The Love String in Tarot and the Magus

My new book Tarot and the Magus demonstrates the techniques used to analyse strings of cards in the Opening of the Key Spread. Tarot readings are disposable - we shuffle the cards, deal them out, read them, and then re-shuffle for the next reading. However, I spent two months analysing these spreads, and having the cards laid out for that length of time was impractical, so I developed the Tables below for my own easy reference.

There are two sets of Tables - the Fire String and the Love String. These tables were not included in the book, but are presented below, so you can print them out for reference as you work through the examples. You can also use them as the basis for your own study and analysis of Tarot Strings. There are four Summary Tables for each String.

The table below shows the counting totals for each card, clockwise and anticlockwise. The right hand card (10 Swords) is at the bottom of the table, while the left hand card is at the top of the table.

The asterisks in Column 2 indicate the cards that are reversed. Column 3 shows the cards that are unaspected in the clockwise direction, while Column 4 shows unaspected cards in the anti-clockwise direction. Column 5 Pairs the cards from the outside to the centre.

Table 1: Love String Card analysis

reset	Love				3	4	5	ACW	CW	Total
01	4 Wands	F	F	A			1	12	18	30
02	3 Wands	F	N	A		*	2	3	0	3
03	Princess Cups	W	N	A			3	17	3	20
04	Queen Swords	A	F	P			4	10	14	24
05	2 Cups	W	F	P	*		5	0	4	4
06	Universe	E	N	P			6	2	2	4
07	Fool	A	N	A			7	4	3	7
08	6 Wands	F	F	A			8	12	4	16
09	3 Disks	E	F	A			9	19	5	24
10	Lust	F	N	P	*		10	0	8	8
11	Knight Cups	W	N	A			9	13	3	16
12	Knight Swords	A	F	P	*	*	8	0	0	9
13	6 Cups	W	F	A		*	7	1	0	1
14	9 Swords	A	N	P			6	3	1	4
15	7 Disks	E	N	A		*	5	1	0	1
16	7 Wands	F	N	P	*	*	4	0	1	1
17	Prince Cups	W	E	A			3	6	12	18
18	Tower	F	N	P			2	2	5	7
19	10 Disks	E	F	A	*		1	0	1	1

Love String Table 2: total number of cards = 19, The Moon

• The four elements are almost perfectly balanced
• Slightly more Neutral than Friendly combinations
• One Enemy combination - the only enemy combination in the Five strings used in the book
• No completely unaspected cards
• Four cards are unaspected in one direction
  • 7 Disks
  • 7 Wands
  • 10 Disks
  • 6 Cups
• 4 Wands is the most aspected