My humble method

dawntarot

Greetings all :) I've been away for a while working on my own TdM method. I think I have finally found "my" way of reading and I've been getting some very positive feedback, so I thought I would share it, in case it is useful to others.

It isn't very complicated: I take the usual approach of designating the suits to the different spheres of life. For me this is:

Swords - Air - Intellect, thoughts, plans, the rational
Coins - Earth - Body, home, family, the physical environment
Batons - Fire - Energy, effort, exertion, the spiritual
Cups - Water - Emotions, intuition, the subconscious, the irrational

The lower the number, the more concentrated and powerful the energy of the suit. An Ace would be the most intense, while a 10 would be chaotic and unsettled. Generally I view lower numbers as being positive and productive, while higher numbers are negative and destructive - a greater burden to carry, so to speak.

(I have seen it said on this forum, "Consider the relative value of 10 pennies versus a solid gold dubloon", or something similar. This lodged in my brain and sparked this whole thing off! It was a long time ago when I read it, so I can't remember who here said it. :( If anyone does please let me know and I'll give credit!)

So how do I use this in a reading? I lay out four cards, one for each element, like so:

..1
4..2
..3

Where 1 is Air, 2 is Earth, 3 is Fire, and 4 is Water. These designate the areas of the querent's life, as detailed above. I turn over each card one at a time and interpret it, then I interpret the reading as a whole.

For example, if the Ace of Cups appeared in the Air position, I might suggest the querent's mind was strongly focused on solving a problem in their emotional life. Perhaps they are trying to find a new partner or the "ultimate" love. It's a powerful focus and it diminishes the importance of the other areas of life in their conscious thoughts. But if it was the Ace of Coins, perhaps they are actively and aggressively seeking new employment or a job promotion.

What I'm essentially doing is evaluating how the two energies are interacting with one another. When I have a general idea I might then look at the embellishments on the card for further clues (how tightly woven are the vines, might this indicate stress or narrow-mindedness, etc). I also consider the colours - what stands out? The red sword? The green grass? - if I need further clarification.

For the Courts and Trumps, I make use of eye rhymes, as well as considering the suit/the meaning of the Trump. What way are the people looking? A character peering away from the centre of the cross would suggest they were ignoring the issue at hand, this area of their life, or whatever. (Note, I don't leave a gap in the middle of the cards, so it is possible for each card to "look" at the other. A figure looking straight out indicates they are looking at the card above or below them.)

For example the Hermit facing left, in the Water position, might tell me they were refusing to engage with some aspect of their emotional life, or dwelling on past events. The Moon in the Water position would, of course, tell me there was something subconsciously that they weren't dealing with - perhaps a repressed memory.

I generally use this method for giving general readings, with good results. But it is possible to answer direct questions too. The key is to pose them in the present tense. Instead of asking, "What will happen in X's love life?" I would ask, "How are these energies affecting X's love life?" Instead of "Will I enjoy this career?" - "How does this career affect each area of X's life?" Picture the querent in the centre of the cross, directly linked to each card.

Finally, I always consider the Summary card. This is obtained by adding up the digits present. If it is 21 or under, that is the relevant Trump. If it is more, I add the digits (i.e. 42 = 4+2 = 6 = Lovers). This card tells me the "life lesson" at work in the querent's life and often sheds light on the heart of the matter. I will consider how this one card interacts with each of the other four. If it is already present in the spread I will give special consideration to that area.

I am happy to give sample readings as demonstrations. This method, to me, isn't anywhere near so complicated as pips-as-trumps, or remembering numerology, and so on. It's just a matter of how intense is the energy, and how it is interacting in this area of the querent's life.

This is just how I read, but I hope there might be something useful in it for others too. So far it is working very well for me and I feel much more confident giving readings now. For reference, I "discovered" this using the 1JJ Swiss, but I am using it with great success with the Noblet as well.

Best,
Dawn. :)
 

victoria.star

Thank you for sharing this, Dawn.

I like what you have shared and plan on practicing with it tonight, thanks.

edited to remove stuff that made no sense :)
 

Melia

Thank you Dawn. I rarely visit this section of the forum, but I'm glad I did. I used your "humble method" for one of my readings today (a direct question). Instead of a TDM deck, I used a RW clone - the Tarot Illuminati deck. The reading was VERY clear, and it was also the first reading with this particular deck.

2 things: What is your rationale behind the layout below (not what the positions represent, as you've clearly explained that in your post, but the layout itself).

1
3 2
4

And secondly, I would love to see you give a couple of sample readings as demonstrations.
 

Lee

This is just a guess, but dawntarot may have meant for the four cards to be in a cross pattern. Unfortunately, when posting, the forum software removes what it considers to be unnecessary spaces. So folks here will usually use periods instead of spaces to show spaces between cards in layouts.

So dawntarot may have meant it to look as so:

..1
3..2
..4
 

Mystic Zyl

I like your method; I am going to try it.
 

Melia

Thank you Lee - you could well be right.
 

dawntarot

This is just a guess, but dawntarot may have meant for the four cards to be in a cross pattern. Unfortunately, when posting, the forum software removes what it considers to be unnecessary spaces. So folks here will usually use periods instead of spaces to show spaces between cards in layouts.

So dawntarot may have meant it to look as so:

..1
3..2
..4

I did indeed - I'll sort this in my o.p.

The rationale behind it is that it is my personal associations for the compass points:

1. Air = North
2. Earth = East
3. South = Fire
4. Water = West
 

dawntarot

Thank you all for your kind comments, I'm glad it is of use! I find it gives me very clear readings too. :)

I will post some sample readings over the weekend!

Dawn
 

Inconnu

I like it! Thanks for posting. I'm going to digest this a little & give it a try.
 

Annabelle

Dawn, I really like this! Your method makes a lot of sense to me. I'm looking forward to trying it out soon :).