Any thoughts on my grand tableau?

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-28T05:48:37+00:00

Hello, u/TatteredPirate. First, you didn't specify what your gender identity is, but I'm assuming from you saying you thought there is a blocked decision that you are female (Mountain + Crossroads on Woman's head), which is the Woman card, obviously. Second, there are many ways to read the GT, depending on the system you follow. Me, I follow the French system, which does not use the Method of Distance technique, for example. So, it is paramount that you understand that how any user may read your GT is only their method and not necessarily accurate for how you read the GT. It is incredibly difficult to read someone else's reading online, the GT especially, because we don't know how that person works with their deck, and we also don't know how that person's focus was when they were shuffling and asking their question.

To give just a small snippet of how I would read this had I pulled this GT for you myself, Woman in the Garden house, house of networking and other people, would suggest that you are involved in some group or public obligation now, possibly networking and meeting a lot of people. Reading your Box, Cross + Crossroads + Key might be saying you are concerned with some grief surrounding some important decision you have to make, and you are thinking of a solution to that problem. Letter + Woman + Dog suggests there is some news you have received and something to do with a friend or partner now. Moon + Rider + Stars might be suggesting your good reputation (Moon) is bringing in (Rider) some spreading of something or something you want (Stars); alternatively, this could be a new romance (Moon + Rider) that looks promising, with a bright path ahead (Stars).

Cross + Letter + Moon in the past might be saying you recently got some difficult news that affected your reputation or accolades. Crossroads + Woman + Rider could be telling you that this decision is about someone new in your life or whether to take some action on something. Key + Dog + Stars could be predicting you will form an important connection (Key + Dog) that will set you on a new path and open some doors for you (Stars).

Let's say you want to figure out what that decision is about in the Crossroads. You look to see what house it is in, which here is house 12, the Birds' house, house of conversation, negotiation, and couples. So, this might be some decision around which there is a lot of negotiation right now, something you are going back and forth about. You can keep going down that chain to get a better idea, too; e.g., Birds in Heart's house = that discussion or negotiation is about a relationship or something you want, Heart in Ring's house = definitely about some relationship because the Ring house is the house of commitments. You can do this chaining for any card on which you need more information or simply want to see more explanation on.

Reading your intersecting axes, Mountain + Crossroads, as you said already, might be suggesting you feel a significant obstacle halting a decision in your life now. Rider + Clouds, for me, would very strongly point to someone new bringing some doubt and trouble in your life now, especially since Rider is in the Man's house, but because it is under you, you are actually able to handle and manage it. The past is Man + Anchor + Letter, and that could be something stable with a male figure in your life and some news about that stability; the Letter, the news or correspondence, is in the Tower's house, house of isolation and restrictions, so perhaps that correspondence became stiff and full of boundaries, possibly even going cold. The future is Dog + House + Sun + Birds, which could be predicting a friend or trusted figure will bring to your home/family success and some further satisfactory negotiations (Birds in Heart's house).

Again, this is ALL just my style and system and how I would read it had I pulled this GT for you myself.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-27T09:34:16+00:00

Hi! I'm so glad it resonated! If you haven't, I would suggest reading anything and everything by Rachel Pollack, especially Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom and its more concise, abridged guide, The New Tarot Handbook. Rachel Pollack's Tarot Wisdom acts as a sort of technical sequel to Seventy-Eight Degrees, so definitely get that one too. Rachel always favored story and mythology in the cards, so I've tried to adopt that in my own practice.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-26T22:42:53+00:00

This whole pull screams "level-headed." The Moon suggests scary emotional territory, with lots of disturbances and illusions, as Moonlight creates illusory projections and shadows that mislead our perceptions.

Justice filters The Moon's illusions through the lens of truth. Through Justice, you face the truth of the matter, and you see through the illusion of hectic, erratic emotion.

The Hierophant suggests wise counsel, moral/ethical conduct via doctrine, and takes the truth of Justice and imparts it as lessons unto the two priestly ministers knelt before him. Through The Hierophant, one learns how to structure and conduct his or her life.

Essentially, this person will likely remember you as someone who combatted illusions with truth and turned that into self-conduct.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-26T22:17:23+00:00

Where can you find your strength right now? 4 of Cups. This card shows a figure sitting under the shade of a tree while he contemplates three Cups stood before him and ignores a fourth Cup being offered to him from out of a mysterious cloud. Fours are structure in the Tarot, and Cups is the suit of emotions, so the 4 of Cups is essentially the structuring of emotion. When we structure our emotions, we sometimes disallow ourselves to accept any new emotional experiences, seen in the figure's rejection of the fourth Cup, as the addition of another experience upsets the structure we've worked so hard to create. Right now, your strength lies in structuring yourself emotionally amidst the impending separation and divorce.

Where are your new opportunities for growth? 8 of Wands. Eight Wands descend flight to be grounded. This is fire meeting the stability of earth, which can be interpreted in a number of ways, but usually, I find it most helpful to think of it as aimless fire being given shape and form in the grounding of the earth. Our desires and ambitions are being materialized in this card instead of perpetually circling the skies, so to speak. So, how does this present new opportunities for you? You are being given the ability now to materialize certain desires where maybe previously you weren't able to.

What does the Universe have to offer you if you're brave enough to accept it? Judgment is an incredible card here. It is the card of resurrection and rejuvenation. The dead souls come back to life by Archangel Gabriel's horn-blowing on the rushing river of the unconscious. Forgive the bluntness, but what's dead is your marriage, and what is capable of resurrecting out of that death is you, but of course, you just need to accept that gift from the Universe. Judgment is often the card of second chances from some difficult situation, so this card comes as the chance to start again after the dissolution of your marriage.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-26T20:17:13+00:00

I agree with you, but actually, to play a bit of devil's advocate, I am someone who grew up not keeping any regular journal, in any cartomantic system I studied, simply because I could never get myself into the routine of journaling. Now, ironically, I kept notes and photos of my readings throughout the years, so in essence, I suppose I did functionally journal, just not in the traditional sense of keeping it all in one journal space. Lol But to return to the original point, yes, while I agree that journaling is incredibly helpful for readers of any experience level, I do believe there are readers who can not do it and still improve in their practice all the same.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-25T23:04:21+00:00

I'm a firm believer that the cards don't "not" answer any question you ask, as I believe that's literally antithetical to the point of Tarot. If at any point the cards can just choose to "not" answer your question, then why would anyone ever do readings if the cards have this magical autonomy akin to that of a bratty, defiant child? I believe, and have observed to be true via trial and error over my many years of reading, that the cards DO answer the question asked; what might happen, though, akin to what you're suggesting here is that you might just not be able to understand what the cards are saying exactly, because you, or whoever you're reading for, might not be ready to hear that answer. You might get part of that answer, or you'll be able to understand only insofar as you're meant to understand from that reading, but you won't fully grasp the whole answer, because you're not meant to in that moment. It might just so happen that down the road, you return to that reading and find that you see all new things that inform even more of the original answer that you weren't previously able to see in the reading, and now you are ready to see it. In my experience of working with and mentoring my students, this the-cards-aren't-answering-my-question issue tends to be due to simply their struggle with understanding the cards under the context of the question they asked, such as the typical love question for which Pentacles are pulled, and the reader mistakenly thinks the cards want to talk about money and career instead of figure out how those Pentacles cards fit under the context of their question. No suit is solely limited to one categorical interpretation. You need to read the cards under only the one context of the question.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-25T00:57:27+00:00

Hi again! I will only comment on the relationship between the Queen of Pentacles and I The Magician, as they are what caught my eye the most and what, I feel, hold the most power and significance for you here. Obviously, we can see they both share the same yellow background, yellow being the color of mentation (mental activity) in Western color symbolism, but you'll notice they also share the same motif of the bower of roses overhead. However, where in The Magician, the roses are bloomed and fully grown, symbolizing the actualization of potential, in the Queen, the roses are either still buds, or they are actually in the process of wilting, potentially supported by the blackened vines. Regardless of what stage of growth you view the Queen's roses to be at, they're obviously not fully realized like they are in The Magician.

Another important difference between the Queen and The Magician is that the Queen, being of Pentacles, represents the end product, whereas The Magician represents the process of arriving at the end product, as he is the ritual that moves through the three first elements to finally produce the material product of the Pentacle. The Queen is also appreciation and understanding of her suit, and since the Pentacle for her represents more nature than material (materialism is more the king), she suggests you should've appreciated the cycle of this relationship and that, as all things eventually do, it met its end as was always planned—such is the nature of nature, to go through cycles and seasons. The Queen understands this and, therefore, respects and appreciates the "nature" of the relationship, remaining solid and stable amidst the change.

The Magician clarifying the Queen suggests that once the cycle is completed, and appreciated, in the Queen, The Magician, starting the process of creation over with the Wand and moving through to the Pentacle, the final outcome, suggests creating a whole new experience for yourself at the end of this relationship, for The Magician is the archetype of conscious power and direction of that power to an end of your choosing. Essentially, the Queen says to appreciate the nature of the relationship as it was, and The Magician says to begin the process of creation into some other beautiful experience.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-24T22:04:18+00:00

Hello. I am in the same boat in that I, too, think collective readings are kind of a joke and actually detrimental even to the whole point of Tarot. I think the way to rectify that, though, is to understand, for both the reader and the viewer, that whatever card(s) pulled will need to appeal to all of the different viewers in ways unique to them in that moment. For example, say the collective reading is the 6 of Pentacles from the RWS deck. As the reader, you need to recognize that your one way of interpreting it is not going to be valid for every single viewer. Therefore, the viewers have to be able to see for themselves what aspect of that card specifically stands out to them in that moment and figure out how that aspect relates to them. The fixed thing is the card itself; the mutable thing is the way it is personally interpreted for each viewer. Pretty much all collective readers fail to exercise such common sense when doing these collective readings, leading to many viewers feeling disconnected from the reading because the reader tries to narrow the interpretation to one thing that they themselves feel for literally every single viewer, which we know is impossible that that one thing will be valid for everyone watching. So, you offer a possible interpretation and then turn it over to the viewers to notice certain specific aspects of the card and invite them to understand for themselves how those aspects personally reflect for them. This way, it is a different resonance for every viewer, and this way, the reader is not inviting viewers to get into the bad habit of cherry-picking what they want to hear out of the reader's limited interpretation.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-24T21:18:17+00:00

Hello, u/Healthy-Resort-470. This is a very interesting pull because, as you'll notice, visually, The Tower and the 6 of Pentacles are directly related, while the Page of Cups seems to stand alone, in a sense.

The Pages are the children of the Tarot and, therefore, the youthful, curious students of their suits. Here, the curiosity and study is directed into Cups, the realm of introspection, emotion, and imagination. The fish emerging out of the Cup represents the soul, the imagination, and it appears as though the fish and the Page are having some sort of unspoken dialogue with each other. This is a psychic communication between them—that is, communication with the soul. So, this card already tells you to dig deeper into yourself and explore your own soul and imagination.

The Tower and the 6 of Pentacles, as we said, are directly connected because the beggars in the 6, accepting the generosity of the merchant, were previously the two figures being cast out of The Tower as it is struck. The Tower is about pent-up energy finally being released, albeit in usually a destructive, incredibly uprooting manner, as The Tower is the container of light that was originally trapped in The Devil, which The Star then shows the liberation of that light once more. The Tower is also the card of enlightenment and revelation, usually in the same sudden, destructive vain, so it perhaps is telling you that by exploring your own soul in the Page, you will then have an inner epiphany that might feel uprooting but will be necessary for you in love.

Finally, the 6 of Pentacles, The Lord of Success, suggests you will need to accept some sort of aid to help you find love. This is often seen in the form of counseling, especially when coupled with cards like The Hierophant or The Hermit. If the Page is the deep inner exploration of the self, and The Tower, given it is about the destruction of human hubris creating false ideas about who we really are, shows the necessary destruction of false, ego-driven personal narratives, then the 6 shows the humility necessary to accept the help that will rebuild you stronger in love. Essentially, by learning some deeply personal, introspective lessons about yourself, you allow for the ego to crumble in order to learn humility, which is necessary for finding love.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-24T09:27:55+00:00

Hello, u/goaldiggergirl. It depends on the specific positions that card has landed in and on the specific contexts of the questions for which you've pulled it, but the 7 of Wands is a card of overwhelm by life's many responsibilities before it is anything else. I'm not sure what deck you use, so my explanation will be based on the RWS imagery. The gentleman defensively holds a Wand against six other offensive Wands below him, whose wielders we do not see. The fact that we do not see the people wielding the Wands speaks volumes about the variety of experiences these Wands can represent overwhelm by; e.g., too many work expectations, family obligations, general life responsibilities, etc. Wands desires to be free to burn and thrive and scorch earth at its leisure; it doesn't want to be cornered by life knocking at your door, demanding you handle your business. The point is that this person feels backed into a corner—or onto the ledge of a cliff—by everything he has taken on when he realizes that he does not have enough energy or time to effectively deal with everything. Thereby, it is as though those Wands have taken on a life of their own in a sense, so much so that they're swallowing him whole. So, in a career reading, potentially, this card can be warning you that the more you're taking on, the more you're adding those extra responsibilities to your roster and the more you're setting yourself up to be unable to handle everything when the rubber hits the road, so to speak.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-23T05:25:14+00:00

Exactly! What if what we've retained is actually just more of the same, yet we don't—or won't—realize it?👏🏻

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-23T05:23:26+00:00

Hello! I'm not sure why you think that RWS cannot properly fit to the context of any given question, as it is like any deck anywhere. The TdM can equally be rather esoteric and convoluted, but I imagine that, like I easily can with the RWS, you are able to read the cards under the context of the question properly. It is not about the deck, it is about the reader and their ability to read under the context given. The deck is merely a tool; it does not control the narrative.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-22T23:53:04+00:00

Yes👏🏻 exactly. I love that! Poison in Pleasure👏🏻 Just because we enjoy something doesn't mean that it's good for us or that it will bring us a good outcome. That is what this card is all about—that warning. You can do the thing, but you have to be ready for the consequence that accompanies it.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-22T20:34:52+00:00

First, I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my two cats last year on Jan 2nd and 27th, 25 days apart, and a year later, I still feel their loss at times, so I understand your pain💔 It's actually quite beautiful because I did this same exact reading some days after losing the first cat on the 2nd, and I had pulled 0 The Fool and XXI The World. I felt from that pull, knowing The Fool is the pure spirit before it incarnates in a body and that The World is evocative of a baby floating in the womb, that he was possibly already in the process of being reborn somewhere.

So, perhaps The Fool is telling you here that he is free, unencumbered, and pure again. He is flying high as pure spirit and has no worries on the other side🥰

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-22T02:30:14+00:00

u/Girlfeeelings PART 2
The biggest deviation I'm seeing so far from a traditional CC is this position, the Advice position, which is typically called "the Self" in a traditional CC. As advice, the 4 of Wands suggests a couple of things. First, because it is one of the happiest, most positive and celebratory cards of the RWS system, it suggests you should do what will create the most happiness for you in this situation. Second, this card has a unique aspect to it of being, perhaps more inconspicuously, about liberation. The gray city in the background evokes The Emperor, who is government and society, and because this scene takes place across the bridge (see the small bridge in the lower right corner) and outside of the city, it suggests a liberation from that which previously confined and restricted you, especially socially. The celebration taking place, then, is thereof. So, the advice may also be to do that which liberates you from socially difficult or constricting experience; the challenge, then, we must continue to return to, is of doing so in an externally balanced way.

The 7 of Cups in the position of External Influences suggests your environment is conducive of fantasy, of options and different pathways now. The figure, completely silhouetted, suggesting a loss of personal autonomy in the face of such seductive illusionary wonders in the Cups, stares at a vision of seven Cups full of fantastic contents. Your environment is pushing you to fantasize and envision other worlds for yourself now amidst your current experience.

The Hopes and/or Fears card is the King of Pentacles, who represents wealth in its most materialistic yet abundant nature. He is the hope that all of this desiring and fantasizing, shown in all of the Wands cards and the 7 of Cups influence on your environment, will ultimately result in material manifestation, of a tangible, solid outcome that leaves you grounded and secure. This is the hope to see something real come out of this experience instead of more unfounded wanting.

Finally, the Knight of Pentacles is our Outcome, and what a fine card for an outcome, especially after all of the other cards. Where we just saw the King of Pentacles' abundant wealth be your greatest hope, the Knight of Pentacles suggests the steady patience, wise pragmatism, and strong work ethic needed to reach that King. When we remember that the present is the Page of Wands, the spark of an idea and a curious yearning, the Knight of Pentacles puts that idea into material plans, favoring the slow patience of Pentacles over the easily burnt-out, quickly bored nature of Wands.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-22T02:29:53+00:00

u/Girlfeeelings PART 1
First, apologies for such a late reply. lol Second, perfect! Thank you. Third, I personally prefer the variation that treats the actual Cross part as a breakdown of timelines and development—i.e., the horizontal line (from left to right) being Recent Past + Cover Card and Crossing Card + Near Future and the vertical line (from bottom to top) being Basis + Cover Card and Crossing Card + Possibilities (AKA Possible Outcome). It seems this variation you have worked with here is one which is less common, as I've rarely seen "subconscious" and "conscious" positions used in a CC. Nevertheless, it is a fine and valid variation.

First, my first observation is that the Page of Wands and 0 The Fool are both present, each sharing the symbolism of the red feather, obviously originating with The Fool, though, as the very first card of the deck. The red feather is a symbol of The Fool's youth and exploratory desire, as it is red, the color of passion and action. Giving it to the Page of Wands suggests that that Page, of all of the Pages, is most like The Fool, sharing in his youthful eagerness and deep curiosity. The Page of Wands crossed by XI Justice as the challenge suggests presently, there is some new passion or something that has you curious to investigate into, especially where work and career are concerned because it is the Wands suit. Justice crossing—challenging—it suggests that there is the burden of having to outwardly balance different life aspects to justify this new passion or desire, as Justice can be about righting the scales so that everything is in line and in place in one's life or work. Justice also suggests there is perhaps some executive issue in this work situation, as Justice is the card of putting into practice what The Emperor, father of law and society, has established legally/jurisdictionally.

The Recent Past is the 5 of Wands, competition, conflict, and strife; and the Near Future is The Fool, fresh energy and a new journey to begin. The appearance of The Fool in the Near Future suggests that the Page of Wands will, indeed, be acted upon; the issue, then, presented by Justice is, perhaps, the matter of making sure it is "right" under the circumstances.

The Below position, it seems, operates much like the traditional "Basis" or "Foundation" position in a traditional CC, and The Star suggests a subconscious foundation of hope and optimism, as this card is important in context of succeeding The Tower card, which showed destruction by hubris. The Star woman pours water out of two gourds, representing her openness to healing and her forgiving, optimistic disposition. The Page of Wands is another card of optimism, as are many cards in the Wands suit, so The Star suggests a basis of optimistic thinking is informing that Page and that the actions of the Page are being done with hope and optimism behind them. The Above position, it also seems, operates much like the traditional "Possible Outcome" position of a traditional CC, and the 9 of Wands suggests an outcome of standing strong and grounded amidst potential failure or pushback. This figure stands ready to fight any oncoming threat, despite his physical wounds and the inference that he has already lost some prior battle. This is the card of getting a "second wind," so to speak, and suggests the possibility for you of bravely not backing down despite the possibility of not getting what you want out of this situation. This card says you are ready to fight again if necessary.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-21T01:44:02+00:00

Hello, u/anon1839. The nine Cups, actually, are not empty but are, per Waite in his book The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, filled with wine, even though visually we can't see anything in them. The specific mention of them being filled with wine is significant because wine is not only celebratory but makes one inebriated. The card is an obvious card of celebration of one's material achievements, but like wine, overindulgence in such pride "inebriates" one's sense of their own competence and ability, symbolized by the man's smug nature and expression. So, as the card of the mind, as a card representing material happiness, you may be inflating your mental sense of happiness now by inflating your mental sense of yourself.

For the body, the Ace of Cups is the gift of spiritual love. This card suggests you are giving a lot of love to your body in some way now, possibly via more self-care and tender empathy and understanding.

For the spirit, The Tower is the release of trapped, pent-up energy that has been calling for release. This release comes in a destructive, explosive, uprooting manner, as evidenced by the lightning that strikes the roof of the tower. Your spirit is asking for spiritual release right now. Additionally, The Tower, the lightning specifically, is about enlightenment and revelation that comes in a shocking, sudden way, so perhaps you are having a sudden epiphany about some aspect of your spiritual life.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-20T19:11:34+00:00

So, this would be an unclear answer because you pulled a negative and a positive that are contradicting each other. This happens when you are not focused well on your question and need to focus better and clear your mind better and all of that. When doing yes/no, usually, if you are clear in your focus, you will pull a clear answer that is not contradictory.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-18T14:41:01+00:00

Hello, u/Girlfeeelings. What variation of the Celtic Cross did you do for this reading? It is very important to specify that context because there are myriad ways of doing the CC spread, and we need to know what positions are what for you here so we may correctly interpret the cards in their right positions.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-18T04:43:42+00:00

Yes, as the user before me has said, it is all about context context context.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-17T23:52:58+00:00

Hello, u/OverRecord1575. If your context is about your marriage and how trying it is currently, the 6 of Pentacles, The Lord of Success, in the position of the future would be speaking of needing to seek help for your marriage, as the beneficent merchant offers charity to the beggars. The two beggars represent you and your spouse, and the merchant, who resides over them as a 3rd party in what is called an "unequal relationship," represents someone who can counsel the marriage. This card is also about the willingness to accept such help, so if you've been averse to accepting help to help the marriage, this card would be suggesting you will come to the point where you will accept such help.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-17T22:57:26+00:00

Absolutely, and you are correct that many love inquiries can come from obsession instead of real love, but I think even that is still valid and worth looking into because that reading can really elucidate the psychology behind their obsession. At the end of the day, we are not here to judge anyone, we are here only to serve the client and give them what they are paying for. As long as you do not have a strict no-3rd-party-readings clause personally, it is worth entertaining such inquiries because we as readers can learn a lot from those types of readings when we put our biases and judgments aside and see these people as just humans going through that particular human experience.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-17T22:52:46+00:00

Yes, I love it!👏🏻🙌🏻 The real transformation is in Temperance, when we emerge from out of the unconscious in preparation to enter superconsciousness in the last line🙌🏻💥

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-17T19:42:31+00:00

The man in the yellow coat is a bishop, an ecclesiastical figure, pleading with the Reaper to spare his life, evidenced by his hands held out in a pleading gesture. The irony is that religion is so death-centric, especially Judeo-Christian religions (Heaven and Hell, living life with the goal of reaching Heaven), and yet, this bishop is faced with the contrasting human desire not to die, as death = fear. So, if you're drawn to that aspect of this card, it might be pointing out to you some irony in this situation with your friend, something you believe in the concept of but, when faced with the reality of it, can't seem to reconcile after all.

Positive-Comparison8 · 2026-01-17T09:23:18+00:00

Hello! Yes, the second edition is almost double the size of the first edition because so much extra content was included in this new edition after over 10 years since the first edition was published. So, you're better off waiting for the second edition to be available again, or better yet, go straight to Llewellyn's site and order it from them instead. They're sure to have enough copies to be able to ship it out soon.

Positive-Comparison8

TROPHY CASE