Those following my work will know that it is neither occultism, nor the esoteric that drives my narrative forward. What I’m interested in is context and how it relates to the available platform for action that emerges visually from a spread of cards as it connects to a sitter’s question.

As a general rule, I don’t cast cards in positions, but on occasion I go ‘French.’ This simply means that I cast the cards in predetermined positions and then read the dynamics between them. French style, or my preferred style that’s entirely devoid of going outside the system of identifying the functions of the cards as they are culturally convened upon. By this I mean the universal understanding that we all possess when it comes to recognizing certain types. For instance, no one is in doubt as to what ruling function an Emperor performs, nor is one in doubt as to what the Hermit does. In addition to looking at what happens in the cards at the visual level, I look at these functions and nothing else.

Let’s look at the standard French Cross that most continental readers prefer. Firstly, we only use the 22 trump cards for it. If we need any further clarification, we draw cards from the entire deck, so that the court and pip cards can be engaged.

The layout of the French Cross is as follows: Card 1: Situation. Card 2: What opposes or aids it. Card 3: Advice. Card 4: Outcome. Card 5: Synthesis. The synthesis card suggests either what tone the reading carries, or it points to the underlying structure of the situation. In other words, the synthesis card does not suggest the outcome of the reading in general – we have Card 4 for that – but rather, stresses what is central in the dynamics played out by the other cards.

The way in which you arrive at the synthesis card is not by drawing a fifth card at random. What you do instead is count: you add the value of the 4 primary cards on your table and then, if the number exceeds 22, you reduce the number through further addition. That is to say, if your sum will be 23, then you go: 2+3=5. Trump number 5, the Pope, will be your synthesis card.

There is an arithmetical problem with this, as you can never get trump 1 or 2 as the synthesis card, so this addition practice has its limits. Esoterically speaking, it is interesting that neither the Magician, nor the Popess can ever function as a synthesis card, but since I already said that I’m not here to entertain esoteric stories, I’ll leave it up to you to imagine them.

Now place the cards in these positions, after you hear what your sitter wants to know. Though, as we’re with the French, I can disclose that some read the French Cross without a question, but this is not something I recommend, as a reading without a context can only be anchored in platitudes and generalities that will move no one.

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1 5 2

4

Let me give three examples of reading the French Cross below, ranging in complexity from the simple to the challenging interpretation. When I cast the cards, I take a quick look at what I see and then deliver a verdict. Often this verdict consists of one to two lines or a short paragraph. This is a standard approach regardless of how much unpacking of the message I could also perform. If the occasion calls for it, I offer the sitter my full reasoning for my judgment. Most of the times, however, I put it in such a way that my reading becomes self-explanatory.

The first example is about restructuring a business so more money can come in. The cards present us with a clear-cut situation here. The second example concerns a question about a relationship that’s gone busted. The cards here present us with a common, yet fascinating challenge. The third example concerns a situation at work. For this one the cards give us a straightforward answer, while at the same time allowing us to ponder further.

More money

A woman was considering an online business in addition to her career. She wanted to know how to go about it, so that eventually she could earn more money. The cards were quite clear here. The World represented her in her fullness of being. In context, I read this card as a representation of what the woman already accomplished. As she said it herself, she already had a career. Opposing the World was the Charioteer. This one gave the woman the green light, since she had both the drive and impetus to not only press on but also keep going. While she was not interested in changing lanes, she was interested in challenging herself further on an alternative path. The Star suggested what it would be a good idea to do first: be unhindered and give abundantly.

So I said: ‘make some free gifts on the internet first that will lead to establishing your brand.’ The Empress with her emblematic shield pointed to the desired outcome. So the advice here was quite straightforward: ‘first you’re gratis,’ I said to the woman, ‘and then you come at a cost. First you make free offers, and then you charge.’

The Hanged Man as the synthesis card added an extra layer to this approach. While making her free offers, the woman was to pay attention to how the pendulum swings. As not everyone is interested in free offers just because they are free, the idea was for the woman to try to get a sense of what dress she could don that would mark her identity. The Star is not concerned with clothing and with what the world wants. But the Empress is, as costume is part of the condition for her existence.

In business the credible person is not the naked, but the clothed. People may surround themselves with the new slogan in vogue, ‘be transparent,’ but since transparency is as much a performance as is the mysterious, it is only as good as it is dressed up, one way or another. So I advised the woman to think about what strong image would suit her business best. In her case, waiting for the new fashion trend would prove a good idea.

The breakup

My example here is related to the question of where the sitter stands in relation to her partner with whom she had a falling out. Basically they broke up and as a consequence there was no more communication between them. Although the woman didn’t ask for it, implicitly she wanted to know if this was going to change. Since she was reluctant to believe that things would mend, she was interested in probing deeper, or at least explore the nature of their connection beyond the status quo.

I looked at her cards, and I said the following: ‘while you’re still sitting in your power, your lover isn’t. For him, the house is broken, and so is his heart. Keep loving and you’ll be damned. Why? Because although the man may feel broken, he is still considering his options: to still choose you or go with another.’

Now note to the challenge here. If I went purely descriptive, I could have said the following: ‘the relationship is broken because the man made the wrong choice, and consequently, what you had with him went to hell.’ Note how the line answers the woman’s question as to the current status of her relationship. But what is new in this? Nothing. The cards validate what the woman already knows. If the configuration of cards here does anything beyond stating the obvious, then it is to strengthen the image of what the woman already knows happened. This can be useful in case there is desire for an intervention towards overturning the event.

But now note what happens when we consider the position of the cards. The Lovers card in the position of advice features visually a man caught between two women. Given this picture, do we tell her to keep loving, or do we make a point about how he needs to make a decision now, after the event of the breakup, or at least consider his options? To an extent we do both. I did. But one of the readings in this regard is stronger than the other. Let’s see clearly why.

As the woman asked for a more nuanced description from the cards of her situation, we have to remark that the Lovers card visually pertains to his field of action. It is the man who is caught between two women, not the woman. But how will this help her?

I elected to go with my first statement in which I advised the woman to keep loving because of the Devil in the outcome position. In the face of the broken Tower, the Devil announces that it can’t be helped that the woman still feels strongly for this man, as he rules her from the inside at the structural level. The Emperor, who is the consort of the Empress, is our synthesis card, so he has a lot to say about it, even though he is here only represented by the adverse position of the broken Tower and by the position that calls to action, which we already know is under the spell of indecisiveness: Lover being caught between two women must think about his choice.

What is important to notice here is that although the positionality of the cards gives us a point of entry in terms of how we determine agency, that is, how we determine who does what to whom, the visual elements on the cards can contradict or nullify the main subject’s power to act. ‘Keep loving and you’ll be damned,’ speaks to the woman’s predicament, as this line describes what the woman cannot avoid, which is to end up in the grip of her own attachment.

The subtle point here is to say that while the man in her life has no power, insofar as he is the antagonist who fell out of the Tower alongside with her, by virtue of the woman’s attachment to him, he has power. Thus it would be pointless to say to the woman that he needs to get his act together and make a decision regarding what he wants, when he only has a platform to act by proxy.

Also, insofar as he is not the one we’re reading the cards for, it is equally pointless to give advice pertaining to what he must or could do. How would we even go about it? Say to the absent man, ‘choose the Empress because she still wants you, or else you’ll be damned too,’ or send the woman to his court, so she can say that to him? And even if she did, would he listen to her? Not with the Devil in the picture. The cards here suggest that the man was more affected by the breakup than the woman, so we can infer that he probably hates her already. The Devil in the outcome position testifies to this. Hence, the only thing we can say, and regardless of who is depicted as a protagonist on the Lovers card in the position of advice, is what we already said: ‘keep loving and be damned.’

In a more pragmatically mundane parlance, however, we could also say that, since the Devil is in the outcome position, it says something precisely about the status of this relationship as it is shared by both lovers in the very consequences of the breakup. What the Devil tells us is that both these two, the man and the woman, are either obscenely obsessed with one another, and hence no matter which way they go, they end up tied to their necks and one another, or else, because of their mutual attraction, they can’t help but subject themselves to their fate or whatever other force that pulls the strings beyond their control.

Here we can further add that, while it may be that the man is not keen on reconstruction, the fact remains that predictively his choice will prove disastrous as it leads to hell. The only good news here is that the woman is her own sovereign. She may be able to negotiate for a better deal with the Devil, if it came down to it, and thus say to the enslaving power, ‘let me love him still, and let him know that I do, so we can both be damned.’ If we’re with this situation, we can then say that the last option left for the fortuneteller is to pass this sentence, ‘enjoy your symptom!’ in reference to the commonality of the experience of mutual passion, one that, however, does not have a healthy resolution, but rather, one that is sickening to both the heart and the body.

When the cards present us with a challenge in terms of how we identify what is one’s own fated lot to do, we must take into account the wording of the question and remember who we’re actually reading the cards for. This way we avoid losing ourselves in dispensing advice to the irrelevant party or relying on an indiscriminate basis. We must thus fully engage in deductive reasoning and analytical tracing, and before we pass judgment, we must go with the evidence that the cards present us with.

Trouble at work

Let us now turn to our third example, this time based on a question about how to tackle a work environment that turned into a circus. The sitter was a man who got tired of his colleagues, people invested in all sorts that had nothing to do with the work as such.

On the basis of the cards above, I said the following: ‘the Wheel turns, but it’ll only turn in your favor if you take your diplomatic and reconciliatory skills elsewhere. Hop on your Papal wagon, and depart from this scene as fast as you can. As a Pope, you can find another crowd to bless. You must let your colleagues dig their own graves. Those bent on manipulations and lies will keep doing what they’re doing. It is not for you to take their heads. A higher power like Death itself will perform that job. You can’t stop a dishonest club. You can attempt an exorcism, but it will fail, as the Devil leading to peril discloses that your greedy colleagues cannot be saved.’

As the man was apprehensive about leaving his job, I pulled two more cards from the entire deck. The 6 Swords validated his unease and regret about having to leave. But the 7 Cups enforced the idea that he could find others more worthy of what he had to give.

As you can see, the cards here were as clear as in the previous examples, though in this case we could ponder further yet: since the Devil was in the position of advice, could we have told the man to strike a deal with the Devil so he could liberate himself from the nasty people he worked with? On other occasions I do the very thing when the Devil appears in this position, but I only advise to ‘do the Devil’ or to ‘embody the Devil’ when the other cards support such advice. Here, however, I couldn’t find a way to legitimate a similar course of action, what with the Charioteer looking as if he was taking his leave and saying goodbye to the dehumanizing relations. As the ones caught in the wheel look more like monkeys and asses who are unable to exercise any agency, what can a Pope do with such types? Get attached to their idiosyncrasies and in the process lose his own head? I thought better of it than to advise the man to be in cahoots with the Devil.

What is happening, how do you feel and think about it?

As usual, I could go on with more deductive ideas, but suffices it to say that while the French Cross can serve up a straight answer, it pays off to think of what is happening in the cards and how the cards relate to one another both across their predetermined positions and across our emotional projections and biases. A judgment of what is likely to happen can only arise from considering what is possible and plausible in a given context.

Also, because of the reductionist nature of spreads that have predetermined positions, it is crucial to think about what exactly the question lends itself to: a reading that prioritizes description, analysis, reflection, or evaluation? Although all things are equal, when we deal with enforced positions, things are not equally equal. As in my challenging example, sometimes the descriptive answer must make a leap and become prescriptive.

At the end of the day, however, is it not the spread that leads the answer, but our own combinatory geniuses. The Devil is a nasty figure, but in the position of advice it can become a necessary norm. What we make of it becomes a matter of just how we combine the function of a card with the position it is in as it relates precisely to the question.

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