Today’s reading was about a phone call I plan to make to a client later.  I didn’t have a specific question; I just wanted to know in general how the call would go.  For this type of question, I often deal 2 cards for the positive aspects, then 2 cards for the negative aspects, and then put a summary card in the middle.  The summary card usually gives an indication of which side (positive or negative) dominates the answer, and at least tells how the two sides come together and interact.

If the text description above wasn’t clear, the picture of the layout for this reading should help! Sometimes I use more than two cards on each side… just do whatever feels best!

The Reading

First, I want to mention that though the pictures here are from the Universal Waite deck, I actually used my Lo Scarabeo deck in the reading. To me they read mostly the same, though you can see a big Crowley influence in the Scarabeo deck.

So, in the matter of Richard’s business phone call, what does the universe have in store?

Alright, on the “positive” side we have the Queen Swords + Hermit. On the “negative” side we have Knight Pentacles + Ace Swords. These come together in the 6 Swords summary.

So, right away, I see from the summary that good communication will take place. The 6 of Swords is one of my favorite Swords cards… it depicts a way that logic and intellect can be used in a positive fashion (compared to, say, the 3 or 5 or 7 or 8 or 9 Swords). Crowley calls it “Science,” which I think fits well with the intellectual journey we see in the RWS decks. Good! The purpose of the call is for us to reach agreement on the next batch of programming work I do for this client. I think this bodes well, and in fact if I were pressed for time I might glance at the rest of the cards and stop the reading here.

I quickly associated the two court cards with myself (Queen Swords) and the client (Knight of Pentacles). Now, I didn’t put myself in the “positive” column out of vanity! In this relationship, I see myself as the one that has to weigh the options and make the decisions one way or another. I have to decide what’s fair to me and to him, because I’m the one with the knowledge needed to do that. The client, on the other hand, fits the Knight of Pentacles description pretty well. He asks a lot of questions about details of the project, for instance. And, sometimes he over-specifies what he wants (at least, that’s my view of it).

From an elemental standpoint, it’s 3 Air vs. 2 Earth. So I should be aware of some conflict between free-flowing ideas and down-to-earth practicality and attention to detail (especially as both earth cards represent Virgo). In this case, I’m thinking the mix may produce a tension that ends up being productive, though. I drew this conclusion for two main reasons. First of all, Virgo is the intellectual earth sign, ruled by Mercury (not to mention that the 6 Swords summary card is traditionally attributed with Mercury energy). So if you’re going to mix air and earth, this is the easiest mix in my opinion. Secondly, there is equal air and earth on both sides of the spread, and in this reading I’m associating the two sides with the two people involved in the call. So, both parties have parts of air and earth at work, which makes the whole thing seem less adversarial.

When I read the “positive” column, I saw myself judging the merits of various potential options, and making strong pronuoncements about them. In this side business, I’ve set myself up as a kind of Hermit… offering my knowledge of the financial markets and computer programming to help people bring their trading to the next level. So, especially as the Hermit is a major arcana card, I see that as the Queen operating within that overall “mentor” context I have set up for myself.

On the “negative” column, we have the detail-oriented guy, who is very aware of how much or how little money he is spending on the project. And, just like the cards say, he has a ton of ideas about what he might want (Ace of Swords). In general, that’s very good, but the combination can be a bit tiring to me. He’s spending time working out fine details of ideas that aren’t viable in the first place. Of course, he needs me (Queen/Hermit) to help him see that… I just wish he’d tell me at the high level so I can veto the ideas with no potential right away. That’s just not the way he (Knight/Ace) operates.

Conclusion

I think the cards outlined the basic tension between me and this client pretty darn clearly. Looks like this call will be more of the same, but we can harness it and produce some good ideas (6 Swords). That’s consistent with my past experience with him, so no surprises there. It’s a good working relationship, just a little trying at times.

Good! I’m way too tired today for surprises…