Hello all,

Thank you to cedars for your help when I last got myself into a pickle with a reading. I haven't been reading tarot for very long but I am trying to do it quite often under the notion that practice makes perfect! But sometimes I just get stumped; and this is one of those times!

I decided to do a relationship reading for 2 people I know; they are not yet in a relationship but at least one party has expressed an interest in pursuing one.

I don't want to use real names so I shall make some up; let's call the lady Elizabeth and the man George.

The readings I did in this case were the simple Past, Present, Future. However, I always like to draw a clarification card as well.

I split this reading in 2 and did one for, 'how does Elizabeth feel about George?' and the contrary 'how does George feel about Elizabeth?'

For the first: 'how does Elizabeth feel about George?'
   Past: Strength
   Present: 5 of Chalices
   Future: Death
       Clarifier: The Hanged Man

And for: 'how does George feel about Elizabeth?'
   Past: Ace of Swords
   Present: 9 of Chalices
   Future: 10 of Pentacles
       Clarifier: 5 of Chalices

I'm afraid I'm rather stumped in this case; particularly in the case of the first reading because of the number of major arcana that appeared, that tends to throw me a bit. What the main purpose of this is, is trying to understand if a relationship between Elizabeth and George is likely to get off the ground at all. I have made an attempt at interpretation and if anybody would like to hear my take I would be happy to post it but I'm conscious that I have rabbited on enough as it is.

I don't know if anybody is interested but I also have a set of runes and sometimes, if it's a difficult reading (like this one!), I will draw a rune to help clarify as well. For the first of the 2 readings I drew Othila reversed and for the second I drew Eihwaz.

Thank you in advance to anybody who replies
fordasgard

Hello fordasgard

I dont know anything about runes, but surely would like to get an idea.

Regarding your own interpration on the basis of past, present and future, please freel free to express them here.

The fact that they are not yet in a relationship may make a difference in the cards that have come out. Furthermore, I would not have done a past, present and future reading if you were only looking at their inner emotions, as there is no past, present and future involved here, hence the reason you got mainly major arcana cards in my humbel opinion.

Please give your take on the basis of how you did the reading.

Dont worry about it; we are all learning here.

Cheers

cedars,

Thank you for your reply. I agree that past, present, future may have been a mistake but I'll have a go at interpreting the cards I got from that. I always have difficulty interpreting a card representing the past or a receding influence, and as that's the first card my interpretations tend to stall quite early.

Anyway, I thought for reading 1 that:

Past- Strength- Elizabeth was very much in control of herself and her emotions and saw herself as a friend, first and foremost, and quite possibly as nothing more than that.
Present- 5 of Chalices- Spilt milk; Elizabeth may be concentrating on the negatives and ignoring any possibilities. My first thought was that she is only interested in George as a friend and is ignorant to any possibilities beyond that.
Future- Death- I don't like reading death as death but as a transformation or ending of an era or cycle; however my intuition in this case says that Elizabeth doesn't really want a relationship with George.
   Clarifier- The Hanged Man- For me, as a new tarot reader, this is quite a difficult card for me! I suppose my dominant reaction to it here is one of standing still and no movement with regards to a relationship; a relationship doesn't exist between them now and won't likely get off the ground.

On to reading 2:

Past- Ace of Swords- I found it difficult to read this card; I know it has connotations of triumph and victory and clarity of mind, so perhaps those influences are receding in George? His certainty for feelings for Elizabeth are retreating?
Present- 9 of Chalices- I think contentment is key here; George is content with where his friendship with Elizabeth stands at the moment.
Future- 10 of Pentacles- A newfound stability in George's emotions to Elizabeth and where their friendship is now will set in.
    Clarifier- 5 of Chalices- The card has appeared again and for me indicates that whilst the possibility of a relationship may exist (the 2 cups still standing) they are concentrating on the spilt ones. Moreover, in light of the other cards in the reading, probably happy or coming to terms with that.

As for the runes; Othila reversed- this rune is indicative of permanence, inheritance, legacy and home. As it has appeared reversed, it perhaps shows that George is not Elizabeth's spiritual partner or soul mate? The second rune was Eihwaz- sometimes this rune is linked to the Tarot death card, according to my research, and also shows transformation or the end of a cycle. Confusingly, it can also mean that one has set one's sights on an attainable target. In light of the reading, I would edge towards the former explanation.

My overall impression of the reading is that a relationship between George and Elizabeth is not likely to start at all or, if it does, not to last very long. Which, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing!

Has what I've said made sense at all?

I think you're right cedars, we are all learning!

Many thanks,
fordasgard

Hello fordasgard

Your interpretation is quite intuitive and I wonder if you have told any of this to your friends and what their response was.

Although you do not say which one of the two had expressed their feeling to the other, but I sense both are scared of saying what they feel in case there is some kind of heartache (Five of Cups).  Whilst Elizabeth may be the inwardly strong one, but she fears a situation from her past and is looking at the fallen cups only, without for once considering that all may not have the same outcome. There are things she has to get rid of from her past and come out onto a new cycle or a new page in her life. In order to do that she may need to spend time within her own soul, learning about herself but without detaching herself from the rest of the world, or even in this case - George. She cannot sacrifice herself for what may have happened in the past, but she has to do it with an open mind.

As for George, I feel everything is fine for him in his life: he has it all from emotional to material contentment. But what is it that he afraid of or does not want to admit? Could he be the one who has not had a positive response from the lady? Or, is he also grieving a past romance and is too scared that this one might lead to the same outcome?

By the way, I am using the Rider Waite deck.

I cannot comment about the runes – something I know nothing about.

Make sense?
Cedars

It does, thank you. What do you think about a possible conflict of interest on George's part?

I am using the White Cats tarot (the only one I have, unfortunately) and, as far as I can tell, the symbolism is very much like the Rider Waite.

Thank you again for your help,
fordasgard