How the cards influence each other?

Hi guys, I don't know if this is the right section to discuss about this matter, but how the cards influence each other?

For example let's say in a spread where asking "what to expect in love department in the next month", you drew (among other cards) 5 Cups and Ace of Wands. The two are at odds (water vs fire, but also because of their meaning), so how to interpret them? The 5 Cups influences the Ace or viceversa?

And what about outcome cards? As you know, to better understand them, you should look at the surrounding cards and here we go again how these other cards influence the outcome of your reading?

Any idea?
Thank you.

What happens when you put fire and water together....well the water is going to put out the fire....depending on how much fire, i suppose. Or will even cause steam to rise from the fire.

So going on the cards you mention, then the person may have a hangover from the night before (5 cups) which causes them to not have the energy to go out again that night (ill dignified ace wands).

Sharla said:

What happens when you put fire and water together....well the water is going to put out the fire....depending on how much fire, i suppose. Or will even cause steam to rise from the fire.

So going on the cards you mention, then the person may have a hangover from the night before (5 cups) which causes them to not have the energy to go out again that night (ill dignified ace wands).

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Thank you Sharla, yes, water extinguishes fire, so I'd go for a negative intepretation as well.
So the card elements may give clues about the interpretation.

elena_jaymz said:

Thank you Sharla, yes, water extinguishes fire, so I'd go for a negative intepretation as well.
So the card elements may give clues about the interpretation.

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Some quick examples....

water + fire + water, the fire is going to be totally put out by the water cards.

Fire + fire + fire, now how out of control is this situation going to be...and realistically how long will it take to burn out.

Earth + air + air, well here the air thoughts/communication are ganging up on the earth, they have totally taken over him.

So yes the elements do give clues in the interpretation....infact i think the elements play a big part in the final reading.

I don't take into account elements but I do look at the gravity of the cards. The five of cups is just as heavy as the Ace Of Wands so these two energies will aggravate each other. This person may find their past disappointments to be stirred by or triggered by events this month. Things are not moving forward with this combination they are looking in the rearview mirror which is also indicated with the five of cups appearing first.

If a third card appeared on this combination that would pinpoint the likely issues that the previous two cards were aggravating. Then an advice card could be pulled to find out how to make best use of that particular energy and resolve the underlying issues.

Sharla said:

Some quick examples....

water + fire + water, the fire is going to be totally put out by the water cards.

Fire + fire + fire, now how out of control is this situation going to be...and realistically how long will it take to burn out.

Earth + air + air, well here the air thoughts/communication are ganging up on the earth, they have totally taken over him.

So yes the elements do give clues in the interpretation....infact i think the elements play a big part in the final reading.

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Thanks again!
Yes, these combinantions make sense, I'll begin to consider elements when reading too!

Water and fire can combine to produce steam. If there's more water than fire, the fire will likely be extinguished. If there's more fire than water, the water will likely evaporate. There are no hard and fast rules though on how to figure that out, so I let the specific cards tell me.

When talking about elemental dignities, the rule isn't that one contrary element extinguishes the other contrary element but that the primary element is weakened by the contrary element. When looking at elemental interactions, especially between just two cards, you'll need to decide between AB which is primary and which is modifying.

In the 5C AW example, since the 5C came first, I would make that the primary card and the AW would be the modifier. The 5C is usually about focusing on what's been lost instead of what remains. In the context of relationships that could mean someone who's so focused on a past (lost) relationship that they're not able to see the potential for new relationships. As Fire is unfriendly to Water and therefore weakens it, the AW suggests that there's a spark of desire or enthusiasm or even a turning point that starts to pull the person out of their focus on what's been lost (weakening that focus). That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's a good example of how weakening can actually be a good thing.

If the cards were switched with the AW first, then we'd have the desire for a new relationship being weakened by focus on a lost relationship. This is a more typical example of contrary elements weakening for ill.

While life can be rather random such that a process gets a monkey wrench thrown into it that completely derails it, more often than not processes tend to stay on the same track. So when folks like me say that the other cards in the reading should give focus to whatever cards are being questioned, I generally mean that if the interpretations of the other cards in the reading are more towards the negative side, the problem cards probably aren't going to have a positive interpretation, and vice versa. So when it comes to outcome cards, if the rest of the reading is gloom and doom, the outcome probably isn't going to be sunshine and light, and vice versa.

Rodney

Absynthe said:

I don't take into account elements but I do look at the gravity of the cards. The five of cups is just as heavy as the Ace Of Wands so these two energies will aggravate each other. This person may find their past disappointments to be stirred by or triggered by events this month. Things are not moving forward with this combination they are looking in the rearview mirror which is also indicated with the five of cups appearing first.

If a third card appeared on this combination that would pinpoint the likely issues that the previous two cards were aggravating. Then an advice card could be pulled to find out how to make best use of that particular energy and resolve the underlying issues.

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Thank you Absynthe.
Gravity... Yes, I see what you mean here, certain cards are heavier than other ones and viceversa, I should consider this aspect too.

I'll take into account your advice, thanks again.

I don't use elemental dignities. If looking at those two cards I'd say the love department would be lacking but there would be sexual attraction. Love and sex are two different things, so there can be an abundance of one and a lack of the other. Using the fire+water thing, it would possibly be hot, steamy sex but without much love, which is quite a sad thing.

Thanks Rodney for your help

rwcarter said:

Water and fire can combine to produce steam. If there's more water than fire, the fire will likely be extinguished. If there's more fire than water, the water will likely evaporate. There are no hard and fast rules though on how to figure that out, so I let the specific cards tell me.
When talking about elemental dignities, the rule isn't that one contrary element extinguishes the other contrary element but that the primary element is weakened by the contrary element. When looking at elemental interactions, especially between just two cards, you'll need to decide between AB which is primary and which is modifying.

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I see what you mean, if you had more cards, you'd looked at the element(s) majority and there you had the main influence.

rwcarter said:

In the 5C AW example, since the 5C came first, I would make that the primary card and the AW would be the modifier. The 5C is usually about focusing on what's been lost instead of what remains. In the context of relationships that could mean someone who's so focused on a past (lost) relationship that they're not able to see the potential for new relationships. As Fire is unfriendly to Water and therefore weakens it, the AW suggests that there's a spark of desire or enthusiasm or even a turning point that starts to pull the person out of their focus on what's been lost (weakening that focus). That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's a good example of how weakening can actually be a good thing.

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I agree, the Ace came after the 5 Cups, so I think it influences the Cups positively, that is letting the past go in a way, because of a new opportunity, this is what came to my mind.

rwcarter said:

If the cards were switched with the AW first, then we'd have the desire for a new relationship being weakened by focus on a lost relationship. This is a more typical example of contrary elements weakening for ill.

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Yes, I agree, this a simpler example anyway yes, in this case the 5 Cups influences negatively the Ace.

rwcarter said:

While life can be rather random such that a process gets a monkey wrench thrown into it that completely derails it, more often than not processes tend to stay on the same track. So when folks like me say that the other cards in the reading should give focus to whatever cards are being questioned, I generally mean that if the interpretations of the other cards in the reading are more towards the negative side, the problem cards probably aren't going to have a positive interpretation, and vice versa. So when it comes to outcome cards, if the rest of the reading is gloom and doom, the outcome probably isn't going to be sunshine and light, and vice versa.

Click to expand...

Thanks for clarification I agree, I'll bear it in mind from now on.