When to Read Houses

Village Witch

I've been doing a lot of GT's lately trying to get as much practice as I can.

My question is when to read houses? I tend to read every card with the house it falls on.

For example...

I drew Rider + Scythe + Lilies + Stars as the last four cards of an 8x4x4.

I don't know whether to read the cards by themselves to read them with their houses.

Rider/Key + Scythe/Fish + Lilies/Anchor + Stars/Cross

I would read the cards by themselves as news of a decision brings long lasting peace.

With the houses I would read news of a key decision about money brings lasting peace but a painful transformation.

Do you find reading the houses in a case like this to change the meaning of the message?

Please critique my interpretation. Thanks!
 

CosmicBeing

I've been doing a lot of GT's lately trying to get as much practice as I can.

My question is when to read houses? I tend to read every card with the house it falls on.

For example...

I drew Rider + Scythe + Lilies + Stars as the last four cards of an 8x4x4.

I don't know whether to read the cards by themselves to read them with their houses.

Rider/Key + Scythe/Fish + Lilies/Anchor + Stars/Cross

I would read the cards by themselves as news of a decision brings long lasting peace.

With the houses I would read news of a key decision about money brings lasting peace but a painful transformation.

Do you find reading the houses in a case like this to change the meaning of the message?

Please critique my interpretation. Thanks!

I always use the houses and the card that sit in it to make a combination.

Houses are adverbs/adjectives/reaction and the card that sits in the house is the subject/action/cause

People who do 8x4+4
Usually read the last 4 cards without the houses for the 'advice' or summary
The last 4 cards are also read with the house to explain what is going on in the whole chart.

So depends on what you are looking for at the time you read the last 4 cards.. is it the advice/guidance for that GT Layout.

***Remember this is just my understanding...everyone has a different view of the GT and how to read it****

Summary:
Rider+Scythe+Lillies+Stars
News pertaining to wishes/hopes or News on the internet
News that is in the form of rejection or News that is harsh or News pertaining to separation.
Separation/rejection that was long coming or calm.
Long standing/old wish or Long standing internet or 'old' internet

If it is advice, the advice might be to move on from rejection that is connected to a long standing wish/hope/desire.

Scythe is also a card of something sudden.

Moving on is the solution. (rider/fish)
(Look for where the fish card sits to know what the problem is)

Rejection of money or Rejection causes being single or Sudden Money. (scythe/fish)

Lilies is a card of something long standing...took time to develop/calmness/something older-old and Anchor is a house of stability/life time/work..I wouldn't know how to translate this if I didn't see whole chart.

Hopes/dreams that are heavy or disappoint/hopes-dreams bring disappointment or hardships/internet is difficult.

These are just some ideas....as I said this is just my view. It depends a lot of what card meanings you have for each card. Lilies is a card of sex for someone and for me it isn't.
 

Barleywine

I generally don't look at all the houses for all the cards in a GT, just those that are brought into high focus by other techniques (significator cards, those immediately touching, those that make important combinations, those knighting, those mirroring, etc.). I use a hierarchical approach that goes after the "heavy hitters" first and then fleshes out the picture with more detail only if needed (and if time permits); doing more than that can create unnecessary "clutter" and begin to produce contradictory testimony. (I'm probably one of the more obsessively analytical types here, so dialing back on the detail is saying something for me.) I'm after compelling evidence and try to avoid "background static." I should also mention that I use the traditional positive, neutral and negative associations for the cards; unlike tarot, they seem more firmly established.

I pay close attention if spread card and house card have a special affinity or antipathy for one another, amplifying or diminishing the spread card's effect, and to any house that has direct significance for the subject of each focus area within the reading (for example, in examing the "love quotient" within a spread, I would look for whether either or both of the main significators falls in the house of the Heart, the Ring or the Bouquet or, conversely, the Clouds, the Snake or the Fox. It's more complex than that, of course, but it gives an immediate "flavor" to the underlying relationship potential that may not be shown by any overt connection between those cards.

In short, I consider the house system mainly an "extra" that can help to bring order out of apparent chaos when all else falls short (which, frankly, is a fairly rare occurrence given the wealth of more obvious reinforcement within the GT).
 

Village Witch

I generally don't look at all the houses for all the cards in a GT, just those that are brought into high focus by other techniques (significator cards, those immediately touching, those that make important combinations, those knighting, those mirroring, etc.). I use a hierarchical approach that goes after the "heavy hitters" first and then fleshes out the picture with more detail only if needed (and if time permits); doing more than that can create unnecessary "clutter" and begin to produce contradictory testimony. (I'm probably one of the more obsessively analytical types here, so dialing back on the detail is saying something for me.) I'm after compelling evidence and try to avoid "background static." I should also mention that I use the traditional positive, neutral and negative associations for the cards; unlike tarot, they seem more firmly established.

I pay close attention if spread card and house card have a special affinity or antipathy for one another, amplifying or diminishing the spread card's effect, and to any house that has direct significance for the subject of each focus area within the reading (for example, in examing the "love quotient" within a spread, I would look for whether either or both of the main significators falls in the house of the Heart, the Ring or the Bouquet or, conversely, the Clouds, the Snake or the Fox. It's more complex than that, of course, but it gives an immediate "flavor" to the underlying relationship potential that may not be shown by any overt connection between those cards.

In short, I consider the house system mainly an "extra" that can help to bring order out of apparent chaos when all else falls short (which, frankly, is a fairly rare occurrence given the wealth of more obvious reinforcement within the GT).

I noticed that Rana George in her book reads a lot like you, Barleywine, when it comes to houses. I was driving myself crazy reading the houses with every card.

As I write my GT's on a spread sheet with the houses written underneath, it may be a bit hard for me to ignore the houses, but it will be a lot less nerve wracking to read. :-D I do have a spread sheet without the houses. I'm going to give that a try.

Thank you!
 

Village Witch

I always use the houses and the card that sit in it to make a combination.

Houses are adverbs/adjectives/reaction and the card that sits in the house is the subject/action/cause

People who do 8x4+4
Usually read the last 4 cards without the houses for the 'advice' or summary
The last 4 cards are also read with the house to explain what is going on in the whole chart.

So depends on what you are looking for at the time you read the last 4 cards.. is it the advice/guidance for that GT Layout.

***Remember this is just my understanding...everyone has a different view of the GT and how to read it****

Summary:
Rider+Scythe+Lillies+Stars
News pertaining to wishes/hopes or News on the internet
News that is in the form of rejection or News that is harsh or News pertaining to separation.
Separation/rejection that was long coming or calm.
Long standing/old wish or Long standing internet or 'old' internet

If it is advice, the advice might be to move on from rejection that is connected to a long standing wish/hope/desire.

Scythe is also a card of something sudden.

Moving on is the solution. (rider/fish)
(Look for where the fish card sits to know what the problem is)

Rejection of money or Rejection causes being single or Sudden Money. (scythe/fish)

Lilies is a card of something long standing...took time to develop/calmness/something older-old and Anchor is a house of stability/life time/work..I wouldn't know how to translate this if I didn't see whole chart.

Hopes/dreams that are heavy or disappoint/hopes-dreams bring disappointment or hardships/internet is difficult.

These are just some ideas....as I said this is just my view. It depends a lot of what card meanings you have for each card. Lilies is a card of sex for someone and for me it isn't.

I don't read the Lilies as sex either.

I very much appreciate you taking the time to give your interpretation of the cards. This was a hard one for me to get a handle on. There are several of your translations that make sense of what I am going through right now. The GT was for me with a general overview.

I don't specifically set an intention for the last four cards. I generally look at the last four cards as a sum of the reading. I never thought of intending reading them for advice. I am most definitely going to experiment with that idea.
 

CosmicBeing

I don't read the Lilies as sex either.

I very much appreciate you taking the time to give your interpretation of the cards. This was a hard one for me to get a handle on. There are several of your translations that make sense of what I am going through right now. The GT was for me with a general overview.

I don't specifically set an intention for the last four cards. I generally look at the last four cards as a sum of the reading. I never thought of intending reading them for advice. I am most definitely going to experiment with that idea.

Happy it made sense. I made a type (rider/fish) I meant to write (rider/key)
Rider tells you the solution
The house the key card falls in tells you what the solution is to (aka problem/crisis).

Well hopefully it was good enough food for thought! Hope the GT layout comes out to be as helpful as I discovered it to be.
 

Barleywine

As I write my GT's on a spread sheet with the houses written underneath, it may be a bit hard for me to ignore the houses, but it will be a lot less nerve wracking to read. :-D I do have a spread sheet without the houses. I'm going to give that a try.

I like to have the house titles visible even if I don't read them for every card, since I haven't memorized all of the house positions yet. This lets me see if a card lands on its own house even if it isn't tied in to an obvious combination. It's just something I take note of in the event I discover another subtle connection as I work my way into the spread. I see it as an obvious strengthening of the card's emphasis even if it doesn't have an immediately apparent outlet.

As far as method, I started with Andy Boroveshengra's approach when he was posting here (as andybc), and then followed up with his book. I have Rana's book (and Caitlin's and Sylvie's), but I like to keep things as simple as possible to start and then elaborate in whatever direction the spread takes me. That's probably why I was able to work successfully with the GT from the very beginning and never looked back.
 

Village Witch

The house the key card falls in tells you what the solution is to (aka problem/crisis).

Oh. How interesting! I so love learning. The Key falls on the house of the Stork. I have been procrastinating about putting myself out there as a psychic for hire. I have wonderful success reading for friends. We are talking mediumship and not Lenormand. Some day I hope to be good enough to read Lenormand for profit.

I recently partnered with the Mighty Dead as my guides and teachers.

So... Rider/Key + Scythe/Fish + Lilies/Anchor + Stars/Cross also speaks to me as the solution to my financial issues... which is always on my mind... (making a harvest of money) though a partnership with the Mighty Dead.

My biggest worry is that I see what I want to see and what I so desperately long for in the cards. I put it out there that I see what is and not what I long for.
 

CosmicBeing

Oh. How interesting! I so love learning. The Key falls on the house of the Stork. I have been procrastinating about putting myself out there as a psychic for hire. I have wonderful success reading for friends. We are talking mediumship and not Lenormand. Some day I hope to be good enough to read Lenormand for profit.

I recently partnered with the Mighty Dead as my guides and teachers.

So... Rider/Key + Scythe/Fish + Lilies/Anchor + Stars/Cross also speaks to me as the solution to my financial issues... which is always on my mind... (making a harvest of money) though a partnership with the Mighty Dead.

My biggest worry is that I see what I want to see and what I so desperately long for in the cards. I put it out there that I see what is and not what I long for.

Both cards are telling you to move forward.

Rider is a moving forward card
Stork is pretty much a progression card.

So it may all be telling you.... The solution to improvements is through moving forward

Where does the fish card sit....it might explain more about your money.

Scythe in house of fish can be a card of sudden momentary gains (fish)

Fish is money...this is usually money we work for. (think of a fisherman)
Clover is money that is small amounts or from speculation (the casino)
Bear is large amount of money...usually loans, investment, etc. (the bank)

That is my personal view of the cards.
 

Village Witch

Both cards are telling you to move forward.

Rider is a moving forward card
Stork is pretty much a progression card.

So it may all be telling you.... The solution to improvements is through moving forward

Where does the fish card sit....it might explain more about your money.

Scythe in house of fish can be a card of sudden momentary gains (fish)

Fish is money...this is usually money we work for. (think of a fisherman)
Clover is money that is small amounts or from speculation (the casino)
Bear is large amount of money...usually loans, investment, etc. (the bank)

That is my personal view of the cards.

Fish sits on the house of Tree. This tells me slow but steady growth. I can live with that.

I was hesitant to read the Scythe as a "harvest" of money. I try to stick with a more narrow set of meanings. I do admit to stretching things a bit from time to time.

And the hubby just got notice this week of an insurance payout from a life insurance policy that an out-of-state bank held on his parents who passed away years ago. It isn't a lot of money but a very nice surprise!

Thank you sincerely for your help, CosmicBeing. Much appreciated. :)