceed if one wishes to fathom the mysteries of the Tarot? Just as with
any other craft or art, take the tools of the trade and practice with them until they
become second nature.
Or, by January 2022, you may sign up for VcToria’s “Learn To Read the Tarot
Cards” course. This will enable you to learn properly. It will be online every
Wednesday evening.
Sign up for the monthly newsletter as I will be keeping everyone informed as to

the changes to ‘dates’ of the courses. VcToria will be following the sequence of
these sessions plus more.
2
Session One
Session One

Selecting Your Deck
Seek out a deck of Tarot. Many decks exist – Etteilla’s deck; the Rider (or Waite);
two types of Aquarian decks; the Crowley; the ‘New’ Tarot; the Swiss deck; the Tarot
of Marseilles; the Egyptian Tarot; the German deck. Find one which speaks to you,
that you are instinctively drawn to as you handle it. You may not know which deck
to choose, but the Tarot will know and will draw you to it – if you are ready to start
on the path of magic and mystery.
With the deck in hand, find a book which tells about it. Make sure the book refers to
your deck, and to no other design, for that leads only to confusion if you try to
match a book to an alien deck.
Then make friends with your cards. Spread them; sleep with them; read the book
and try specimen spreads. Master a simple spread which gives you yes or no an-
swers. Ask the cards about themselves. Are they happy? Keep them in a box away
from prying eyes: and never ever leave them scattered around as a conversation
piece – such profanity will not go unpunished.
Gradually, the cards will reveal their secrets to you. Meditate on a card. Gaze upon
the symbols and close your eyes. Let your thoughts revolve around the medieval
landscapes you have been looking at.
Enlist the aid of a friend. Attempt, using the meanings in the book, to run meaning-
ful mundane spreads, which talk of past and present and future.
Gradually, slowly, your mind and the Tarot will unite. The act of looking at a spread
will speak deeply to you. Words, narratives, advice and inspiration will bubble to the
surface of your mind as the cards spark deep hidden impulses, as they were de-
signed to do.
Continue along that path. Eventually, you will throw away the book, or pass it to one
who needs it, and you will use your intuition only. You will cease to worry if the
meaning of a card is exactly as the book said – the book was merely a starting point.
3
Session One
And as you use them more, as you and the cards grow older together, you will need
them less and less, just as a child needs parents less and less over the years.
Just as the book was a beginning which you will later discard, so are your cards a
beginning, a door, an opening into arcane regions where only concepts have truth,
where only Truth exists.
You will have passed beyond the veil into the Shrine of Mysteries. Welcome.
4
Session Two
Session Two

Understanding the Deck
(Minor Arcana)
What are we doing?
Learning a method of ‘reading’ the pictures on the deck of 78 cards known as the
Tarot. Call it fortune-telling, prediction, prophesying, whatever – but keep an open
mind: using the Tarot can make you much more than a fortune-teller. Deep levels of
your mind are stimulated, and your ESP, clairvoyance, telepathic and psychic abili-
ties are early manifestations of Tarot usage.
Why are we learning the Tarot?
Because I believe we can become better-adjusted persons no matter what our aims
and circumstances are. The Tarot puts us in touch with hidden facts about our-
selves and other people which help to chart a course through this cosmic energy ex-
change we call life.
Which deck of cards is best?
The best deck of cards is the one which you feel comfortable with. Many different
versions of the Tarot exist: these classes will deal with the Waite deck, also known as
the Rider Deck.
Where can one buy a deck of Waite/Rider Tarot cards?
Many stores now stock them, as do several online websites.
What do the pictures on the cards represent?
Broadly stated, they tell the story of the Universe and mankind in symbols, illustrat-
ing conditions of life, the way to peace and happiness, the vices and virtues, and
paths toward harmony within Natural Law.
5
Session Two
What does a Tarot deck consist of?
The Waite/Rider deck (and most others) has 78 cards: 22 are Trumps, known as the
Major Arcana, and the remaining 56 are called the Minor Arcana.
The Minor Arcana is made up of four suits, each of 14 cards: Pentacles, Swords,
Cups and Wands. Each suit is numbered much like ordinary playing cards, in de-
scending order: King, Queen, Knight, Page, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
How does Tarot reading ‘work’?
Just as the printed letters on your lessons are being interpreted by your mind into
words, so (with practice) the pictures on a spread of cards tells you a story. That
narrative ties into existing circumstances, or the future.
You’ll probably be aware that every Tarot card carries a traditional ‘meaning’. Any-
one who sees the five of Pentacles, for instance, knows the words ruination, bank-
ruptcy and misfortune are attached to that card.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to learn and remember 78 separate
meanings for the cards. You can do that if you wish, but I’d rather you didn’t. Know-
ing the meanings is useful at the start of your career towards Tarot adeptship, but
later on you’ll forget the traditions and ride along on your own hunches about what
the cards are saying.
In fact, there’s an especial stagnant backwater reserved for people who insult the
cards by writing the traditional meanings on the faces of the cards. Yech! Sure, you
can tell fortunes that way, but once you get a little ways down the road of reading,
you’ll find the words written on the cards merely confuse you.
I’ll explain that more fully later, and before we depart into that world of the mind,
let’s take a closer look at the cards themselves.
Introduction to the Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana, as we’ve established, consists of four suits: Pentacles, Swords,
Cups and Wands (and if you think I’m repeating myself, I am! I’m deliberately plant-
ing seeds of knowledge in the soil of your mind so they’ll grow and flourish. So, I re-
peat [and repeat] on the theory that if you want a lawn to grow, you don’t push one
seed into the ground – you broadcast it by the handful).
The suits are simple to identify. All Aces, Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings have
their names printed across the lower edge of the card. Then simply by looking at any
6
Session Two
one of them, you can easily see the symbolic shapes which replace the ‘pips’ on con-
ventional playing cards (which are the children of the ancient Tarot, by the way).
Page of Pentacles, for instance, shows a young person holding a Pentacle, a five-
pointed star in a circle. Each of the Court cards, and the Ace, shows hands holding
Pentacles.
The rest of this suit have their numbers marked at the top in Roman numerals (I’ll
be running pictures of some of the cards in later lessons, but you’d get along quicker
if you invested in a deck). As well as the numeral, the number of Pentacles in the
picture identifies the card.
The two shows a young man juggling a Pentacle in each hand. The three has three
pentacles hidden in a stone arch, with the Roman figure made part of the keystone.
They are all easy to spot with a little familiarity and time.
Swords are even simpler to identify. The Roman numbers are on each, just like the
other suits, and as you might expect, archaic swords always form part of the pic-
tures. You’ll have no trouble recognizing those, although be careful with the Four:
look for three swords on the wall and one horizontally underneath the person medi-
tating in the picture.
Cups all have pictures of ancient chalices on them. All, that is, except the Queen:
she holds a much more ornate piece than anyone else, with angels on each side of it.
Wands picture greenwood sticks or staffs, rather like straight walking sticks with
small clumps of leaves still growing from the living wood. No problems of identity
there.
Roman numerals, in case you’re wondering are those you sometimes find on old
clock faces. The numbers are made up from I, V and X in the cards: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9 and 10 are replaced by Roman numerals II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X. Okay?
Next piece of data for your mental notebook. The four suits are usually associated
with four areas or levels of being.
Pentacles denotes material things, those you can see, feel, touch, taste or smell.
Money; property; possessions; stock and security are all things which the Pentacles
will talk to you about.
Wands are also materially concerned, but with more mental attachments. Plans be-
ing reviewed; problems to solve or submit to; attitudes to the environment are what
the Wands examine.
7
Session Two
Swords are still more mentally and emotionally connected. Definite goals and ambi-
tions; vital decisions; emotions of happiness, despair, pain, pleasure; sickness and
health; enemies and allies; journeys, aid and obstruction; all of those are Swords
subjects.
Cups are almost purely mental cards, turning towards ephemeral and spiritual sub-
jects. Love relationships; close friendships; humanitarian projects; the adjustment to
present circumstances; reactions to past events; abilities and skills; new enterprises;
the seven deadly sins; peace and prosperity; fulfilment and spiritual striving are all
exposed by the Cups cards in a spread.
Enough for now. Next class we’ll be looking at the fact that the Tarot has two sides:
positive and negative, happy and sad, light and dark, plus and minus. Recall that
before you start on a reading, always.
I’ll be telling you how to start reading the cards after we’ve taken a look at the Major
Arcana. Until we meet again absorb what I’ve written. If you have a deck of Tarot, sit
in the quiet a few times for half an hour or so when convenient, identifying and get-
ting familiar with your cards.
8
Session Three
Session Three

Understanding the Deck
(Major Arcana)
In the last session we reviewed the 56 Minor Arcana cards, and I briefly mentioned
that the Tarot has two sides: positive and negative.
That’s one of the most important points to keep in mind when reading the cards. Al-
ways remember that what you say as you look at the spread has a significant impact
on the listener – even if the listener is yourself. So please, at the outset and thereaf-
ter, don’t acquire a reputation for being a ‘gloom and doom’ Reader.
In these troubled times it’s simple to forecast disaster, adversity, misfortune and ca-
lamity. The objective is to use the cards to help, not hinder; to find valid paths which
lead to harmony and constructive living.
You’ll find it much easier to feed people’s fears than to allay them, and therein lies
one of the pitfalls of Tarot reading. You can, if it’s your trip and karma, acquire a
spooky and macabre reputation for foreseeing disaster, death and destruction.
My advice to you, is don’t do it. First, it’s a dangerous ego-trip which can leave you
responsible for another’s distress. I mean that, literally; people who come to have
their cards read are often balanced on the edge of a breakdown. They’ve exhausted
medical treatment, psychiatric therapy, counselling and all other orthodox paths.
You’re a last resort (not flattering, but true) and what you say (and how you say it) is
going to shape the life of your client.
VcToria Comments: If you are following these classes with me on Zoom or

any other online variation I will have spoken about this last paragraph. Plus
told you my own story.
If you are learning with the sessions only, remember these were created 51
years ago. My late father was living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at that time.
Being mainly Catholic in belief’s this is how people reacted to tarot cards back
then.
9
Session Three
Today of course, Tarot reading is accepted in a much more open style.
If you read only the blacker sides of the cards, stressing the afflictions and distur-
bances which show without giving equal weight to positive lines of action which can
ease your client’s distress, one very unhappy person will leave your card-reading
room. Frequently, your evil–forecasting prophecies can be self-fulfilling: your client
leaves expecting the worst, and without fail, the worst occurs.
On the other hand, the card Reader with a shuffle of the deck will go to the other ex-
treme, merely reading the bright side, prognosticating roses, sunshine and total
harmony all the way. That’s equally as fallacious: your client knows life‘s not like
that and will dismiss and forget any help which may be implicit in your reading.
That’s what I meant in the last session when I told you, at any reading, to recall the
constructive and destructive side of the cards. Give them equal weight in a reading:
it’s the true measure of how good a Reader is.
By all means (if they’re present) read the unhappiness, the turmoils of the past and
present, and the possible troubles and adversity which can come. But then chart es-
cape routes, positive thoughts and actions to take the edge off possible disaster and
steer around it by progressive and practical means.
If you choose to become a Tarot Reader, realize that destiny is handing you an awe–
inspiring tool, and you’ll be wise to use it for good.
At any given time, the Tarot shows possible future paths. Not, mark you, totally
preordained, fated-to-happen, written-in-the-Akashic-record-already events. Your cli-
ent has the free will to do as he or she pleases, and your task is to point that out,
and to offer suggestions (to be accepted or rejected as the client wishes) for the
smoothest path into the future.
If everything the Tarot shows was clear-cut must-occur stuff, most of the purpose of
the deck would be lost. The cards show alternatives, and you select those which offer
greatest chances of achieving harmony and headway.
Granted, some life events do seem to be fated to occur; others are not, being con-
trolled by freewill. You’d be a remarkable Reader if you could accurately distinguish
between the destined future and the freewill alterable future. Until you can do that,
treat all events you foresee as being susceptible to change, provided the client takes
the right action.
Is that most clearly understood?
10
Session Three
In summary: read both the good and the bad, but before you end the reading, offer a
viable path toward the good.
And having forcibly made that point, let’s take a look at the Major Arcana cards.
Introduction to The Major Arcana
There are 22 ‘triumph’s’ or Trump cards in the Tarot deck. Very easy to identify, be-
cause they have their names inscribed at the lower edge of each picture. But before
you’re fully familiar with the deck, be careful you don’t confuse Major Arcana cards
with the Court cards from the Minor Arcana. Those Court cards are also named on
their faces, but the name of one of the Minor Arcana suits (Swords, Pentacles,
Wands and Cups) always appears also.
So, all Major Arcana cards have a name written on them, but not the name of a Mi-
nor Arcana suit. OK?
The Trumps are numbered (as are the Minor Arcana) in Roman numerals at the top
of the picture. The Trumps, also known as the Royal cards, show symbolic illustra-
tions of the world of ideas and principles. Their messages go much deeper than the
frequently superficial meanings of the Minor Arcana.
A Minor Arcana card may or may not carry an important message. All the Trumps
invariably point up vital areas and should be given close scrutiny and deep interpre-
tation.
Later we’ll see how the Trumps record the form, numbers and symbols of our sub-
conscious minds; how they align with our hopes and wishes, our dreams, and the
intuitive hidden paths of the human mind.
But first we’ll see what the cards show, not what they conceal. The pictures are pow-
erful brain–stirrers, kind of arcane swizzle–sticks which your mind recognizes at
three levels: as numbers, symbols and astrological influences.
And just as the 12 astrological signs are divided into four each named either Cardi-
nal, Mutable and Fixed signs, so 21 of the Major Arcana are treated as Active, Pas-
sive or Neutral.
The twenty-second card has no number: it is identified as zero. That’s THE FOOL,
which depicts a richly dressed young person, holding a flower in one hand and
shouldering a staff with a purse on the end. Above, the sun shines, while below a
small dog bounces happily. The Fool stands on a spur of rock above a precipice; one
step forward and a long fall yawns; turn around and climb upward and the sun il-
luminates the way ahead.
11
Session Three
Now, just because The Fool is numbered zero doesn’t imply it’s an unimportant card.
Quite the reverse: The Fool is so powerful it’s the only Major Arcana card which sur-
vived when the Tarot was modified to make our modern-day playing cards.
Open up a new deck of playing cards and who’s that smiling at you, an extra among
the ranks of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades? Why it’s The Fool – but now
named The Joker…still unnumbered, a card apart from the others.
So, watch out for The Fool in your Tarot spreads. We have a great deal more to learn
about that card, the most significant, enigmatic and fateful card of all the 78.
Now to the other 21 cards, identified (as I said before) as Active, Passive and Neutral.
If it’s an even numbered Trump, it’s Passive. If its number can be divided by 3
without a remainder, it’s Neutral. The remaining seven odd numbers are Active.
Like Alice in Wonderland’s mushroom and cake which said ‘EAT ME’, the cards carry
little instructions to you. Not written in clear upon them, but messages to carry in
your mind. Very simple messages.
An Active card is saying USE ME.

A Passive card is saying SEARCH FOR ME.
A Neutral card is saying TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME.
You don’t understand? Don’t worry: you’re not necessarily supposed to understand.
Yet. But you will if you stay with me.
A further breakdown of the associations of the Trumps has 1 through 7 concerned

with Mind and Spirit; 8 through 14 with Morals and Ethics; and 15 through 21 with
Material influences.
Enough for now. We’ll look at the individual Trumps in the next session.
While you wait for Session Four, go through 1 to 8 of the Trump cards with your own
deck which I trust you’ve obtained by now. If not, I have added the pictures here.
A True Story of why you need to listen to the Trump cards: After arriving
in Alberta in 1998 with little money and only my psychic box of cards etc. I
was fortunate enough to meet another psychic who introduced me to Psychic
Shows that, 23 years ago, were very popular in Alberta, Canada. I attended the
first two but as I left my three Siamese cats for the three days, I felt very sad.
The third show was in Lethbridge, a long journey in mid winter from Edmon-
ton in the old car I had managed to purchase.
12
Session Three
I called the event producer and told him I was not feeling well. A blatant lie.
For some reason I decided that I should take my cards and do a Celtic spread
to see what advice they had for me. As I shuffled and focused upon whether or
not staying home was the right thing to do, I knew I was going to receive the
correct reply.
I turned the cards over one by one. Now, today I do not recall the actual
Trump cards themselves, but ALL 10 were Trumps. I shivered and knew they
had just told me to get to that show. I left early Saturday morning making it to
Lethbridge for the opening of the show. I had line ups for the two days remain-
ing. Need I say more?
To see the miracles that the Universe produced for me in my early days of ar-
riving here, plus why I moved here, you can if you like, purchase my mem-
oir ‘Then Now and Forever’ by VcToria Gray-Cobb on my web store.
13
Session Three
14
Session Four
Session Four

The Major Arcana
Here we go again, trekking further along that mystic

road signposted by the 78 Tarot cards.
I promised you we’d be looking at the individual

Trumps in this session. Last session you saw pictures
of Trumps 1 through 8. Here are all the rest: Number
19, THE SUN, at the top of the page; the remainder of
Trumps 9 through 21 on the following pages, plus (in
deserved solitary splendour) THE FOOL.
A quick snatch of data about THE FOOL. When he

appears within any spread of cards you’re reading,
look around him carefully: he often points up hasty
actions which can lead to turmoil. So, (as you will
recall), because the whole purpose of reading the cards
is to find a smoother path into the future, take notice
of what THE FOOL suggests. As you may gradually be
gathering from this in sundry other broad hints, he
has a very powerful influence.
MEANING OF THE MAJOR ARCANA
You’ve now seen (or will do, when you turn the page – though my cards suggest
you’ve already peaked ahead!) pictures of the 22 Major Arcana cards. I do hope by
now you’ve bought yourself a Tarot deck from your local store or from an online area.
So, run through your deck and separate the Major Arcana cards. Remember how to
identify them? That’s right: they’re the cards with their names printed at the bottom.
Don’t confuse them with the Minor Arcana Court cards (King, Queen, Knight and
Page) which also have names, but include the name of one of the Minor Arcana
Suits.
15
Session Four
If the word PENTACLES, SWORDS, CUPS, OR WANDS is printed on the face of a

card, it’s a Minor Arcana.
If you don’t yet have a deck of Tarot cards, these pictures here will have to suffice.
Dig up your last session so you can also look at Trumps 1 through 8. We’ll be con-
stantly referring back to previous sessions as we go along.
What do they mean?
First, we’ll look at them individually, assigning a brief meaning to each. But do recall
that eventually you’ll not be reading single cards, you’ll be looking at groups and
seeing a whole narrative laid out before you. When you reach that stage, the individ-
ual meanings have much less significance: it will be the combined influences you’ll
be interpreting.
But in order to get your inner mind wheels turning and to get you started, begin with
the meanings I give you here. Merely keep in mind that they’re a start, somewhere to
latch on to the mighty energy of the Tarot.
Later you’ll not only evolve your own meanings for cards, you’ll also find totally dif-
ferent indications showing up which can contradict these earlier symbolisms.
In fact, if you firmly and irrevocably try to attach a single never-changing interpreta-
tion to any card, you’re likely to impede your development as a good Reader. The
cards do change their meanings, and getting hidebound and fixed about them will
make you miss subtle and different messages they send to your mind.
The cards alter their meanings (their personalities if you like) depending on their
companions. Look at it this way: on the beach, playing with the family, you’re hardly
the same person you are when you’re, for instance, talking to the credit union man-
ager, trying to float a loan. Different circumstances, different things and people
around you, and you behave differently. The cards are much the same.
Thus, I suggest you do not learn the meanings I give you here parrot-fashion. Just
because (for now) THE HIGH PRIESTESS can mean “Keep silent about your plans”,
this doesn’t engrave any stone tablets which say she will always carry that meaning.
Suitably confused? So was I when I began to learn the Tarot. But clarity will come to
you as you persevere. In mystic ways the Tarot itself will help you to understand it,
provided you use it for serious purposes.
Granted you can have fun with the Tarot: quick readings at parties are great. But
the cards will unerringly reflect your mood or motive: use the deck for flippant pur-
poses and you’ll get flippant answers.
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Session Four
Perhaps we need to say a little more on that. Example herewith. Ask the Tarot for life
guidance in a confusing situation and (when you’re practiced at the art) you’ll receive
useful directions. However, if you flop yourself down and ask “Should I have a veggie
burger or a sandwich for lunch?” you’ll find the cards answering the equivalent of
“Go fly a kite, buddy, until you’ve got something more important to talk about.”
As a general rule, if you’re truly uncertain about what to do, the Tarot will help. Al-
ternatively, if your question can be simply answered by a little brainwork on your
part, and perhaps a spot of decision, the Tarot will deny you a clear answer, leaving
the initiative firmly in your lap.
Does that sound faintly spooky? Maybe it is: the Tarot is much more than a deck of
cards. Across the centuries, despite redesign and reprinting, it carries a kind of life
of its own which impinges on yours as you use it. Which is why I suggested at the
outset that you become ‘friendly’ with your cards: you tend to get deeper answers
from a friend who knows you well when you sit down for a discussion than you do
when merely asking a stranger on the street the way to get across town. Under-
stand?
To return to the meanings. I’ve already handed you as much leading for THE FOOL
as you need for now. The remaining 21 Trumps can mean the following for the pur-
pose of your beginning readings.
Don’t forget the ACTIVE, PASSIVE AND NEUTRAL attributes of the Trumps, men-
tioned in the last sessions. Also recall how they are associated with Mind, Morals
and Material.
MEANINGS
The Magician: A firm will and confidence is guided by reason and justice. Ambition
will thus be achieved. Beware of immoral acts.
The High Priestess: Silence on opinions and projects. “The world belongs to those
who are silent the longest.”
The Empress: To aim for things possible will create them. To wish for the impossible
is to sow the seeds of failure.
The Emperor: Truth and justice have to be fought for. Success here is merely a mis-
sion accomplished. Failure will likely lead to greater things.
The Hierophant: We are as we think. Happy or sad depends on the motives.
17
Session Four
The Lovers: A crucial decision. Errors will come from hesitation. Will-power is the
only tool needed to overcome present obstacles to happiness.
The Chariot: Power is given to those who have control of the mind and emotions.
Physical conditions are unimportant.
Strength: Obstacles more imaginary than real. Blind faith will get through, applied
without indecision.
The Hermit: Seek the advice of the wise, or patch the weak points in the knowledge.
Silence and discretion needed.
The Wheel of Fortune: Act in silence. Persevere. Reach out and take what is in
reach at this time.
Justice: Good and bad are equally opposed. The next action will bring a strong reac-
tion.
The Hanged Man: Forgiveness and sacrifice. Ingratitude is a likely reward.
Death: The cosmic change is for the best.
Temperance: Husband resources, mental and physical. The object is achieved little
by little.
The Devil: Anger or material obsessions can ruin the plan for the future.
The Tower: Pride, a foolish venture, and self-made mistakes can lead to disaster.
The Star: The mystery will be made clear. Inborn errors and negative emotions im-
pede the way.
The Moon: “Let the Illusion of the World pass over thee, unheeded, as thou goest
from the Midnight to the Morning.” In a sense, conspiracy is around. Ignorance of
the real situation. Flatterers are often treacherous.
The Sun: The happiness will persist if kept in the heart and within the limits of the
home.
Judgment: Forgetfulness or laziness is the obstacle here. The mission can be ful-
filled.
The World: Final success, limited only by the height of the aims.
18
Session Four
19
Session Four
There you have them. Note this early warning: PLEASE DON’T FREAK OUT BE-
CAUSE CARD NO. 13 IS CALLED DEATH. I’ll explain why later. Suffice to say the
card does NOT imply the end of life: the reverse, usually.
Sufficient for you to get on with until the next session. We’re going to take a deeper
look at THE FOOL, and then we can start on the Minor Arcana.
20
Session Five
Session Five

The Fool
Far enough along the Royal Road of the Tarot to be-

gin getting feedback. This is a fine stage in our journey
to sit down under the Tree of Life, take a breather, talk
around a question or two, and clarify a couple of
points which have come up.
Maurice from Ontario raises a universal query, asked

by many Tarot students: “I’ve been advised that a
person shouldn’t tell his own fortune. Is that
true?”
I agree it’s a challenge to correctly read your own fu-

ture, but you say you have been told a person
shouldn’t do it. Why? Has someone laid that old wives’
tale on you that it is ‘bad luck’ to divine your own fu-
ture?
Nothing in the rules of divination forbids reading com-

ing events for yourself, except for one factor: if you
fear to know what’s coming your way, don’t bother to
look ahead.
Remember I said the Tarot reflects your attitude when you do a reading? Well, if you
sit down in a mood which anticipates disaster, the cards will unerringly zero in on
the negative things coming for you – and we all have our share of upsets, no matter
how lucky or positive we are.
The hazard is (if your mood is one of apprehension) that you’ll exaggerate the nega-
tivity. Ten of Swords can indicate injury, for instance (NOTE: I said it can: please
don’t come back to me later and suggest I told you the 10 forecasts pain and physi-
cal damage every time it shows in a spread. It may do, but not invariably).
21
Session Five
Okay: you see the Swords, and if you’re feeling fearful your immediate reaction is to
look for the worst. Aha! There’s the Five of Pentacles gibbering at you also. Ruin!
Destitution! Despair! Nothing to do but go down the garden and eat worms…
Hold it! The Tarot can merely be saying “Time to spend a few dollars on that lower
back injury which bothers you at times.” Or it may be warning that a rival of yours
can cause you loss by “stabbing you in the back”…not, for pity’s sake, literally with a
knife, but in the sense of betraying you.
Understand? Fearfulness is the only real strike against reading your own future. But
if that’s your attitude, it’s not even wise to read the cards for anyone else. You’ll in-
sert your own fears into the reading and lay them on your listener.
Later I’ll have more to say about reaching the right state of mind to get good and
accurate readings.
Yes, you can read your own future: what makes it difficult is clearing away your pre-
conceived ideas, hopes, wishes, intentions, plans and desires. There’s a tremendous
tendency to read into the cards what you wish (or expect) to happen to you instead
of calmly accepting the truths the cards are offering to you, and shaping your ac-
tions to find the most peaceful path, whether the coming events are in line with your
wishes or opposing them.
Try it this way. When you do a reading, you’ll be sitting down opposite the person
you’re reading for (known, by the way, as the Querent, the questioner. I’ll be using
the term ‘Querent’ quite a bit from now on, so make a note of it everybody,
please).
You’ll lay out the cards between you and the Querent. Now, if you’re reading for
yourself, you’re both Reader and Querent, and somehow you have to mentally sepa-
rate the two. Set yourself down as if you were doing a reading for a friend. Then pre-
tend a total stranger is opposite you, drinking in every word you say as you
read the cards.
Now that ‘stranger’ on the other side of the cards from you is really you. It’s a game
of let’s pretend, designed to deceive your inner mind which is trying to shape the
reading to match up to your beliefs and hopes. Getting the picture?
Now read the cards, not for yourself, but for this invisible stranger. And if that’s too
far-out a concept for you, put a photograph of yourself opposite you, and do the
reading for the person in the picture. In effect, during the reading, you become two
people: the Reader, detached and helpful, and the Querent, listening to the words of
wisdom coming from the Reader.
22
Session Five
This is a very challenging point for me to try to get across to you, but try to dig my
meaning. A funny (but beautiful) lady who taught me a great deal about the Tarot
many moons ago used to get the same effect by doing a reading for her teddy-bear,
who became the Querent. She recorded what she said on her tape recorder, and then
played it back to herself, listening as if she was being given directions from another
person.
Just for fun I stopped typing this at the end of that last paragraph and cut my Tarot
cards to see what they had to say. Up came THE MAGICIAN, which I believe tells me
you’ll understand, as I’ve applied my will to impressing the point on you!
This tip and wrinkle works: but it takes practice to get the idea through to yourself.
But (as you may have gained just the edge of an idea about) it takes time and effort
to get the really true and good help which lies within the Tarot cards.
And to close this thought of reading for yourself, note the next letter: that could have
something to do with your fears and uncertainties.
VcToria Comments: I have added these next paragraphs from my father to

show how many thought 50 years ago. Sadly today, some still do. This was one
of the letters my Dad put into print after receiving it.
An anonymous correspondent in a letter postmarked San Antonio, Texas tells me

firmly, acidly and with an authority allegedly backed by Holy Writ that: “The Tarot is
a WORK OF THE DEVIL. You are consigning yourself to THE PIT for your UNHOLY
WORK. Repent before too late. God will forgive you if you turn away AT ONCE from
such evil ways. If you do not you will burn for ETERNITY.”
Well, now, thanks for the good word, whoever you are. Wonder why such people
rarely have the guts to back their opinions with their names and addresses?
I long ago came to peaceful terms with my Creator concerning the path I have cho-
sen. This is no platform to air theological beliefs: suffice to say that I believe any
path which helps others and doesn’t bring confusion and pain is probably okay by
the Almighty. Old Nick’s domain and works bring hurt, chaos and hate (and I could
add I found little love and charity in the letter from San Antonio!).
But you, dear student, must also check out your personal attitude to the
Tarot.
Many ministers, Bible literalists and others do honestly see these pasteboards as the
Devil’s picture book.
23
Session Five
Many others (including me) believe otherwise. But you have to decide for yourself. I’ll
try not to sway you with arguments either way.
All I can say is if you’re thinking you’re toying with Satanic work by reading the
Tarot, then stop at once. Your beliefs (perfectly valid for you) will infect your read-
ings, and distort the thoughts which you extract from the cards.
Enough for this time. Shoulder your pack and let’s be on our way, leaving some to
ponder whether they’ll follow.
Metaphysical thought to consider: are you getting bored with all this? Is it turning
out to be much more of a task than you thought when you started in on these ses-
sions? Do you feel disappointed that Tarot reading isn’t quite like opening a package
of instant rice ready in five minutes?
If I’ve touched a responsive chord in your mind, we’ve found a truth for you. For
some reason best known to destiny, you’re not ready to master the mysteries
of the Tarot.
That’s not me laying down the Law. That’s the Tarot talking to you. Talking, by the
way not condemning. Simply stated, if you’re finding that getting to know the cards
is a monotonous, time-wasting process, it would be best to put them away now, and
try again, maybe next year
Thanks for coming this far with us, but you have more interesting things to do. Per-
haps we’ll meet again later in the Temple which THE HIGH PRIESTESS guards.
Onward, those who wish. We have someone to meet on the road: THE FOOL.
THE FOOL
Where exactly does THE FOOL fit into the Tarot? He has no number, unless you
consider zero to be such.
THE FOOL is different – and important, as I’ve hinted.
If you have a Waite/Rider deck, take a look at him. One minor legend about the
creation of this card for this particular deck relates that while Pamela Colman
Smith, the artist, was able to create exactly what her mentor, occultist Arthur Ed-
ward Waite, needed for the remaining 77 cards, THE FOOL had to be a joint crea-
tion between them before they could get him right.
Certainly, if you look at the cards, you’ll find Pamela’s initials stylized at the bottom
right on every card (very clear, for instance, on THE LOVERS – see last session –
24
Session Five
just by Adam’s left knee). Yet her monogram is unclear on THE FOOL. Look in the
rocks below the dog. PCS perhaps – but do we also see AEW? You decide!
Look at THE FOOL at many levels of mind. In the most abstract sense, he symbol-
izes the soul returning to God, the Source of All, the Primal Cause which creates eve-
rything and takes it back when it’s ready.
So, one meaning for THE FOOL is pure Christ teaching: in the long-haul, material
gain is ultimately useless, because you can’t take it with you.
But just one cotton pickin’ minute, stranger: we’re reading for the here and now,
next week, next month, next year, not for some far-distant reincarnate or karmic fu-
ture.
Certainly, everything ends, and we’re destined to leave behind everything we can see,
touch, smell and taste – like dollar bills and cars and stereos and houses and clothes
and all those belongings which make life easier or happier.
THE FOOL suggests in the big picture that we keep in mind the impermanence of
material things. But no way does he suggest we have to renounce all our worldly
goods today (nor tomorrow). In a very real sense, the things you own and have
around you will give you up when you’re ready for them to do so.
Enjoy that which gives you peace and harmony, says THE FOOL, whether material,
mental or spiritual, but don’t be such a fool as to cling on to things which disturb
and pain you.
Got that? Nothing wrong with material gain while you’re passing through this world.
Essential, in fact, to most people. Starving in caves went out before button-shoes.
THE FOOL in a spread represents freedom of choice. When you see him, you know
the Querent is facing a decision – and the results need thinking about carefully.
Look at his picture: THE FOOL is being a mite too foolish for his own safety. He’s
not looking where he’s putting his feet, and there’s a danger that bouncy mutt will
trip him up. He’s tending to ignore the reality of the material world: but although he
may firmly believe he’s passed beyond being touched by the mundane, those durn
rocks will obey Natural Law and bruise his knees if he trips.
So, wonder if your Querent is hypnotized by an Ideal. Suggest he or she comes down
to earth a bit and consider the real world of trains and buses, grocery bills, taxes,
rent and shelter.
25
Session Five
See the satchel or bundle on the stick THE FOOL shoulders? In there are his experi-
ences (which are things you do take with you!) and he’s put them behind him. Is
your Querent also ignoring the past, about to make the same old mistake again?
For THE FOOL indicates the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.
The event may be big or little, obvious or concealed, but the results will be decisive.
And THE FOOL with his companion cards shows you what area of life it’s all hap-
pening in, and the likely outcome.
Gotcha! You’re aching to start spreading the cards and looking ahead. Hang tough a
little while: not long now to the how of it. First, we need to take a look at the cards of
the MINOR ARCANA.
See you next session.
26
Session Six
Session Six

The Minor Arcana:
The Court Cards
THE MINOR ARCANA COURT CARDS
The Page, Knight, Queen and King in any Minor Arcana suit can represent people,
as well as incidents and situations.
The Page signifies a male under 18 years of age, and unmarried females under 18.
The Knight signifies adult males under 35. Recall for future reference that the cards
will show you maturity of personality, more often than age in years. An old goat of 50
may be behaving as if he’s still 25, in which case the Tarot will show him with a
Knight. Alternatively, your lad may go into business at 16 and be self-employed and
successful early on: he may well be shown as a Knight when you expect him to be a
Page, judged on years alone.
The Queen signifies a married female, or any female over the age of 18. Again, the
Tarot may indicate a Queen for a young lady who is under 18, but has a common-
law cohabiting man, a home and responsibilities: even though of tender years, she’s
behaving like a married woman.
The King signifies a mature male, often married. Old bachelors tend to get the Em-
peror, but we’ll look closer at that later.
The four Suits are identified with physical appearance.
Wands people have mid-brown hair and hazel or green eyes

Cups people are blonde with blue or hazel eyes.
Swords people have dark hair and brown eyes.
Pentacles people have black or very dark hair, dark eyes and probably swarthy skin.
Now in this day and age of Clairol, coloured contact lenses, cosmetics and other aids
to appearance enhancing, I wouldn’t want you to treat the foregoing as stone tablets.
Use them as a guide, and if they won’t fit, junk them for that particular reading.
27
Session Six
But you’ll find the data useful when you’re establishing an important card in each
spread. It’s the first one you lay down for the Celtic Spread and it’s called The Sig-
nificator, representing the Querent. More details when you get to the spread.
28
Session Seven
Session Seven

The Minor Arcana:
Pentacles
PENTACLES
Spread them out and look at your Pentacles. Notice how bland and uniform the
sky is in every picture.
An important symbolism, because the background sky in the cards point towards
the Querent’s mental state. Cloudy, serene, stormy, cold, jagged – what the majority
of cards in a spread contain in the background describes your Querent’s state of
mind. Pentacles, symbolizing material things, hardly concern themselves with
thoughts – see Matthew, chapter 6, verse 27.
These cards are usually connected with things you can see, touch, hear, taste and
smell. Up front of Pentacles concerns is money and property.
Herewith brief meanings for you.
Pentacles
Ace: Beginning of a project which will lead to wealth. Gold, prosperity, pleasure,
beauty.
Two: Need to balance the budget. Harmony in the midst of change. The new project
will be difficult to launch. Letters
Three: You have reached a peak of achievement. Material reward
Four: Hold on to what you have. Not a time for major cash rearrangements. Gain
later. Legacy.
Five: Destitution, loss of job or possessions. Emotional bankruptcy. Loneliness. The

secret affair meets obstacles.
29
Session Seven
Six: See that everyone gets their share. Gain. You will reap what you sow. Inheri-
tance.
Seven: Pause during a money-making project. Ignore a bill at your peril. Lost pa-
pers. Speculation not advised.
Eight: Learning a trade or profession. The start of a profitable project. The job or
commission will come. Skills need to be improved.
Nine: Take the lesser of two monetary paths offered. You will enjoy the money alone.
Gardening.
Ten: Business journey, crowned with success – but make sure the old one does not
feel neglected. Inheritance, riches...Problem over a will or pension. Possibly acquiring
real estate or a business.
Page: Good news about money. New ideas are useful. Good management
Knight: Arrival or departure of money. Trustworthiness.
Queen: Security. Trust. Good use of practical talents. The woman receives money
and reviews her assets.
King: Reliability and success in money matters. Security.
30
Session Seven
31
Session Seven
32
Session Eight
Session Eight

The Minor Arcana:
Wands
WANDS
The pictures in this session show you the full set of Wands.
Spread out your Wands. They indicate changes, perhaps frustrations, personal plans
and ideas. They’re rarely concerned with material success, but more with the Quer-
ent’s self-esteem.
Note the battles going on in the Five and Seven; the blinding load of problems in the
Ten; the barrier in the Nine; the far-distant gazes in the Two, Three and Queen; the
victory wreath in the Six.
Consider such symbolism, play mind games. The Querent on the left is battling four
other people who are also hassling among themselves in the Five. If you’re the Quer-
ent, who might those four people be in your own life at this time?
Can you identify the eight separate problems, some bigger than others shown in the
Eight? Can you also see that if you try to carry them all at once as Ten is trying to
do, you won’t be able to see the way ahead? Instead, they can be broken (solved) one
at a time, leading to crossing that river (on the Eight) which leads to the firm and
secure house on the hill (domestic harmony).
Where is the Knight going? Who is he, in your life? Will he be able to get over those
pyramids, representing challenges ahead?
Those are the fantasies to push around, getting your mind used to transforming the
still pictures into real life episodes, and telling stories about them. And you’ll find the
stories you’re prompted to tell have great meaning to the Querent about the present
and future.
Herewith, some meanings to guide you in your early work:
33
Session Eight
Ace: Start of project, family, journey, adventure.
Two: Courage in starting a project. Planning a journey. Generosity.
Three: Stage one complete. The journey will take place smoothly. The basis of
wealth, power and strength is formulated. Partnership or aid.
Four: Home life is harmonious. Prosperity and rest. Romance, an upcoming mar-
riage, possible pregnancy.
Five: Verbal battles or obstacles. Stand up for your rights and you will overcome.
Your opponents battle among themselves. Be bold. Possible lawsuit.
Six: Victory over competition. Excellent news. Success by hard work. Advancement.
Helpful allies.
Seven: You have the advantage over your competitors. Keep fighting and success is
certain.
Eight: Frustrations abound, but you can deal with them one at a time. Careful you
do not move too hastily, or too hopefully. Messages. Flying. Approach to a goal.
Nine: A pause in the battle. Although hurt, you will win eventually. Wait for better
conditions.
Ten: Too many problems to make progress at once. Energy is misapplied. A test.
Problem will be solved later.
Page: Courage. Beauty. Sudden love or hate. Enthusiasm. The mailman. Thoughts
of a long journey.
Knight: Energetic young man, either generous or cruel. Hasty. Change of home;
emigration; quick departure.
Queen: Woman, creative in mind and body. Success. Love of home and horticulture.
Generosity, kindness.
King: Handsome, passionate, athletic in mind and body. Loyal, but over-hasty. Hon-
esty, friendliness, passion. Possible legacy or a good marriage.
34
Session Eight
35
Session Eight
36
Session Eight
37
Session Nine
Session Nine

The Minor Arcana:
Swords
SWORDS
Swords represent ambitions aimed at some major life target. Maybe a material
goal, possibly a spiritual quest – but always there’s much force and energy con-
nected with them. The energy can be dormant, latent, just waiting to bust out, but
it’s there…just as a hot kettle doesn’t look too ferocious until you put your bare
hand on it.
If you’re into astrology (and most good Tarot Readers are) you can think of Swords as
Mars-ruled cards – dynamic, pushful and incisive. Also, destructive…
This energy and force can have two directions, as does everything else in the Tarot
and this Universe. It can be your (or the Querent’s) force, your vitality pushing to
make things happen on your behalf (or for someone else).
Or it can be just as much energy directed against you by rivals, enemies, natural
forces…or even your own misguided, destroying impulses.
Courage and aggression are always connected with Swords. The Querent may be us-
ing them, or be suffering from some other person (or thing) using them against him
or her.
As a rough guide (and this has to be a case of ‘cut-and-try’ during a reading, for this
is not invariably true) if the Swords in the spread are pointing upward, they repre-
sent the Querent’s personal ambitions.
If the Swords are pointing downward, look for strong opposition from outside – from
enemies, competitors or Acts of God (although those latter are more properly the
province of the Major Arcana. However, God being omnipotent, He’ll occasionally
show His hand among the Minors).
38
Session Nine
So, what about those Swords which are neither up nor down. Okay: the Four, for
example: one Sword lying horizontally. Symbolically, that’s force which can go either
pro or con for the Querent.
The Querent lies there, resting on an incredibly solid looking slab (the Tarot pre-
dated the water bed, you’ll notice). Under him (her) is one Sword. He may use it
when he chooses to arise from his nap, to defend himself from the other three
Swords poised above him. Or he may not be awake enough, a foe can creep into his
bedchamber, and use that level sword against the Querent.
And the Nine: all the Swords are horizontal. Now those very definitely can be used
for or against the Querent. What he has to do is take his hands off his eyes, grab the
Swords and put them into action before someone else does – if he’s got the strength
and ability to manage nine blades at once.
But if he tries that, like as not he’ll fumble the whole issue, and see the Swords slip
from his grasp to clatter sparking to the flagstones, ending up blunted and broken.
What he should do is pick the sharpest blades (best ambitions) and fight with those,
and hope the other Swords will either stay right where they are until he can get to
them, or alternatively he has to hope they won’t prove too crippling if someone else
gets their hands on them. Maybe the enemy is a poor swordsman – not such a tre-
mendous opponent as feared).
If, in your card layout, you can see the tips or points of the Swords there’s little
doubt about what’s going on. The Three is very clear – and the Querent will be all
too well aware of the sorrow.
The Page, on the other hand, has a good few inches of her Sword out of the picture.
We don’t know what’s at the tip of it – it may be sharp or blunt; it may hold a wreath
of victory (or even a bloody human head). Hence we need to watch the Page carefully
– which is why she’s got ‘Spying’ included as part of her meaning.
Look at the Eight, there. Certainly, the Querent is fenced in by negative forces – but
are they all real? Are they sharp? If some of them have been thrust into that muddy
ground for a long while they’re likely to be rusted through, and therefore can’t hurt
her. But she’ll never know for sure until she wriggles out of those ropes and removes
her hoodwink.
So, after those flights of fancy, let’s take a look at the meanings for you to consider:
39
Session Nine
Ace: Conquest, great activity. Beginning of personal project (probably money-making

and associated with secret ambitions) Possibly birth of male child.
Two: Decisions needed. Tension with people. Stalemate.
Three: Sorrow, separation, quarrels. Upheaval. Civil War or political strife.
Four: Relaxation as anxiety decreases. Need for rest. Change for the better is pend-
ing. Meditation.
Five: Need for conquest of others by strength of purpose. Defeat for enemies.
Six: Journey across deep water, possibly to a new home. Success after troubles.
Seven: Beware of thievery. The plan may fail. Argument over plans. Spying.
Eight: Restricted action due to others. Indecision holds you immobile. Unsafe condi-
tions.
Nine: Deep puzzlement, suffering or loss. Doubt or illness. Loss of a loved one. Look
to tomorrow.
Ten: Ruin of plans and projects. Danger of physical injury. Home life disrupted.
Darkest hour before the dawn.
Page: Grace. Dexterity. Message. Spying.
Knight: Arrival or departure of misfortune.
Queen: Gracefulness. Show business. Talk.
King: Authority. Strength. Possible lawsuit pending.
Symbolism
With all this going on about Swords and fighting and wounds and defending: I do
hope you’re not taking me literally. I’m speaking symbolically, painting pictures of
life, and using situations to spark your imagination.
I’m attempting to show you how you could get into the habit of looking through the
pictures at the inner meanings or implications.
40
Session Nine
Six of Swords says “Journey across deep water”, and shows a hooded figure moving
across a river or lake. Now, that deep water doesn’t have to be a river or ocean. The
journey doesn’t have to be a physical excursion, a relocation.
You can, in the course of a serious talk with your spouse on a controversial subject,
traverse much ‘deep water’ and ‘reach the other side’ by being in complete accord,
having reached an understanding. Physically, you haven’t moved a yard, but men-
tally you’ve travelled to a brand-new place.
Always look at the people shown, see what they’re doing, what state they’re in. They
may be shown as blindfolded: thus the Querent can be ‘blind’ to circumstances, even
though he or she obviously has nothing wrong with her optics!
And a person shown fenced in by Wands or Swords. Now, you know as well as I do
that you don’t need to have a picket fence built around you in your backyard to feel
‘fenced in’ by what’s happening to you. And remember also that no matter how high
the fence or how thick the hedge, a person can always, with the right help and
thought, climb over or through the obstacle.
Another type of obstacle in the pictures (and thus in the life of the Querent) is water.
See if it’s shown as smooth – easy to traverse, but maybe too monotonous for peace
of mind. If it’s rippled, look for some disturbed condition. See how the people in the
Six of Swords are travelling from rippled water (below) to blue, smooth water above:
from a pressure situation to somewhere which has more harmonious conditions.
Two of Pentacles has some very wavy water. But it’s not rough: the Querent’s life is
up and down like a Gemini on a bad day…but his ship’s coming home, if you look at
the background. At least, it can come home, if he pays the right harbor dues with
the money he’s juggling.
Even the dreaded Ten of Swords has a smooth lake to cross to lighter conditions, if
the Querent can manage to survive all those heavy oppositions.
Next, note the emotional mood of your cards. Jaggedness means sharp, sudden and
often angry conditions: take a peek at those clouds in the Five of Swords. That was
some battle before the Querent drove off the enemy, and the emotional ripples still
remain.
Remember how the Pentacles were mainly monotonous skies? Material matters,
with little emotional content. Now we’re getting to more mind-orientated cards, so we
see the sky waking up.
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Session Nine
Clouds in general can be mysteries, puzzles, existing problems (but ones which you
can learn to live with). If a hand emerges from a cloud, look for the hidden factors
which may be deceptive, or just not being taken into account.
Birds (often just black specks against the sky) are ideas. Watch for them (Page,
Queen, King of Swords, for example): they can be useful notions or obscure obses-
sions. Maybe these birds need identifying, and caging if they’re going to eat the grow-
ing wheat. Wheat? Another symbol: a plan coming to fruition which was launched
(planted) sometime ago.
Many, many more symbols are within the cards. You’ll realize eventually that every
line and shape on the cards is a symbol, and those symbols make up the picture.
With familiarity, your mind will grasp the symbols, and turn them into meaningful
narratives…and then you’ll be a Tarot Reader! As easy (and as difficult) as that.
On your way until next session, friend seeker. Try to find time to associate with your
deck of Tarot on a regular basis. The closer friends you become, the more you’ll be
able to find within them.
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Session Nine
43
Session Nine
44
Session Ten
Session Ten

The Minor Arcana:
Cups
CUPS
Now we have the last of the Minor Arcana illustrated in this session and final
definitions.
By the time you finish reading this portion, you’ll have been offered outline meanings
for all 78 cards which make up the Tarot deck. I really believe we can move right
along to looking at spreads and interpretations (cheers, jeers and “About time” from
those still awake after nine sessions of slogging which they didn’t in the least ex-
pect).
These cards are ‘inner’ influences, abstract much of the time, but with fairly obvious
concrete results. Love, spirituality, harmony and things of the deep mind are the
concern of Cups.
Even when they are telling us about material matters, those affairs have been
prompted, shaped and ordered by subconscious impulses, flashes of intuition, and
the obscure person-to-person chemistry called ‘relationship.’
Look at the offbeat cup which the Queen holds: more of a full–blown religious chalice
than the regular Cup or goblet shown on the rest of the cards of this suit. She’s
probably the most introverted, spiritual person of the Cups family – but also note
that her religious bent can be fanaticism, and some of her insightful ideas may not
accord with logic and good sense.
That latter was inserted to remind you of the twin faces of the cards. Spirituality,
which is what Cups are all about, is often seen as total sweetness and light, but it
can be carried too far, while intuitive consideration of a problem can become fruit-
less (and time-wasting) fantasizing.
Point to notice about Cups is the general flat and blank skies – somewhat like those
on Pentacles. Remember I said the sky symbolizes emotion? Cups reach beyond
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Session Ten
emotions: vast storms of turmoil, jealousy and confusion may be ranging around the
Swords and Wands connected with the Querent, but rather like a submarine which
can dive to find calm water under the waves, so Cups work their magic at deep lev-
els.
Exception to that is the Seven (sure, always the exception to spoil the plain picture!).
A multitude of opportunities show on the Seven, a total mixture of impulses leading
to all manner of positive and negative conclusions. Here the Querent is letting emo-
tions rule everything: tending to disregard sage advice coming both from outside and
from the inner mind.
Also be aware we can rarely see what’s in the Cups: their contents will be revealed
only in the future. The Querent is advised to pay attention to what they’re offering,
and to select that which feels most harmonious.
Five, Six, Seven and Page are special cases where we do have some inkling of what
the Cups contain (or contained). Five shows a crying over spilt milk situation: the
Querent has not lost everything even if he-she thinks so. Failures or losses are in
the past, they’re being brooded over, and no progress can come until the Querent
picks up the other two Cups (ideas or alternate paths) and walks across that very
firm bridge (symbolizing moving into a new state of mind – or perhaps a relocation)
to reach the splendidly stable and strong castle on the other side.
Six shows ideas which have come to fruition, usually happily. The drawback can be
that with all mental channels filled with a single idea, there may not be room for ex-
pansion.
Seven we’ve already looked at, leaving the Page: who is the fish peeping out of the
Cup? A Piscean (psychic, spiritual, emotional) advisor, perhaps. A gossip, maybe.
Keep in mind the ability of psychics to be wrong occasionally.
And as a final point before going on to the meanings proper, always note how the
people pictured in the cards are behaving towards the Cups. Two and Three are
definitely using their Cups (heads), while Four is eyeing one idea, possibly ignoring
three others. Five is hooked on contemplating three broken dreams while turning
his back on two perfectly serviceable ones.
Seven is debating which idea to use, and is being given some foreknowledge of vari-
ous results. The little dragon and snake don’t look too good; riches and a firm base
are two other possibilities; who’s the blonde at top left? She seems to have no
body…maybe she lost her head? A deceptive offering comes from that person under
the sheet: if it was all as above-board as the halo implies, don’t you figure the person
would show his or her face? Finally, even the wreath of victory has a strange symbol
on its Cup – could that be a skull?
46
Session Ten
See how Eight has left all his ideas and crossed over into a darkish (unknown) place.
Moon (mind) is eclipsing Sun (logic), so much care is needed: definitely many moun-
tains (challenges) to face, even if the Querent does have a strong staff to sustain him.
Tip: check surrounding Wands to see how they connect with the single wand which
has trespassed into the Cup picture.
Nine you’ll notice is very stable and comfortable. All ideas have been put on the shelf
and are being ignored. Perhaps he’s a bit too complacent?
Enough mind prompting: herewith the meanings.
Ace: Beginning of spiritual awakening which can lead to material plenitude. Begin-
ning of love. Joy, contentment. Beauty, pleasure, fertility.
Two: Beginning of a friendship or affair. Harmony in ideas and plans.
Three: Success, abundance, fruitfulness. Good luck, victory. Hospitality.
Four: Weariness. A pause. Beware of an offer. Dissatisfaction with material posses-

sions or success.
Five: You will proceed no further until you stop nursing past hurts, mistakes or
grievances. Disappointment in an affair. Loss of a friend or spouse. Reviewing the
great might-have-been is useless.
Six: Happiness from the past. New friendships. Real estate. A gift. New opportuni-
ties.
Seven: Select carefully from many opportunities. Dreams. Forces are too scattered.
Illusionary success. Beware of self-deception.
Eight: Journey to a new place. Abandonment of success to move on spiritually. The

sadness has no clear cause.
Nine: Material success. Sensual satisfaction. Over-indulgence. You will get your
wish. Because careful what you pray for.
Ten: Lasting happiness and contentment. Love, friendship, lasting success. Peace-
making.
Page: Meditation. News. New business methods. Sometimes the birth of a child.
Knight: Message, proposition, invitation.
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Session Ten
Queen: Success, happiness, pleasure. Rely on intuitions.
King: Liberality, creativity, arts and religion.
48
Session Ten
49
Session Ten
50
Session Eleven
Session Eleven

The Significator
THE SIGNIFICATOR
So, as we give the cards a focus or a subject to work around, we need one more
item before spreading them out for a reading.
You select one card, the first to be laid down, and call it The Significator.
All other cards you use in a spread are selected by random chance, but this first one
is firmly decided by you, the Reader.
It should be connected in some way, symbolically, to the reading you are about to
carry out. Your final decision on which card to use will rely partly on ‘hunch’. I’ll give
you some leadings, and you can make the selection.
What I should caution you against is fuss, worry and rolling around the floor for an
hour trying to decide exactly which card you should use. On the other hand, it’s not
totally wise to select a card at random and say “That’ll do for The Significator, I’m in
a hurry.” That latter action suggests a lack of concern or interest which the cards
will recognize and you’ll get a correspondingly disinterested reply.
Searching for the Significator starts your mind churning around the reading, long
before you start to look at the cards.
Easiest Significator to select is a Minor Arcana Court Card – Page, Knight, Queen or
King of whatever suit fits to the Querent’s description.
In Session Six I told you how these cards fit various age groups, sex and appearance.
So, if the Querent (who, remember, can be either the person you’re doing the reading
for, or yourself if you’re asking the questions) is a married woman with dark hair
and brown eyes, you’ll likely select Queen of Swords as the Significator. A fair-
haired single 16-year-old would be Page of Cups. And so on.
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Session Eleven
That, as I said, is the easy way – and perfectly valid. However, get in the habit of
looking below the skin of the Querent.
He may be in his 80s, gray and outwardly decrepit, but you know he’s still a sharp
(Swords) go-getter who can still give his grandchildren a run for their money when it
comes to incisiveness. So instead of selecting a King, you might use the Knight as
The Significator.
Getting the picture? What you’ll find yourself doing as you become more adept is in-
stinctively seeing through the mask which everyone shows to the world, and identify-
ing the ‘real’ person inside.
As you’re rifling through the cards looking for the Significator you’ve decided may
serve, extract any other cards which attract you, because they look like the Querent,
show a situation which fits your Querent, or just ‘feel’ right.
Then when you’ve got five or six cards side by side on the table, take the one which
looks best to you. Grab the first impression: on no account (I repeat) fuss too
much.
The significator is important, but it’s not mandatory that you find exactly the right
card if it’s going to take you three weeks to decide on it.
The Major Arcana opens up a whole field of different Significators. Someone in total
control of his or her life who makes things happen (a successful boss or executive)
can be The Magician. An accurate psychic or someone who uses their hunches to
get constantly lucky can be The High Priestess. Your pregnant girlfriend might fit to
The Empress: but also remember that pregnancy is a waiting for a new creation to
be born, so your writer or painter who is in the midst of a masterpiece can be The
Empress in a very real sense.
The Emperor is often a stubborn old bachelor, while The Hierophant can be some-
one who is forever conscious of social behavior, never stepping out of line.
If a couple consults you, and they’re cohabiting, obviously The Lovers is for them. A
Querent on the point of relocating may be The Chariot.
I leave you to look at the others and consider whom they fit, while we examine a sec-
ond approach to allocating a Significator.
Instead of fitting the card to the Querent’s appearance or personality, you can use a
card which fits the subject or question, if you know it.
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Session Eleven
You want to see ahead in a legal matter? Use Justice or Judgement. A change of
home? Try The World or The Moon if there’s doubt about the destination. Divorce or
separation is often connected with The Tower.
“What will happen if I persist in my plans even though everyone says I’m a kook?”
could well be launched with The Hanged Man.
“Is there a solution to my loneliness?” is definitely Hermit orientated.
“Will I get lucky at Vegas?” Wheel of Fortune, of course.
I’ll allow you the joy of realization as you check the cards to see where they connect
well with subjects.
And if, in your consideration, the above suggestions don’t seem to have much
to do with the subjects I’ve allocated, reject my words – rely on your hunches:
they’re far more accurate than any guide I can write down.
Minor Arcana can also fit to questions. “Should I accept the offer?” is Four of Cups.
“How am I moneywise?” Try Four of Pentacles. “Problems, problems, problems. I
can’t see my way ahead.” Ten of Wands could do it. “Which of two plans is best?”
Two of Swords.
OK? That puts you on the road to selecting a Significator.
Continue to make friends with your cards, and try selecting Significators to fit vari-
ous people and situations. That work will be ultimately valuable as you proceed, for
it tunes your inner mind to get more and more out of the coloured pictures which
make up this mystic deck.
53
Session Twelve
Session Twelve

The Celtic Spread
Before we get going into the Celtic Spread this session, I must answer a perceptive
comment from a Reader who writes to say: “You mentioned that Pamela Colman
Smith’s initials can be found on the bottom right of every card. Please note that the
10 of Pentacles is signed at the top right, while the 9 of Swords is in the middle at
the bottom, and the Knight of Wands is on the bottom left. Is there any significance
to this?”
Frankly, I don’t know – but you’re perfectly right. Seems to me some of those initials
were moved because the usual corner was cluttered with detail. As to the 10, it cer-
tainly looks significant up there on the lintel, but I don’t know of any particular rea-
son for it. Maybe someone out there may have an answer for us.
Onward, then, to our first look at a spread, so you can start reading these cards and
discovering what the future holds.
THE CELTIC SPREAD
Your first reading! This simple twin cross of eleven cards is a fine place to start. It
gives you things to say, the framework to read within, and it’s fairly simple.
We’ll be looking at other spreads later, but some people batten onto the Celtic so
happily they use it forever.
With modifications (which I’ll also be showing you) I use this spread almost exclu-
sively. I’ve tried many others but none give me the clarity and accuracy of this one.
Any spread is a pattern of cards which tunes to your inner mind and allows you to
read the meanings. Conventionally, various areas of the payout refer to different
things; past, present, future, home, thoughts, the outcome, the best that can be
achieved, dangers, inner feelings – those kinds of items.
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Session Twelve
But before you lay the cards on the table, you have to give the cards a chance to
tune into your questions and the circumstances surrounding the Querent. They
can’t do that just by sitting in their box or laying on the table. Exactly as some psy-
chics take a personal object and absorb the vibes from it, so the cards pick up vibes
so they can bounce them back to your mind.
How do we get the right vibes onto the cards? By shuffling them, that’s how. They
need to be shuffled by the Querent, provided the Querent is present. I mention that
last because sometimes you have to shuffle the cards when the Querent is not
physically present. But somehow a physical link should be made between the cards
and the Querent.
Easiest is to have the Querent shuffle the cards. When answering letters, I always
lay the cards on the letter, and then shuffle them, thus transferring some of the
metaphysical influences from the Querent to the cards via the letter which he or she
has touched.
VcToria Comments: Today I use Skype or phone for reads. I left that in so
you could see how Dad used his psychic abilities to do some readings. If how-
ever your choice is e-mail you may use the tip from above. Treat it as a letter.
If you are taking my weekly Zoom classes with these sessions, then I would
have covered this in more depth.
If you’re performing a spread for a Querent who is absent, and you don’t have any
personal object that the Querent has touched, then as you shuffle the cards, try to
pretend you are the Querent.
The Celtic Spread
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Session Twelve
But however, you shuffle the cards; forget about mechanical shuffling machines
which some people use for bridge or whist. The Tarot needs the personal touch, to
pick up these ephemeral vibrations, preferably through the bare hands of the Quer-
ent.
So, whenever, feasible, the Querent should shuffle the deck. How should the shuffle
be performed? As long as he or she touches the cards, that’s not important.
Some people are incredibly inept at handling cards, and 77 oversize Tarots can be
quite a double handful. Yes, you know that there are 78 cards in the deck, I did say
77. You’ll see why in a moment.
First, look through the cards and extract the Significator. Remember that one? If
not, reread the last session which included leadings on how to select this very impor-
tant first card.
Lay the Significator face up, right side up, on the table in front of you. The remaining
77 cards are the ones to be shuffled
Do it the most comfortable way. The traditional hand-to-hand ‘cut-and-chop’ shuffle

is ideal. The ‘riffle’ where the cards are divided into two piles and bent back and al-
lowed to clatter back together alternately from each side is okay also. I feel slightly
less confident about that shuffle for two reasons. First, an expert riffler can release
the cards such that they mix one at a time from each pile, making a mechanical in-
termingling which destroys the element of randomness which I believe is important
to success. Secondly, I used to do several readings a day, and the constant bending
of the cards to ‘riffle’ them soon wears out a deck.
If the Querent can’t handle the cards well enough to shuffle them, spread the cards
out, face down on the table and push them around for a while. They can then be
pushed together and squared up. Even the most arthritic person can handle that
kind of mixing…it can even be done with the feet, if the Querent has both arms in
slings.
How long should you shuffle? The classic answer is: “Until they feel right,” which is
unfair for beginners. No stop watches, please, but the average shuffler can stop after
a full 60 seconds of shuffling. If you listen, and the person is doing an orthodox
shuffle, you’ll hear about 100 ‘chk-chk-chks’ of the cards being mixed.
Again, make no big production out of this. No countdowns nor clock–watching.

Tarot reading benefits from all parties concerned being relaxed.
While shuffling, don’t look at the faces of the cards. Shuffle with them face down-
ward. OK, fer heaven’s sake, I don’t mean you can’t glance at them occasionally to
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Session Twelve
see you’re holding them right. What I mean is, don’t try to force a particular card to
the top or bottom because you’d like to have it in the spread. Just let them mix
naturally.
DROPPED CARD
If one card falls out of your hands onto the table or floor while you’re shuffling, pick
up the Significator, replace it in the deck (yes, anywhere in the deck) and use the
card which fell in place of the chosen Significator. Similarly, if one card turns over in
the deck as you shuffle, extract it and substitute it for the Significator on the table.
If you drop or turn more than one card, merely replace them in the deck and con-
tinue shuffling. If, after the Significator has been changed, you drop or face any more
cards, return them to the deck and carry on shuffling
I think I’ve covered all bases. You’d be amazed at some of the nitty-gritty inconse-
quential details some people seem to believe is the total answer to correct Tarot read-
ing. Betcha someone writes and asks: “What if I inadvertently nudge the Significator
onto the floor while I’m shuffling. Do I select a new one?” Answer: No.
Please, folks, don’t get hung up on tiny details: just accept anything which happens
and follow through as your hunches suggest. Chances are you’ll be right, and the
Tarot meant you to handle it that way.
But, yes, do pay attention to that ‘first-displaced-card’ happening, if it does happen:

the Tarot has this occasional habit of adding information, apparently by chance, by
selecting a replacement card this way. So, don’t ignore it.
Shuffle finished. Square up the deck into one pile, and place it face downward on the
table.
TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT?
At this stage, some Tarot Readers have the Querent cut the deck. Others don’t. Ex-
perience will teach you if you’re a ‘cut’ or ‘no-cut’ Reader.
I personally favour the cut. I feel that cutting the cards after the shuffle pushes a
metaphysical start button signalling end of shuffle, ready to deal.
I’ve heard it say that a cut destroys the random placement of the cards. I suggest it
makes them even more random, adding a new starting point to the deal, instead of
dealing from the cards you’ve shuffled to the top of the deck. Eventually, you’ll real-
ize that the Tarot is in command at this stage: sometimes you’ll feel like cutting, at
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Session Twelve
other times you won’t. Stick with any hunches from here on in and follow them
through.
HOW TO CUT
Again, dear Reader, many Readers, many methods. If you’ve got a fancy seven–pile
cut to the east and reassemble to the west in alternate odd and even piles which was
taught to you by a swami from Outer Mongolia, by all means use it.
I ask the Querent to cut the cards into two piles by lifting about half of the cards
with his or her left hand, placing them on the table to her left. She picks up some of
the top of the deck and places them to the left of the remainder. I then pick up the
remainder (the pile on her right)] with my right hand and put it on top of the pile she
cut off the top. I then deal from the top of this reassembled deck.
Again, use whatever feels most comfortable and becomes automatic. As you experi-
ment, you’ll find which kind of cut gives you the most accurate results.
THE SPREAD
Ready? Shuffled, cut, and the decks in your hand, while looking up at you from the
table is the Significator.
Holding the deck face down, deal the top card face up, laying it right on top of the
Significator. This one, and the following nine cards are dealt in order from the top of
the deck, and laid face up on the table (and I keep referring to the table – it can be
the floor, carpet, cushion, grass, sand, rock, chair…whatever. We’ll be talking about
that when we investigate the most favourable conditions and situation for Tarot
reading).
As you lay down Card No.1, say aloud (or in your mind if you’re reading for your
self): “This covers you.”
Deal Card No. 2, crosswise onto Card No. 1 (see the diagram), and say: “This crosses
you.”
Continue dealing into the numbered positions shown in the diagram:
As you lay No. 3, say: “This is below you.”

No. 4, (to the left), say: “This is behind you.”
No. 5, say: “This is above you.”
No. 6, say: “This is before you.”
No. 7, say: “You.”
No. 8, say: “Your home.”
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Session Twelve
No. 9, say: “Your mental state.”

Finally, No. 10, say: “The result.”
You can now see a pattern of nine cards, and the parts of a tenth, patiently waiting
to talk to your mind.
This is the ancient Celtic Spread, used by hundreds of Tarot Readers. I rarely use
any other: within these cards, plus a few more which I’ve already promised to tell
you about, you can confidently see the past, present and future. More cogently, you
can offer valid solutions to problems, and advice designed to find harmony.
The Celtic Spread
HAVE YOU TUNED IN?
With any kind of luck, the symbols and relationships of the cards on the table are
ready to tell you a story (a true one!) about the circumstances, future and best deci-
sions of the Querent.
But errors can happen. The cards may have tuned into something completely differ-
ent, simply because it was catching your attention (consciously or not) while the
shuffle was going on.
I once laid out a spread of cards which turned out to have nothing at all to do with the
Querent in the room with me, but later telephone calls showed that it most certainly
described what had been happening to my daughter at the time we were laying out
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Session Twelve
the cards. She was 3000 miles away, and was involved in a road accident I could
know nothing about it. But the cards sure tried to tell me, receiving and transmitting on
some unknown wavelength.
Sure, that kind of thing can happen. So, before you plunge into the reading proper
and start offering advice toward the most harmonious future you can see, carry out
this check.
Somehow, in the broadest possible sense, Card No.4 will describe something which
has happened to the Querent during the preceding three months.
So, ask. Explain that you’re checking out the spread. If you can’t read something
about someone’s past, then it’s unlikely you can accurately read their future.
For example, if Card No. 4 is The Tower you would say: “Sometime since last June,
you saw much change or conflict. Old ideas had to be abandoned, and if you think
about it, you’ll recognize a kind of revolution was going on.”
Make statements, rather than asking questions. But let the Querent respond, taking
time to think. Don’t rush. If she says “That’s too true!” you can proceed. If she says
“I can’t see that at all: life‘s been very smooth for months,” treat that as a caution
sign.
Try the alternative meanings: if Card No. 4 is the Page of Wands, and you get a nega-
tive when you suggest a dark–haired young girl played an important role in the
Querent’s life during the preceding three months, try suggesting that the mailman
was more important than usual, or the family was considering taking a long journey.
Agreement gives you the green light to go on. Disagreement with your statements
gives you an amber light: proceed with caution.
You’re going next to talk about the Querent’s present circumstances. Same reason-
ing applies: before confidently sailing into an uncheckable future (as a distressing
number of fake psychics do) you’re going to prove your powers (to yourself) by read-
ing the present.
State the meanings of Cards No. 1 and No. 2, applying No. 1 to close influences
around the Querent and No. 2 to forces or circumstances which oppose the Querent
at this moment.
Example: Card No. 1 is the Ace of Pentacles while Card No. 2 is the Two of Wands.
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Session Twelve
State: “You’re just about to start a project which you hope will lead you to wealth or
power, but you lack the courage to get it going on it, and maybe some lack of gener-
osity or travelling arrangements are interfering with it getting off the ground.”
Where did I get that? Why, straight out of the simple meanings which I’ve given you
in earlier sessions, slightly changed to connect the two cards. Take a look back at
your earlier copies of the sessions and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
At this stage you must get some kind of agreement from the Querent. Doesn’t matter
if it’s a qualified affirmative – “Well that’s partly right” or “I guess you might say
that” – but you two must be agreed that the cards are saying something right, how-
ever approximately.
If the Querent gives you a firm and decisive negative, the first thing you do is to flip
the cards over on their faces, slip them back into the rest of the deck, one at a time
at random places.
Then ask the Querent to shuffle again. Do not by word or expression, give the im-
pression that you’re ruffled, or the Querent has done anything wrong. That can spoil
the harmony you’re building up.
One of two things has happened by this time. Either the cards, the Querent and you
tuned in on something different, or you may have got yourself an uncooperative
Querent. If the latter, you have my sympathy.
Some people want the Reader to perform miracles. They refuse to reveal anything,
having been told “fortune tellers just parrot back things which you have let slip.”
Sad. Unlikely you’ll get anything going with such a person.
Next session I’ll tell you how to deal with such Querents, and we’ll move on down-
stream to the body of the reading. But remember: you’re more a counsellor than a
carnival sideshow, and you need to have that point up front early in your card-
reading career.
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Session Thirteen
Session Thirteen

Honing Your Skills
Although I’m doing my level best to cover all conceivable angles to make you a good
Tarot Reader (and annoying the more impatient with my long–windedness) please
keep one thing in mind.
I AM NOT CARVING ANY STONE TABLETS. Just because I suggest you do a cer-
tain thing in a certain way means only that it works for me, and has worked for
many of the people I’ve held Tarot seminars with.
If you wish to operate in some different manner, be it when shuffling, cutting, laying
out the cards, or in reading them, go with your inner impressions of what feels right.
NO BIG SECRET
You see, somewhere in the back of some people’s minds is the fixed and unshake-
able idea that there is one exquisitely tiny, detailed and exact ‘secret’ which will turn
them into the perfect Tarot Reader.
Please believe me when I tell you the only ‘secret’ to Tarot reading is to be relaxed, to
flow with your feelings and impressions, and to practice, practice, practice.
Everything else is stage-dressing; extras to get you in the right frame of mind. No
one piece of business makes the difference between a good Reader and a mediocre
one.
I often meet this “What’s the exact secret you’re hiding from me?” attitude. Is it the
angle of the fingers when you shuffle? The way your feet are placed? The north-south
alignment of Querent and Reader? Should you look deep into the Querent’s eyes
(soul, cleavage)? Can I wrap up my Tarot deck in silk and say a prayer over it each
night? If I don’t have silk will man-made fibers destroy the magic? What should I do
if the telephone rings during a reading?
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Session Thirteen
All those questions I’ve been asked, and multiple variations on them. Which is fine.
For instance, the answer to the last query is: “Pick up the instrument and say
“Hello” if you wish. Or let it ring until you or the caller lose patience.”
VcToria Comments: If I went for a psychic read and the psychic answered the
phone I would leave. That is the HEIGHT of rudeness. Today most of us have
smart phones/iPhones. If my read is in-person I shut off my phone, leave it in
another room and ask the client to leave theirs either in their vehicle or my
front room. If I am doing a phone read then I let it go to ‘message’ if it beeps in
on the second line.
But when such questions are asked in the rigid, naïve and wide-eyed belief that
knowing the precise answers will open a mystic set of drapes and reveal all, we’re in
cloud cuckoo land. No single aspect of Tarot reading will zap you into perfection.
Basic answer to all such queries is: “If it feels okay, then do it. If it feels awk-
ward, embarrassing or disturbing, forget it.”
Gee, but I’m laying a heavy trip of self-determination on you, right? Make up your
own mind, for it knows better than anyone else what’s right for you.
And maybe this is all a minuscule point for some of you, but I know it will have
meaning for many seekers.
OBSTACLES
Last session I concluded with a description of one of the situations which some
Readers see as total disaster: a Querent you can’t tune in to.
Remember I told you to check on the validity of the spread before doing the reading
proper. If the cards fail to reveal something moderately correct to you about
the Querent’s past or present, then they’re unlikely to reveal an accurate fu-
ture was the way I put it.
If, while doing the Tuning In Check described, you get firm disagreement from the
Querent, pick up the cards and have the Querent reshuffle the whole deck.
That’s as far as we got. Having had the Querent shuffle again, you’re ready to do a
second Celtic Spread.
Carry it out exactly as described last session under the heading THE CELTIC
SPREAD. Extract a Significator – same one, or a different one if you so wish (deci-
sions, decisions!). Same reasoning applies as when you selected the first one.
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Session Thirteen
Ask the Querent to shuffle again. Dropped card, faced card, and other points previ-
ously mentioned apply. Cut the cards (or don’t cut, as we discussed).
Deal out your first 10 cards into the Celtic pattern, saying the same key sentences as
before.
Do the ‘tuning in’ statements and responses again. You’ve now reached a moment
of truth for this particular reading.
If you receive affirmative answers, you can proceed confidently. If the replies are still
negative, the cards are telling you either:
A. The time and place is wrong for getting answers, or

B. Your Querent is ‘wrong’ for you.
In either case your words and actions should be identical. Pick up the 11 cards,
square them away with the rest of the deck, and put them away in their box.
Say something like: “I’m sorry, for some reason the cards aren’t talking to me. Better
to stop right now, otherwise I might mislead you, I’m sure you understand.”
Notice you’re taking the blame. Don’t make the Querent feel in any way at fault.
On the other hand, in the privacy of your own mind, don’t see yourself as a failure.
Don’t panic, believing all your hard-won powers have leaked away into limbo.
The situation can be faintly sticky. Unfortunately there’s a whole crop of weird sto-
ries which persists about card–Readers and psychics.
In this ‘refusal’ situation, the one which your Querent may resurrect in terror is the
old legend where an unidentified young lady (young man, married lady, old man)
went with a group of friends to a card Reader (sometimes a palmist, occasionally it’s
an astrologer).
The lady (gent) reads beautifully for all of the group, predicting marriage, desirable
spouses, riches, health, love and all the rest of the groovy stuff beloved of teacup
Readers and coffee-shop psychics.
When the Reader comes to our heroine (hero) she sadly packs up her cards (gently
closes the Querent’s palm or turns her chart face down, depending on the story-
teller).
“I cannot read for you, my dear,” the seer says. “I am indeed deeply sorry.”
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Session Thirteen
Within hours (minutes, sometimes) the Querent has been killed by a truck, mur-
dered in some particularly grizzly manner, died of cancer (although it used to be TB
half a century ago).
These stories keep up with the times: most recently our poor unfortunate is alleged
to have died from radiation burns from a faulty microwave oven in (variously) Van-
couver, New York and Los Angeles. Did you pick up the story? Certainly no Vancou-
ver hospital has a record of such a case (I checked), whether after a card-reading or
not.
But that’s a heavy trip to weather if your Querent thinks you’re laying that kind of
fate on him/her.
What to do? What can you do? You have a choice. You can do a faked reading re-
gardless, or reassure your client that your inability to read does not mean that she
or he has no future, but merely that you can’t tune into it.
VcToria Comments: I suggest you NEVER do a fake reading. If you cannot

read the person return their money if they paid up front, or re-book another
day for them. If you are doing the Zoom classes I would have told a couple of
these stories to the students from my own clients.
Face it: the more readings you do, the more uncomfortable situations you’ll hit at
times. It’s unavoidable, simply because some people who seek out Readers are at the
end of their rope, having exhausted all counselling, psychiatry, religion, medical aid
and therapy. You become the psychic straw to grasp at.
Does that scare you? Then, right now, apply the old adage about keeping out of the
kitchen if you can’t stand the heat.
Okay: so you’ve terminated the reading, with or without trauma. Maybe tomorrow
you can read up a storm for the same Querent – postpone at least as long as that. If
the reason you’re unable to read for the person is astrological (and it often is) the as-
pects can change in 24 hours.
That deals with the wrong-time-and–place reading. It happens. No reason to sacrifi-

cially burn your favourite Tarot deck. You win some, you lose some – and the meas-
ure of a Reader is the ability to accept the misses and vow to do better, while ac-
cepting the successes with humility and not growing a Messiah attitude!
A final thought here is that sometimes the cards are quietly suggesting the Querent
needs the experience of working through a situation unaided. Many spooky things go
on at deep levels within your relationship with the cards.
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Session Thirteen
SENSATIONALISTS
The foregoing deals with stalled readings, from whatever reason. That includes not
being able to read for sensation-seekers, who I personally find to be a pain in the
Ace, although I must admit to some ambivalence toward them.
Most Querent’s who come to you are genuinely seeking help. But a few merely want
to be entertained.
Now that’s fine if you’re reading professionally and charging a fee for your time. It’s
the Querent’s dollars, and if he or she wishes to treat you as a carnival sideshow,
they’re paying for such a privilege. However, if you’re as busy as most Readers get to
be if they’re good, the seeker after a giggle merely takes up time which could be used
to help someone who genuinely needs direction.
The sensation-seekers are usually easy to recognize. They refuse to say a word. Even
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ has to be squeezed out of them. They want you to do tricks, to tell them
incidents from their lives “which you couldn’t possibly know about.” They’d love it if
you told them the serial number on their credit card, sight unseen.
However, even if you do perform such a party trick, the skeptical response is likely to
be “Someone must have told you that.”
What I try to get across whenever I’m talking about the Tarot is the need for an in-
terchange of co-operation during a reading.
To have a Querent sit dumb and unresponsive is like that person walking into a doc-
tor’s office and refusing to describe the symptoms, or answer questions about his or
her well–being. The doctor would soon become exasperated, and suggest the only
doctor who can diagnose without asking questions is a vet!
As a Reader, you’re not a circus act, putting on a show like Kreskin or Houdini to
amaze the crowds. Some people come to a card reading with exactly that idea in
mind, and that’s a challenge you have to face. My advice is to terminate the reading,
diplomatically if possible but definitely and forcibly if need be, refusing any fee.
By all means, in the right space, have fun with the Tarot. Yes, you can amaze skep-
tics with the cards. And I see nothing ‘wrong’ in toting the deck to a party to do
quickie readings for the sheer joy of living.
But in a serious reading your situation is that of counsellor, not trick psychic. And
the quicker people understand that, the better readings they’ll get from you.
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Session Thirteen
READING
So, you’ve cleared the hurdles. Laid out the Celtic Spread. Tuned in beautifully.
Then here we go with the reading proper.
Relax. Look at the cards in silence for a short while. Focus your attention on Card
No. 1. Lift Card No. 2 to take a closer peek if you wish.
No. 1 (this covers you) represents the general atmosphere surrounding the Querent,
and close influences. Refer to the meanings I gave you until words come easily. State
the meaning and anything connected with it which comes to mind.
Example: Six of Cups. Say: “That’s nice. New things around you. New people, maybe
a new home. Are you due to receive a gift, or did you receive one in the past few
days? And I’d like you to think about some happiness which is connected with the
past: it’s right in the here and now to help you along.”
Don’t worry if you don’t seem to be saying precise things. You’re still putting your
mind and tongue into forward drive. Get some kind of reaction from your Querent:
and you’ll be saying the right things, of course, because you already covered this
card and the next in your Tuning In process. So, add a little to the original exchange,
sketch in a few more details. How? If I say guess like mad, it denigrates the Tarot.
But that’s really what you do: and the Tarot’s stirring of your subconscious makes
your guesses correct.
For the word ‘guess’ substitute ‘use your hunches’ or ‘speak out your intuitions’. If
you’re happier with the longer phase, so be it. But when it comes to the crunch,
what you’re doing is making guesses, in that you’re stating things which have no
logic or background data to guide them. And as you find your Tarot–inspired guesses
becoming more and more accurate, you’ll gain confidence.
Oh dear! Have I crumbled an ivory tower for some? Turned the mystic art of seership
into a game of chance? Maybe I have: but that’s the way it is.
Without peels of thunder, without flashes of lightning I’ve torn down the temple veil
to reveal the chalice within. And (as so many seekers have discovered before), the
chalice is empty.
The awe-inspiring secret about the Tarot is that there is no secret. It’s all guesswork.
But guided guesswork, guided by the pictorial tweaks of the cards. And if you let go
and let the Tarot steer your words, you’ll be right more often than you’re wrong.
And then you’ll be a Tarot Reader.
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Session Thirteen
THOUGHT PAUSE
Pick up the pieces of your shattered illusions. Maybe that came as a shock (maybe it
didn’t). But it’s true…in one sense.
If you suddenly feel that all Tarot Readers have crumbling feet of clay beneath their
mystic robes, I’m glad. That reaction brings you somewhat closer to being able to
read the cards: for although mysterious, the mystery lies not with the Reader but
with the cards.
The Reader is merely the channel, the tool if you like, which is shaped by the cards,
in a two-way interchange.
The cards cannot talk aloud; the Reader can. The Reader may not be able to select
the correct inner voice to foresee the future; the cards can make that selection.
That’s where we’re at: a symbiosis between mind and symbols producing truth.
LET US PROCEED
Back to earth. We were reading Card No.1, remember, before you were rocked by in-
consequential revelations?
Generally, I find Card No.1 concerns events and circumstances which took place
within the last 3 or 4 days; are happening right then; or are due to occur within 3 or
4 days – and the Querent is well aware of such influences around.
Focusing closer than a week in time takes much work and chutzpah. You can be
sure if you say “Your lawyer will call you on Thursday morning,” some bright spark,
somewhen, will come back and say: “Were you ever wrong! He called Thursday after-
noon.”
So, particularly at first, it might be as well not to aim for too much precision in your
initial statements.
You’re through with Card No.1 for the moment. Focus your attention on Card No. 2.
This also concerns the present time, give or take 3 or 4 days. It shows opposing
forces – but not necessarily negative ones.
Granted, an obstruction is usually working against your plans. But be alert for op-
posing forces which may be preventing the Querent from making stupid errors.
Example of a Card No. 2 statement. It happens to be the Five of Pentacles. Say:

“You’re feeling restricted by lack of money – more than normal, that is. Some plan
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Session Thirteen
you were pushing along quietly has come to a halt, either because there’s no cash to
continue or because you can’t get the right co-operation.”
Note how I’ve taken the meaning of the card which you already know and adapted
the meaning to its position.
Once again, you’re covering already investigated ground. Get agreement, clarification
if the Querent wishes to volunteer it. As long as you don’t ‘fish’ for details, it’s usu-
ally good to let the Querent fill you in on details.
And next session we launch into the unknown with Card No. 3 and the remainder.
Keep practicing: we’ll make it yet!
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Session Fourteen
Session Fourteen

The Celtic Spread – Cont’d
Into the Unknown! Fanfare of trumpets, rolls of thunder and flashes of lightning. A
creaking door and arpeggios from heavenly harps.
Come down off that wall, please. I joke. You know by now that letting the Tarot open
up doors to the misty events to come is a calm and relaxed process. Sometimes it
even feels a trifle silly, spouting words while scanning coloured pictures. Only when
your words prove to have broken the veil to the future do you realize what a neat
area you’re into. And there’s no need to feel the hairs on the back of your neck stir:
nothing spooky here – just application of Natural Law.
So relax. For several sessions now we’ve been the sparring around the Celtic
Spread, darting in and touching it, backing off with burned fingers, chatting about
it. You thought we’d never reach this point in time (frankly, I had my doubts also).
But, since I invited you to “join me on a fascinating journey”, we’re ready to truly
read the future. At least, I’m ready to plant seeds which you can nurture into fruitful
shrubs. Are you ready to come along?
QUICK REVIEW
To help refresh your memory I’ve included the diagram of the Celtic Spread again
this session. We’ve read Cards No. 1 and No. 2 when we previously carried out our
Tuning In check.
Card No. 1 (‘This covers you’) describes the general atmosphere surrounding the
Querent, and close influences.
Card No. 2 (‘This crosses you’) points toward opposing forces, which may be posi-
tive or negative.
Card No. 3 (‘This is below you’) is a foundation card. It’s concerned with the here-
and-now, and describes a basic reason why the Querent is where she or he is at
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Session Fourteen
the moment. Often it indicates a long-lasting influence reaching out from the past
which has led directly to the situation the Querent is currently in.
The Celtic Spread
Presumably, if the Querent has sought you out, a problem exists which needs direc-
tion and (hopefully) a solution. So, Card No. 3 gives you an early clue to why the
problem exists.
If you’re doing a ‘fun’ reading at a party, or you’ve been cornered by a sensation-

seeker, as I described with considerable ambivalence a while ago, treat Card No. 3
similarly, but you needn’t lean quite so heavily on the ‘problem’ angle. In such cases,
No. 3 can describe some person or circumstance which has helped the Querent,
whereas in ‘problem answering’ readings No. 3 is usually the cause or stumbling
block.
EXAMPLE SPREAD
I’ve shuffled the cards and laid out a sample spread this session, addressed to you,
the student. I’m using it as an example – and it will, of course, contradict earlier ref-
erences to spreads. Last session for instance, I said Card No. 2 was Five of Pentacles.
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Session Fourteen
This is a fresh spread, used as an example, and has no connection with previous
references. As I name the cards and their positions, find them in your own deck and
build up this spread. You can then check your hunches against mine.
One thing I’m sure of. Somewhere out there is a Reader who will latch on to this lay-
out and find answers to upcoming problems. The Tarot rarely misses a trick: if
someone can be helped, they get helped, and I’m willing to stake my second-best
thurible that somehow these cards have traveled up the time path, ‘seen’ you need-
ing help around Christmas, ‘known’ that you’ll sign up for these sessions, and tuned
in my head to write words which will smooth your way.
So maybe YOU (the person reading this session) are the person described in this ex-
ample. Hope so – and if that turns out to be so, I hope you’ll write and tell me.
The Significator, which fell out while I was shuffling, is Queen of Pentacles: a fe-
male over 18, probably married or cohabiting, dark hair and eyes. Is that you?
Card No. 1 is The Empress: are you wishing for the impossible?
Card No. 2 is The Magician: looks as if a powerful person (a male) is holding you
back from achieving an ambition. Basically, he’s employing logic, but there’s an un-
dercurrent: is he using emotional blackmail because he’s afraid you’ll eclipse him in
some sphere?
Card No. 4 is Two of Cups. Did you begin a new friendship (even launch a torrid af-
fair) sometime since early summer? That would be a significant relationship which
has affected your life, not just any old “Hi-goodbye” party meeting.
Those queries, as you will recall, would be the basic ‘tuning in’ questions, and if they
didn’t fit you’d proceed as previously described.
EXCELSIOR!
So now it’s into the unknown future, going beyond the tuning in process
Card No. 3. Here it’s King of Swords. You appear to have a long-standing connection
with a married male, who has coloured your reactions to the present. I feel strongly
that this is your father, a loyal but often hasty person. Has your shrink perhaps re-
ferred to an Oedipus complex? Somehow you have to break a tie, forget an incident
from the past connected with this man, because it’s causing inappropriate reactions
in your present situation.
Typically, this could describe a preadolescent incestuous relationship causing fear,

frigidity and insecurity with your present partner. It could even cause dissatisfaction
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Session Fourteen
in your relationship as you subconsciously compare a tender and gentle relationship

from the past with the more forthright one existing between you and your spouse.
Note: tread warily in sexual affairs when reading the cards. This ‘New Age’ of
permissiveness has developed more (not less) sexual hang-ups in many people, and
they can react disturbingly if you trespass. If sex is discussed during a reading, try
to get the Querent to phrase and comment in his or her terms, while you merely
prompt.
And if that King of Swords is not your father it could be a teenage unrequited love
for some idol (maybe a movie or a rock star) with the resulting fantasies being laid on
your spouse, who will undoubtedly fail to come up to the romantic fantasy image
you’re nursing.
PENDING FATE
So to Card No. 5 (No. 4 we already looked at as it concerns the past). Not too bright
in this spread: it’s Three of Swords. No. 5 reflects an event or influence pending
which the Querent is probably aware of and is anticipating (or dreading). It can
be a real event, or a hallucinatory one which exists only in the Querent’s
imagination. This card says you’re expecting separation, spats, sorrow and up-
heaval.
To save time and eliminatory questions, you’ll find the Querent will often volunteer
information here. A brief pause and a questioning eyebrow is all you may need. If
you’re close to the mark, you’ll often be saved many minutes of further analysis as
you get the meat of the problem handed to you. That’s okay – I don’t consider that
unfair ‘fishing’…you need, after all, every bit of help you can get.
But if you’re well in tune, you can often identify the problem with fair certainty with-
out help. If you don’t ‘feel’ it, and the Querent doesn’t give further data, proceed at
once to Card No. 6 which will either confirm Card No. 5 or deny it. In the latter case,
consider if No. 5 is an imaginary (but no less powerful) fear or hope.
In our example spread, Card No. 6 is Seven of Pentacles. This position always de-
scribes a coming event, which is relevant to the problem or life path being con-
sidered. I’ve found it happens within 28 days from the date of the reading as a fair
rule of thumb (although if I’ve ever read for you, I may have said 21 days, or even
taken a flyer at naming a precise date).
Here you unseen Reader is the ‘guinea pig’ for this spread, my guess is it’s late No-
vember now, so before the end of 1977 (not long now!) this card will have proven it-
self.
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Session Fourteen
VcToria Comments: As I said this is my late father’s work and although I

have changed a few words here and there I left this in so you can see that it
was written in 1977.
So I suggest your Three of Swords fears are tied closely to your material security
when we look at Card No. 6. In coming weeks, do see that everyone gets their fair
share of money, goods and love. Part of your worry is whether bills will get paid, but
there’s more here. Has someone threatened to walk out and leave you destitute?
Looks like a fairly unnecessary worry, glancing at the rest of this spread.
PERSONAL STATUS
Card No. 7 now which describes the Querent’s feelings and status, plus fears and
uncertainties, if any.
This happens to be King of Cups. You’re a creative person, religious (or metaphysi-
cal), involved somehow in the arts, and something of a quiet radical. Suggesting
you’re a Libber could be putting it too strongly, but your outlook conflicts with The
Magician, Card No. 2, who is strong-willed, ambitious and believes (although you’d
never get him to admit it) in the barefoot-and-pregnant philosophy.
Further note: See how you’re tying meanings back to cards already dealt with?
That’s your greatest challenge: integrating meanings as you go along, so you don’t
totally contradict yourself when cards have opposing meanings.
ENVIRONMENT
Card No. 8 next, tells of the home, family, work and social environment. Here we
find influences and opinions which are being directed at the Querent, having
connections with the problem.
In our sample, No. 8 came out as Knight of Wands. Decision for me, the Reader of
the cards. Is this a young man or a situation? The definition of this card I laid on
you gives a choice. Follow your hunch!
Mine says it’s both. You have a son with brown hair and eyes (guess your spouse
may be light-haired as you’re so dark): your son is an integral part of your worry,
and maybe he’s old enough to express his own childish worries about the upcoming
turmoil. I think he’s picking up your distress at a subconscious level: do make the
effort to be happy and carefree when he’s around. He doesn’t need adult hassles yet.
You’ll find if you can handle such an outlook that his grades will improve, and that
distressing habit of his will cease.
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Session Fourteen
But also the Knight talks to me of a change of home, and with you fussing about
bills (Card No. 6) perhaps a moonlight flit is being considered? Are you worried your
spouse is going to skip, and leave you literally holding the baby?
MENTAL STATE
Whatever, Card No. 9 may help us. It concerns the Querent’s mental state, and
the best that can be achieved in the Querent’s opinion. However, Card No. 10
may suggest a totally different (and better) outcome.
N0. 9 in the sample spread is Eight of Pentacles. You’re learning a trade, profession
or art, brushing up on skills partly learned in the past, or never given the chance to
blossom before. Your chief concern is that the coming changes (and opposition from
your spouse) will prevent you following up on this, something you wanted to do all
your life.
The cards say you will follow it up but you have to modify your aims somewhat. Note
the very first question I asked you with Card No. 1. Perhaps you’re being a bit too
optimistic and selfish, reaching out for a manifest impossibility. No wonder your
spouse is coming down heavily on your plans: he thinks you’ll neglect the home and
family (and him) in pursuing your course.
So, compromise a little. Don’t abandon your dream, but slow down a bit, take it a
step at a time, and let other people get used to your ideas gradually, so they’ll know
they aren’t going to lose you completely.
Looks like a reflected consideration: we started by seeing you thinking your spouse
was going to leave you. Are you sublimating your resentment at not getting what you
want NOW by thinking you’ll quit the family circle, and quelling your resulting guilt
by pretending it’s not you who’s leaving, but your spouse?
THE RESULT
Finally, Card No.10, the outcome, which knits together all the previous mean-
ings.
Here we see Wheel of Fortune. Funny how the meaning I gave in the list in Session
Four fits so aptly. “Act in silence. Persevere. Reach out and take what is in reach at
this time.”
Yes, you will achieve your fondest hope, and hit the target you’re aiming for. But not
as instantly as you wish. Others need to be considered.
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Session Fourteen
Take time to consider. Then get together with your spouse and plan the coming
weeks. Find out what he wants to do, as well as somewhat selfishly announcing
your intentions (are you an Aries?).
Get into line with each other. Changes are coming, and relocation can be one of
them. Be prepared so you don’t have to react impulsively to sudden alterations.
Unless you precipitate it, I think your worries about separation are unfounded. That
Wheel of Fortune is a fine card to see at No. 10: I believe you’ll find coincidence and
preparation will carry you smoothly through the coming weeks. It may be tight,
money wise, but all concerned will come through, having achieved part of what they
wanted, with due consideration of the needs and wishes of others.
‘TWAS BRIEF
That, in almost telegram form despite the digressions, is a very abbreviated interpre-
tation of a random spread which came up on my desk just before I sat down to write
this piece.
A decent Tarot reading takes at least 30 minutes. An hour is better. Two hours is
possible, and I have been known to still be saying (allegedly) helpful things after a
four hour late evening reading has taken us through to a pallid dawn.
So, all I’ve been able to do here is outline, sketch in main details, offer lines of pur-
suit. When you have a Querent facing you and the exchange is going well, you’re in a
much more advantageous position. You can zero in precisely and the longer you read
(within reason) and the more relaxed the two of you get, the more helpful revelations
will spark from the cards.
BEST CONDITIONS
It’s possible to do a Tarot reading in the middle of Times Square at rush-hour. Such
is your eventual involvement with the cards, little short of someone yelling ‘Fire!’ in
your ear will disturb you. Outside interferences fade into limbo, and it’s just you, the
Querent and the cards knitted into a trinity of knowing.
I suggest you begin in a different manner. It’s mandatory for most beginners to need
peace and quiet to get in communication with the cards. Regular background noises
are okay, such as traffic or a radio or TV several rooms away.
But you need a bubble of quiet to work in, unless you’re an exception such as a
dude I know in London, England who can’t read unless he’s wearing a pair of head-
phones with the Stones nearly blasting his eardrums to scrap.
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Session Fourteen
He reads into a tape recorder, and then plays it back to see what he said. Naturally,
exchanging questions with a Querent just isn’t for him. But that’s his trip, he’s a fine
Reader…and as I said before, if it works, use it. If it’s uncomfortable, stop now.
Quiet. Relaxation before reading. Burn incense. Play peaceful music (but not if your
Querent hates your selection). Smoke if you wish: but treat le drug of any kind cau-
tiously. You’re trying to keep a line open and clear. You may think, at the time, that
you’ve solved the problems of the Universe while reading in a cocaine haze. After-
wards you find it was all duck–billed platitudes.
Experiment for greatest clarity. After all, you’re tuning in a cosmic radio set. Some-
thing will work for you: when it does stick with it.
Until next session.
VcToria Comments: NO DRUGS please. If you have to use drugs you are not
a true Reader at all. Yes, even using pot is prohibited. Learn to open up the
areas of the subconscious with your own powers. PLUS, you leave open many
channels for not so good entities to step in. I will have much to say on this as I
offer ‘live’ classes or one-on-one video conference sessions.
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Session Fifteen
Session Fifteen

Three Simple Layouts
Excelsior! Layouts this session. I’ve received many requests for different layouts to
try, other than the Celtic Spread which we’ve investigated so far.
Thus I’ve put together a bunch of ways of spreading the cards, from simple through
to the most extensive one I’ve ever tried. These ‘work’ for me, which is why I’ve in-
cluded them. A multitude of ways of throwing the cards exists, and if you’re really
into Tarot reading, it would pay you to check every book you find on the subject, be-
cause every writer finds new layouts, and one of those may be exactly the pattern
which tweaks your inner mind most efficiently.
I’m going to hand you three ultra-simple (but deceptively deep) layouts, and having
already given you the ‘mid-range’ Celtic Spread, we’ll take a look at Etteila’s Throw
(provided I can figure some way of transferring Papus’ complicated instructions to
the printed pages here), and close with a personal modification of Master Therion’s
Method. Then, when I’ve laid the promised personal modifications and additions to
the Celtic Spread which I promised you, I believe we’re at the end of the series. So,
we look good for about three more sessions including this one.
So let’s get very simple and basic, and take a look at a spread which uses just four
cards from the Minor Arcana only.
BASIC CELTIC CROSS
This little spread is particularly useful for quick answers, particularly on mundane
matters. As you know, the Major Arcana tends to illustrate outside forces, or big
events in life. By using the Minor Arcana alone, we focus on day-to-day activities, the
beat and burden of material life.
So, the first step is to lay your deck face up on the table and sort out all the Minor
Arcana cards, putting the Major Arcana to one side.
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Session Fifteen
Note: When you reassemble the full deck to use it for spreads needing both Arcana,
make sure all 78 cards are thoroughly shuffled together.
Having found the 56 Minor Arcana cards, shuffle them, in the recommended calm
and serene atmosphere. Treat the shuffle as I told you before. In previous sessions,
the ‘how’ of that was instructed and I’m not about to go through all that caper again.
Square up the deck when you’re ready, and cut them once. Or don’t cut them, as
discussed in that same previous session.
This spread which is shown in Figure 1 needs no Significator.
Fig. 1
Deal the top four cards on the table, in the numbered order, anti-clockwise. The first
one on the left (at 9 o’clock, if you prefer); the second one at the bottom (at 6 o’clock);
the third one on the right (at 3 o’clock) and the fourth card at the top (at 12 o’clock).
If you’ve dealt them face down, turn them over, one at a time, in the same order that
you dealt them out.
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Session Fifteen
Four cards are looking at you, and they represent a storyline. But hold on one mo-
ment: although you dealt anti-clockwise, you read them in clockwise order.
So, the reading starts at No.1, goes next to No. 4, then to No. 3 and finally to No. 2.
I’ve tried to indicate those two directions with arrows in the figure.
These four cards are concerned with a pressing problem, a situation which needs
answers. All you have to do is read the story!
No. 1 represents the start or basic reason for the existing situation. No. 4 tells you
what its greatest effects will be. No. 3 suggests a solution, and No. 2 represents the
final result, if the suggested solution is followed.
The Tarot will direct you toward the most harmonious path, in the existing circum-
stances. Few really knotty problems have an instant and simple solution, so please
refrain from expecting miracles. Some people have such faith in the cards, they not
only expect them to offer solutions, they also expect the Tarot to magically dissolve
the problems. Unlikely: you are offered direction (which you can decide to accept or
ignore); then it’s up to you to do the work.
I guess an example would help. I’ll open up my own deck, here and now, in the mid-
dle of typing this piece, and see what comes up and see what the cards suggest. Un-
fortunately, right now I’m unable to think of any big problems I have personally: I’m
running somewhat late with this edition of Starcraft (because I’ve been flying around
recording TV programs and getting ready to go to Seattle to make a presentation to a
group, that’s why!). And maybe it would be nice if a couple of outstanding cheques
from publishers were actually in my bank balance, instead of existing currently as
promises that ‘they’ll be along soon.’ Apart from those, I seem to be problem-less:
but let’s see what the cards have to say.
First thing I did as I started to shuffle was to drop the whole deck on the floor.
Maybe that means something? But I’ve creaked around under my desk and retrieved
them.
They’re now shuffled and the top four are laid beside me on my desk.
No. 1 is Two of Wands. No. 2 is King of Swords. No. 3 is Ten of Cups, and No. 4 is
Six of Swords.
Beginning to read No. 1, and extracting the simple definition I gave you for that card,
we find it saying “the basic reason for the current situation is because you’ve been
starting a project, planning a journey.”
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Session Fifteen
Too true; that Seattle presentation can result in Maiya and myself flying off to Den-
mark, Spain and Morocco next month. Yes, I have been spending time on that plan-
ning, and maybe letting Starcraft preparation slip. I can accept that, so presumably
this little spread is suggesting a solution to getting my writing schedules back on the
rails.
But notice one single word in the Two of Wands definition which I have not yet men-
tioned. Along with the project and journey reference (and I’m referring to the mean-
ings which were in the previous sessions) was the single word ‘Generosity.’ Needs
looking at: is Starcraft running a trifle late because I’m being too generous to myself
(with leisure, maybe) or too generous to others with my time? Or, a very viable alter-
native, are we getting answers to both problems? I said I was waiting for cheques
which should have been with me by now. Perhaps the cards are saying I’m being too
generous by waiting, and should bear down harder on my debtors.
We shall see, as we proceed to read the next card, which is No. 4, the greatest effect
card.
Six of Swords definition, extracted directly from session Nine, reads: “Journey
across deep water, possibly to a new home. Success after troubles.”
So, if I don’t catch up on Starcraft, or if I fail to chase after money due, I am des-
tined to journey. But those deep waters do not have to be the ocean: recall that the
cards can speak allegorically. I could navigate the deep (and no doubt stormy waters)
to another occupation. But I am at least assured that I’ll be successful in such an
event, although it will not be easy.
So, let’s look at No. 3 for the solution. 10 of Cups from previous sessions has a co-
gent word in its definition: ‘Peacemaking.’ It also says “Lasting happiness and con-
tentment. Love, friendship, lasting success.”
So, I’m being told firmly not to rock any boats, not to get angry or aggressive. The so-
lution to the problem is to rely on positive thinking, reaching out in friendship, not
in impulsive anger. “Co-opt the aid of friends, and the situation will be resolved,”
says Card No. 3.
So, if I do that, what does Card No. 2 to presage for the outcome? King of Swords
means “Authority. Strength. Possible lawsuit pending.”
Well, now, there are a multitude of interpretations possible. I leave you to ponder
them. But personally, I’m going to take a long hard look at my writing contracts!
So, there you have a minor example of how that spread operates. Try it a few times,
and see if it harmonizes with your psychology, methods and ideas. Some people find
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Session Fifteen
that simple throw exactly what they need and build a magnificent Tarot reading
reputation on that fourfold spread alone.
BASIC CROSS AND MAJORS
This happy little six-card spread is particularly designed for a quick look at the fu-
ture, specifically answering your question: “What kind of day will I have tomorrow?”
You’ll notice, if you look at Figure 2, that this layout is the same as the Basic Celtic
Cross, except that two extra cards, No. 5 and 6 have been added. Those last two are
Major Arcana cards.
Fig. 2
The way to lay this spread is to get your first four cards on the table exactly as you
did for the Basic Celtic Spread. Then pick up the Major Arcana, shuffle those, and
after cutting (if you wish) deal the top two cards into positions No. 5 and 6.
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Session Fifteen
This time Card No. 1 one describes the overall influences occurring from around
6:00 a.m. through noon. No. 4 covers your afternoon and early evening, through to
6:00 p.m. Card No. 3 goes from 6:00 p.m. to midnight, while No. 2 is for late birds,
and describes the vibes going down from midnight through to the following dawn.
Finally, the two Major Arcana cards describe the general influences operating all day
– often outside pressures over which you have little control.
A fascinating little picture, and one which can give hours of amusement – and also
vast quantities of cogent direction, if you’re prepared to listen to the cards.
As before, I’ll reshuffle the cards, and ask them what kind of a day I’m going to have
tomorrow.
They’re shuffled, and laid out. No. 1 is Five of Wands. No. 2 is Queen of Wands. No.
3 is Nine of Wands (strange to get three Wands consecutively). No. 4 breaks the suit
sequence, being King of Cups. No. 5 is Judgment, and No. 6 is Justice.
So, what’s my morning going to be like, up until noon? Pretty sticky! Verbal battles
and obstacles, says that cards definition. Stand up for your rights and you will over-
come. Sounds like a busy and harassed morning: but at least I’m forewarned!
Is the afternoon any better? No. 4 speaks of liberality, creativity, arts and religion. So
maybe, after battling through before lunch, I can get to the typewriter again, and
find the words flowing without interruption.
And after supper? No. 3 is not too hopeful. A pause in the battle, it says (thank
heavens, I could use an evening’s rest). “Wait for better conditions,” the card also in-
dicates. So, I’ll do just that, reclining in my favourite armchair, and letting the world
go hang.
But if I stay up for the late, late movie, what does No. 2 suggest for the wee sma’
hours? Should be a great night! Woman, creative in mind and body, says the defini-
tion. Sincerely hope the cards are referring to Maiya (my wife) or she’ll be a mite
miffed! Success, love of home and horticulture (don’t forget to give the rubber plant a
late night snack!). Generosity, kindness. Say, if I can keep my eyes open tomorrow
night, it looks like the hassles of the day will be all worthwhile!
And the Major Arcana, overall indications for tomorrow? Hardly needs interpretation:
No. 5 says, “Forgetfulness or laziness is the obstacle, but the mission can be ful-
filled,” while No. 6 announces, “Good and bad are equally opposed. The next action
will bring a strong reaction.”
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Session Fifteen
So, if I keep my tongue between my teeth, keep my nose to the grindstone, and make
sure any decisions or actions I take are practical and well-thought, I can work my
way through to the promised late evening peace.
See how it all works?
So, to close out this session herewith, a complete little seven-card spread which you
can use at the beginning of your Querent-Reader career. It has all the necessary
elements of basic reading, and even when you go on to spreads which use more
cards, you could keep this one in mind for ‘quickie’ readings, or just plain practice
sessions.
BASIC CONSULTING SPREAD
The pattern and beginnings are identical to the preceding two spreads. Four Minor
Arcana cards dealt into the 1, 2, 3, 4 positions. Then three Major Arcana’s laid as
shown in positions A, B and C.
Fig. 3
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Session Fifteen
The seven positions refer to various aspects of life. No. 1 one is the start, or the rea-
son why you’re sitting looking at the cards: it describes recent conditions which have
led up to this reading. No. 4 is the peak, or coming events which are most important
to the lifestyle of the Querent.
Pay close attention to this one: frequently it may seem to be irrelevant to the ques-
tions being asked, but as time passes, you’ll invariably find the Tarot was pointing to
an area needing attention, even if you and the Querent thought it was unimportant
at the time.
No. 3 three points out existing and coming obstacles and problems, and by expand-
ing on that cards meaning, solutions will also come to light.
No. 2 indicates what the results of No. 3’s advice can be. If you feel optimistic about
this card, it’s showing you the happy results of making the right decisions in coming
days or weeks. But if you’re unhappy about No. 2, its indications are tied into upsets
which can result from ignoring problems, or taking impulsive ill-considered actions.
Turning to the Major Arcana card, Card A concerns the past, and influences from
preceding months or years. Recall the fact that the Majors are outside influences,
perhaps people, and even natural forces. Card A will describe cogent circumstances
which were the basic reason why the Querent is where he or she is today.
Card B concerns itself with outside influences in the present, give or take about
three days. You can be sure those influences will need attention, decisions, or ac-
tions to harmonize with them.
Card C is the future. External forces which will shape the Querent’s coming path,
and they’ll need adapting to or cooperating with, depending if they accord with the
Querent’s desires and plans.
Give this one a try. It’s a fine beginners spread: it doesn’t confuse you with a multi-
tude of pictures to look at, and it forces you to focus your head on a minimum of
stimuli, instead of flooding you with a multitude of impressions which can take
much practice to sort out and express clearly.
USEFUL THOUGHTS
And under that somewhat presumptuous heading, I’ll close this session with a few
more points to watch as you’re doing your readings. These apply to all readings, not
just the ones we’ve been looking out here.
I’ll try to express the inexpressible; the frame of mind you attempt to drop into as
you’re reading for a Querent.
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Session Fifteen
Initially, you’ll deal with the cards one at a time, attaching their meanings to their
positional indications. But once you’ve gone through that routine, you can begin let-
ting the cards do the talking.
Relax. Sit back and look at the whole spread, letting your eyes drift slightly out of fo-
cus, so the layout is faintly blurred. Listen to what thoughts come drifting up in your
mind, and don’t try to force a particular subject to become their subject. Allow new
ideas to float up, and speak them out, making a kind of running commentary of your
thoughts.
You have one ‘censorship’ idea to keep in mind. As the concepts form and you find
words to express them, you must ask yourself: “Will what I am going to say offend,
frighten or deeply disturb the Querent?”
The decision is yours. If you feel the Querent will get uptight about what you’re going
to say, rephrase it, wrap it up in words a little, hold off referring to the subject until
the Querent speaks about it.
Why? Because a tense and agitated Querent will throw vibes into the reading which
you don’t need. That’s the only reason, and your ability to maintain the calmness
throughout a reading is a clear measure of your Tarot reading skills.
Until next session.
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Session Sixteen
Session Sixteen

The Full Deck:
Etteila Spread
You asked for it, you got it! Sonja Cooper wrote some while ago and asked: “If you
have 78 cards in the Tarot deck, why don’t you use all of them in a spread?”
Answer: some Readers do, and this time I’m attempting to show you how Etteila
evolved a spread which uses up to 67 of the 78 cards.
Do you have an afternoon and evening to spare? For this spread is (to put it mildly)
extensive. If you can make it work for you, you’ll have crowned heads of Europe
banging on your door: at least Etteila did.
The spread breaks down into four processes, each with its individual deal. You read
them all, at length, and by the time you’re through you’ll have covered the Querent’s
entire material, mental and spiritual environment, uncovered the past, present and
future, and probably talked yourself hoarse.
Etteila, by the way, was a French hairdresser who invented this spread around the
time of the French Revolution. He was originally called Aliette, which name he re-
versed, and promptly became known as one of the Great Masters of the Tarot. If you
find this exposition too brief, Etteila‘s method is described in the space of some 50
pages in ‘The Tarot of the Bohemians’ written by Gerard Encausse (pen-named
Papus) and translated by a Mr. A. P. Morton.
To try this spread you need a fairly large table or floor space and a wet Saturday af-
ternoon when Wide World of Sports is showing your least favourite contests.
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Session Sixteen
Ready? First deal coming up. The Querent shuffles the whole deck of 78 cards, cuts
them once and hands them to the Reader. The Reader deals them face down one at a
time into three piles from left to right, as shown in diagram one.
The squares represent cards, the numbers inside the squares show how many cards
are in a particular pile, and the numbers above the squares indicate order of laying
them down and will (hopefully) keep you on track of what I’m blithering about.
So, you now have three piles, each with 26 cards in them. As indicated in Diagram 2,
pick up the centre pile (2) and put it face down to the right of you. You’re through
with that bunch until we reach Diagram 7.
Pick up piles 1 and 3, put them together, and let the Querent shuffle these 52 cards,
cut them once, and return them to the Reader.
Again, deal them into three piles face down, from left to right. You end up with three
piles of 17 cards, and one spare which you placed above the three piles. Diagram 3
shows the end of that step, with the three piles numbered 4, 5 and 6.
Pick up the centre pile (5) and put it beside pile No. 2, on its left. Diagram 4 shows
that small process.
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Session Sixteen
Pick up piles 4 and 6, put them together and let the Querent shuffle and cut them
once. Same process again; the Reader takes the cards and deals them from left to
right, face down, into three piles of 11 each. You’ll have another odd card left over:
that goes face down on top of the other spare card you found in the previous deal.
You now have a set-up as shown in Diagram 5, with piles 7, 8 and 9.
You guessed it! Pick up the centre pile (8) and place it to the left of the two piles (5
and 2) which you’ve already laid out to the right. That step shows in Diagram 6.
Pick up the spare two cards and piles 7 and 9, laying them aside. You won’t need
them for a while.
Now we come to Diagram 7. This time the numbers on the cards represent the order
in which you lay them down. Pick up pile No. 2 (26 cards) and deal it, one card at a
time face up, from right to left in front of you. Deal out pile No. 5 (17 cards) in a line
below the 26. Then do the same with pile No. 8 below the other two rows. You end
up with an inverted blunt pyramid of cards as Diagram 7 shows.
Go ahead and read them! The row nearest to you will show material conditions, the
centre row shows mental states, and the long top row shows what’s going on at in-
ner, spiritual levels. Check if material is at war with mental and spiritual; see where
DEATH is (if it’s not in the discards): changes will come in the appropriate area.
Read the cards one at a time or as a group. Zero in on a few if you wish: this spread
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Session Sixteen
throws the Reader on her or his own devices, and truly separates the persons from
the young persons!
Carry on until inspiration runs dry. But not too dry: there’s a lot more to come after
this.
Ready to proceed? So, gather all the cards up, turn them face down, square them
into a full deck along with the 24 cards you didn’t use in the first deal.
The Querent shuffles, and cuts once. Reader takes the deck and deals off the first 17
cards from the top, face up one at a time, from right to left, exactly like the ‘Mental’
row shown in Diagram 7.
Now take the 18th card (which is the next one ready to come off the top of the deck
in your hand) and compare it with the bottom card of the deck. Lay these two side by
side and compare them. If their meanings are in sympathy; if they’re the same suit,
or the same number, then you’re doing well. The vibes are good. But if the meanings
are in total conflict, don’t expect to get too accurate on this step.
Whatever, start at the right end of the line of 17 cards, and read a story based on the
symbols and your intuitions. What kind of a story? Not important: get laid back and
talk. Really and truly this is part of the tuning in process: the true reading comes
later.
Pick up all the cards, square them into a deck and push back the furniture. You
need space for this third deal.
Select a Significator, exactly as I explained when we dealt with the Celtic Spread. Put
it face up in the middle of the table, floor, lawn, bed or wherever you’ve found space.
The Querent shuffles the 77 remaining cards, cuts them once, and hands them to
the Reader who deals them face up, one at a time into the pattern shown in Diagram
8. Just follow the numbers, placing the spare eleven cards face down in the center
where I’ve sketched them.
The Reader now picks up the cards two at a time, and reads, starting with the Past.
Pairs are No. 1 and 34; 2 and 35; 3 and 36 and so on to 11 and 44. Next read the
Present; similar pairs, starting with 23 and 45, continuing through to 33 and 55.
Careful with the Future. The order changeth! Pairs are 12 and 66; 13 and 65; 14
and 64; through to the last pair, which are 22 and 56.
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Session Sixteen
Diagram 8
That’s the main reading over. If you still have words to give, proceed to the fourth
(and last) deal. Gather up all 78 cards and have the Querent shuffle, and cut once.
The Reader (somewhat wearily I suspect) deals out the first seven cards from right to
left in a line, face down.
Turn them all over and read the final installment of the story. End of reading, and
that’s almost enough to load your head with for this time.
But please don’t be misled by my apparent lightness of treatment. This is an incredi-

ble spread, and can give narrative answers which astound and help.
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Session Sixteen
Back next time with an even more astounding spread: The Master Therion Method,
modified a trifle to fit my head and the printed page.
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Session Seventeen
Session Seventeen

The Master Therion’s
Method (Modified)
The Master Therion’s Method (Modified)
Take a tight hold of my hand. If you and I can survive this session together, we’re
over the hump.
Not until I began drawing up the diagrams for this installment and began scribbling
notes did I realize what a challenge I’d set us both.
This time we’re going step-by-step through THE MASTER THERION’S METHOD of
Tarot reading. It’s not quite the same as the original: in the space we have to guide
us along, I’ve made a few modifications. The Old Man, resting in his English grave,
will understand, I know.
But if you can hack this method, and start getting good at it, you’re made. Streets
ahead of any other Tarot Reader I’ve ever met; a baseball pitch ahead of me, and I’m
no slouch (they tell me) at uncovering the Mysteries of the cards.
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Session Seventeen
You see, this multi-deal spread has built in checks and balances. It proves whether
you’re tuned in or just faking it. And if you’re not tuned in, the cards say stop, go
practice some more, today isn’t the day to look clearly into the future for the Quer-
ent.
All set to give it a spin? So set up your table, sit down opposite the Querent and let’s
be having you, (whatever that phrase my old Army sergeant used to use may mean).
Mutually decide on a Significator. I’ve gone on enough about the how and why of
that little process. But having decided on it and announced its identity, leave it in
the deck as the Querent shuffles.
When ready, the Reader takes the deck, ready for the:
First Deal: Influences of the Present Time
Put the deck face down in front of you. Look at Diagram 2.
Cut the deck, picking up about half of it and putting it down to the left of the rest of
the deck, at position 3 in the diagram. You’ve left a space between the two piles, wide
enough to put other cards into.
Now cut about half of pile 1 to the left, putting the cards into position 2. Cut half of
the second pile you made (now at position 3) and put the pile at position 4.
Follow my words and the diagram: it’s not half as complicated as it sounds.
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Session Seventeen
You’ve cut once, making two piles, then cut each of those two piles, once each, mak-
ing four piles of cards in front of you.
Pick up pile 1 and deal the cards face up, from right to left. Do the same with pile 2,
below the first row. Piles 3 and 4 are similarly treated, and you end up with four
rows of face up cards, as shown in Diagram 3.
Scan the rows to see which one the Significator has fallen in. The Reader now tells
the Querent the subject of his most urgent queries, the reason why this reading is
being carried out.
This is the first check. If the Reader is correct, remove the other three rows, stack
them together, and lay the partial deck face down, out of the way.
If you’re totally wrong, stop the spread now, and go do something else: the Tarot isn’t
opening up today on the particular subject, or isn’t prepared to talk to you and the
Querent.
Need an example? You’ve spread the four rows, and the Significator, maybe a Page of
Cups signifying your blonde young Querent, is in row 4, the one nearest you.
You say: “The questions you most urgently need answering concerns money, mate-
rial things and your assets.”
If the Querent agrees, you can proceed. But if he or she says; “No way: I was wonder-
ing if the groovy dude I met last night will be a lifelong lover for me,” then you’re out
of luck. Stop: you proceed at the peril of getting totally misguiding replies.
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Session Seventeen
So let’s assume you got an eager confirmation (or a grudging nod of assent) when
you made your statement. You’ve cleared away the surplus cards, and have a row of
maybe 20 cards looking at you.
Make a note of how many cards are in this row. You’ll need that figure later in the
spread.
Decision point reached. Which way does the picture on the Significator face? To the
left or to the right?
That’s easy in some cases: Knight of Swords not only faces left, he’s galloping that
way. Page of Wands is undeniably looking to the right. So is the Queen of that suit.
But how about the King of Swords? He looks us firmly between the eyes. And Wheel
of Fortune has no particular left or right orientation.
If you cannot decide on a direction there, assume it’s left.
Now you’re going to count along the cards in the decided direction, starting with the
Significator to work as ‘One’; the next one beside it is ‘Two’ and so on.
How far you count depends on what you chose as a Significator.
In the Minor Arcana, count up to its face value for all cards except Ace, for which
you count 11. For a Page count 7, and for King, Queen or Knight, count 4.
If your Significator is a Major Arcana card, count 12 for all except The Fool, Hanged
Man or Judgment, for which three you count 3; and count 7 for The Magician, High
Priestess, The Empress, Wheel of Fortune, The Tower, Sun and World.
If as you’re counting you reach the end of the row, merely pick up the count at the
other end.
Now read the story of those cards in the order you counted them. Remember this is
present time, and your story could be entitled: “The Beginning of the Affair.”
Without prompting from the Querent you’ll proceed to describe what the cards tell
you about present conditions.
To fill out more details, when you’ve finished looking at the ‘counted’ cards, continue
to read in pairs, rather as you did with Etteila’s Throw described last time.
Pick up the cards which lie on either side of the Significator and add to your narra-
tive by what they tell you. Then use the two cards which were second-to-left and
second-to-right of the Significator, and look at them for conflict, agreement or fur-
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Session Seventeen
ther inspiration. Carry on doing this pairing and talking until you’ve used the whole
row. If there happen to be an odd number of cards in the row, you’ll use them all,
and they’ll pair off precisely. If you’ve got an even number of cards you’ll have one
left over, unread, in the pairing. Ignore it.
We reach another Moment of Truth. It’s the Querent’s turn now. He or she is in-
vited to judge how accurate your reading is so far.
If the verdict is that you’re totally and hopelessly wrong, stop the spread, pack up
the deck and abandon the search for today.
You’ve climbed that hurdle? Fine! Then let us proceed to the:
Second Deal: Development
We’re about to really lean on your Tarot reading powers: you have to overcome odds
of 11 to 1 in order to be sure you’re still on the right wavelength.
Collect all 78 cards together, and have

the Querent shuffle them, keeping his
or her questions in mind. When she’s
through shuffling (I’m tired of this al-
ternative ‘he-she-or-it’ trip: let’s have a
nice lady as a Querent henceforward),
she can cut the deck once if she wishes
to.
Square off the whole deck as the Quer-

ent hands it to you, and deal all 78 one
at a time, face down (no peeking) in a
circle of 12 piles as shown in the dia-
gram 4.
Astrological buffs will recognize the 12

houses of the Zodiac, and when you’ve
gone around the circle, and dealt off
your last card you’ll have six piles of 7
cards in positions (houses) 1 through 6;
and six piles of 6 cards in positions
(houses) 7 through 12.
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Session Seventeen
Now keeping in mind the tenor of the reading so far, the Querent’s questions, agree-
ments and disagreements, you, the Reader, have to decide which of the 12 piles
contains the Significator you’ve been dealing with all along.
The following keywords for each pile will clue you into where the Significator ought
to be if everything is clicking into psychic place.
1. Querent’s personality and character.

2. Money and possessions of Querent.
3. Short journeys, communications, neighbors, brother or sister.
4. Querent’s home and family.
5. Entertainment, gambling, investment, romance, children, creative pro-
jects.
6. Querent’s occupation, health, domestic foods, services rendered by
third parties.
7. Marriage, public image, partnerships, contracts.
8. Legal matters, occultism, inheritance, major changes.
9. Long journeys, religion, philosophy, dreams, mysticism, higher educa-
tion, abstract matters.
10. Ambitions, profession, Querent’s personal authority and status.
11. Friends, social involvements, hopes, wishes and fears of Querent.
12. Freedom or confinement, hospital dealings, secret matters, unknown
enemies, outside forces.
Having made your decision, pick up the pile of six or seven cards selected and check
through them to see if you’re right or wrong.
If you’re wrong, and the Significator is not in the pile, select a second one. Look for
the Significator in that pile.
If it is also not there, conclude the reading. The cards are saying things are not
as clear as you would need for precise direction and aid.
However, if you discover the Significator in either the first or second piles selected,
deal those six or seven cards into a row, face up, from right to left.
Now read these cards starting from the Significator, just as you did in the First
Deal, when you read what I called ‘The Beginning of the Affair.’ Also read the cards
by ‘pairing’ them, as in the First Deal. What you say now should develop the ques-
tion further and start answering some of the broader details.
98
Session Seventeen
And now we come to the:
Third Deal: Further Development
For me, this is a simple instruction: repeat the Second Deal in all its glory, expound-
ing what the cards tell you (presuming you overcome the hurdle of again discovering
the Significator) and getting down to some of the nitty-gritty details of the reading.
Note that I’m not laying any heavy trips of ‘You gotta do this or that’ on you. Plenty
of room here for improvisation: I’m handing you a broad flow of operation, and you’ll
be ad-libbing steps where I leave loose ends.
That’s the way it should be by now: remember many moons ago I said I was not
carving any stone tablets? This is where that phrase has meaning: by now you
should have developed your own ‘style’ and the way I’m describing this spread is
merely a guide. The theory here being analogous to a journey through a forest: carv-
ing your own trail through the virgin wilderness (i.e. inventing an entirely new
spread) can be a chore and may not arrive where you wish to go. Following a route
which someone else has hacked out (in this case, The Master Therion), and you’ll
find the going easier and more direct, but no–one prevents you from taking any de-
tours off the path which you fancy.
So we come to the:
Fourth Deal: Detailed Development
The Querent holds the questions in mind as she shuffles the deck, cuts it once and
hands it to the Reader. That’s you, in case you’ve forgotten.
Start dealing the cards from the top of the deck in the normal manner, flipping each
card face up on the table. When you reach the Significator, stop dealing.
Put aside the cards which you have already dealt off, place the Significator face up in
the center of the table, and deal the rest of them alternately on each side of the Sig-
nificator until you have as many cards in the row as you had in the First Deal.
If the Significator was low in the deck when you discovered it, and you don’t have
enough cards to complete this row, pick up the discarded cards, have the Querent
shuffle them and cut once, and deal from the top until your row has the right num-
ber of cards in it.
Now read the cards from the Significator, and then in pairs, just as you did before.
99
Session Seventeen
We’ve arrived at the:
Fifth Deal: The Final Result
As before, the Querent shuffles the deck, keeping her questions at the forefront of
her mind, and cuts once.
Take the deck and deal the cards face down in the order and arrangement shown in
Diagram 5.
Students of the Qabala (also known as Kabbalah) will recognize the Tree of Life
shape, and can apply their spiritual insights to the appropriate sephiroth.
And if I speak in riddles to you, ignore that last sentence entirely. Maybe, as you
proceed deeper you’ll trip over other occult disciplines which will make that particu-
lar meaning clear, but here is neither the time, space nor place to try to expound a
hunk of Judaic magic which takes much time, dedication and understanding.
So you’ve dealt your cards, starting with the first at position 1, the tenth at position
10, then the 11th at position 1 again, and so on. When the 78 cards have been laid
down you’ll naturally have ten piles of cards which contain either seven or eight
cards each.
100
Session Seventeen
You’ll be pleased to know that once you reach this stage, there are no further
“Abandon the spread” invocations directed at you. But test your current tuning in
by looking at the 10 piles and suggesting which pile the Significator may be in.
You’re bucking odds of only 9 to 1, so you’re in with a chance.
Pick up the selected pile and look for the Significator. If it’s not there, sort through
each pile separately until you do find it.
This pile is the one which you’re going to read for the final result. Lay them out face
up from right to left in a row, just as you did during the Second Deal discovery of the
Significator.
Go ahead and read them as before. You’re offering outcomes, solutions, ways to
harmony and wrapping up your reading in a neat package tied with blue ribbon.
And what better way to close than to quote the words of The Master Therion himself:
“In material matters this method is extremely valuable. I have been able to work out
the most complex questions in minute detail.”
I’ll drink to that!
101
How To Extend Your Capabilities:
VcToria: After putting together the Neophyte and Novice Magic Courses, I highly
recommend that Neophyte be part of your learning. This teaches the awareness and
opening of areas that are needed to tap into. The connection to the subconscious is
invaluable for any Tarot Reader.
If you are studying with me online ‘live’ once a week I will be covering ALL questions
plus getting into ‘reversed’ placements a lot more. I will also be offering one last ses-
sion on ‘business’ that will be free if you have taken all the online sessions.
I do hope you have enjoyed my late Fathers almost 50 years old work. I highly rec-
ommend that you purchase Neophyte at www.camposanto.ca
102

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alxberry@gmail.

com 24 Sep 2021

Originally written by Geof Gray-Cobb

Sign up for the monthly newsletter as I will be keeping everyone informed as to

What are we doing?

Why are we learning the Tarot?

Which deck of cards is best?

Where can one buy a deck of Waite/Rider Tarot cards?

Many stores now stock them, as do several online websites.

What do the pictures on the cards represent?

What does a Tarot deck consist of?

How does Tarot reading ‘work’?

Introduction to the Minor Arcana

VcToria Comments: If you are following these classes with me on Zoom or

Today of course, Tarot reading is accepted in a much more open style.

Is that most clearly understood?

Introduction to The Major Arcana

An Active card is saying USE ME.

A further breakdown of the associations of the Trumps has 1 through 7 concerned

Here we go again, trekking further along that mystic

I promised you we’d be looking at the individual

A quick snatch of data about THE FOOL. When he

MEANING OF THE MAJOR ARCANA

If the word PENTACLES, SWORDS, CUPS, OR WANDS is printed on the face of a

What do they mean?

The Hierophant: We are as we think. Happy or sad depends on the motives.

The Hanged Man: Forgiveness and sacrifice. Ingratitude is a likely reward.

Death: The cosmic change is for the best.

Far enough along the Royal Road of the Tarot to be-

Maurice from Ontario raises a universal query, asked

I agree it’s a challenge to correctly read your own fu-

Nothing in the rules of divination forbids reading com-

VcToria Comments: I have added these next paragraphs from my father to

An anonymous correspondent in a letter postmarked San Antonio, Texas tells me

THE FOOL is different – and important, as I’ve hinted.

See you next session.

THE MINOR ARCANA COURT CARDS

The four Suits are identified with physical appearance.

Wands people have mid-brown hair and hazel or green eyes

Herewith brief meanings for you.

Three: You have reached a peak of achievement. Material reward

Five: Destitution, loss of job or possessions. Emotional bankruptcy. Loneliness. The

Knight: Arrival or departure of money. Trustworthiness.

King: Reliability and success in money matters. Security.

Herewith, some meanings to guide you in your early work:

Ace: Start of project, family, journey, adventure.

Two: Courage in starting a project. Planning a journey. Generosity.

Ace: Conquest, great activity. Beginning of personal project (probably money-making

Two: Decisions needed. Tension with people. Stalemate.

Three: Sorrow, separation, quarrels. Upheaval. Civil War or political strife.

Page: Grace. Dexterity. Message. Spying.

Knight: Arrival or departure of misfortune.

Queen: Gracefulness. Show business. Talk.

King: Authority. Strength. Possible lawsuit pending.

Enough mind prompting: herewith the meanings.

Two: Beginning of a friendship or affair. Harmony in ideas and plans.

Three: Success, abundance, fruitfulness. Good luck, victory. Hospitality.

Four: Weariness. A pause. Beware of an offer. Dissatisfaction with material posses-

Eight: Journey to a new place. Abandonment of success to move on spiritually. The

Knight: Message, proposition, invitation.

Queen: Success, happiness, pleasure. Rely on intuitions.

King: Liberality, creativity, arts and religion.

“Is there a solution to my loneliness?” is definitely Hermit orientated.