Tarot Dignities

The Tarot Institute

TAROT DIGNITIES

by John Gilbert, Ph.D.

Tarot Dignities - Part One

The terms dignity and dignities refer to how cards placed next to a given card affect the meaning of that card. Dignity is the relationship between two or more cards. Dignities may be neutral, positive or neutral. This quality of neutral, positive or negative is determined by the system or type of dignities the reader uses.

We'll discuss several systems of determining dignity. Elemental Dignity is determined by the Element of the cards. Astrological Dignity is determined by the planet assigned to the cards. Numerological Dignity is determined by the relationship of the numbers assigned to the cards. Sequential Dignity is determined by the relationship of the cards to a sequence of numbers. Royal Dignity provides an interesting way of handling court cards in a reading.

First, let's define what we mean by the qualities of neutral, positive and negative. For our purposes, neutral means the card in question is not affected by the cards around it. The total affect of all those cards is no effect. The card in question is read using it's normal interpretation. A positive quality means the card in question is to be interpreted in a positive light. Negative quality means the card in question is to be interpreted in a negative light.

Let's say the card we're evaluating is the Ten of Swords which means intellectually drained. If the Ten of Swords is neutrally dignified, this meaning doesn't change. If negatively dignified, it indicates an intellectual disaster. If positive, it may only be a temporary situation where the client is intellectually drained but will recover soon.

This is just an example. Rather than telling you what positive and negative dignity mean for each card, my intention is to give you a set of rules so you may define the cards the way you want to define them. Using dignities is a way of giving three meanings to each card. The neutral meaning is the meaning you've decided to give the card in question. Using this definition as your as your usual meaning for the card in question, come up with a positive and negative meaning for the same card.

Let's say the card you're evaluating is the Six of Cups which means Happiness. If this card is negatively dignified, it could mean Sadness or it could mean neither happy nor sad, Neutral. If positive it might mean Joy beyond description or Very Happy. There's a whole range of possible meanings. Each tarot reader needs to decide in advance which meanings he or she will use for neutral, positive and negative dignities. Answer the question: How much positive, how much negative?

Some tarot readers use dignities instead of using reversed cards for this reason. Instead of two possible meanings, the reader has three possible interpretations anytime two or more cards are used for a reading. In my own systems, I normally use both reversals and dignities with my three, five, ten and twelve card spreads. This gives me six possible meanings for each card. When using one card draws, using dignities isn't an option.

My suggestion is for you to learn to use one form of dignity or reversals first and add more systems later. My second suggestion is to always use the same system with the same deck. This suggestion is to have a different deck for each system and not use the same deck with more than one system. The rest of the suggestion is to learn one system at a time. This is the second thing we needed to discuss.

To use dignities you need to define each card three ways: neutral, positive, negative. Or, you need to devise a set of rules for knowing how positive and how negative those dignities will affect each card. You can do this before or after you've decided what system of dignities you're going to use.

Your homework, should you choose to try dignities, is to choose a deck for the system you're going to build and define each card with three meanings as described. When you're ready, proceed to Part Two.

Tarot Dignities - Part Two (Numerological Dignities)

If you've been studying and working with your cards as suggested in the last newsletter, you now have three key words, phrases or concepts for each of your tarot cards. One of these meanings is the normal meaning you attribute to each card. The second meaning is more positive and the third more negative. That's a good start.

The next step is to decide when dignities come into play. Let's assume dignities come into play whenever two cards are next to each other in any direction. There are no cards between the two cards in question. With a three-card spread where the cards are laid out in a row, the dignity of the middle card is affected by the other two cards. The dignity of the two end-cards is affected only by the middle card. But, if three cards are laid out in a triangle, then the dignity of each card is affected by the other two.

With a five-card spread laid out in a row, the dignity of the two end cards is affected only by the card next to them. The dignity of the middle three cards is affected by the cards lying on either side of them. But, if the same five cards are laid out in a cross, the dignity of the middle card is affected by all four of the other cards. The dignity of the four cards forming the cross is affected by the middle card and the two cards on either side of the card in question.

Sounds complicated, but it isn't. If one card is positive and the other negative, the result is no effect or neutral. If two cards are positive or negative, you can read this as either very positive or negative or just positive or negative. This is a decision you make when you're building your system. Here's a seemingly-complicated system to show you how it works. This system is a Spirit-Mind-Emotions-Intuition-Body spread with Spirit in the middle, Air above, Water on the left, Fire on the right and Earth below. Each card is defined with the neutral meaning. This doesn't mean the definition of the card is neutral. It defines what the card means when the card's dignity is neutral.

Then an extremely positive and an extremely negative definition is given each card. This is the best-case/worst-case scenario and represents the best possible and worst possible meaning of the card. The best possible positive meaning is used when the subject card is in the middle of a five card spread and the other four cards are all in positive dignity to it. The worst possible meaning is used when the other four cards are all adversely (negatively) dignified to the central card.

Now's a good time to talk about how tarot readers refer to positive and negative dignities. Positive dignity is also called beneficial, helpful, good luck and fortunate dignity. Negative dignity is also called adverse, inimical, bad luck, troublesome and ill-dignified. What you call positive and negative dignities is entirely up to you.

Next, define a positive meaning in the middle between neutral and extremely positive, and a negative meaning in the middle between neutral and extremely negative. This meaning is used when the net result of the dignity is plus or minus two. Plus two means there's a net of two positive dignities and minus two means there's a net of two negative dignities. If three cards are positive and one is negative, the net is plus two. If two cards are negative and the third is neutral, the result is minus two. Positive and negative meanings are used when the net results is plus two or minus two respectively.

You now have five definitions for each card -- extremely negative, negative, neutral, positive and extremely positive. These five definitions will serve you well for all three card tarot spreads. For five card spreads you may want to add two more positive and two more negative meanings. These are slightly positive which is plus one and half-way between neutral and positive; and slightly negative which is minus one and half-way between neutral and negative. Then you also derive very positive which is plus three and half-way between positive and extremely positive; and very negative which is minus three and half-way between negative and extremely negative. You now have nine meanings for each card:

Extremely positive plus four Very positive plus three Positive plus two Slightly positive plus one Neutral Slightly negative minus one Negative minus two Very Negative minus three Extremely negative minus four

As you can see, it's not as complicated as it looks. For three card spreads and other spreads where no more than two other cards affect the dignity, you only need five meanings for each card:

Positive plus two Slightly positive plus one Neutral Slightly negative minus one Negative minus two Numerology reduces every number greater than nine to a single-digit number by adding together the digits in the number. The result is always a number greater than zero and less than ten. For example, the number ten is a double-digit number, so we add the digits one and zero to obtain the number one. Thus, ten reduces to one. Fourteen reduces to five. Twenty-one reduces to three. Nineteen reduces to ten and then to one. The final result is always a single-digit number and it's called the Root Number. When using numerology with tarot cards, the court cards are numbered sequentially 11-14. In the standard Rider-Waite Tarot the Pages are eleven, Knights are twelve, Queens thirteen and Kings fourteen. The numbers of the tarot trumps are the number assigned to each Key. You'll need to decide how to number any cards which are not numbered in your deck. It is this root number we use to determine the dignity between any two cards. The rules for determining dignity are based on the relationship of the numbers to each other. The odd numbers 1-3-5-7-9 are positively influenced by other odd numbers. All even numbers 0-2-4-6-8 are positively influenced by other even numbers. The odd numbers 1-3-5-7 are negatively influenced by any even number 2-4-6-8 and neutral to the number zero. The even numbers 2-4-6-8 are negatively influenced by any odd number 1-3-5-7 and neutral to the number nine. Nine is helpful to other odd numbers and has no effect on even numbers. Zero is helpful to other even numbers and has no affect on the odd numbers.

Here's a summary of the rules for determining Numerological Dignity: 1. Even root numbers are positively dignified to other even numbers 2. Odd root numbers are positively dignified to other odd numbers 3. The even root numbers 2-3-4-8 are negatively dignified to the odd numbers 4. The odd root numbers 1-3-5-7 are negatively dignified to the even numbers 5. The number zero is neutral to all odd numbers 6. The number nine is neutral to all even numbers Your assignment, if you decide to play with Numerological Dignities is to play with them.

Questions and Answers Regarding Numerological Dignities

Q - Is there any particular reason why you make the Nines neutral instead of odd?

A - No, except there are five odd root numbers and only four even root numbers. The system works very well if you just make 9 an odd number and forget all about making it neutral. You get to make that decision as you build your own Tarot Dignities system.

Q - Can I use Numerological Dignities and Elemental Dignities at the same time?

A - I've never tried building a system like that but there's no reason you can't. It may get a little complicated, but you'll never know until you try it. See what you can come up with and let me know. I encourage anybody interested in trying to build a combined system like this to do so. Please let me know your rules for your final system. You'll also need to give it a name. If you'd like a place to publish your system, consider Tarot Institute.

Tarot Dignities - Part Three (Numerological Dignities)

The example readings in this issue are done using the Numerological Dignities. These examples are created for instructional purposes only, and any similarity to a real tarot reading are purely coincidental.

Q - What outcome can I expect from creating the Temple Amulet in a ritual this evening:

A - A five card Elemental Cross spread was used. Earth (above) = Knight of Disks (12 = 3) Water (left) = Ten of Cups (10=1) Spirit = (center) The Devil (15 =6) Air = (right) Five of Swords (5) Fire = (below) Knight of Wands (12 = 3) Every card is an odd root number except the middle card. So each of the four directional cards have two positive and one negative dignity for a total of +1 meaning slightly more positive than the normal meaning. But the middle card, the Spirit card has four negative dignities. This total of -4 means gives a very negative meaning to this card. Since amulets are basic spiritual tools, this does not appear to be a good time to create a Temple Amulet unless we want that temple to be really tied down in the mundane world. It doesn't matter how positive the rest of the reading is. Very negative is warning enough.

Q - What's the probable outcome of running a new advertisement for the Institute?

A - A three card Mind-Emotions-Spirit spread was used (this is an Air-Water-Spirit spread). Air = Ace of Disks (1) (New venture) Water = Five of Swords (5) (Conflict) Spirit = Ten of Wands (10 = 1) (Heavy burden) The two end cards are +1 and the middle card + 2 (positive) in this reading. The reading is: The venture started off well and is now facing a minor conflict of ideas regarding running a new advertisement. Notice how the +2 changes the Five of Swords from a very negative card to a fairly neutral card. The outcome is going to be a mixed bag but overall it's a positive burden. To me a positive burden is doing something you love to do but it's a lot of work. Q - How well will the cat recover? A - The spread is a three-card triangle spread for Past-Present-Future. Past - Princess of Swords (11 = 2) (fairness) Present = Six of Swords (6) (harmony) Future = Nine of Cups (9) (happiness) On the surface it looks like the Nine of Cups has a negative influence on the other two cards, but by definition the nines are neutral. Therefore the Nine of Cups is +2 while the other two are each +1 or slightly positive. The over-all picture is positive. The past and present cards indicate the illness isn't serious and the Nine of Cups promises a lasting cure.

Q - What's the probable outcome of doing the candle ritual tonight?

A - Using a three card Past-Present-Future spread laid out in a line, we have: Past = Princess of Cups (11=2) (Loving friend) Present = Seven of Cups (7) (Illusion) Future = Key XX (20 = 2) (Spiritual Rebirth)

The two end cards are negatively dignified and the middle card is (-2) very negatively dignified.

The candle ritual won't have a positive result if performed tonight. I'd really be fooling myself to believe otherwise (very negative Seven of Cups). Both the foundation for this ritual and the future outcome are negative. The loving friend may not support the ritual or may withdraw and any rebirth will have negative consequences.

Without using Numerological Dignities with this reading there's nothing to indicate this ritual would have bad consequences. On the other hand, using Elemental Dignities (to be discussed later) a very positive outcome could be expected.

You're probably wondering how the same cards can give such opposite recommendations. The secret is in the system of Dignities you choose to use. Which system you use is really immaterial. They all work. Try them all and see what works best for you. Use that system.

One more reading, this time the Numerological Dignity system provides a more positive result than most other Dignity systems would.

Q - What can we expect if we change servers?

A - Using the five card Elemental Cross spread: Earth (above) - Five of Wands (5) - Conflict Water (left) - Seven of Cups (7) - Illusion Spirit (center) - Ten of Swords (10=1) - Ruin Air (right) - Tower (16 = 7) - Awakening Fire (below) Five of Pentacles (5) - Loss of Money

Our first impression might not be very positive if we just look at these cards and remember what they mean to us. Any one of them by itself sends a rather negative message. But here, every card has as odd-numbered root.

Earth and Fire are each +2. Air, Water and Spirit are all +3. Looked at in this manner, this reading becomes pretty positive. Conflict becomes a minor irritation, a no-never-mind. Illusion becomes reality, Ruin becomes a good idea, and loss of money becomes a minor overhead expense. The Awakening is a very positive one. Changing servers is going to be a good thing to do.

Your assignment, should you choose to experiment with Numerological Dignities, is to do a few spreads and see how you like the system. In the next part, we'll discuss a few variations that might interest you.

Questions and Answers Regarding Part Three (Numerological Dignities)

Q - How do you define the Court cards?

A - This is not an easy question to answer because I use several different systems. Right now I'm only using five tarot decks but each deck has it's own system. The easiest system I use for handling the Court Cards is a Numerological System where all the court cards are reduced to their Root number. So the Pages are two, Knights are three, Queens are four and Kings are five.

Another easy system is to consider the Pages as talkers who talk about doing something, the Knights just forge ahead and do something - right or wrong, the Queens give advice concerning relationships and love, and the Kings give intellectual advice. The thing they talk about, do or advise about are the things related to the meanings you give their suit. The Kings give intellectual advice about romance, relationships and love while the Queens give advice for business based on emotions and relationships.

Tarot Dignities - Part Four (Numerological Dignities)

There are several optional ways of looking at Numerological Dignities. We'll consider a few of them.

If you don't like defining both zero and nine as neutral, you can just leave them alone. Zero would be an even number and the nines would be odd. You don't need to make any other changes.

If you prefer to define the Major Arcana as always being neutral, you also have that option. Neutral cards have no effect on the cards around them. You have the option of allowing other cards to affect the Trump Key or not. for example if your three-card spread is:

Past = (left) Queen of Wands (13 = 4) Present = (center) Hierophant (5) Future = (right) Two of Swords (2)

You need to decide in advance if the Hierophant will be adversely affected twice by the two even numbers or not. The Queen and Two are considered neutral because of the Trump beside them. The Hierophant can be interpreted as being neutrally affected or negatively affected twice according to how you set down your rules.

The normal rules are: Odd numbers enhance other odd numbers; even numbers enhance other even numbers; even and odd numbers conflict with each other negatively; Major Arcana have no effect on the other cards in the spread. If you want, you can add that no cards have any effect on the Major Arcana.

Rather than going through the process of calculating the Root Numbers (19 = 10 =1, for example), you can just use even numbers vs. odd numbers. So the card twenty-one would be odd on sight instead of going through the process of finding the Root Number (21 = 3 which is also odd).

This will cause a few problems if you don't let your subconscious mind in on the new rules. Key Eleven for example would be odd whereas the root of eleven is the even number two. In fact, all of the numbers from ten through nineteen will have a different polarity using this approach.

The rules are the same: Odd numbers enhance odd numbers, even numbers enhance even numbers, and the conflict between even and odd numbers is negative. Trump cards can be considered neutral when using this system but that's not a requirement.

Your assignment, should you choose to experiment with Numerological Dignities, is to do a few spreads and see how you like the system. In the next part, we'll start discussing another type of Dignities.

Questions and Answers Regarding Part Four (Numerological Dignities)

Q - I recently read the original Golden Dawn assigned the Element of Fire to the Swords but this was a secret. So when Waite created his deck he assigned the Swords to Air. Is this true?

A - I don't know if it's true or not but the Golden Dawn decks all seem to assign Swords to the Element of Air.

Q - Are there an tarot decks out there that assign Swords to Fire?

A - Sure. I'm one of those Swords-are-Air kind of guys, so I don't keep any of the other decks. But I think you might enjoy the Nigel Jackson, Thoth or Shapeshifter decks. Anybody with some other good ideas, please share them with us all. My email address is John at TarotInstitute.com.

Q - Instead of using the planets, could we use the signs to determine Dignities?

A - Yes, you can use the zodiacal signs. One way is to consider the Water and Earth signs as Feminine and the Air and Fire signs as Masculine. Feminine signs help each other. Masculine signs help each other. Masculine and Feminine don't. Helping each other is positive. Not helping is negative.

Another way, is to do it by quadrants. First and Third quadrants help each other. Second and fourth quadrants help each other. Odd combinations are negative. Yet another way is to use every third sign as one group and the other signs as the second and third groups. Decide which group is positive and which is negative for each of the three groups. You can group the planets or signs any way you want to group them and come up with your own system for using dignities. Be creative. Use your imagination. Create your own system and share it with others.

Tarot Dignities - Part Five (Astrological Dignities)

Astrological Dignities are based on the affinities and antipathies certain planets have for each other. The usual grouping of planets when using Astrological Dignities is: Masculine: Mars, Uranus and Pluto Feminine: Venus, Neptune and Saturn Neutral: Mercury, Jupiter, Sun and Moon

This may not be the assignment you prefer, so you're encouraged to start right out by creating your own system. Decide which polarities you want to use (masculine, feminine, neutral) and which planets you want to assign to each of these polarities. Either way, step one in creating a system for using Astrological Dignities is to use the suggested system of polarities or create your own.

The basic rules are very simple:

Masculine planets are positive towards other masculine planets Feminine planets are positive towards other feminine planets Neutral planets have no effect on the other planets Masculine and Feminine planets are negative towards each other Other planets see the Sun and Mercury as Masculine

Other planets see the Moon and Jupiter as Feminine

Again, if you don't like these rules, write your own. To do this you'll need to decide how many neutral cards you want then divide the rest of the deck up into two parts: positive and negative. That's all there is to it. Make up your own rules and you've finished the second step in creating your own system for using Astrological Dignities. Otherwise, step two is to learn the basic rules. The third step is to assign the planets to the cards. For Astrological Dignities we normally use only the planets and not the signs. You can use the ruling planet of each sign if you decide to use signs too. Or you could use the signs as well as the planets. This requires you to decide the polarity of the signs. My impulse is to make the Fire and Air signs masculine and the Water and Earth signs feminine. But that's just my opinion. This is your system, build it the way you want to build it. You'll find that's easier and it works better for you anyway. In the next part, we'll take a look at how to assign the planets to the cards. If you want, give these concepts a try and see what you think.

Tarot Dignities - Part Six (Astrological Dignities)

We'll continue building a system for using Astrological Dignities started in the last issue. If you haven't read that issue yet, you may want to do so before proceeding further with this issue. The rules and polarities discussed there will be used in this lesson.

The next step in the process of building a system for using Astrological Dignities is to assign the planets to the cards. One easy way to do that with the Pip Cards is to assign them in order, like this: Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Pluto

The system used for assigning the planets to the Major Arcana can be done in the same manner. The usual method in use today is that developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. That's the system used by the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck and most decks of that genre. You're encouraged to develop your own correspondences between the planets and the signs.

Here's the one used by the Golden Dawn: Zero - Uranus 1 - Mercury 2 - Moon 3 - Venus 4 - Aries (Mars) 5 - Taurus (Venus) 6 - Gemini (Mercury) 7 - Cancer (Moon) 8 - Leo (Sun) 9 - Virgo (Mercury) 10 - Jupiter 11 - Libra (Venus) 12 - Neptune 13 - Scorpio (Pluto) 14 - Sagitarrius (Jupiter) 15 - Capricorn (Saturn) 16 - Mars 17 - Aquarius (Uranus) 18 - Pisces (Neptune) 19 - Sun 20 - Pluto 21 - Saturn

The Court Cards present and interesting problem. There are ten planets and sixteen cards. Some planets will need to be used more than once if the planets are assigned to these sixteen cards. One option is to use the Court Cards as always being neutral so no planetary assignment needs to be made. Another option is to assign the Pages and Queens to the Feminine Polarity and the Kings and Knights to the Masculine. A third option is to use the polarities for determining how other cards impact the Court Cards but consider the Court Cards neutral for evaluating the cards around them.

You can also assign four planets to the four ranks of Court Cards just like the Minor Arcana. For example, Pages = Saturn, Knights = Uranus, Queens = Neptune and Kings = Pluto. This is the approach we're going to use in building this system for using Astrological Dignities. It's an interesting system worthy of your consideration. Other planetary assignments are also workable. With both the Pip Cards and the Court Cards you have four cards of each rank. You can handle these by assigning specific meanings to the suits or to the Elements. There are a lot of options but that gives you a lot to work with as you build your own system for Astrological Dignities.

Play with Astrological Dignities and see how they might work for you.

Tarot Dignities - Part Seven (Astrological Dignities)

So far we've assigned the following planets to the following cards: 0 - Uranus I - Mercury II - Moon III - Venus IV - Aries (Mars) V - Taurus (Venus) VI - Gemini (Mercury) VII - Cancer (Moon) VIII - Leo (Sun) IX - Virgo (Mercury) X - Jupiter XI - Libra (Venus) XII - Neptune XIII - Scorpio (Pluto) XIV - Sagittarius (Jupiter) XV - Capricorn (Saturn) XVI - Mars XVII - Aquarius (Uranus) XVIII - Pisces (Neptune) XIX - Sun XX - Pluto XXI - Saturn 1 - Neptune 2 - Uranus 3 - Saturn 4 - Jupiter 5 - Mars 6 - Sun 7 - Venus 8 - Mercury 9 - Moon 10 - Pluto Page - Saturn Knight - Uranus Queen - Neptune King - Pluto

We've decided upon the following Polarities: Masculine - Mars, Uranus and Pluto Feminine - Venus, Saturn and Neptune Neutral - Sun, Moon, Mercury and Jupiter

And, we've established the following rules: Masculine planets are positive towards other masculine planets Feminine planets are positive towards other feminine planets Neutral planets have no effect on the other planets Masculine and Feminine planets are negative towards each other Other planets see the Sun and Mercury as Masculine Other planets see the Moon and Jupiter as Feminine This looks like a good, consistent, easy-to-use system, and with practice, it is. Your assignment, should you elect to participate, is to experiment this week with this system, or the system you create, or any other system of your choice, Have fun working with Astrological Dignities. In the next part we'll look at some readings done using this system.

Questions and Answers Regarding Part Seven (Astrological Dignities)

Q - It seems to me that some of us have our emotions derived from thoughts but that others of us have our thoughts derived from emotions. How do you feel (word used deliberately) about this concept?

A - I think we all move through cycles in our lives where we derive thoughts from our emotions and emotions from our thoughts. That's in this mundane plane in which we live. We'll learn more about that later but, on the personal level our body is connected directly to our rational (thinking), emotional and intuitive minds, and they're all connected to each other.

That means we could derive both thoughts and emotions from our intuitive minds as well. We could also derive intuitive insights from our rational or emotional minds; and we could derive emotions from our intuitive minds as well. I think all these possibilities are true. Both intuitively and emotionally these things feel right to me as well.

In the mundane world in which we live my feeling is some of us are more likely to use one of our minds more than others. The mind we choose to use will undoubtedly be the basis for using our other minds. An intellectual person will probably tend to derive both emotions and intuitive insights intellectually. An emotional person could conceivably derive both thoughts and intuitive insights emotionally. Intuitive people may more than likely derive thoughts and emotions intuitively.

My feeling is we all have a dominant preference for one of these three basic approaches to life. My additional feeling is we can also be a combination of two or all three of these subtypes. As a Fiery-Air person, I admit to intuiting and intellectualizing far more than I emote or emotionalize.

For a further discussion on emotions, please see my review of The Power of Emotion by Michael Sky.

Tarot Dignities - Part Eight (Astrological Dignities)

We're going to do some readings using the Astrological Dignities. Since the important thing here is applying the dignities, I won't complete the readings.

Q - Where will I find true love?

A - Using a three-card triangle spread: Mind = 3 Cups (Saturn = F) Body = 6 Coins (Sun = N) Heart = Knight of Wands (Uranus = M)

The Mind card is positively influenced and means more and better whatever it is. The Body card is completely neutral and has it's original meaning. The Heart card is negatively influenced and means less than it did.

Q - When will I find a new job? A - Using a five card star spread: Air (E) - 7 Wands (Venus = F) Fire (S) - Hermit (Mercury = N) Water (W) - 2 Swords (Uranus = M) Earth (N) - Key XX (Pluto = M) Spirit (C) - 10 Wands (Pluto = M) Air is positive 2 (2M and 1N) Fire is plus 1 (2M and 1F) Water is plus 2 (2M and a N) Earth is plus 1 (2M and 1 F) Spirit is plus 1 (2M, 1F and 1N) Q - Why do I feel depressed?

A - Using a five card star spread: Air = Strength (Sun = N) Fire = 7 Swords (Venus = F) Water = Page of Cups (Saturn = F) Earth = Devil (Saturn = F) Spirit = 5 Wands (Mars = M) Air is minus 1 (2F and 1M) Fire is neutral (F + M + N) Water is minus 1 (2F and 1M) Earth is neutral (M + F + N) Spirit is minus 3 (3F and 1 N)

As with astrological systems for reading tarot cards, the secret for using astrological dignities is to decide which cards are positive, which are negative and which are neutral in your system. One of my students has a very simple system you might like to consider. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, and the Moon are all positive (inside Earth's orbit). Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Uranus are negative (outside Earth's orbit). Neptune and Pluto are neutral because they're too far away and besides, they may be mother and child (planet and lost moon).

Whatever you decide is what's important. Your subconscious and intuitive minds will both accept your definitions and use those definitions to communicate with you in the symbols you have available for them. Whatever system you use is exactly the system they'll use to communicate with you.

That's why it's so difficult to answer a question like: What's the Four of Wands mean in this reading? The answer is the four of Wands means exactly what the reader defined it to be. If the reader defined Wands to be intuitive insights and four to be Jupiter. The answer is Jupiter Intuitive Insights. Now all you have to know is how the reader defined Jupiter. If Jupiter is Good Luck, the answer to the reader's question is Good Luck Intuitive Insights.

That's what we all need right now. Enjoy playing with astrological systems and astrological dignities. In the next part we'll take up the most commonly used system of dignities before moving on to some of my favorites. Questions and Answers regarding Part Eight (Astrological Dignities)

Q - Why do you use a triangle three-card spread and a star five-card spread?

A - Good question. When using dignities, it seems to me to be more fair to have more than one card affect your reading. For example, if I have three cards in a line only one card affects the two end cards, but two cards affect the dignity of the center card. With five cards in a line, you have the same problem except there are three middle cards and each is affected by two cards. But the two end cards only have one card affecting their dignity. That's not the only reason. I like triangles and stars.

Q - How can I use Dignities with a one-card draw?

A - Excellent question. I intended to cover that and let it slip by.

When using Astrological Dignities decide which planet best represents the question. Then apply to rules to the Planet instead of a second card. When using Numerological Dignities you can use that same process by deciding which number best represents the question. You can also use a second-card technique with all forms of Dignities. When using the Second-Card Technique you draw a second card. This card is used for no other purpose than determining the dignity of the first card. It has no other purpose.

Tarot Dignities - Part Nine (Elemental Dignities)

The most commonly used form of dignities is Elemental Dignities. The rules for this system are very simple though you can complicate them as much as you desire:

Rule 1 - Wands and Swords are masculine

Rule 2 - Cups and Coins are feminine

Rule 3 - Major Arcana are always neutral

Rule 4 - Masculine are negative to feminine

Rule 5 - Masculine are positive to masculine

Rule 6 - Feminine are positive to feminine

Rule 7 - Feminine are negative to masculine When using one-card draws, first decide which Element best matches the question. Then apply the above rules to that Element instead of a second card. Here's a few examples using this system of dignities:

Q - Will I get the raise I'm expecting?

A - Using a five-card star spread: Air = Chariot (N) Fire = Wheel of Fortune (N) Water = King of Cups (F) Earth = Three of Cups (F) Spirit = Six of Coins (F) The Chariot and the Wheel are both neutral and the other cards have no effect on them using the given rules. The King of Cups and the Three of Cups are both plus two because they have one neutral and two feminine cards touching them. The Six of Coins is plus two because two feminine cards touch it. So the answer is yes by a vote of three to none with two abstaining votes.

Q - Does this system work?

A - Using a Triangle spread: For - Against - Answer, the cards drawn were The Six of Cups, the Seven of Swords and The Emperor which is neutral. The dignity of the last card, the answer card is neutral. This means both yes and no or maybe. The full answer is this system works if this is the system you select. It doesn't work otherwise. (This was a made-up question)

Q - Will my husband return from Iraq soon?

A - Using the same triangle spread the cards drawn for this reading were the Nine of Wands, Two of Swords and Seven of Wands. Since all these cards are masculine the Seven of Wands is to be interpreted as very positive (+2) and the answer is a resounding yes. (Her husband retuned two weeks later and has been re-stationed locally.)

This is all there really is to Elemental Dignities. You can redefine them any way you like and develop your own system. Here's a different approach using an Elemental Spread like the Dynamic Elemental Tarot Spread discussed in earlier newsletters and available as a short course on the Tarot Institute.

Use the above rules but apply them to the position of the card and not the other cards in the spread. Assign the Element of Spirit to be neutral as well as the Major Arcana which represent Spirit. For example, lets redo the first question Will I get the raise I'm expecting? Answer: Air = Chariot (Neutral to Air) Fire = Wheel of Fortune (Neutral to Air) Water = King of Cups (Positive to Water) Earth = Three of Cups (Positive to Earth) Spirit = Six of Coins (Neutral to Spirit)

The answer is still yes (two positive and three neutral) but it's not quite as strong as the first reading. Now there are three abstaining votes.

You can use this on a Body-Mind-Spirit (Earth, Air, Spirit) spread just as easily. Let's use the second question and place the cards in this format: Earth = Six of Cups (+), Air = Seven of Swords (+) and Spirit = Emperor (N). If Spirit were positive to Spirit, this would be a completely positive answer. Since two pluses outweigh one neutral, the final answer by the preponderance of evidence is positive.

Enjoy Elemental Dignities and in the next part we'll take up some interesting concepts for using tarot dignities. Tarot Dignities - Part Ten (Dignity According to The Spread Used) The technique of applying the dignity of the card to the position of that card in the spread can be used with just about any tarot spread you want. All you need to do is assign an Element to each position in the spread. Then decide what rules you want to enforce for Elemental Dignities.

Using this approach, I like to have the Major Arcana be neutral towards the masculine and feminine positions but positive toward Spiritual positions in the tarot spread. That's just my personal preference at this time. The neat thing about tarot reading is I get to choose how I do it, my personal preferences count.

Using Court Cards to determine dignity is a lot of fun. It works like this: An even number of court cards in a reading is positive and an odd number of court cards in a reading is negative. No court cards is neutral. You can use this method and give a regular meaning to the court cards. You can also use this method and give no other meaning to the court cards except to determine dignity. I call this technique Court Card Dignities.

You know, for beginning students really having a problem with court cards this isn't a bad approach. It gives your subconscious mind sixteen cards to play with to help you determine dignity. You can even say three court cards is more negative than just one court card; and five court cards in a reading is even more negative. You can say the same thing for four, six, or any higher even number of court cards in a reading.

Another way of using court cards for dignities is to say the card in front of a court card (the court card is facing it) is positively influenced and the card behind the court card is negatively influenced. You can use this sale rule for the Major Arcana or for the Minor Arcana of both. Cards facing ahead could be used as favorable for cards beneath them or they could just be considered neutral. If you decide to use forward-facing cards as positive to card below, then backward-facing cards would be positive to cards above.

You can have a lot of fun using this technique for court cards, pip cards, or Major Arcana. You can even have fun naming these techniques. I call these techniques Court Facing Dignities, Pip Facing Dignities and Trump Facing Dignities. You can use any combination of them. My personal favorite is Court and Trump Facing Dignities and I assign meanings to the Courts.

Another form of dignity you might enjoy trying is called Trump Dignities. The rules for this technique are very simple. Any upright Trump card is a positive influence on all other cards in the spread. Any inverted Trump is a negative influence on all other cards in the spread. You have the option to allow Trumps to be neutral to each other, but the system is designed so all Trump cards have an influence on all other cards in the spread - even other trump cards.

Using this approach, you can read all the cards in the spread as though they were upright. This means you only need to memorize one key word, phrase or concept for each card. Then you apply the dignities according to the direction of the Major Arcana cards and make that memorized meaning either more positive or more negative according to the direction of the Trumps. One other rule to remember is a positive and a negative result in no change of meaning for the card being considered.

You can expand Trump Dignities by using all cards in the deck. This is called Inverted Dignities and the rules are the same but apply to all cards and not just the trumps. Let's say you select five cards, three are upright and two are inverted. The net result is plus one. So all cards are read with a slightly positive meaning. Four upright cards out of five would be very positive and all five upright would be extremely positive using this approach.

Again, no other meaning needs to be given to the cards. Each card can have one meaning and the meaning is not modified if the card in inverted. It is, however, modified by the other cards around it.

In my opinion, this is a good approach for people who have a hard time memorizing the meanings of the cards. If you have a really hard time, you can use a deck with printed meanings and modify those meanings up or down depending upon the Inverted Dignities. I use this system myself with the Thoth deck. I never got interested in memorizing the inverted meanings of the cards in the deck. I like the names given the cards already. It just seemed natural to me to use Inverted Dignities with this deck. I do.

There's one variation of Elemental Dignities that appeals to me but I don't use it very often. The idea is to classify the question by Element. Then all the cards of that Element in the spread are more positive than cards of the other Elements. You can even use cards of the same energy (masculine or feminine) as being more positive than others in the spread.

How I use this concept is not for dignities but for identifying more important cards in the spread. For questions about money, it seems to me Coin cards are more important in the reading. For readings about careers, Fire cards seem more important. Water cards would be more important for relationship questions and Air cards for questions about thoughts and ideas.

{NOTE: The above article first appeared in Tarot News an Internet newsletter written by Dr. John Gilbert, edited by Ms. Rita Baker and published during 2003 on Yahoogroups.}

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