TAROT FOR BEGINNERS BY BARBARA MOORE

Significators

We'll close this section with one more technique: the use of significators. Back in the fortunetelling days, significators were selected a few different ways. An early method was to always use the High Priestess for a female querent and the Magician for a male querent. The significator card was placed at the top of the reading to simply represent the querent. It was not used in any other way; all it really accomplished was to take one card from the deck out of play. Later, readers used the court cards as significators, making the selection based on physical appearance, astrological sign, age, gender, or personality traits. (If you are interested, see appendix C for significator bullet points.) Again, the cards were set aside or placed in the spread but not interpreted. Again, they simply represented the querent but served no other purpose save for removing a card from play. There are other ways to use significator cards that are more useful.

If you are using a spread that has a position designated "significator," do not select a card for that spot. Instead, shuffle as you usually would and simply deal the cards. Whatever card turns up in that spot serves as the significator and can be interpreted as usual for the position, meaning it represents the querent in this situation.

Another way to incorporate a significator is to select a card for the querent based on appearance, astrological sign, etc. Include the selected card in the reading, and use it with the scanning technique or in elemental dignities. In this way, it plays an actual role in the reading.

Finally, if the querent's question involves someone else, you can determine ahead of time what cards will represent the querent and the other person (or people). Leave the cards in the deck, and shuffle as usual. If the cards show up in the spread, read them as representing the people indicated. I must mention here that reading for third parties is a matter of contention among modern tarotists. Some maintain that it is unethical to read about someone without their permission, that it is an invasion of privacy, or that it is not healthy for the querent, who should focus on their own issues, not someone else's actions. There are also those who think that it is not a problem—that people discuss others all the time with friends, family, counselors, therapists, and clergy. This is a question that every reader must decide: will you read for third parties or not?

Deciding whether or not to use significators, to read for third parties, or to flip all the cards over one by one are just a few decisions tarot readers have to make. Think about these possibilities, write about your ideas in your journals, try them out in your readings. Determining these issues, and others, will help you create your own style and direct your practice. The issues we explored in this chapter focused mostly on incorporating information from the cards into your interpretations, practices that directly affect your readings. In the next chapter, we'll explore some ideas that are not specifically related to interpreting the cards but can still directly affect your readings.