Recurring Cards

I'm somewhat new in the tarot world but I've been semi-seriously reading for a little while. My question is about recurring cards.

So recently, I've been having some serious issues with a partner. He's pulled away almost completely and he says he knows we need to talk but he's not ready for it yet. I'm being patient but, obviously, doing a lot of tarot because I'm so lost and confused.

Anyway, 4 cards are recurring a lot over the last week or so, since these problems came to the fore;
Knight of Pentacles (responsibility, reliability, commitment)
2 of Swords (conflict resolution)
6 of Cups (going back to a better time)
and even the Lovers quite often.

So now, they seem like pretty good cards but, seeing how helpless the situation is, I'm so confused by the cards. I know the Lovers doesn't exactly spell LOVE as in head-over-heels in love but it's more about making a choice. So, my question is; how much weight do you put on recurring cards? And am I looking through rose-colored glasses because I want this to work? How do I rectify a good reading when my head keeps telling me not to get my hopes up?

I'm sorry, this isn't a totally a reading-related question. I guess I want to know;
-do recurring cards highlight something?
-how much weight do you put on recurring cards?

Interested to know other people's perspectives on this.

Thanks

I tend to pay attention to recurrent cards, they can show an overarching theme or ideas that are surrounding a situation, but they still primarily apply to the reading/position they appear in.

If the same cards are appearing in spreads for unrelated topics, that could either indicate that you are allowing some influence of your own to interfere with your reading, or that you aren't shuffling well enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Where do you get conflict resolution for two of swords? Two of swords is more about indecision, which would make sense in this context. The person might be unsure of their feelings for you. 6 of cups could indicate pining for an earlier time, which could indicate that they're hung up on someone from their past. Is that a possibility?

littleanna27 said:

Anyway, 4 cards are recurring a lot over the last week or so, since these problems came to the fore;
Knight of Pentacles (responsibility, reliability, commitment)
2 of Swords (conflict resolution)
6 of Cups (going back to a better time)
and even the Lovers quite often.

Click to expand...

The KnP is the slowest moving of the Knights as Pentacles are the longest duration in the suits. I like to see the KnP as the tortoise in the tale of the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race with the KnP. Whenever I see the KnP, I know that things are going to take time.

I see the 2S more as stalemate or refusing to act. For some reason a petulant child crossing his arms and saying, "You can't MAKE me!" came to mind just now.

The 6C could point to reminiscing about "the good ole days". This could be the relationship that the two of you have or a relationship from either of your pasts depending on who the repeating cards are discussing.

The Lovers is often about choice, in this case making a choice where love is concerned.

littleanna27 said:

I'm sorry, this isn't a totally a reading-related question. I guess I want to know;
-do recurring cards highlight something?
-how much weight do you put on recurring cards?

Interested to know other people's perspectives on this.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I see recurring cards as tarot's way of trying to get your attention. A message was given and not recognized at the time, so tarot keeps throwing the same cards at you until you get the message. So, yes I see them as being really important.

Rodney

rwcarter said:

I see recurring cards as tarot's way of trying to get your attention. A message was given and not recognized at the time, so tarot keeps throwing the same cards at you until you get the message. So, yes I see them as being really important.

Click to expand...

This. Or, if you recognised what the deck was trying to tell you, you haven't acted on it in the real world, and the issue in your life is getting more and more pressing.

Sometimes, for different reasons, our cards might not get mixed enough in shuffling. Not always, but fairly often this can be a factor. What I do is deal out the deck into four piles and then pick up all the piles, which assures that the deck really is randomized. Then if there are recurring cards that are truly trying to tell me something, I know it's that they're appearing for that reason, not just because my cards haven't randomized enough.

Thank you all

@Supersirius: I thought so too, but since I'm new to the game, I wanted to get some other opinions Thanks! They tend to come up in pretty related positions (I do different spreads so that's). As for the shuffling issue, I'm super conscious of that and always make sure I fully randomize my cards by randomly putting them individually into the remaining deck

@Sztar: I read in my guide to tarot that 2 of swords is conflict resolution. Perhaps I am mistaken? But yes, indecision totally makes sense! You're spot on with 6 of cups, I think he has unresolved issues with his past, but also there is a pining for our relationship back in the old days too.

@rwcarter: yep, slow moving FOR SURE. The idea of the 2 of swords as stalemate makes sense too. As I mentioned to Sztar, I read that it may mean conflict resolution, balance, peace of mind, but a 'stalemate' makes sense too. Thanks for your reply. I'm glad other also see recurring cards as super important

@nisaba; yes! totally agree! I'm trying to listen to the cards, I need to act on them for sure

@Grizabella; fair point! I'm very conscious of this when I read my cards, always very aware of putting the cards back in the deck totally randomly and in different places, but I understand that might also be an issue with recurring cards

Thank you all for your insight. You've really helped me and bought some comfort to my mind too I really appreciate it.