Compiled by David C. Jones (djones@ponder.csci.unt.edu)

Copyright, 1996, David Clark Jones.  Please see the table of
contents for the location of the full listing of the copyright
notice.


3) Useful Information
The following entries are useful bits of information which may be
useful for specific layouts.  Other entries may just be tarot
related information which I though might be useful.

3.1) Astrological Houses (Doane, Blackburn)

1st House: Physical Body, personality, interests, the self
2nd House: Personal possessions
3rd House: Siblings, private studies, acquaintances, communications
4th House: Environment, family
5th House: Pleasures, love affairs, speculation, children
6th House: Work, health, pets
7th House: Marriage, partnerships, enemies, legal matters
8th House: Death, debts, gifts, possessions of others
9th House: Teaching, philosophy, travel
10th House: Honor, business, social status
11th House: Friends, hopes, wishes, and dreams
12th House: Self-ruin, enemies, obstacles, secrets

Northern Houses: 1,2,3 - deal with private matters
Eastern Houses: 4,5,6 - deal with private activities
Southern Houses: 7,8,9 - deal with self-starting activities
Western Houses: 10,11,12 - dependent upon energies of others

Fire Houses: 1,5,9 - vital, achieving, emotional
Earth Houses: 2,6,10 - material needs
Air Houses: 3,7,11 - social interactions, intellectual
Water Houses: 4,8,12 - emotional, spiritual

Cardinal Houses: 1,4,7,10 - starting, immediate
Fixed Houses: 2,5,8,11 - controlling, managing
Mutable Houses: 3,6,9,12 - change, aquisition, improvement  

3.2) Planetary Symbols (Doane/Peach/Davis)

Sun: Outer expression.  Honor.  Health.  Superiors.  Men. 
     Achievement.
Mercury: Communication.  Intellectual Concerns.  Siblings.  
          Business.
Venus: Relationships.  Love.  Friendship.  Money.  Art.
Earth: present situation
Moon: Inner needs.  Domestic or social concerns.  Women.
Mars: Creation.  Sex.  Struggle.  Misfortune.  Enemies.
Jupiter:  Opportunities for growth.  Business.  Religion. 
          Acquisitions.
Saturn: Lessons & limitations.  Illness.  Loss.  Secrets.  Elders. 
          Intellectual deliberation.
Uranus: Individuality, Differences
Neptune: Ecstasy/illusion
Pluto: Power for Transformation

3.3) Astrological Symbols
Aries - Querent, disposition and matter
Taurus - Financial situation
Gemini - Travel and communication
Cancer - Home life, family
Leo - Querent's pleasures
Virgo - Querent's health
Libra - Partnerships, marriage
Scorpio - Represents inheritances and deaths
Sagittarius - Philosophy, religion, education
Capricorn - Career
Aquarius - Friends
Pisces - Burdens, restrictions, fears, obstacles

3.4) Divination with a normal deck of playing cards (Vienneau)

The following is a near verbatim copy (spell check changes only) of
Viennau's post to alt.divination describing the meaning of each of
the cards in a regular playing deck when used for fortune-telling. 
I would also note that I have seen a couple of books at my local
Bookstop with these listings.  I have not compared them.

     Hearts:
Aces- Happiness, love, friendship
King- a fair-haired man, affectionate and generous but impetuous
Queen- a fair-haired woman, trustworthy
Jack- a fair-haired young person, a good friend
10- good fortune, happiness
9- the "wish" card; desires come true
8- invitations, but also partings
7- someone is unreliable
6- unexpected good fortune; generosity
5- jealousy, indecision
4- changes, possibly travel or postponements
3- need for caution
2- success, friendship

     Spades:
Ace- conflicts, a difficult love affair
King- dark-haired man, ambitious, usually successful
Queen- dark-haired woman, can be seductive or unscrupulous
Jack- dark-haired young person, a well-meaning person
10- worry
9- bad luck, can mean delays or quarrels
8- disappointments and opposition
7- a warning against possible loss of friendship
6- an improvement in the person's life
5- anxiety, setbacks, interferences
4- jealousy, business troubles
3- partings, possible due to faithlessness
2- scandal, gossip, danger of deceit

     Diamonds:
Ace- a money, ring
King- fair-haired man, stubborn and powerful
Queen- fair-haired woman, flirtatious, sophisticated, witty
Jack- a relative, someone not quite reliable
10- journey, changes, usually bringing wealth
9- opportunities and surprises, usually financial
8- late marriage or new relationship; unexpected money
7- a gift
6- a reconciliation; a warning against a possible second marriage
5- successful meetings, particularly in business
4- an inheritance, a change for the better
3- legal or domestic battles
2- a love affair becomes more important than hitherto

     Clubs:
Ace- Harmony, property, achievements, love
King- a dark-haired man, honest, open
Queen- a dark-haired woman, string-minded, helpful, attractive
Jack- a reliable friend
10- money from an unexpected source, good luck or gift
9- a new romance
8- opposition, danger or recklessness
7- prosperity, though a danger of romantic interference
6- business success
5- help from a friend or spouse
4- bad changes or alliance
3- good marriage or alliance
2- disappointment and opposition

          Significators:
1. fair or grey-haired man over 40....... King of Diamonds
2. fair or grey haired woman over 40..... Queen of Diamonds
3. fair-haired young man ................ King of Hearts
4. fair-haired young woman .............. Queen of Hearts
5. dark-haired man over 40............... King of Spades
6. dark-haired woman over 40............. Queen of Spades
7. dark-haired young man................. King of Clubs
8. dark-haired young woman............... Queen of Clubs

3.5) Timing Information (Morison)
Some readers associate certain cards with specific time events. 
The following is a list of such information.

Suits:
       Wands, Spring
        Cups, Summer
      Swords, Fall
   Pentacles, Winter
Personal interpretations of this relationship may vary individually

Ranks: 
     Aces - Week at the beginning of the season.
    Kings - The matter was completed last year at this time.
   Queens - The matter was completed last season.

e.g. - Ace of Wands would be the first week of the Spring Equinox

Stages Method:
Aces - The beginning of a situation.
Twos - Direction the matter will take. May be a 1st meeting point.
Threes - The point at which details grow and the matter solidifies.
Fours - Foundation has begun. Roots are put down in order to build.
Fives - The first challenge or glitch in the situation.
Sixes - Issue changes & grows;If it stagnates, it will not continue
Sevens - Variety added, Scope of the idea/project may be expanded.
Eights - Evaluation period. People & ideas may be put to the test.
Nines - Moving forward. The issue is nearly completed.
Tens - Completion of the cycle, project, or issue.
Pages - Signify risks and messages.
Knights - Indicate movement and direction.

3.6) Astrological House Numbering (Blackburn)

A few layouts contain an unusual ordering for the twelve
astrological houses.  So far, the only information I have of why
such an ordering has been chosen was provided by Mr. Blackburn as
follows:

I choose the ordering based on a conseptualization of geomantic
figure placement I found in Agrippa's "Three Books of Occolt
Philosophy."  I modified it by placing the cards in this order,
then simple assigning the figure around the circle, rather then the
(traditional) reverse.  It is essencially a matter of crossing
bottom->top then right->left, (then staring over with the second
card in the circle) thus filling cardinal, fixed and mutable
together.  I don't know how others would do it, though I have been
suggested that just be going around the circle, starting at the
top, might be easier and just as effective.

3.7)  The Four Elements and the Tarot (Nickells)
[ Editors note:  All of section 3.7 is a near verbatim copy of a
lesson which Mr. Nickells posted to alt.tarot and was also kind
enough to e-mail to me.  Changes made were mostly grammatical, but
also include minor deletions for spatial purposes. - DJ ]

This essay is an attempt to describe a method of analysing a Tarot
reading using the Four Elements as a basis, to determine quickly
and simply the most important cards, their strength and weaknesses,
and how they interact with each other to gain information that may
have been apparent only thru intuition.

Tarot Readers may well have experienced the phenomenon of getting
'bad' vibes from apparently 'good' cards, and vice versa.  After a
few rocky starts, I found that the querents confirmed these
contradictory feelings.  I decided to research the hows and whys of
this, and eventually I came up with the ideas presented below.

These are the Main Points:
     * There are no 'good or bad' cards.
     * The cards are essentially neutral.
     * Reversed cards are included, but do not have much weight.
     * The basis of interaction is the Four Elements.
     * The cards interact with the positions in spreads.
     * Cards should never be read singly.  Preferably, this means
          that at least 3 cards should be read at a time.
     * Elemental rules are simple and logical
     * Works for all standard 78 decks
     * No need to modify one's personal interpretation of
          individual cards.

How many people's lives are that black and white?  Remember, a
reversed card does not necessary mean bad news.  Using sequential
spreads rather than positional spreads (the Celtic Cross is a
positional spread) gives one the opportunity to be more
sophisticated in the use of reversed cards. 

The basis of what follows is to simply read and interpret Three
Cards at a time, gradually building up in sophistication as our
understanding grows.  Practice is vital, so that the rules become
second nature, and eventually almost sub-conscious.

3.7.1) Stage One: Traditional Method
We will start with a traditional reading of three cards.  Deal out
any 3 cards right way up, and interpret them.  Consider the Central
card to be the Principal, with the ones either side as 'Modifiers'.

        M       P       M
        1       2       3

These cards can be transposed two more times by moving the Left
Modifier to the right hand side:

        M       P       M
        2       3       1
        3       1       2

As a general rule: 
Minor cards are within the control of the Querent
Major cards are out of the querent's control
Court cards personify an action or actually represent a person. 

Next, transpose the cards as shown above, and see if you feel
different about them.  Repeat the process.  Then reverse one of the
cards, and reinterpret.  There are far more combinations of
reversal than transpositions.  Hopefully you should experience
slightly different feelings each time.  It is usually easier to
avoid Court cards to begin with, but persevere.

This stage is essentially how most people would read the cards.
Most people's experiences are that there is some difference with
each transposition, but it is hard to quantify exactly.

3.7.2) Stage Two: Elemental Rules
If you want to be more adventurous, remember that all of the Tarot
cards can be categorised as either Fire, Water, Air or Earth.  The
rulership of the Major cards is determined by astrological rules
(See Jess Karlin's 'Elemental Dignities' for more details).

These elements interact with each other using rigid rules:
     Fire and Water are enemies, therefore weaken each other.
     Air and Earth are enemies, therefore weaken each other.
     All other combinations are friendly, therefore strengthen
          each other.
     Fire and Air are active.
     Water and Earth are passive.

Interpretation then becomes a fairly mechanical exercise: 
        * Which card is strongest? 
        * Which weakest?
        * Is the strong card active or passive? 
        * Is it Major/Minor/Court?
        * Dignity?

Once you have done this, actually apply and combine the meanings of
each card with appropriate weighting. I suggest you follow the
order given here, but do experiment.

EXERCISE 1
==========
Now we will interpret the 3 Card Spread purely on elemental
principles.  It may help to make up some Flash Cards with only the
elemental symbols on them if you wish to practise yourself.
As an example,

        1       2       3
        F       A       W

Card 2 is the Principal. It is friendly with Fire and Water, so is
strengthened. It is active, therefore likely to happen.  Note that
1 and 3 are enemies, so that the Principal card is even stronger,
and can rise over any problems caused by the modifiers.

        1       2       3
        A       F       W

Fire is friendly with Air, but weakened by Water, so 2 and 3
neutralise themselves.  However, the Modifiers are friendly to each
other.  As Fire is active, and Air supports, the event is likely to
happen, but not without some emotional turmoil.

        1       2       3
        A       W       F

The Principal is passive, while the modifiers are active.  Fire is
inimical to the Principal and weakens it, while Air strengthens. 
Fire and Air are friendly.  The conclusion is that we have an
unsatisfactory situation that is unlikely to change quickly.  The
Principal is likely to be pulled in different directions.

(Earth has been omitted only for reasons of space.)

SUMMARY
So far, the above has been an exercise rather than an actual
spread.  I have avoided mention of any individual card or meaning
deliberately.  Anyone using a standard Tarot deck of 78 cards
should be able to follow this system.  There is another advantage
in that one's own interpretation of each card does not have to
change, however idiosyncratic they may be.

Interpretation of the Court Cards also becomes much easier, as all
one has to do is see what the two modifiers are hinting at, using
the rules delineated above.

If anyone would like to use this spread, it could be when the
querent needs to achieve something at almost any cost, and so it
would define the action necessary to achieve it.  Obviously morals
may not have much to do with this, so careful thought is necessary
before acting.

3.7.3) Stage Three: Positions
This brings us to the problems associated with this 3 card spread: 
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 we are trying to interpret
Tarot in terms of the Querent, who is part and parcel of the
environment, after all, we have to do something about it.

Logically we have to place the 3 cards in an environment. Following
our theme of the four elements we will put the Triplets in an
elemental position, rather than naming them as 'Love', 'Past',
'Work' etc.

We then use the same rules to reinterpret the cards.  As an
example, we will follow the First Example in Exercise 1,
interpreting it beginning with the Fire position, then Water, Air
and finally Earth:

FIRE POSITION:
Fire deals with actions.

        1       2       3
        F       A       W

With these 3 cards in the Fire position, we see immediately that
the original interpretation will stand, but we have more detail. 
3 is now very weak.  The emotional content is all but eliminated. 
The Querent will definitely act on his/her 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 POSITION:
Water indicates emotions, feelings, and is passive.

        1       2       3
        F       A       W

Using the same order of cards as for the Fire position, we have a
completely different situation.  Modifier 3 is now the strongest
card.  Modifier 1, an enemy of Water, is very weak.  Air is
friendly to both cards and the Water Position, however Water is
passive.  The Querent is dreaming about a situation: it may never
happen.  The lack of Earth indicates little practicality.  One
could interpret this as an effeminate or ineffectual man, or 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.

AIR POSITION:
Air is traditionally an indication of trouble and problems.

        1       2       3
        F       A       W

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 intellectualising about the
situation, avoiding the conflict around, hoping it will go away. 
This is a good example of how even when an element is in its own
position, it may not have a good prognosis.

EARTH POSITION
Earth is practical, dealing with money, security and work.

        1       2       3
        F       A       W

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.  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.

The above is a good example of the influence a missing element may
have in a situation, and can be a good indicator of how the Reader
can advise the Querent based on _what is missing_ rather than what
is there in order to create some balance.

SUMMARY

Hopefully, I have been able to show a simple method that can be
applied to many situations.  The amount of information that can be
gleaned just using elemental principles can be quite remarkable. 
Also, 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.

I have deliberately kept the above simple to give you the idea. You
do not have to build things up in the order I suggest.  Approach
with an open mind, and you may be surprised with the results.

Graham Nickells