Missing Suits in Tarot Readings

elena_jaymz

Redfaery said:
I only pay attention to missing suits if the spread is large enough that the absence is striking.

In a 3 - 5 card reading it doesn't strike me as odd that one suit might be absent, but in larger spreads like a Celtic Cross I would definitely take note if this were the case. To me it would possibly suggest an imbalance of energies.

Thanks Redfaery, I totally agree! It does strike in a large spread!

elena_jaymz

Metafizzypop said:
If a suit doesn't appear in a reading, that doesn't mean it's "missing." The suit just didn't make an appearance. "Missing" means that something is supposed to be there, but it's not. Like if you put a pizza in the refrigerator, and then when you look for it the next day, the pizza isn't there any more. Maybe someone ate it or stole it or gave it to a needy friend. Whatever the reason, we can say that the pizza is "missing" because it was supposed to be in the fridge, where we left it.

Hi Metafizzypop, I like your pizza example!

you're right anyway!

Metafizzypop said:
If a suit does not show up in a tarot reading, it just means that none of the cards in the suit had relevance to the question you asked. The only time non-appearing suits might make a statement is if you ask about love and get no Cups. Or you ask about career, and get no Wands, etc. Aside from that, if a suit isn't there, then it just didn't have anything to tell you. Not every suit is supposed to be in every reading.

Just my 2 cents.

I agree, you don't always need to see all the suits in your readings, if one or more don't appear, probably it's because they were not meant to.

elena_jaymz

Barleywine said:
The significance of what's missing (or "under-represented") really depends on the topic of the reading, as others have said. Elemental (suit) abundance and deficiency are the very first things I look at in a reading, but - rather than a force unto themselves - I see them more as enhancing or exaggerating any tendencies shown in the card-by-card narrative (kind of like a lens filter). Lots of benevolent Cups could be most salutary in a love reading, but a warning sign of soft-heartedness in a business climate. Lots of Swords and Pentacles could empower the businessman who is willing and able to muster the necessary mental toughness. A deficiency of these could compromise the easy expression of all things related to the missing element, and represent much more of an uphill struggle.

Thanks so much Barleywine. I agree, it depends on the context and the question asked and of course even when only one particular suit is predominant it may highlight a problem.

Barleywine said:
An alternative view comes from astrology, in which houses that are not populated by any of the planets might be seen as areas of the life that don't require much attention or work in the present lifetime (or circumstances, for an event chart). Under this assumption, a lack of Earth in a tarot spread could suggest no problems on the financial front, or no need to make an exerted effort in the practical aspects of the situation; the focus lies elsewhere.

Interesting, anyway I agree, if a suit lacks, it may also mean its energy is not blocked in your life, that is you don't have particular problems in those aspects of your life.

elena_jaymz

rwcarter said:
As for other elemental combinations (from the Navigators Tarot of the Mystic SEA cause I don't have time to work through them myself right now):

Air and Earth can be a high mountain peak or an abyss

Water and Earth can be mud or a sand dune

Fire and Earth can be a volcano, volcanic debris, ash or rock

Water and Air can be fog, waves or waterspouts

Fire and Water can be a camel

Fire and Air can be a tornado or the Phoenix

Rodney

Wow cool!!

Thanks Rodney!!

Missing Suits in Tarot Readings

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