In a spread, do you read a Major Arcana card as part of the Major Arcana sequence?

[Nuncle]

Reading a Major Arcana card as part of a spread

Hi everybody.

When doing a reading that contains one more Major Arcana cards, do you see that card as part of the sequence of Major Arcana cards as part of your reading? Most books talk about card meaning and position, but not the sequential thing.

For example, I was doing a private reading the other day, and the Temperance card came up. After thinking about the card a bit, I understood the card was following Death, and I interpreted it as such. The Death card, I should mention, does not apear in this spread. The other Major Arcana cards I did not interpret the same way (as following in their sequence). Carelessness? Brain dysfunction? Synaptic detour? Who knows.

But after getting some feedback, the querent said this was an accurate reading, and I realized I could have done the same with the other cards and would have added some insight and/or accuracy to the reading.

So, is this a normal or accepted way to read Major Arcana cards when in a spread? And if so, is it more of an intuitive type of decision, or a methodology that is applied generally?

Thanks.

Nuncle

 

[FaerieStorm]

Fascinating question. I've never really thought about it like that; I tend to look for connections between the Trumps--do they go in order, or do they back-track. For instance, if the querent gets the Moon in the present, but then gets Strength in the future, I might find some reason why he/she is moving back, not foreward. Of course, this doesn't mean that the person isn't progressing, it just might mean he or she needs to return to another phase in his or her life (this probably doesn't make any sense).

Anyway, I don't really think about the cards that preceed the one that falls in the reading, but that's an interesting technique.

Blessed Be, FS.

 

[Nuncle]

Trying to clarify

Thanks for your response, FaerieStorm.

I feel like maybe I should try to calrify mu question a little bit. Maybe it's because I'm reading Rachel Pollack's 78 degress of wisdom that I am thinking about this so much, or maybe I'm just addled, but....

There is much discussion in here on AT and in books about the Fool's Journey and that the Major Arcana are a sequence, a journey, and that any given card (with the exception perhaps of The Fool) grows out of or responds to the card previous to it, and in turn implies the situation of the following card. This is one of the major points of Rachel Pollack's book. I know not everyone see the cards this way, but many do.The sequence seems especially pertinent with the cards that come before and after cards of change: The Hermit before the Wheel of Fortune and Justice after (in the Rider-Waite tradition), the Hanged Man before Death and Temperance after, and the Devil before theTower and the Star after.

So, if this is the case, does anybody see the Major Arcana in a spread with that sequence in mind as a part of its reading, in addition, of course, to the the divinatory meanings that one may attach to a card (whether it comes from a book or one's own intuition)? Or does it depend on the position and meanings of the other cards in a spread?

So, for example, if The Star (17) appeared, would you suggest to a querent that issues of hope and enlightenment have followed a big change (the tower 16), or that the querent should be aware of that issues of confusion or indecision (the Moon, 18), even though the Tower and Moon are not is a spread?

I mean, it makes sense to me in at least some cases. But I really don't know if I'm side tracking myself or not.

Thanks,
Nuncle

 

[Nocturnal Lure]

The Major Arcana are often regarded as a "path" so the previous card (start) as well as the following card (goal) in the chronological scheme could be interesting information when viewing the card (journey) in front of you.

There are very many aspects you can take into account in a reading... you can actually spend weeks analyzing one reading if you want, going through all the differetn aspects of even one single card.

When viewing the cards, you notice they have a chronological order, no use in completely ignoring that... though if you want a quick, uncomplicated reading you might not wanna go there.

 

[snowy25]

There are many ways to do a reading.
I think in this reading your intuition kicked in very strongly.
It does this sometimes.
Maybe you shouldn't make it more then it is.
Other things may happen in maybe another reading you'll do in the future, much like this one you did,that are spesiffic to that reading.
This may be a reading for yourself or a reading for someone else.
Tarot just does that.

I even did a reading once where two cards of the major arcana followed in position.
What stroke me where the numbers of the two cards.
I don't read reversals but the way the spread turned out was that one card had it's reversed meaning because the card before had a higher number.
So the person I did the reading for had a leap back to his past.
He confurmed this in his feedback.
But still, this was a one thing experiance based on that reading.

The reason I say other things may happen is because I get the feeling your going in the direction of reading the cards intuitively.

Good luck!!

Snowy

 

[Nuncle]

There are many ways to do a reading.
I think in this reading your intuition kicked in very strongly.
It does this sometimes.
Maybe you shouldn't make it more then it is.
Other things may happen in maybe another reading you'll do in the future, much like this one you did,that are spesiffic to that reading.
This may be a reading for yourself or a reading for someone else.
Tarot just does that.

I even did a reading once where two cards of the major arcana followed in position.
What stroke me where the numbers of the two cards.
I don't read reversals but the way the spread turned out was that one card had it's reversed meaning because the card before had a higher number.
So the person I did the reading for had a leap back to his past.
He confurmed this in his feedback.
But still, this was a one thing experiance based on that reading.

The reason I say other things may happen is because I get the feeling your going in the direction of reading the cards intuitively.

Good luck!!

Snowy

Snowy,

Thanks for the input. Yes, I think it may have been an ituitive leap rather than a "method." I didn't feel the need to do it with the other Major Arcana cards. Knowing this is available, tough, makes all the difference. Interesting, I also did a private reading for a friend where two cards followed each other in sequence. And it fit so well, too, made a lot of sense.

Thanks,
Nuncle