Ahhh the golden question Tarot Readers get asked EVERY DAY…the question about TIMING
It always begins with WHEN….
When will I get the promotion at work? When will I meet my Soul Mate? When will I go on holiday? When is the best time to divorce my husband?
Timing becomes important in a Tarot Reading because the person not only wants to know when they will meet the ‘man’ or ‘woman’ or get the ‘job’ but also WHEN.
A woman will come and ask will she be able to get pregnant and WHEN.
A man asks when he can launch his ‘start up’ and WHEN is the best time.
When I started reading Tarot I didn’t have a clue and I kinda made up ways to answer questions. I did not know at the time that there were actual systems to do timing with the Tarot cards.
So I just made up my own way, which I still use today.
I will teach it to you and it is super simple.
Then I will share with you some of the known systems for timing with the Tarot and you can decide what appeals to you.
MY SYSTEM FOR TIMING
For me it is quite simple.
I ask a clear question and then pull cards from a fan of Tarot cards which have been spread out face downwards.
I decide before I pull cards if I am looking at days, weeks or months. I do not tend to ask in years as the further you go into the future, the hazier it gets.
Example One: A woman comes and asks when her boyfriend will propose marriage to her.
First of all I will check if he WILL propose. If the answer if yes, then I will pull cards. In this case I would be looking at months or years depending on what she is telling me about their connection.
I may pull one card for each month. I will be looking for a love cups card to come up or a positive happy card like the Empress, Emperor, Lovers, Star, Sun or World. When a card that resonates with me pops up I say the month.
Jan – 2 of Wands / Feb – The Hermit / Mar – 3 of Pentacles / April – 9 of Cups.
OK So he will ask around April.
Example Two: A man asks when is the best time to launch his business.He knows that he wants to launch in May but he is not sure of the best day.
I start by reminding him I am not a financial adviser and that the cards give an indication only. The choice is still ultimately his.
I then proceed to pull a card for each day of the Month of May until I hit on a card that looks the best for business and launch.
I would be looking for a Major Arcana card like the Magician, The Chariot etc or a Minor Arcana card with positive wands or pentacles energy in it.
In this case I pull the Ace of Pentacles (pentacles relating to money, business and career) on day 6.
So I tell him the 6th of May looks like a great day to launch.
My simple method does mean you need to understand the cards a little bit and an idea about what each one means, but that information comes quickly and can be learned in a few hours.
I also need to point out that I did this method from the first day I read Tarot for strangers and back then I did not have a clue about Tarot.
I went with my feeling as I turned each card looking for a sense inside of me saying, YES or NO.
Below is a list of some standard ways of doing timing if my method does not appeal to you. I do not tend to use them as I prefer to use my intuition and the simple technique above.
MAJOR ARCANA – ASTROLOGY
Each Major Arcana card has an astrological sign which can indicate certain times or a planet which will rule an astrological sign. So when you pull a card in regards to a question and you get a Major Arcana card you can tell when. The most common astrological correspondence used today is below…
FOOL – URANUS
MAGICIAN – MERCURY
HIGH PRIESTESS – MOON
EMPRESS – VENUS
EMPEROR – ARIES
HIEROPHANT – TAURUS
LOVERS – GEMINI
CHARIOT – CANCER
STRENGTH – LEO
HERMIT – VIRGO
WHEEL OF FORTUNE – JUPITER
JUSTICE – LIBRA
HANGED MAN – NEPTUNE
DEATH – SCORPIO
TEMPERANCE – SAGITARRIUS
DEVIL – CAPRICORN
TOWER – MARS
STAR – AQUARIUS
MOON – PISCIS
SUN – SUN
JUDGEMENT – PLUTO
WORLD – SATURN
MINOR ARCANA – SEASONS
The problem I see with matching a season to a Minor Arcana is that every Tarot reader has their own correspondences.
I will share with you the most common one and what makes sense to me.
Wands – Spring
Cups – Summer
Swords – Autumn
Pentacles – Winter
So for example if you ask when you will get pregnant and you do a spread and it is mostly Cups cards then you know it may happen in the coming Summer.
MINOR ARCANA – TIMING WITH DAYS / MONTHS ETC
Again, here to the problem I see with matching a time to a Minor Arcana is that every Tarot reader has their own system.
I will share with you the most common correspondence and what makes sense to me.
Wands – Days
Swords – Weeks
Cups – Months
Pentacles – Years
So for example if you pulled the 3 of Wands it is 3 days from now. If you pull a 4 of Cups, it is 4 months from now.
COURT CARDS – ASTROLOGY
This is where you know a time-frame based on a Court Card that pops up in a spread or card pull. Here again there are various systems that match astrological signs to each Court Card. I will show the one I learned and which makes most sense to me.
For example I might ask a question about when my boyfriend will ask me to marry him and I pull the Queen of Cups which rules Scorpio. I therefore know that I will be asked sometime between 23rd of October and 24th of November.
WANDS
Knight of Wands – Sagittarius – Nov 22 to Dec 21
Queen of Wands – Leo – July 22 to Aug 22
King of Wands – Aries -Mar 21 – April 19
SWORDS
Knight of Swords – Gemini – May 21 – June 20
Queen of Swords – Aquarius – Jan 20 to Feb 18
King of Swords – Libra – Sept 23 – Oct 22
CUPS
Knight of Cups – Pisces – Feb 19 to Mar 20
Queen of Cups – Scorpio – Oct 23 – Nov 21
King of Cups – Cancer – June 21- July 22
PENTACLES
Knight of Pentacles – Virgo – Aug 23 to Sept 22
Queen of Pentacles – Taurus – Apr 20 – May 20
King of Pentacles – Capricorn – Dec 22 to Jan 19
PLANETARY CARD
Each day of the week is associated with a planet and you can match a Tarot card to that planet.
Monday – Moon / High Priestess
Tuesday – Mars / Tower
Wednesday – Mercury / Magician
Thursday – Jupiter / Wheel of Fortune
Friday – Venus / Empress
Saturday – Saturn / World
Sunday – Sun / Sun
So for example if I ask what is the best day this week to start my vacation and I pull the Empress – it is a Friday.
So there you go, a few timing methods to get you started. Enjoy playing with them…
Photo Credits
9 of Cups: PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35262346
Ace of Pentacles: PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6088006
