One & Two Card Tarot Exercises

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a One Card Spread, but it is possible to have a meaningful reading if Elemental Dignity skills have been developed and the question is fairly simple. One Card Spreads are probably not for beginners, but they might have a use where the Tarot reader has to do a lot of quickie readings.

EDs should be read with a minimum of 3 cards, so the Reader is faced with conjuring some other elemental aspects to make a relationship. First of all, the elemental basis has to be determined, and this is done by relating the nature of the question to an element.

The next stage is to use the elemental basis of the Querent's sun sign (the Ascendant or Moon sign may be more appropriate if a natal horoscope is available). To sum up, we have:

• Elemental Position (nature of the question)
• Element of querent Sun Sign
• Element of Tarot Card

Exercises

If you wish to hone your ED skills, try reading the same card using a different elemental background, or Sun Sign.

Advanced Exercises - Astrology

For those astrologers who have a clear mental map of horoscopes, things can be taken further. For example, if the Tarot Card represents one of the twelve signs, then there will be a clear aspect or house relationship to the querent's sun sign.

For example, if the Sun sign is Aries and the Tarot card is the Hermit (Virgo), we might deduce that there might be some health or work issues (6th House). If we follow the reciprocal path from Virgo to Aries, there may be some 8th house problems relating to other people's money, financial loss, death, or sexual relationships: the 8th House is Water, which may have a bearing on the situation, especially as Fire and Water are enemies. We can do a similar thing with the 36 Minor Cards (Aces excluded).

If one of the seven Planetary Major Arcana are drawn, then we use our knowledge of planetary rulerships and positions of planets in signs to draw further inferences.

Two Card Tarot Exercise

The Two Card Exercise is about pairing cards, an essential skill in reading the first part of the Opening of the Key Spread, where the cards at the extremity of the spread are read, then the next inner cards and so on until the centre of the spread is reached.

The Two Card Spread requires an elemental basis, which has to be supplied by the Tarot reader according to the question. For a guide as to the elemental nature of questions see Choosing an Element.

• 1
• 2

Basis

Reading a Two Card Exercise is not easy, particularly as there is not a Principal position. The Elemental Basis will make a big difference in determining which card is strongest.