Positive cards following negative ones

[malvina]

Hi everyone,

 

I have a question about interpreting positive cards that fall right after negative ones. Just looking at such a progression, I want to say that, after some problems, things will get better. But many cards have specific negative meanings attached to their right side (the Coffin, the Mice, the Mountain). Other cards emphasize their right side as the main point of attack (in my deck - the Clouds, the Scythe, the Snake). For example, a couple of days ago I had an otherwise positive line ending with Snake - Heart. The Heart is positive on its own, but the Snake was biting right into it, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

 

So should I just assume that such cards lose all their positive connotations? Or that’s the case only when the Clouds are near, due to their special power? Even with the Clouds, I had Clouds - Sun - Stork augur positive changes, so the Sun turned out not be tainted. 

I’d love to hear how other people approach such readings. Do you follow some rule or just go on a case by case basis? If the latter, how?

[joy]

Interesting question @malvina. How many cards were in the line? I do not feel like the last card sort of stands alone but read them in combination with the other cards.

So:

Snake: Treachery, twists, turns

Heart: Affection, love

 

feels to me there will be something going on with a relationship.

 

Andy B says in his book:

The cards touching the Snake should be carefully examined as they will reveal the source of the treachery and you can then take steps to safeguard against it.

 

In my opinion it really is important how many cards you laid out.

 

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, malvina said:

I have a question about interpreting positive cards that fall right after negative ones. Just looking at such a progression, I want to say that, after some problems, things will get better.

Generally speaking, two negative cards reinforce each other as do positive.

 

The progression from negative to positive (or positive to negative) depends more on the individual cards.
 

2 hours ago, malvina said:

But many cards have specific negative meanings attached to their right side (the Coffin, the Mice, the Mountain). Other cards emphasize their right side as the main point of attack (in my deck - the Clouds, the Scythe, the Snake).

 

Let us consider the Coffin.

 

The Heart + the Coffin refers to a clean break — no regrets, no tears, it is done.
 

In contrast, the Coffin + the Heart is grieving heart, full of disappointment and the decline of whatever is felt.

 

With the Sun + the Coffin, you can see the loss of strength, failure and sometimes eye trouble or sunset.

 

In contrast, the Coffin + the Sun is regaining of strength, possible success in time as well as the sunrise.

 

The Coffin “ends” what is before it. But the card after is weaker or sickly. Due to the Sun’s own strength, it is affected to a lesser extent than the Heart when falling after the Coffin.

 

Cards such as the Cloverleaf, the Stars, the Sun, the Moon and the Key tend to suffer less falling after the Coffin. 
 

2 hours ago, malvina said:

For example, a couple of days ago I had an otherwise positive line ending with Snake - Heart. The Heart is positive on its own, but the Snake was biting right into it, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

 

It is difficult to be specific without context. 
 

The Serpent + the Heart is not favourable. It warns against jealousy, being led by the heart rather than the head. Act imprudently, it comes back to bite you. 

[malvina]

1 hour ago, joy said:

Interesting question @malvina. How many cards were in the line? I do not feel like the last card sort of stands alone but read them in combination with the other cards.

 

This was a 5-card weekly reading for my mother: Bouquet - Lilies - Clover - Snake - Heart. For context, she’s currently stuck taking care of my sick grandfather, waiting for her sister to either come over or take him into her own home. I was glad to see the Clover heralding a lucky break and other positive cards supporting it, but the Snake - Heart combo made me doubt it would actually be lucky.

 

Still, it’s not even specifically the Snake that bothers me here - it could be replaced with any other negative card attacking its right side (Scythe - Heart or Clouds - Heart) - but the line ending with a positive-but-not-so-positive-after-all card. Is it positive or not? I usually note the polarity and the suit of the last card, perhaps this approach is wrong?

[malvina]

1 hour ago, timtoldrum said:

The progression from negative to positive (or positive to negative) depends more on the individual cards.

 

1 hour ago, timtoldrum said:

Cards such as the Cloverleaf, the Stars, the Sun, the Moon and the Key tend to suffer less falling after the Coffin. 

 

Thank you for the example with the Coffin! It really helps to see the difference in the cards’ strength. Would you say there’s a similar hierarchy among the negative cards? That some taint less than others? I’d imagine the Scythe is worse than the Serpent, and the Clouds are the worst of them all.

 

It seems like the Sun is perhaps the strongest positive card because I can’t imagine any other withstanding the Clouds’ influence: a pairing like Clouds - Cloverleaf only prolongs the disorder, but Clouds - Sun promises more light peaking through. 
 

1 hour ago, timtoldrum said:

It is difficult to be specific without context. 
 

The Serpent + the Heart is not favourable. It warns against jealousy, being led by the heart rather than the head. Act imprudently, it comes back to bite you. 

Thanks for your interpretation. It was a weekly reading for my mother: Bouquet - Lilies - Clover - Snake - Heart. She’s currently taking care of my sick grandfather at his place and waiting for her sister to finally do something to help her. I usually note polarities and suits in such lines or 3x3 spreads to see how the situation develops, but negative+positive pairings always throw me off, and here I also had trouble discerning whether there’d be a positive turn of events or not. Perhaps, like you said, I should pay more attention to how strong these polarities are? Say, it was Serpent - Sun instead, then I’d see this reading in a more positive light. 

[Sentire]

On 7/1/2021 at 9:20 PM, malvina said:

This was a 5-card weekly reading for my mother: Bouquet - Lilies - Clover - Snake - Heart. For context, she’s currently stuck taking care of my sick grandfather, waiting for her sister to either come over or take him into her own home. I was glad to see the Clover heralding a lucky break and other positive cards supporting it, but the Snake - Heart combo made me doubt it would actually be lucky.

 

Still, it’s not even specifically the Snake that bothers me here - it could be replaced with any other negative card attacking its right side (Scythe - Heart or Clouds - Heart) - but the line ending with a positive-but-not-so-positive-after-all card. Is it positive or not? I usually note the polarity and the suit of the last card, perhaps this approach is wrong?

I like that you gave context, because this line of cards is telling the story you described. Bouquet being recovery and well-being and the Lilies for a father figure. Clover for small luck, at least, I hope being able to take care of him is lucky as it is better than nobody being able and snake with heart, for me, could mean that there could be some emotional situation for your mother with her sister who might not playout the story as your mother was expecting at that time? How did it play out @malvina?

[malvina]

7 hours ago, Sentire said:

like that you gave context, because this line of cards is telling the story you described. Bouquet being recovery and well-being and the Lilies for a father figure. Clover for small luck, at least, I hope being able to take care of him is lucky as it is better than nobody being able and snake with heart, for me, could mean that there could be some emotional situation for your mother with her sister who might not playout the story as your mother was expecting at that time? How did it play out @malvina?

It’s interesting that you read the Lily as a father figure because I usually use the House for this purpose, but here the Lily also fits the context. And yes, like you said, my mother ended up in a situation she didn’t expect: her sister asked to come pick up grandpa from his home with the understanding that she would take care of him at her countryside house, but then rescinded her offer for no apparent reason and my mother had to stay with grandpa and later grandma for a long time to nurse them herself. She did feel like her heart was bitten by a snake. Although now that I’m doing readings for her, the sister keeps appearing as the Fox haha.