Significator Angst

(This seemed to fit under the "Choosing Cards" sub-category, so I put it here.)

I know many of us (especially those who work most often with small spreads) don't use significators; I don't myself in some cases. One argument has been that choosing a significator takes one card out of circulation that might otherwise have something to say in the reading. But with the Celtic Cross I invariably do.

I've never been happy with the traditional methods for choosing the significator. Dark brown hair and brown eyes = Sword? What do you say to an older querent who has "gone blonde" over the years? "Umm, did your hair USED TO BE dark brown?" Knowing the querent's astrological Sun sign can help some (but knowing the rising sign would be better). However, I've been thinking of taking it in another direction.

Does anyone show the querent the likely range of court cards and let them pick the significator intuitively? I've done a little bit of that with good results, but not enough to draw any conclusions. I haven't read any modern beginner books on tarot divination so I don't know what current thinking is on significator selection. Your thoughts?

Someone who shall remain nameless insisted on drawing a significator for me in an exchange reading recently, and asked for my suggestions.

I strongly suggested shuffling the whole deck, not just courts, and pulling a card at random. The card which came out was not a court card, but it was perfect for me, especially given the nature of the reading.

Let *me* ask *you* a question.

If you must use significators, why limit yourself to just court cards, when there are so many other cards out there that might describe the querent better?

I don't use a significator, but I think the Court cards are ideal for this purpose, for a few reasons. Firstly, their astrological attributions seem to hit the ballpark for many people, as a significator should. It doesn't matter if a Court completely accurately describes you, as it serves merely to show, in a way, the reading revolving around the querent.

Secondly, going by Kabbalah the Courts justify themselves as significators, too, since it makes sense to remove yourself from the "family" in order to look at and analyze your place in the general scheme of things and the ripples your actions cause. This way, the significator serves as a kind of "control group" for the experiment you're conducting (a Tarot readings). This doesn't preclude using other cards as significators, just that they have their own uses while the Courts have theirs, and are very well suited to this. The significator is you... but devoid of outside influences. Taking yourself out of the criss-crossing influences of the Courts affords an interesting "It's a Wonderful Life" view of the world without your influence, and so gives a clearer picture.

As to "dark hair" or what have you, those descriptions didn't make sense even in the seemingly homogeneous societies where they were thought up, and certainly don't make sense today.

nisaba said:

If you must use significators, why limit yourself to just court cards, when there are so many other cards out there that might describe the querent better?

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No reason other than tradition. Certainly the practice of using the outcome card as the significator for a new spread when the first one was inconclusive could result in just what you suggest. By the same token, I would think choosing a card that relates specifically to the nature of the question rather than the observable characteristics of the querent would be a reasonable approach. Assuming, of course, that you have the question spoken aloud, or at least know the general area of inquiry. I might shy away from using a Major because of the multi-layered symbolic baggage they carry (for that matter, so do the Courts), but it wouldn't be outside the realm of reason to use, say, the 2 of Cups for a "love" question or the 3 of Disks for a "work" question. There might even be a bit of "sympathetic magic" possible in this way, by choosing a significator that reflects the best possible result, like the 4 of Cups for an upcoming dinner party. But you would have to acknowledge that these cards would then be excused from commenting on the development of the matter.

(Note that all these suggestions are Thoth-based.)

ETA: I solved this problem for myself by creating my own significator card using images derived from my name via gemmatria, and astrological correspondences. (If I ever become a subscriber I'll put that up as my avatar.)

closrapexa said:

I don't use a significator, but I think the Court cards are ideal for this purpose, for a few reasons. Firstly, their astrological attributions seem to hit the ballpark for many people, as a significator should. It doesn't matter if a Court completely accurately describes you, as it serves merely to show, in a way, the reading revolving around the querent.

As to "dark hair" or what have you, those descriptions didn't make sense even in the seemingly homogeneous societies where they were thought up, and certainly don't make sense today.

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These observations are why I hit upon the idea of having the querent choose the significator (I don't do any kind of remote reading, so I have them present for this purpose). Giving them the whole deck to choose from would be unworkable, so I show them, for example, all four Queens and let them select which one that resonates for them. This has the added benefit of immersing them to a small degree in the "mystique" of the reading while taking very little time to implement.

Instead of a significator I sometimes just have the querent put a coin or piece of jewelry or something else small that has their personal energy near the spread. Of course, they reclaim it at the end of the reading. Other than that, I don't use significators.

The Lo Scarabeo Native American has two extra cards...Mother Earth and Father Sky that can be used as significators if you like.

I do use significator when i dont have a contact with the querent, like reading via e-mail for example. However i dont chose it according to his physical characteristics. I am breaking down his birth day date to singular and the Major Arcana with the number of the broken down to singular number date is the significator of the querent. I made some tests for it. I asked some people about their birth day date. Then i described them the major arcana with the represented number. And the people says " hey thats pretty much me lol " .

RaaD said:

I do use significator when i dont have a contact with the querent, like reading via e-mail for example. However i dont chose it according to his physical characteristics. I am breaking down his birth day date to singular and the Major Arcana with the number of the broken down to singular number date is the significator of the querent. I made some tests for it. I asked some people about their birth day date. Then i described them the major arcana with the represented number. And the people says " hey thats pretty much me lol " .

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Interesting idea. Do you use standard numerological reduction to get to the single number? Fortunately, this would limit you to The Magician through the Hermit, and you wouldn't have to explain why someone is The Devil, Death or The Hanged Man (I'm thinking of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz saying "These things must be done del-i-cate-ly.")

Barleywine said:

Interesting idea. Do you use standard numerological reduction to get to the single number? Fortunately, this would limit you to The Magician through the Hermit, and you wouldn't have to explain why someone is The Devil, Death or The Hanged Man (I'm thinking of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz saying "These things must be done del-i-cate-ly.")

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Standard numerology . If you got 1. You use the magician but also count the Wheel. I do also find that using elemental dignities based to the significator also gives good results. Every card in the CC for example you can relate it to the significator and using ED method you can see is this pleasant or unpleasant for the querent. Obviously for the magician pentacles will be unpleasant events, because pentacles are clinging in stability, the magician wants action, he wants to experiment, to move forward and sort.

I never select a significator. I would NEVER suggest the querent choose one. If they chose to come for a reading IMO that means they want an objective opinion about something, if they were going to choose their own significator they may as well do their own reading. As far as relying on their intuition to choose what card they are ... no thanks

Maybe in a 'shared reading' where they have asked for assistance, but then they are ones reading and choosing the significator.

I just draw the first card as the significator .... if you 'believe in Tarot' their significator should come out there. If another card comes out at pos. 1 then that gives me the subject matter for the reading. Another card at pos. 1 might show a much more important event or influence. It is rather interesting when the person's significator comes out at pos.1 'randomly'.