The Trump or Picture cards number 22 in total. Try to avoid privileging these cards over the Pip or Court cards. In the game of life, their importance fluctuates.
- The Fool
- New beginnings, potential, opportunities and so on. Due to the very nature of this cards energy, it’s best to pair it with some other Trump to get a sense of how it ‘plays out’ in human experience. For example, the Fool and the World together might indicate an unexpected opportunity to emigrate to another country.
- He wins when he loses!
- The Magus
- Self-employment and/or the marketing of your business. Skill development and skill acquirement. Some authors suggest mental illness. I’ve found in some cases, that this plays out as paranoia, especially with communications within their close relationships. Combine this card with the Moon and you’ve got some serious confusion on your hands.
- Priestess
- A secret; fluctuations; connecting with your inner needs; learning through books; psychic.
- The Empress
- The house (either moving, selling or decorating), good feelings within relationships, pregnancy, creativity, or perhaps the desire to do certain things but lacking the energy to start.
- The Emperor
- The client is either the Manager/boss within his/her working environment or the Manager is affecting the client on some powerful level. Logic, Law, Structure, Authority.
- The Hierophant
- Institutions; can sometimes indicate a restructuring process within the institution itself; help given via an institution; financial advisor.
- The Lovers
- A choice; a relationship; love;
- The Chariot
- A protective relationship; victory; success; individuality.
- Adjustment or Justice
- Balance; legal proceedings; decision; it can also indicate how ‘just’ the client or the client’s social group are being.
- The Hermit
- Retreat from public life; a secret love; fear; being covert; concealment
- Fortune
- A change.
- Lust or Strength
- Can relate to body image issues, success, sexual attraction, the magickal will.
- Hanged Man or Dying God
- Waiting, nothing happening, ‘hanging’ around; traitor; shame; a criminal.
- Death
- The end; it’s over; it’s changed; it won’t go back to the way it was; they are not coming back.
- Art or Temperance
- Travel, balance, moderation; success after going down some back-roads.
- The Devil
- Success in business; things taking a long time to happen; options are limited; feeling trapped; ruled by baser desires.
- The Tower
- A shock, things breaking within the house, a collapse; violent.
- The Star
- Getting what you wish for. Spiritual healing. Being helped.
- The Moon
- Deception; being tricked; not seeing the whole story; trust issues; mother issues.
- The Sun
- Vanity, arrogance, material success; the father helps the child- or not? Basically ‘father issues’.
- Aeon or Judgment
- A matter that requires a decision…or…the decisions already been made and cannot be altered, despite any attempts to do so.
- The World or Universe
- Long cycles, emigration, endings and beginnings.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I did a four card read, 1. situation, 2. Obstacle, 3. Action recommended, 4. Outcome. I can’t seem to figure out the meaning though. The question is will two people be friends again? 1. King Of Disks, 2. 8 of wands, 3. King of Swords, 4. Priestess…I get the king of D, I think-she loves him and this is how she views him and the arrows indicate that things have moved to fast for both of them?? Or just him? The King of Swords totally throws me unless it means he holds all of the power in their relationship and I have no idea how the Priestess fits into this as the outcome. It’s no secret she loves him so if it’s fluctuations I still don’t get it. No matter how many times I ask this question I can’t seem to find the right answer for the outcome. I had one reading where I don’t recall the situation card but the Obstacle card was the 2 of wands reversed next to the king of Disks who was next to the Queen of Disks. Is this man secretly in love with her and just to proud to say it since they got into a fight? Or am I just way off?
Hi Sheri,
Reading the Tarot cards can be confusing sometimes. The best thing we can do is take a step back and let the cards guide us. I’ll try and provide you with some pointers to help you make sense of this reading.
King of Disks/ 8 of Wands/ King of Swords/ Priestess
The Priestess would suggest “secrets” to be revealed…in due course…and that the future isn’t going to be a predictable outcome for a while. This card might also hint at uncertainty and confusion.
What can we say about the Priestess? She represents an idealised woman. This is a good sign of how he feels – a sense of idealisation.
The Eight of Wands as an obstacle – communication?
The two Kings – two aspects of him that don’t cooperate well together – a war against himself? Possibly two men – politics.
Now we need to tie these cards together to make a story. This is where our intuition comes in. In some senses, this is the limitation of positional based spreads – the limitation it places upon the Tarot reader. Step outside the box to see how this forms a story.
Quick ideas that might help:
Does the King of Swords suggest that someone needs to take control of this situation?
Does the Eight of Wands suggest that things will go nowhere unless something gives?
Where is the action in these cards?
Whats the outcome? Look to the Priestess – she holds secrets.
What holds this relationship back from progressing?
You asked if he holds all the power – this is possible. Nothing moves forward unless he wants it to. Yet, this type of thinking ignores the influence of the Priestess – she is a very powerful and influential woman. However, she is also aloof. Is this woman holding back?
In essence the 8 of Wands is the obstacle. This is a strange card to get in this position because the 8 of Wands removes obstacles, or at the very least, creates opportunity. Why then is this an obstacle? Probably because the two people in question are not fighting for this relationship. Both hold back in their own ways – a sort of relationship dynamic.
Hope this helps
This is so very helpful!!! Thank you so much! I’m struggling so hard to read these cards because I’m so new at it. I never would have thought the 8 of wands was an obstacle. I kept thinking it was helping to push things through faster. It’s such a positive card I couldn’t find the negative. As far as I can see there is no action in these cards unless he uses his power over her and moves first. But, if she moves first, then what? I also thought the Priestess was his dead fiance and the secret was he’s not over her. Which is no secret because all of their friends know this.
I know they are both holding back now because they got into a very big fight. She did make the first move and apologized for her part in the fight so now she holds back waiting for him to approach her because she believes it’s his turn. I don’t know why he won’t approach her. Is he afraid of her? Done with her? I keep looking at this reading and I don’t see that. It’s like he’s waiting for her to make a move toward him, but she’s afraid of rejection.
Here’s something else, he finds her very, very beautiful. She is kind and would never hurt anyone. He is extremely attracted to her sexually. Is this the power she holds over him? She will hug everyone else at the party, but holds herself away from him. Is she so in love with him she is afraid if he knows he’ll leave her? I wonder if that is a secret? But if she is his ideal woman then what is his fear there?
I’ve watched them at parties and they won’t be together as a couple until it’s time to leave. They even leave separately. Their relationship is/was very quiet. All their friends know about them, but they kept their time together secret…hmm…more secrets of the Priestess?
They are both afraid of commitment and abandonment so they hold back their true feelings from the other person and lie if the other person gets close to figuring it out. His fiance died 2 yrs ago and her now ex-husband cheated on her throughout the marriage. They are both very afraid of getting hurt.
Since the reading was for the woman, what would I suggest to her a course of action she should take to recover her friendship?
If the King of Disks is in control how can the Priestess take control of the relationship as the King of Swords suggests someone do?
There is no communication at all and she won’t make another move to communicate with him since the apology.
Can I tie their birth signs in this to help? He is a Taurus and she is a Scorpio. He’s stubborn and she was born aloof…lol…or should I have done this at the beginning of the reading? Since there are only four cards I didn’t think I needed significators.
There’s only four cards. I’m making this so difficult for myself. Something isn’t clicking for me.
Thank you so much, Douglas! I’m going to look at this from another angle.
Hi Douglas,
Your pointers were great! I realized I know too much about the couple so I asked a new question, same one, twice – Is he secretly in love with her? The first read I got Situation-Emperor/Obstacle-10 wands/Action-7 Disks/Outcome-Empress (R). The second read I got Situation-Justice/Obstacles-Sun/Action-King Cups (R)/Outcome-Lovers.
I have to say that on both of these I got excited by the cards. They all look on the surface like he loves her, but they are both with holding something from the relationship.
Using your pointers and just looking at the cards I think I actually might have the right answers.
In the 1st reading I see the Emperor following the Empress around. She’s beautiful. He wants her. But, then there are issues (10 of Wands) that come into the relationship and neither one will put them aside so they can move forward unburdened. The 7 of Disks suggests that neither one or maybe only the male isn’t making any effort to work on the relationship because it would take time and work – hard work to get past all of the issues.
In the 2nd reading I pulled the Justice card – Since the question is to find out the truth of whether or not he secretly loves her I kinda got a laugh out of this card because this lady seeks the truth in every matter. A decision needs to be made – this couple needs to bring peace between them and this lady brings peace with the truth.
The Sun in the Obstacles threw me. How can happiness be an obstacle? But for these two it is. Are they afraid they don’t deserve to be happy? I think he doesn’t believe he deserves happiness in his life. (I know this because I know he feels guilty for living when his fiance died.)
The King Of Cups (R) as the action card- Since the King of Cups brings emotional stability, structure and focus to all that comes from the heart, I believe that (R) this man is the opposites of all of that. He’s not bringing any of that to this relationship. I believe that this King’s in emotional turmoil. He wants to be happy (Sun card), but doesn’t know how to attain it to get to the Lovers card and be with this woman. The action he must take is to find a balance for his emotions so that the harmony between this couple can be restored and they can be lovers again.
So for the outcome I have to say when he changes they will be lovers again…
Am I right? Am I close in this reading? I had so much fun with this one. I really loved your pointers Douglas because it made it so much easier for me to see the cards differently.
Thanks so much!!! Sheri
Hi Sheri,
I really like the way you interpreted those cards. I got the sense you had opened yourself up more to the process and allowed things to flow.
In terms of your question, “Am I right?”
I would say, yes. The reading does suggest holding back, and the 10 of Wands suggests hiding behind responsibility (perhaps prior commitments).
Overall I agree with your assessment of the cards. Great job
Hi Douglas,
Thank you! If it weren’t for your pointers I would never have understood. I used your pointers as a template to help me with these two readings above.
Bittersweet news for my friend, but at least she knows there has to be change from both of them. Individual counseling might help them both.
I’m still having problems with some cards though. I don’t understand what it means when I read that depending on the way the King of Wands is facing in a spread will have a bearing on the reading. I have the R. Waite cards and he sits sideways on his throne. My books don’t give examples of this, so it leaves me hanging
Thanks again!!! I’m learning so much from you!!! Sheri