Deeper Analysis of the Abbey Theatre Reading
The table below summarises an analysis of Annie Horniman's reading for the poet and leader of the Golden Dawn, W.B. Yeats. Annie Horniman was more or less following the rules of the Opening of the Key Spread, which meant that she only counted from one card, the signicator she chose.
Click on the Headers of the table to re-order the information.
Rather than count through every card, I have included the card count in both directions for the top card, the Ten of Wands, and all the court cards. To keep things simple, I have not reversed direction for any of the court cards during the counting sequences.
The extra un-numbered cards are the final cards in the counting sequences. As you can see, although we have not counted from all the cards, we see several outcomes developing. The Queen of Swords is a popular last card, so Horniman's significator is expected to do a lot of the work herself.
Most popular cards
We have not counted from the Three of Pentacles, Works, but it is part of almost every counting sequence in both directions. The Eight of Pentacles is almost as popular, another card relating to work. Justice, suggesting relationships or legal work is prominent.
Least popular cards
Thus far, the Emperor is not counted onto in either direction. Horniman's respect and love for Yeats, could well suggest that he would be the Emperor. If you do the counting you will find that the Emperor counts onto Two of Swords, a peacemaking card, while the Ten of Wands is hit in the opposite direction. The Emperor appears to have a bipolar nature.
The Three of Cups, an expectation of good things to come, is also absent from the count so far.
Both the Emperor and Three of Cups are good examples of the subtleties of card counting. Both can easily be ignored since they are not counted onto, but actually, when we count from them, we find they start the counting sequence.
There is one other card that is not counted onto, but it is easy to miss, because we have already counted from it. The Prince of Cups is unaspected from one direction, but is counted onto from the Two of Swords.
With practice, these patterns build up in the mind, and you will find shortcuts to undertstanding these patterns. After the first count from any card in both directions, count from a card not previously counted from. If you hit a previously counted card, then try another uncounted card, and so on.
The Source of the Nile
The longest, and most common sequence of card counts tells you of the most likely direction the reading will take. From the evidence below, the longest sequence is from the Queen of Swords to the Three of Wands, but there is a trap. If we only count from the Queen of Swords, this is true, but from the other direction the Three of Wands counts onto the Queen, a hidden influence that may have to be taken into account for the interpretation.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 10 | |
| Queen Swords | 4 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 7 - 10 end | 1 | 9 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Queen Swords | 1 and end | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 Wands | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 - 10 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 10 Wands | 2 | 3 | 1 -4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fool | 1 | 5 | 4 - 7 end | 6 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Fool | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 and end | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Prince Cups | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Prince Cups | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Counting from the significator, the Queen of Swords results in a very small loop - we land up on the significator herself. Either she is so incredibly self-centred that she thinks the world revolves around her, or she is not going anywhere fast. No wonder she counted in the opposite direction.
The top card is the Ten of Wands, which she interpreted as 'anger in the mind', most apt since this sequence of cards was in the Air pile. As a professional tarot reader, I would probably have not read the Air pile since it can open a whole can of worms. We could interpret this card as suggesting that she is the problem. Possibly Annie Horniman was somewhat intimidated by the Devil card in the Earth position. Purchasing a building for a theatre might be interpreted as creative, but it is also a business proposition, so I would have interpreted from the Devil. However, the sequence of cards is not available to us. What we can do is interpret the top card of the Air pile, the Ten of Wands, which, significantly is counted onto by the significator, the Queen of Swords, representing Annie Horniman. Since the minor cards have no direction, we can count in both directions to see what is the best outcome.
