Using two cards per position in spreads

[aranarose]

Recently been doing more Tarot experiments, and today I started laying two cards per position in a spread. One represent outside influences in regards to the position, the other represents the person's reaction to those outside influences. This may or may not work with all spreads, I'm sort of still experimenting, but have found that it is very useful in many ways. I'll post a sample reading sometime in the next day or two!

[Chaos Hawk]

I often use this type of double reading. I find it useful in many ways. Sometimes the second layer provides additional information that reinforces the first card. Other times it shows alternatives if other choices are made.

[Zephyrstorm]

I sometimes do this too - I'll often do a "Conscious/Subconscious" set for my mental state.

I also do a variation on it when I'm moved to - I use two decks and lay them out together and read them as casting light on the other. I find this works best with a tarot deck and an oracle deck.

[TheWomanMonster]

I often read with 2 cards per position,
especially if I feel a particular card is in need of elabortation to become more clear.

As always, I'd love to see some sample readings.

[Zephyrstorm]

Here's a sample reading with two decks...
I opted for the Animals Divine and the Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards and a simple Elemental spread.

1. Earth: The Hermit/Lakshmi - This tells me that it is a time for contemplating ones future, and determining what would make it a good one.
2. Air: Eight of Pentacles/Maat - Contemplating the work that still needs to be done and the fairness and correctness of one's actions.
3. Fire: King of Swords/Green Tara - Taking the authority to seek what you wish with the need to give someone else some of your tasks. It is good to stand up for yourself but don't wear yourself down by putting too much on your plate.
4. Water: Six of Swords/Bast - Finding a balance between what you think and what you feel. How can you protect your heart and still gain your goals? Try to keep ahold of your independence in this.
5. Spirit: Ace of Pentacles/Athena - There are new ventures in your financial future that need to be approached with wisdom and discernment so that they can have the best chance of success.

heh... I guess the cards actually wanted to talk... that's something that applies very well to what I'm dealing with right now. :sigh:

I chose this spread because it is one that I often use two cards for Spirit whether I am reading with two decks or just one. So in this case, Spirit would have...
1. In my consciousness, my Spirit says : Ace of Pentacles... New ventures in money/home.
2. In my subconscious, my Spirit says: Eight of Swords... Old battles and wounds are playing their part right now. Struggling to set aside old injuries. A battlefield picked clean.
Perhaps the desire for a change in the work place and the new goals and ventures are a result of one's past. Be wary of baggage getting in the way.

[LisaT4P]

I'm just too lazy for this method. LOL :D

[HedwigHarfang]

Recently been doing more Tarot experiments, and today I started laying two cards per position in a spread. One represent outside influences in regards to the position, the other represents the person's reaction to those outside influences. This may or may not work with all spreads, I'm sort of still experimenting, but have found that it is very useful in many ways. I'll post a sample reading sometime in the next day or two!

A good idea and one I use all the time to represent subconscious and conscious motivations, because what we think consciously may not be what we know psychically, i.e. subconsciously. I normally clarify a card with four positions, subconscious, conscious, past influence, future influence, because for me the tarot needs to speak clearly and precisely to show what I need it to show not just talk in general symbols. I like pictorial decks, but I prefer the good old fashioned mediaeval woodcut decks I learned to read with because this gives me a feel for the energies present in the situation without being distracted by other symbols.

For example the immigration debate in this country: for situation we have La Justice, the balance of forces weighing in to a conclusion that is currently undesirable but could be made desirable if there were to be an honest and open discussion of the issues without resorting to racist abuse or head-in-the-sand denial. Immigration not only puts strain on the resources of the host country but often constitutes a "brain drain" that deprives the country from which immigrants arrive of their technical elite who come to clean floors and wash dishes in Britain while Poland lacks doctors, teachers, nurses and other professionals who can't make a living wage because of the economy and poor pay.

Subconsciously we have the VII Coins, in a reversed aspect - people see their hard-earned money drain away, and society crumble, and look for someone to blame.

Consciously we have the VI Coins (which in my Marseilles deck doesn't have a reversal) which means that the people think we are being too generous to foreigners when British people can't fulfill their own destinies and get their own jobs. This is mostly channeled via Justice, via the political elite, into a debate which will cover up their own failings.

Clarifying for your positions - outside influence and reaction to that influence -

We have the outside influence in Le Diable - a depiction of what I feel is a menacing influence that is stoking up the debates on immigration, nationalism, English government (as opposed just to British government) v Scottish government, the EU and terrorism into one raging wildfire of racism and bigotry which even my own party have succumbed to now they no longer have any senior members to keep them anchored in what makes good governmental policy.

For people's reaction to the influence we have Temperance reversed, whereby as I can see on many, many message boards frequented by the average person in the street (as opposed to specialist subjects like this one and the Dungeons and Dragons gaming forums I read because I want to get to know Louise's interests and her contemporaries as well as relaxing with something I used to do myself in the 1970s before I got into Parliament and started playing Castles and Conservatives for real...) people's anger has spilled over into uncontrollable rage and very well managed rants that ignore the real substance of what is wrong and therefore cannot damage the status quo. My inbox alas may well be overflowing with such emails - I haven't checked it, I want to get going in the media before I do too many private responses, given that I can't actually assist in any casework directly unless people live in my own constituency - but people are actually willing to open up to me more about what really annoys them, so that is at least heart-warming that some people recognise away from the public arena that the system as a whole needs taming and rebuilding.

A very useful addition to my repertoire and I can add this to my constellation of clarifiers when reading. Thank you very much, Arana!

[aranarose]

For the first sample, I'll simply start with two cards. The first card would be the environment of the Seeker, the second card how they are reacting to their environment. This could be a daily/weekly draw, or a quick question about a situation. No particular Seeker or question in mind, just a random draw :)

Using my newest deck - The Faery Wicca Tarot

1 ~ The Sun Child ~ This is an excellent card to see in the environment. I often see The Sun as representative of pure joy, as well as new, fresh beginnings. There's also a "riding off into the sunset" feel to this card in many decks, giving the feeling of completion, or a sense of accomplishment. Since this card describes the environment of the Seeker, it would indicate that all seems to be well, or at least on the right road to getting well.

2 ~ Ainnir of Domhan (Queen of Pentacles) ~ Because this is a court card (called Helpers in this deck) I would normally first take into consideration the Seeker. Is this card their significator? If it is, then they are simply reacting in exactly the way they normally would to their situation. There's nothing unexpected here. However, if this is NOT their significator card, they are reacting to their environment in a way that is out of the ordinary; they aren't acting like themselves. This may be a good thing; for example, if one's normal reaction to trouble is to clam up, and they decide to confront it head-on and deal with it, that's a good thing! However, if one's normal reaction is to take trouble on, and they're running and hiding, this isn't a good thing. The Queen of Pentacles is a very content woman, successful, reasonably happy, and in light of the environment card, I would say this is an appropriate reaction to it.