Daily "Behavioral Architecture" Spread

[Barleywine]

I stopped doing daily draws quite some time ago because I wasn't getting much out of them. But today I thought of a way to join the 3-card daily draw spread with the key "individualizing" features of a birth chart (Ascendant, Sun and Moon) via the decan card associated with the zodiacal degree of each. This marriage creates a "personality constant" and a daily set of "behavioral variables" that can be read together as a "response profile" for the day's activities. To satisfy my love of surprise, I added a fourth "hidden clarifier card," a wild card that lays face-down until you decide where you want to use it. You only get one use, so choose wisely!

To use this spread, you will need to have your natal horoscope (or your birth data to get a free one on-line) and a list or chart of the zodiacal decans assigned to each of the 40 minor arcana cards (available from several people here). I haven't tried it yet, so you can expect some minor changes. Your insights will be greatly appreciated.

ETA: Spread updated in accordance with Post #3.

 

[Barleywine]

I no sooner laid out my first attempt when I realized that I could use the quint for the three decan cards (Ascendant, Sun, Moon) as a kind of "apotheosis" for the personality. In my case, I had 7 of Cups (Venus in Scorpio) for the Ascendant, 2 of Cups (Venus in Cancer) for the Sun and 2 of Pentacles (Jupiter in Capricorn) for the Moon, all of which rolled up into Trump 11, Justice, as the personal "essence." I'm thinking about modifying the spread to capture this idea, but in practice it wouldn't be read in combination with the daily cards, so maybe not.

 

[Barleywine]

Another thought is, rather than using a single decan card for the Ascendant, Sun and Moon positions, I could add the associated court card along with the decan card, making a kind of higher and lower expression of the influence. This would give me King of Wands and 7 of Cups for Ascendant, Queen of Cups and 2 of Cups for Sun, and Queen of Pentacles and 2 of Pentacles for Moon. This fleshes things out a bit and allows for tempering of some of the drearier pip cards. This one I think I will do.

 

[Barleywine]

I realize that ten cards is too much for a daily draw, but once you get the higher and lower expressions of the "personalty constants" fixed in your mind, they will serve mainly as "overtones," and you will actively read only the three daily cards and the wild card, with just a nod to your regular habits. They will become an extension of knowing your birth chart in tarot terms.

 

[Barleywine]

Sample Layouts

This is what a typical daily draw would look like, one with the Wild Card still face-down and one with it where I chose to read it. The top six cards are the cards that represent my natal Ascendant/Sun/Moon complex, and will always be the same as a psychological backdrop; in other words, my "steady state" behavioral mode regarding personal Image, Power and Mood. The rest of the cards are the main "reading cards" and show the operational "flavor of the day" as it interacts with those constants. (To give proper credit, this is Ciro Marchetti's Gilded Tarot, my main working deck at the moment.)

 

[Barleywine]

Interestingly, the pictures remind me of three goblets filled with a mixture of personality traits (above) and transient reactions to stimuli (below). The goblets might have a teaspoon of sugar, or of lemon juice, or of vodka (or hemlock???) in the bottom, which the personality has to work with on the day in question.

 

[S.B.]

Interesting spread; I look forward to giving it a try. I especially like the idea of the Wild Card!

 

[Ruby Jewel]

This is what a typical daily draw would look like, one with the Wild Card still face-down and one with it where I chose to read it. The top six cards are the cards that represent my natal Ascendant/Sun/Moon complex, and will always be the same as a psychological backdrop; in other words, my "steady state" behavioral mode regarding personal Image, Power and Mood. The rest of the cards are the main "reading cards" and show the operational "flavor of the day" as it interacts with those constants. (To give proper credit, this is Ciro Marchetti's Gilded Tarot, my main working deck at the moment.)

Wow...this is a fascinating spread.The major arcana cards would be an interesting addition here. You must be using Thoth which makes the mutable sign the Kings; the fixed signs the Knights; and the Queens the cardinal signs. Is that correct? In the system I use, a Sag would be the Knight of Wands, not the King.

 

[Barleywine]

Wow...this is a fascinating spread. I might be inclined to add the two major arcana to it, draw a clarifier for rising, sun, and moon, and then draw an Angel card for the wild card. The major arcana cards would be an interesting addition here. You must be using Thoth which makes the mutable sign the Kings; the fixed signs the Knights; and the Queens the cardinal signs. Is that correct? In the system I use, a Sag would be the Knight of Wands, not the King.

Yes, I use the Golden Dawn system of correspondences. Rather than adding the associated trump card, I've been doing a quint from the set that I added the wild card to, which gives me a higher order of insight. I've been playing around experimentally with reassigning the astrological correspondences to the trump cards, so I'm not ready to mingle it with the GD stuff at this point. Actually, I have 26 degrees of Scorpio rising, which partakes of the first ("shadow") decan of the King of Wands.

 

[Ruby Jewel]

Yes, I use the Golden Dawn system of correspondences. Rather than adding the associated trump card, I've been doing a quint from the set that I added the wild card to, which gives me a higher order of insight. I've been playing around experimentally with reassigning the astrological correspondences to the trump cards, so I'm not ready to mingle it with the GD stuff at this point. Actually, I have 26 degrees of Scorpio rising, which partakes of the first ("shadow") decan of the King of Wands.

I decided to delete comments .... too confusing.