Sample Reading
Question: When should I move house?
Pull 5 cards, no positions, and typically I only use upright orientation of the cards. Any less than 5 cards and you may not get enough "story" to go along with the timing. But anymore than 5 and you may get confused on which card is showing you time.
High Priestess + Temperance + 4 of Swords + King of Wands + 4 of Wands
Typically in my experience, the timing cards will fall somewhere between the middle and the end of the 5 cards you've drawn. The placement of the timing card is significant, because it shows what is to come before and/or after the event. Major Arcana and Court Cards will never show you a time frame, but rather, help tell the story.
There was an instance for me where the timing card was the very first card drawn in the spread. In that case, it was showing me when the querent was expecting something to take place, but the cards following it were showing me that there was actually more to the story and that her expectations were incorrect and the situation would drag out much further than she anticipated - so again, positioning is key!
For the way that I read, Wands = Days, Cups = Weeks, Swords = Months, and Pentacles = Years. So we have the 4 of Swords and the 4 of Wands here as the possible timing cards. It is not the 4 of Wands because that is a card that might show a new residence and moving in 4 Days would be impractical. This card is clearly a part of the "story".
So
4 months is the answer to the question.
Now I look for other indicators to connect with the querent and give an explanation. First, I notice that the first 3 cards in this spread all have something in common: patience. The HP waits for more to be revealed, the Temperance angel mixes his stuff "just so" to perfection (which requires patience), and then of course the timing card itself shows "pause". (Which now that we have established that it is the timing card, we can read it as part of the story). Then I see also the two 4s in this spread and think back to the Emperor- there is perhaps a work/professional-related issue involved in this house move as well. And then also, a man may have some influence over this house move (King of Wands).
So now that I've considered all of that, I read the cards from left to right.
The first two cards are Major Arcana, and represent energies surrounding the querent that are out of her control. Since I read elements, I consider that the Temperance card badly aspects the High Priestess making her energy more high-strung, vulnerable, and over-sensitive.
This tells me that the present living conditions are not suitable to the querent's emotional well-being and is the reason behind the desire to move. Picture Lady MacBeth wringing her hands in a crazy manner. LOL This is how the querent has been feeling about moving; likely thinking and worrying about it all the time.
There is some advice here for the querent though, considering that Temperance is a card of balance. She could bide her time and counter the feelings of over-sensitive, hand-wringing craziness (HP) by taking some time out to sit down, pick up a pen, and write out a plan of action to take when the time comes (4 of Swords).
Now I pay attention to what the court card is looking at.
So we have the 4 of Swords and the King of Wands looking at it. Since the summary card is the Lovers, it is likely her mate. And I just happen to know that there is a spouse and this is *his* card
so why is he looking at the 4 of Swords? I'm using the Albano-Waite to do this reading, and yes body-language is important... remember how I said the two 4s linked me back to the Emperor which told me there was perhaps a work-related issue affecting this move? Well here it is. The King of Wands is waiting to see that he does *not* get laid off before he makes a move into a new house (4 of Wands). And after 4 months (in approximately October) he will know for sure that he is "safe" from being laid-off.
*This person's company typically lays workers off around the end of August/early September.
One last thing I notice is the color orange in the 4 of Wands; this supports the 4 of Swords time-frame for "harvest time" and may even point to Halloween since lots of people have Halloween parties or celebrations. These people could be happily celebrating Halloween and getting cozy in their new house by the end of October.
It works for me, hopefully it's easy to follow. If you have any questions, just ask! Each reading is unique to the question, but these are basically the guidelines I follow when looking at the cards... if you need any help, just ask.
