Simple Cross Reading

I recently got to try a layout I hadn't used before, for a person in a group I moderate in and contribute to, and I really enjoyed the layout, so I have created a layout image for it and will share the reading here to explain how it worked. The person I did the reading for will remain un-named, for privacy's sake. They drew and laid out the cards in this layout, which they then explained the placement meanings for, and they said they found the layout in the book that came with their deck, which I believe is the Royo Tarot, seen here.

So here is the layout, with a background I borrowed from google, which is a still from this video by Dan Lopez. I hope he doesn't mind the use of it.

The following is the write up I did based on the client's draws, seen below. The client also drew two extra cards, in the final two positions, which made the reading really interesting.

In your simple cross layout, in the position of what helps you, you drew the 9 of Swords. Swords are the house of combat, competition, and action. The 9 is a card I call the ‘night terrors’ card, because it represents despair, misery, desolation, disaster, self-criticism, and mental cruelty. How can this HELP you? Perhaps you are motivated by criticism and being down at the bottom of the barrel. The 9 is often about dealing with the consequences of some action long gone. Something that still drives you, perhaps?

In the position of what hinders you, you drew the 8 of Swords. The 8 card is about crisis, indecision, restriction, censure, doubt, mistrust, confusion, interference - thinking things over too much. So this tells me that your actions are hindered by nothing other than YOU. You are allowing self doubt to hold you back - over analyzing the possible results of your action so much that you never actually take that action. This may be a heads up that is it finally time to ‘do the thing’, before it is too late.

In the position of where you are coming from, you drew the 5 of Swords. This makes a bit of sense, because the 5 is about defeat, degradation, unfairness, constriction, fear, distortion, and empty victory. In tradition decks, this is symbolized by a person who has clearly just won a battle, but the war is not yet over as his opponents retreat in order to return stronger. This card often shows up when someone has been dealing with a repeat issue - something that keeps coming back to bite them in the rear, time and again, because they have never actually resolved the issue, just pushed it back for a time. This card says you’re coming from a place where you are becoming weary of fighting that same battle over and over.

In the position of where you are going, you drew the 2 of Wands and the Hermit. These are a good pairing. First, the 2 of wands represents dominance, rulership, enterprise, sovereignty, power, and unification. The Hermit represent guidance, completion, introspection, contemplation, experience, detail, revelation, integrity, respect, leadership, transitions, discovery, wisdom, mentorship, open-mindedness, and courage. I think the 2 of wands describes where you are going/want to go, and the Hermit represents the tools you need to GET there.

Finally, in the position of something important - your message to think about - you drew the Knight of Swords and the Empress. The Knight of Swords is a card I love to teach. He represents impulsiveness, courage, intuitive thinking, and the unrestricted mind. He is the bold leader, but he is one not without flaws. His flaw? He often leaps before he looks. In my deck, he is depicted as a dragon, razing a village with its fiery breath. I like to tell my students that he is doing it for all of the right reasons - but he is in the wrong place! He should be razing the village in the next valley, not this one! He acted before verifying his target. The Knight of Swords often appears as a warning to think things through and to always look before you leap.The Empress card represents fertility, wisdom, prophecy, love of nature, healing, nurturing, emotion, creation, cycles, balance, fruitfulness, and contentment. Paired with the Knight of Swords, she is the foil to his temperament. She calms the impulsiveness and heals and nurtures him after battle, and after he is burned by his own flame when he makes mistakes. I think that while the Knight reminds you to look before you leap, the Empress is the reminder to take care of yourself while you try to become the leader that the 2 of Wands implied in the 'Where you are going' position. Self care is important, especially to those in leadership roles, which can accumulate a lot of stress.

The Full Moon Was Tonight...

Moon Tarot Card, Source Unknown. Please notify me if you can identify the artist or deck this is from!

Tonight is the Full Moon, and man, here in Tulsa we usually have some spectacular sunsets, and with the moon rising against the pastels and fire of the setting sun, today was no exception. I wish I had a camera that could have captured it adequately.

For me, the full moon is bursting with opportunities and filled with the energy I need to move forward towards goals and with projects. I've never been one to attend rituals ( I've only ever gone to two full moon rituals, and they sadly didn't go well for me, due to what I suppose I can only say are spiritual or energy blocks) and as I am still settling in to a new home, I have yet to set up an altar either inside or outside. So for this Full Moon, I'm choosing to do a couple of tarot layout I have yet to try, and that I feel are appropriate for my personal way of celebrating the Fullest Reflection of the sun's light onto the earth at night. Space juice, y'all. Moonlight is space juice for my spirit.

The first of the two spreads I have selected is a spread I found at Sybarite Tarot, the Setting Intentions spread. I also have selected one that I found on Pinterest but that is credited to Lavender-moon.com, although I wasn't able to locate the spread on that site. ( I may not have spent long enough looking, however.) THAT spread is the a Light in The Dark spread.

So, without further ado, let us get to it, shall we?

1. The Seed - your intention: The King of Questing (Wands), Reversed. Severity, honesty, Subordination.

2. Hesitation - fears stopping you from planting: Ten of Pattern (Coins). Stability, Riches, Abundance, Prosperity, Enrichment.

3. Push It In The Ground - overcoming fears and waiting: Knight of Questing (Wands). Conflict, Haste, Inspired Creativity, Expression, Concentration, Expansion.

4. Taking Root - how your intention will become reality: The Hierophant. Morality, learning, teaching, Wisdom, the Sacred, Initiator, Challenge, Commitment, Intention, Focus, Spirit, Remembrance, Resolution, Consultation, Counseling, Conformity, Society, Orthodoxy.

5. & 6. Bring It To The Surface - ways to nurture your intention and make it work for you: Five of Questing (Wands): Strife, Competition, Obstacles, Anxiety, Frustration, Freneticism, Hyperactivity; and The Devil: Bondage, Materialism, Fetters, Sensation, Bedevilment, Temptation, Degradation, Domination. 

As usual, we cannot take the cards at their face value - these keyword meanings help, but from them and their positions within the layout, I have to sort out what it all means to ME. This is where, as I always say, the inner storyteller must come out, and construct the story from the bones revealed by the cards. My inner counselor also wakes up, although when I am reading for myself I find it very difficult to give myself an unbiased session. This is why reading for others is so satisfying, to me, because I can step into my role as counselor and give aid to those who need insight. 

But back to it! My Seed Card, my intention, is represented by the King of Wands in Reverse. Perhaps, given his keywords, he is my intention to be a better, stronger self this year. I want to cast aside my depression and anxiety in order to be a more whole self. My Hesitation Card is The Ten of Coins, a card I am typically apprehensive about because it just feels slimy to me, I can't explain why. But it describes my hesitation as perhaps a fear of the loss of the card's attributes - losing the stability we have trying to to reach for something more. And since the reversal of the card talks about greed, that thought isn't too far fetched. So now to overcome my hesitations and fears, the Knight of Questing arrives, describing a situation that doesn't seem to be related to overcoming anything, with conflict, haste paired with inspired creativity, expression...oh, hey, I know this dance - this is me in my daily life, using my usual coping mechanisms for dealing with depression, anxiety, and a mild form of OCD. So perhaps the card is suggesting I keep on keepin' on, and maintain my coping mechanisms. let's see if that thought hold up as we move on to Taking Root - The Hierophant is a card that talks about the moral right, and in fact once upon a time the card was named The Pope, which speaks to its  symbolism further. But aside form its moral high horse, the Hierophant is also about wisdom, commitment, moving forward (taking initiative), intention, focus, and spirit. He tells me that in order for my goals to be come reality, for my intention to manifest, I need to take the steps to make it happen, and follow through with them - always sound advice. Finally, how do I nurture my intention? Well, The Five of Wands says I should be competitive, and work hard, while the Devil speaks about bondage, materialism, temptation - I'd take that as a warning to stay focused, not to stray from my path, be competitive and focused on my goal, and not walk willingly in to a trap of my own design by allowing myself to be distracted.

1. What is the darkness I'm avoiding? Six of Questing (Wands): Victory, Success, Advancement, Revitalization, Energy, Expansion.

2. How has it been affecting me? King of Pattern (Coins), Reversed: Perversity, Misuse, Speculation, Waste.

3: How has it been affecting others? Justice, Reversed: Injustice, Bias, Inequality, Prejudice.

4. What about it can I use to help me? Eight of Questing (Wands), Reversed: Inactivity, Dispute, Quarrels, Procrastination, Covert Communication.

5. What has the potential to hurt me? Four of Pattern (Coins), Reversed: Setback, Loss, poverty, Legacy

6. How can I heal myself? King of Primordialism (Cups): Power, Emotional Loyalty and Commitment, Spontaneity, Ego, Generosity, Responsibility.

7. What light can I use to balance it (the darkness) out? Nine of Questing (Wands), Reversed: Obstacle, Adversity, Opposition.

So now we come to the A Light In The Dark Spread. Where the previous spread was shining the light of the full moon on my goals and intentions, this spread shines a light on the things I may desire to keep hidden. We all carry some shadow in our hearts, some darkness in our souls that might be a source of shame, something we fear, or perhaps a hidden desire that we feel is too big to let into the light. Let's explore that with this spread, and see what comes up.

So what AM I avoiding? According to the Six of Wands, I'm avoiding my own success, avoiding taking the steps I need to take to be what I have always wanted to be. This speaks directly to the previous reading. How has it been affecting me? Naturally, when you avoid becoming your whole self, you live in a place filled with perversity and waste. The King of Coins says that when you avoid the truth of who you are, you create a chaotic life for yourself. This, too, speaks not only to my previous reading but also to my actual life. How has it been affecting others? When you live a life contradictory to your intentions, you not only create chaos for yourself, but also for others. You begin to blame things other than yourself for your situation, in order to have excuses for why you haven't become YOU yet. The Justice card here means that those around you have to deal with your denial of self, self hatred, which can look a lot like you are treating people unjustly and with bias s you ignore your own faults and become hypocritical, prejudiced. What about it can I use to help me? All that bad behavior leads ot a lot of fighting and can mean you spend a lot of time with your lips at your confidant's ear - I read the Eight of Questing as saying that instead of perpetuating the nastiness, it is time to flip the script and put your ear to your confidant's lips - they probably have some good advice to help lead you away form the person you created as your self while you hid from your own truth. Who has the potential to hurt me? The Four of Coins talks about setbacks and loss, which to me indicate backsliding in to old comfortable patterns of thought and behavior, meaning that the one person capable of hurting you here is YOU. How can I heal myself? The King of Cups is here - the King of the house of emotion, love, family, health and growth - to remind you that you have the power to heal yourself. Be emotionally loyal to yourself, commit to the new path you must forge to be responsible and become the whole self you desire to be. What light can I use to balance it ( the darkness) out? The Nine of Wands is the card I like to call the boy scouts card - be prepared, it says! Reversed, it talks of Obstacles, adversity and opposition - these are all things we face on the road to well being, and most especially in ourselves, caused by ourselves. What is the light here? It's a warning to be prepared for the struggles ahead on the long road to a whole and happy self. It's a reminder that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Well, for me, the Full Moon has been about reflection and setting goals for my future. What was yours about? Please feel free to comment below.