Directions that the figures are facing

Hello. I hope I'm posting this in the right subforum. I tried searching to see if this topic came up before but I didn't see much of anything.

I've read (and seen on this forum) that looking at the direction that the figures are facing adds an extra depth to a reading. I was just wondering what everyone else thought about that.

I have tried that and sometimes it works quite well, but other times I get very confused. For example, I won't go into details because I understand the reading for the most part, but it was very odd because 3 out of the 4 cards were facing to the left, and the figure in the 3rd card was preoccupied with something. That was when I truly started to pay attention to the directions figures are facing because this has never happened before. Apparently when figures face to the left, it means they're looking at the past...However, this question was about the present/immediate future, so I was very confused. I just took it to mean that each card was influenced by the one after it.

I just wanted to know what everyone's opinion are about directions the figures are facing, and how they incorporate it into their readings. Do the directions really indicate past, present, and future? Or could they just indicate whether one card is directly influenced/affected by the one next to it? I know, so many questions! But I find this pretty interesting. I hope this made sense, and looking forward to hearing your responses!

I might be the only one you get a response from.
I am a heavy pictorial reader and body language is definitely something I pay attention to. I can say though, there really is no 'set' method for me, each reading is unique and I literally just 'go with the flow' when it comes to this.

For instance, I was playing a 'guess the object' game thread here the other day, and I drew three cards: 6 of Pentacles + World + 2 of Swords. I felt immediately upon turning over the 6 that it was the answer. When I turned over the World, it came across as 'Yep, that 6 has the answer' (because the dancer is looking back and the World is a 'finish') and when I turned over the 2 it came across as 'No clues here, go back to that 6 already!' The 6 of Pentacles is my 'money' card, and that is exactly what the object was.

So yes, aside from pointing you in the direction of the past or future, the cards could simply be pointing you in the direction of other cards as well.

I love incorporating directions into my readings so I love this question.

"Past" as left-looking and "Future" as right-looking is a popular way of using this method, but I tend to use figure-facing in a different way. I like to see how the characters are interacting with each other.

Here's an example. A fellow Aeclectic reader pulled out the Queen of Swords, Death, Emperor (Rider Waite) on the status of his relationship with his ex.

The Queen of Swords (i think) was looking right at Death -- and also facing the future. She knows this relationship is done and over with because the stench of morbidness is right under her nose. The Emperor, however, center can only see Death in his peripheral vision. He thinks this relationship still has a chance; he is avoiding staring Death in the eye and accepting the fact that this relationship is over.

In another example, where I did incorporate past and present, using the Tarot of the Old Path, someone pulled out the 7 of Pentacles, The Queen of Pentacles, and a third card which I forget. But the first two cards are what's important. She asked about the probability of getting back with her ex.

The 7 of Pentacles card in this deck looks exhausted, damn-near OVER it and just plain ol' tired. He is looking towards the past and getting sweaty, upset, and overworked. This tells me that the relationship did quite a number on him. The Queen of Pentacles in this deck is looking at the past, but she has a different perception of it as per her expression. There's a sense of sadness, but wondering if it can be worked out. Also, if you look at her eyes, she doesn't notice how TIRED her ex is. Her gaze does not reach him. So I told this person, "Hey he's not interested because of how taxing the relationship is. Thinking of this relationship makes him very upset and I don't he wants to go through it again."

Hope this helps!

I read the body language of the cards as well. If the Page of Cups is facing the Queen of Pentacles (for example) and turned away from the Queen of Wands, then the message is for the Pentacles woman.

KnightOfTheCosmos said:

I've read (and seen on this forum) that looking at the direction that the figures are facing adds an extra depth to a reading. I was just wondering what everyone else thought about that.

Click to expand...

Two cards might be looking at each other, or one might be looking away from the other. That is a function of the deck's artist's preferences plus the spread you chose to use. Very often I find it isn't significant.

About ten or twelve years ago, though, I di a relationship reading for someone with the da Vinci Enigma ... and a card came out in the querent's column that was pointing accusingly at the querent's partner's column. No prizes for guessing what that was telling me.

If the card looking to the left is looking at another card, to me it's about that, not the past. I find the direction significant. It tells you who is looking at what.

Amanda: Haha, it seems like you're not alone! I am trying to pay more attention to the details of cards and noticing if anything jumps out at me. It's actually making me a bit more confident in my reading skills, so I figured I'd try paying attention to directions as well. I agree with your last statement, that they could just be pointing to other cards as well. I've been trying to see the directions as past, present and future and I've found that to be quite limiting.

Enlightment23: You were very helpful, especially with that example you gave! It makes more sense to see which cards are interacting with each other and how based on the directions than using the time method (past, present, future). I definitely think I'll start to do it this way and I'll pay more attention to how the cards interact with each other. =)

Laurelle: That's really cool! I will try to also pay attention to the body language as well. So, in your example, if the Page of Cups is turned away from the Queen of Wands, would you say the Page is just ignoring the QoW/doesn't want anything to do with her or does he simply not have a message for her (since Pages sometimes come with a message of some sort)? And also, when you mean body language do you mean emotions as well? I'm just curious because in one of my decks the characters are presented with strong emotions. Like, the Queen of Swords faces to the left and she's in tears, or the Queen of Wands has a very smug look on her face.

Nisaba: That's a good point, it can be an artist's preferences. I've noticed in my Deviant Moon deck a lot of the figures tend to face a specific direction, so I think for that deck paying attention to directions can help! But in my other decks, I don't think it can be that helpful. =)

queenxofxwands: This is what I'm thinking too. Like I mentioned before, the past, present, future method doesn't work well for me, so I've started seeing whether a specific figure is facing towards a certain card and whatnot. I agree with you!

Thank you all for your responses. You were all very helpful and gave me a lot to think about. =)