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Ten Card Spread
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The Ten Card Tarot
Spread uses Elemental Dignities and the Celtic Cross spread as its
basis.
"A card is strong
or weak, well-dignified or ill-dignified, according to the cards which
are next to it on either side. Cards of the same suit on either side
strengthen it greatly either for good or ill, according to their nature.
Cards of the suits answering to its contrary element, on either side on
the card in question, weaken it greatly for good or ill. Air and Earth
are contraries, as are Fire and Water. Air is friendly with Water and
Fire, and Fire is friendly with Air and Earth."
The New Golden
Dawn Ritual Tarot, Cicero
This quotation is
probably the best and most succinct definition of Elemental Dignities I
have come across, but unfortunately, the Cicero's do not show how
to use the system in a reading! In their book, the Cicero's present
three Tarot spreads:
-
The Ten Card
Spread (The Cicero Spread)
-
The Fifteen Card
Spread
-
The Opening of
the Key Spread
As we shall see,
using Elemental Dignities makes these spreads come alive - and they are
so much simpler than they appear.
The Ten
Card Spread
The Cicero's
comment:
"This layout (our
personal favorite) is simpler to use than the traditional Golden Dawn
method and is quite reliable for rapid divinations. Its advantage over
the Celtic Cross spread is that it eliminates the need for reversed
cards, depending instead upon neighboring cards for interpretation."
The Celtic Cross
spread has the same number of cards, ten. The cards are laid out in the
sequence shown in the diagram. Note that in most positional spreads,
there is one card in each position, but for this spread, and the Fifteen
Card Spread, there is more than one card. Here are the definitions of
the positions as given by Cicero:
"Card 1
This card
represents the querent and the question, as well as the primary
influences surrounding him or her. A court card her might refer to the
querent or some dominant person.
Cards 2 & 3
These cards
represent the subconscious mind of the querent. They give information on
the hidden influences which effect, but are not detected by the querent.
Cards 4 & 5
These cards represent the conscious mind of the querent. They give
information on the thoughts and feelings of the querent toward the
nature of the question (which may or may not be in harmony with cards 2
& 3).
Cards 6 & 7
These cards shed light on the querent's past. They indicate past events
or influences, which relate to the current question or problem.
Cards 8 & 9
These cards represent the final outcome or potential future events or
influences.
Card 10
This is the crossover card from past to future. This indicates the
psychological implications on the querent or the actions he/she will
take in making whatever decision may be necessary. It may also indicate
forces operating beyond the control of the querent to which he/she must
adapt."
Having studied
Elemental Dignities, we can see that the relationship between each
paired cards can be analyzed according to the elemental basis of each
card. We also know that we can utilize the elemental basis of the
position, but unfortunately the Cicero's have not supplied this
information. However, enough is given in the descriptions to make a fair
guess of which element goes where. Since there are 5 positions, we know
that one of them must represent Akasha or Spirit, and the center cards,
1 and 10 fit the bill. Incidentally, this also suggests that Akasha is
at the start and end of the sequence.
Cards 2 & 3:
'subconscious mind' is suggestive of
Water.
Cards 4 & 5:
'Conscious mind' and 'thoughts and feelings' are indicative of
Air
Cards 6 & 7:
'Past events' are actions, therefore
Fire
Cards 8 & 9:
'Final outcome' shows
Earth
as the manifestation of a situation.
Armed with this
analysis, we can simplify the spread greatly:
The ordering of the elements is slightly different
to the Shamanic Polar system, which has
Water and
Earth
transposed:
This arrangement
is useful to remember as the 'enemy' elements are in opposing positions.
You may wish to
experiment with the elemental attributions I have presented. Whichever
elemental attributions you end up with, I am sure you will find that you
have a more powerful spread when using EDs.
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