Tarot Reading Four: Tree-of-Life Spreads

One particularly rich resource for tarot spread ideas is the qabalistic Tree of Life. I seldom use the entire Tree as a spread; I prefer to concentrate on subsets of the Tree, based on the subject of the reading. Here are a few spreads I find particularly useful.

One should be aware that a certain amount of confusion is possible using these spreads, if one draws on qabalistic meanings for interpreting the particular cards. What does it mean, for example, if a card associated with Tiphareth appears in a position associated with Hod? My approach is to recognize that happenings in one sephirah can provoke activity in another. In the example given, the card (say, six of wands) may represent a mastery of the will, something associated with Tiphareth. The apperance of the card in a Hod position, though, indicates that I am thinking about this mastery in terms of intellectual concepts. The card stands for the stimulus, the position stands for the portion of consciousness in which the stimulus is at work. Such "contradictory" card placements are actually quite informative, as they illustrate the ways in which events in one part of the self are processed by the other parts.

The Pillar of Consciousness

This is a three-card spread based on the central pillar of the Tree of Life: Tiphareth (1), Yesod (2), and Malkuth (3). Kether is excluded, because the focus is on the individual consciousness of the querent, not the supernal consciousness that resides at the crown of the Tree.

The three cards correspond loosely to the spirit, mind, and body cards of the classic three-card spread, but the connotations do differ somewhat, so it is worthwhile to treat this as a distinct spread.

The cards should be dealt from the top down, but turned and studied in reverse order, from bottom to top.

Malkuth (3) represents the actual, impersonal realities of the situation. This is what is happening outside the querent's mind, possibly quite different from the querent's "story" of the situation and obscured by models, feelings, and rationalizations. Of course, we do not really have access to things as they "really are", apart from our thoughts about them. The Malkuth card is thus not so much a picture of reality itself as a challenge: "What if it is really like this?" It represents aspects of the situation that our consciousness does not directly accommodate, but that become apparent as we experience the shortcomings of our conceptions.

Yesod (2) is the story, the myth, the image that the mind is unconsciously using to cope with the matter. It is routinely mistaken for "reality", and we can be quite blind to its limitations. Still, the mind abhors a vacuum. There will always be some story at work when we try to cope with the world. The card challenges us to step back and look at the story into which we try to fit the events of experience, and appreciate it as a living facet of the mind. Another way to look at this card is as the voice of the inner child: it represents the automatic, unexamined response to the world. Both our thoughts and our emotions play off the "yesod story" constantly.

Tiphareth (1) is the "view from the height", the way the situation appears when the self loses its attachment to the "yesod story" and its associated thoughts and emotions. This is the key to adult understanding and mastery of the situation. It gives a recipe for gaining perspective and seeing oneself and one's situation with clarity and objectivity.

What is most important in this spread is the contrast between the cards in each of the two pairs, 1-2 and 2-3. The difference between 2 and 3 is the difference between image and fact, between the personal and the impersonal views. The difference between 1 and 2 is the difference between the self-aware and the automatic states of consciousness, between the contemplative and reactive visions.

---

The Personality Pendulum

This is a powerful spread, as it represents the four corners of the personality, the sephiroth that an individual can experience directly.

Yesod (4) and Tiphareth (1) are interpreted as with the Pillar of Consciousness spread (above).

Hod (3) represents the rational structure the mind is imposing on the situation. For left-brained folks, this may seem to be the whole reality. The "hod story" is what is likely to come out verbally when the querent explains the situation.

Netzach (2) shows the emotions and feelings that accompany the situation. For some people, these may completely dominate how the situation is perceived. Even if they are not acknowledged, the feelings profoundly color our perceptions.

The whole arrangement can be seen as a pendulum, with Yesod as the weight and Hod and Netzach representing the extreme points of each swing. This is a good metaphor for understanding how the intellect and emotions exchange energy by way of the mental image embodied in Yesod. Destructive cycles of psychological reinforcement can be built up, in which emotions shape the story, which in turn inspires the intellect to rationalize the story (and its associated emotions), again strengthening the story and inspiring even stronger emotional reactions.

Above it all is Tiphareth, the motionless point from which the pendulum string is suspended. From this perspective, small adjustments in thought can change the motion of the pendulum, or halt it completely. A parallel can be drawn with the taoist concept of wu wei, doing by not-doing.

---

The Soul Nexus

This spread shows the soul as a point of stability mediating between the great forces of life and the personality's response to those forces. It is useful for gaining perspective on what is under one's control and what is not, and how best to sustain oneself though unexpected acts of fate.

Hod (5) and Netzach (4) again represent the intellect and emotions, respectively.

Tiphareth (3) is again the soul center, but now must serve as a mediator/sustainer, not just between Hod and Netzach, below, but also between the two transpersonal sephiroth above. Its ability to master the situation is now constrained by the activity of higher powers.

Gevurah (2) is the destroyer, representing destructive or restrictive forces outside one's personal control. These forces are not necessarily detrimental, as restriction may be just what is needed to channel the personality toward a worthwhile mode of activity. Generally, though, this position will illustrate setbacks, tagedies, losses, and inescapable problems in one's current situation.

Chesed (1) is the creator, the exuberant force that gives new purpose to life and promises success. This is the will to do, which unavoidably manifests through the personality. Sometimes the outpouring of creative force into life can be disruptive, as the old gives way reluctantly to the new. More often, though, this card represents an opportunity, an unlooked-for success, or a gift of fate.

Besides the obvious contrasting pairs (Hod/Netzach and Gevurah/Chesed), the reader should also consider the diagonal lines 1-3-5 and 2-3-4. Netzach responds to Gevurah, Hod responds Chesed. Constraints provoke emotions, opportunities inspire plans. In the center of it all is Tiphareth, signalling how identity is maintained in the midst of forces from above and below.