Contextual Meaning of Tarot

So, I just got home from the tarot class/group I lead most Saturday mornings. and a small point I made as we were going through our readings today using the layout pictured below was about how we read/interpret the card positions themselves, not just how we interpret the cards. So I'm gonna go over one of the readings, the cards that were laid out and the positions the were in, and how there are a couple different ways to understand the card based on the context AND interpretation of the position it is in, in the layout. So - the layout was a 6 card spread, with the following contextual meanings for each position: 1. What I want. 2. What is motivating me. 3. What I need to release. 4. Universal guidance. 5. Universal goal. 6. Changes for success. Now, to most people using a layout, these contextual meanings are locked in at face value. And before you lay any cards out, they are, for the most part, right. These are the ‘rules’ for this particular game of cards. However, as soon as you lay out the cards and begin your interpretation of THEIR meanings within the context of the ‘rules’ of the layout, those contextual meaning can begin to not make any sense at all. For instance, in today’s group, one of the readers drew the following cards for this spread: 1. 10 of Wands (oppression, burden, trial, ruin, disruption, failure, limitations, restrictions, and holding back) 2. King of Cups, in Reverse (violence, scandal, injustice, and weakness) 3. The Mage (will, communication, inherent ability, memory, clarity of thought and feeling, organization, invention, and originality) 4. Knight of Swords, in Reverse (extravagance, braggadocio, and romance) 5. 9 of Coins (gain, prudence, benefit, balance, order, organization, and unification) 6. 2 of Wands (virtue, cooperation, partnership, integrity, consistency, and congruency) So, when reading those cards and their meanings within the context of the layout, it may not make sense; especially if you read the ‘rules’ very literally. A good example here is the 3rd rule, “What I need to release.” Nearly every person in my group today read that as “What I need to let go of/get rid of,”and to be quite honest when you see that the spread itself is titled “Doubts and Fears” it goes to reason that the 3rd card is meant to, most likely, represent the fears or doubts one is meant to let go of. But when you look at the cards laid out, it doesn't make sense to let go of what the Mage symbolizes. In fact, for this person in particular, these are things they need to express more fully. At roadblocks like these, it is good to revisit the ‘rule’ and read it less literally. Consider that ‘release’ might not mean ‘to let go of’, here, for this person, but actually ‘to let out’. When you read that card from the perspective that this person needs to express these things, to assert their will, to be more communicative, to use their inherent abilities, be more organized, more inventive, have better clarity of thought, feeling,and memory, then the reading as a whole becomes clear. All of the cards in a layout create a context of their own, and demand interpretation using that as well as the ‘rules’ context. We must not, when using spreads and layouts like these, become slave to the literal or more obvious meaning of the ‘rules’, or our readings can become disjointed quite quickly.

Below you'll find the Doubts and Fears Layout we used today, found on Pinterest, and credited to pennilesspagan.com.