AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF READING THE TAROT CARDS
(The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite 1910)
Shuffle the entire pack and reverse some of the cards, so as to invert their tops.
Ask the Querent to cut them with their left hand.
Deal out the first forty-two cards into six packets of seven cards each, face upwards, so that the first seven cards from the first packet, the following seven the second, and so on as in the following diagram:-
Pick up the first packet; lay out the cards on the table in a row, from right to left; place the cards of the second packet on top of them and then the packets which remain. You will now have seven new packets of six cards each, arranged as follows: -
Take the top card of each packet, shuffle them and lay out from right to left, making a line of seven cards.
Then take the next two cards from each packet, shuffle and lay them out in two lines under the first line.
Pick up the remaining twenty-one cards of the packets, shuffle and lay them out in three lines, below the others.
You will now have six horizontal lines of seven cards each, arranged in the following manner.
In this method, the Querent, if male, should be represented by the Magician, and if female by the High Priestess; but the card, in either case, is not taken from the pack until the forty-two cards have been laid out, as directed above. If the required card is not found among those placed upon the table, it must be sought among the remaining thirty-six cards, which have not been dealt, and should be placed a little distance to the right of the first horizontal line. On the other hand, if it is among them, it is also taken out, placed as stated, and a card is drawn randomly from the thirty-six cards that were not dealt, to fill the vacant position, so that there are still forty-two cards laid out on the table.
The cards are then read in succession, from right to left throughout, beginning at card No. 1 of the top line, the last to be read being that on the extreme left, or No. 7, of the bottom line.
This method is recommended when no definite question is asked, that is, when the Querent wishes to know generally the course of his life and destiny. If he wishes to know what may happen within a certain time or date, then this time should be clearly specified before the cards are shuffled.
With further reference to the reading, it should be remembered that the cards must be interpreted relatively to the subject, which means that all official and conventional meanings of the cards may and should be adapted to harmonize with the conditions of this particular case in question, such as the position, time of life and sex of the Querent, or person for whom the consultation is made.
The Fool may indicate the whole range of mental phases between excitement and madness, but the particular phase in each divination must be judged by considering the general trend of the cards, and this naturally relies on the intuitive faculty which plays an important part.
It is important that, at the beginning of a reading to run through the cards quickly, so that the mind may receive a general overall impression of the subject, any trend or trends within the spread and then to start again, reading each card, one by one and interpreting in detail.
Where intuition fails, or is absent, concentration, intellectual observation and deduction must be used to the
fullest extent to obtain a satisfactory result. But intuition, even if apparently dormant, may be cultivated by
practice in these divinatory processes. If in doubt as to the exact meaning of a card in a particular connection,
the Diviner is recommended, by those who are versed in the matter, to place his hand on it, try to refrain from
thinking of what it ought to be, and note the impressions that arise in his mind. At the beginning this will
probably resolve itself into mere guessing and may prove incorrect, but it becomes possible with practice to
distinguish between a guess of the conscious mind and an impression arising from the mind which is
subconscious.
It is not within my province to offer either theoretical or practical suggestions on this subject, in
which I have no part, but the following additament have been contributed by one who has more
titles to speak than all the cartomancy's of Europe, if they could shuffle with a single pair of hands and divine with one tongue.
NOTES ON THE PRACTICE OF DIVINATION
1. Before beginning the operation, formulate your question definitely, and repeat it aloud.
2. Make your mind as blank as possible while shuffling the cards.
3. Put out of the mind personal bias and preconceived ideas as far as possible, or your judgment will be tinctured thereby.
4. On this account it is easier to divine correctly for a stranger than for yourself or a friend.
