There are problems associated with the Three Card Exercise: although an action is defined, there is no context, no background, it appears to be happening in a vacuum. The cards are not interacting with the environment, and as you are interpreting Tarot in terms of the Querent, who is part and parcel of the environment, after all, you need something extra.
You need to place the 3 cards in an environment, a backdrop, such as when the curtain rises at the start of a play. Following the theme of the four elements you will put the Triplets in an elemental position, rather than naming them as 'Love', 'Past', 'Work' etc.
You then use the same rules to reinterpret the cards. As an example, follow the First Example in Exercise 1, interpreting it beginning with the Fire position, then Water, Air and finally Earth. Note how the 'pecking order' and internal dynamics changes dramatically with each change of elemental basis.
With these 3 cards in the Fire position, we see immediately that the original interpretation will stand, but we have more detail. Water is now very weak. The emotional content is all but eliminated. The Querent will definitely act on an idea, with little compassion, possibly brutally. There is no financial incentive, nothing to ground the situation, as there is no balancing, passive Earth.
Sudden actions, a situation that does not last.
Water is now the strongest card, excessive in fact. Fire, is very weak. Air is friendly to both cards and the Water Position, however Water is passive. Since Water is excessive, and Fire is very weak, the conclusion is that Air is the strongest element. The Querent is dreaming about a situation: it may never happen. The lack of Earth indicates little practicality.
An effeminate or ineffectual man. A woman who is able to put her ideas into practice, but she may lack confidence in her abilities, depending of course on what the actual cards are.
The Principal card is in its own place, very strong, and the Modifiers are both friendly to Air. So far, so good. The problem comes from the Modifiers being enemies to each other, weakening themselves.
We may have a situation where the Querent is trying to rise above conflicting emotional experiences that is paralyzing him/her. Of course s/he may just be intellectualizing about the situation, avoiding the conflict around, hoping it will go away. Lack of Earth indicates the impracticability of the situation. This is a good example of how even when an element is in its own position, it may not have a good prognosis.
At last we have the opportunity to see what Earth can do, even though it does not appear in the cards.
The Principal, Air, is very, very weak; in the enemy camp, so to speak. Fire and Water are friends of Earth as well as Air, so they could be seen as brokers. The Querent is within a maelstrom of conflicting actions and emotions, possibly at work. Office politics is rampant. The Modifiers support the environment, rather than the Principal, or at least, they are not in a position to aid Air.
There may be a total lack of forethought in any action. Actions may be motivated by power and greed. This may also indicate a situation where someone is not being as practical about their career or work choice.
This is a simple method that can be applied to many situations. The amount of information that can be gleaned just using elemental principles is remarkable. Any omitted elements can give clues to the Reader as to what is missing. An ideal situation would be where all four elements are present; actions involving the missing elements may be used to create balance.
The meaning of individual Tarot cards can get in the way, so an inability to remember the established meanings of the cards can be a distinct advantage. Note how the combinations of the elements suggest the situation the Reader is looking at - there is no need for labels such as 'Work', 'Health', 'Love' etc. The problems of time - Past, Present and Future, are also resolved since time is measured by change, a flexible commodity as anyone who has waited for a kettle to boil or sat through an interminable committee meeting.
Try working through two element combinations.
Use actual Tarot cards in Three Card combinations. Start with the Minor cards, then introduce Major cards, and finally add one Court card. For the brave, have a go at three Court cards at once.
We now have the basic building blocks to develop more sophisticated methods of reading Tarot cards: Detailed memory of the individual cards is not necessary: we know how to interpret three card combinations, and we have used our imagination to read those combinations in an elemental position.
Three Elements on an Elemental base extends interpretation
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