PCO: Focusing on details, missing the whole picture

Oh yes. I have been doing it again. *sighs*

Yesterday I sat down, lit a candle and focused. I was going to read for a friend who was absent at that moment, but who had requested the reading. I knew the question was important to her, and as I am very close to the situation, I tried to clear my own mind from any expectations. Just read the cards!, I told myself. And after shuffling my deck, I drew four cards and spread them in the Present Spread, as taught by Ana Cortez.

The question was "Will A. [my friend] and T. meet again before one year passes?".
(Note: A. and T. are in a long distance relatiosnship)

As soon as I saw the cards, my mind entered panic mode. Oh no, that Leo guy on the top again! I knew I had interpreted him wrongly in a past reading, in this very same position. To calm and quiet my mind, I did the Geomancy, and I got the following: Laetitia + Cauda Draconis = Conjunctio.

That does not point to anything bad, but Cauda Draconis as the 2nd witness, tells me that there will be some significant obstacles to be overcome, and difficult choices to be made, before the meeting can happen. Conjunctio, as the judge, is a very good figure for a meeting. But that did not help me to get any calmer.

So I started putting the details together – no Spades, hum, that means lack of practical plans, and 10♣ in the Foot position could indicate instability at work. And that Leo. Leo... K♦... maybe he's part of the obstacle? Maybe he's A's boss? Maybe she'll be offered a job opportunity that will get in the way? And that 6♦ in Torso, it shows a lonely and isolated heart, ugh, I think the answer is not because of money, I mean, you have 10♥, the only Heart card, surrounded by Diamonds... suffocated by money issues...

Shut up, brain!

Thank goodness I went out to have dinner with my friends, and forgot about the reading for a good while. When I came back home, after  a long conversation with a good friend, my mind felt more at peace. And suddenly... suddenly it came to me that I was not answering A's question!

No, I was getting caught up in the details, focusing on the small relationship between the cards, and missing the whole picture completely!

Geomancy was clear: what A. and T. have is happy and beautiful (Laetitia), but it will have to survive some very difficult obstacles and perhaps cut many ties (Cauda Draconis) in order to for the meeting to happen again (Conjunctio).

Lack of Spades, what does it mean? In the most simple way – lack of physical contact. That answers part of the question saying that probably they'll not have any physical contact before the year is over, for there are obstacles that still need to be overcome.

What does a combo ♦ + ♥ + ♦ mean? A lot of impulsive energy. The desire to meet is strong, it will remain strong, and the 10♣ in the Foot position says that A. may even 'lose her stability', her roots because of this desire. But nothing points to a practical action towards meeting, so again I get the feeling that they'll not meet again before the year is over.

Also, fire and water do not mingle so well – the excessive passion and desire may put too much pressure on the tenderest emotions. Water needs more time than fire to get things done - if you hurry it, it may evaporate! Their love will have to survive a consuming, albeit lonely (as suggested by the 6♦), passion... or disappear.

Now, to the Leo guy. I admit he is a bit of a mystery, but I remember that Ana Cortez says that "his will is a team of mighty horses". A strong will is ruling everything. I assumed that such a will belonged to someone else – but why can't it be the couple's will? Allegra combined with Leo makes me think of a strong impulse to pursue one's heart desire. A will powered by the heart.

And the 6♦ says that yes, the heart will be isolated and a bit lonelier for this year, due to the distance. But it'll also be protected, in a sense – protected from a reality that tells us that love is not worth fighting for. In a practical sense, the two Diamonds cards speak of someone saving financial resources to accomplish her goal of visiting her partner again.

The tendency to focus on every little card as if they were important for the reading is something that came from my tarot practice. In tarot, I used to read each card separately, consider their individual meanings, and only in the end see the whole picture. But with playing cards, this technique doesn't always work – the atmosphere created by all of the cards together is sometimes more important than the individual meanings of each.

I need to exercise my own bird's-eye view when reading the cards. A lot of details is not the same as an enlightening reading.

Of intention and card reading

What is the power behind the cards? What power makes certain cards be chosen in an specific moment, fall into an specific position and deliver a message? I do not presume to know the answer to these question for sure, and I think that every card reader has his own personal answers to them.

I do believe that there's some special kind of energy behind every reading. It does not necessarily come from a higher power of any sort though – it comes from the reader ad the sitter. I call it "intention".

For me, intention is the desire to know something, to receive an answer. It is an ardent question, and the strongest and clearest it is, the more powerful the reading will be. It is what separates empty questions and real questions – and what separate dull readings from intense ones.

Intention is actually present in all aspects of life, not just divination. It can be translated in "what you really want". In times like ours, in which there is so much to want, and our focus changes constantly, it may be hard to feel that deep and intense wish for something. But we still have many moments like this. Like when we are in love, or like when we wish to accomplish one thing above all else. This guides us, guides our steps and our choices.

This is the same power that guides the cards, but in card reading, this intention is presented as a question. The real desire to know something will give the cards a strong vibration, and (if the reader is skilled) the cards will truly shine on the table. That's why when people don't really have a question, the reading is a bit boring. Because there was no real intention behind the question, no real desire to know, so the cards work with a weak vibration.

This for me explains many interesting happenings in the card reading practice. Like when you ask a question, but the cards relate to a completely different situation. You ask about your job, but they show you your family situation. You think that it's because you shuffled them wrong, or maybe they are messing with you head... but no. Sometimes, what we really want to know (where our intention is) is something completely different from what leaves our lips. We think we want to know about our job, but all our being, every cell, is worried about our family. Which intention do you think will prevail?

Another thing I saw happening a few times is when the querent asks a question, but actually does not want to know the answer. Of course they are usually unaware of this. They ask you for a reading because they think they want to know (or think they should know), but all their intention is focused on avoiding the answer. The cards will not work against this wish, and the reading will end up being rather insipid.

Sometimes, the cards will even make it clear that the sitter is not ready to know the answer. They'll give you a very closed reading, with few insights. Needless to say, most of querents really don't like when this happens...

For me, the intention is behind all this. The cards will always work with your intention, and never against it. That's why it is so tricky to read for yourself about important matters, especially if you wish for an specific outcome. Your intention cannot focus on simply getting a sincere answer, and your capacity to interpret the reading with the necessary impartiality is usually reduced.

And that's also why daily readings tend to be weak readings. Because they usually lack intention. While useful for practice when you are starting off, after a while they stop being really insightful. But that is subject for a future post...