Relevance of Significator

Hi all,

I just want to get your opinion regarding the use of a significator in a reading. I've read that it's the main theme of the reading. Moreover is it purposefully picked as the significator or do I just draw the cards randomly and have it represent as the significator?

What if I get the significator as the nine of cups? does it mean I get my wish or is it merely saying that the spread is about a wish I have?

Excited to hear your opinion!

J

The only time I use a sig. card is when I am reading for someone and I want to know where their head is at before I start. I let the person choose one typically. The only person I use this for currently is my 13 year old daughter but I used to use them all of the time. Also I use a different deck than the one I plan on using. That way I can keep the card on the table and have it show up in the read.

I never use one for myself, I just let the cards pick my significator by how they fall in the reading. The first card I pick becomes the symbol of "myself at this moment".

I usually separate out the Kings and the Knights for male querants to pick one, and Queens + Empress for the ladies, when reading for others.

I think Violetdaisy's idea to use a card from another deck as significator is brilliant!

Personally, I never use significators. I've never felt that they were necessary, and I don't like the idea of "wasting" a card that might otherwise show up in the reading. Though, if you use violetdaisy's method of using a separate deck for the significator, then I suppose that is a moot point.

Some readers choose a court card as the significator to represent the querent. It is chosen purposely to match the personality of the querent.

I often use a Quintessential card. It's much the same. It can represent a person, a mood, a situation. I find adding this layer can enhance the reading. Give it more meaning, more focused detail.

Thank you, everyone! I find your insights really helpful.

I am now able to weigh out the pros and cons of whether to use one or not. I do agree that I may have to use a different card from a separate deck if choosing to use one as it might waste a card which can possibly shed light when placed somewhere else.

In my case, it's the Nine of Cups..so no idea whether it's a wish granted or just that I'm thinking about a wish. LOL

Thanks again!

J

I was raised in an environment where part of the function of the significator was to reduce the deck to 77 cards - a magical number that empowers the tarot. Just sayin'....

Michael

I tend not to use a significator--like Padma, I often have a spread position to represent myself at the time that I ask the question, and I like for this card to come up randomly.

However, many readers do find significators useful, and the general theory behind them is that you take one card out of the deck to help focus your reading. This is a card that you specifically choose, not one pulled at random. General practice is, as I understand it, to use a Court Card that's representative of the querent (either in terms of personality, age, or appearance). However, you can also pull pretty much any card as a significator, depending on what works for you. If a querent has a question specifically about her relationship, it would be perfectly reasonable to use the Two of Cups as a significator.

I may or may not use a Significator - and how I choose it varies on mood. It can be deliberate or a random selection.

If I have a 'general question' - I may choose a Significator... mostly by matching as much as I can, the querent to the "personality" of a Court card (as I intuit it. Other people use Astrology to choose the Significator - or go by matching appearance of the card to the querent).
Then I'll use that card to perform Paul Foster Cases' "The 1st Operation".
Here, I shuffle the significator into the deck, split the deck into 4 piles - Earth, Air, Fire and Water. then find which pile the Significator has ended up in.
The Pile then tells me what area of the querents life is most relevant presently. The card before and after the significator represent "The Universes Message" to the querent - or I may decide to use them as recent past and future cards... etc.

If I have a specific question and am going to use the Celtic Cross - then whatever card I deal in position one - is the Significator.

If I want to use a Significator but don't want to remove the availability of that card from the complete 78 draw - I will use one of the spare cards that came with the deck as the Significator - or if there are none, choose one from a different deck.

If the Significator is the 9 of Cups - I would read that as the querent's present state: perhaps they have reached a position of achievement and satisfaction; are actually a bar tender; or they are the "go to person" that most people seek when looking for advice (like a counsellor)... or this person may be bordering on being sly and smug about something (i.e. a bit on the "pride before a fall" side)... etc. etc. etc.

@Calcifer - I was taught that if I was doing an absent reading, I should select a Court to represent the absent person - this would then mean that the deck was reduced to 77 cards - the no. of "The Will" - i.e. the reader is sort of "imposing their will" on them. Truthfully - I am uncertain what this means as I don't know the origin of the 77... never investigated it yet. Perhaps some more numerologically minded ATers can shed light on this here.

I was also taught to shuffle and randomly choose a Significator just before a reading to get some "insight" into the state of the querent/their state of mind etc.
I will do this sometimes.

I never use a significator. If I need something to represent the querent, I will use a spread that has a position in the layout that fulfils that function.