Lately I’ve been working more with card directions, but a few are still unclear to me. Any help would be deeply appreciated. 
 

1) What does the Snake’s head vs. its tail signify? I guess the tail is the source of the treachery and the head points at what’s she’s biting? But I’m not sure. 
2) The Mountain. This one confuses me a bit because most of the time I use the Dondorf deck and there’s no clear open/closed side on the Mountain card (at least to my eyes); or are directions read in another way here? 
3) The Key; I already know that it says yes (unlocks) whatever comes before it and affirms the message of the following card as certain (locks), but I’m curious if the cards above and below have any significance as well, like what we see with the Cross, Book and Tower cards?

Edited June 21Jun 21 by Moon-Hermit

There are some old threads on the forum with ideas about this.

 

Summarising them..... There is no agreement on the facing directions, apart from Clouds (sunny side / dark side). Each deck does it differently and so you might need to work it out per deck if you want to use them, or notice when doing the reading. Card Directions has become very popular in modern books / decks but are perhaps not the most important thing in a reading, like they might be helpful when you see them but are not the whole reading. Readers use this differently, some more so, some less so.

 

(some of these discussions are about other cards but the later posts are useful generally)

 

 

This thread begins with a discussion about Signficator card facing but evolves to any directions....

 

Hi @DanielJUK, thanks for your reply ❤️

 

Yes, I'm aware of the fact that they differ from deck to deck (that's why I don't rely on images and for instance just see it as a rule that the Scythe always cuts to the right--- otherwise I'd have to rethink it for every single new deck!) and are used sparingly. I have already went through the threads you've posted and took notes. These three cards specifically are just bugging me a little bit because I couldn't find much about them anywhere 😅...

I was taught not all of the cards actually have directional cues.  Snake doesn’t in my learning. Snake only has before and after Stork, as Storks eats snakes. Key you have written what I know.  I did study working with many directional cues or clues as I heard people talk about them with the various cards. I found that using so many of them muddying the waters of the reading rather then help sorting it out, but that might just be my reading technique.  Wishing you luck on your search. 

Edited June 21Jun 21 by WizardintheWoods

51 minutes ago, WizardintheWoods said:

I was taught not all of the cards actually have directional cues.

I agree. For some it just wouldn't make sense, like the Clover, the Letter, the Fish, etc.

 

51 minutes ago, WizardintheWoods said:

Snake doesn’t in my learning. Snake only has before and after Stork, as Storks eats snakes.

Yes I had learned that first from Bjorn Meuris' tips on this website actually: lenormandguild.wordpress.com

It's quite a cool thing to note when context calls for it.

 

51 minutes ago, WizardintheWoods said:

I did study working with many directional cues or clues as I heard people talk about them with the various cards. I found that using so many of them muddying the waters of the reading rather then help sorting it out, but that might just be my reading technique.

I agree with you on this as well. I use these cues very sparingly in tableaus and for simple line readings I don't use them often. But I think it's a good little technique to use when a card doesn't make sense in a grand tableau; for example if it's a secret I'm trying to uncover (the Book) instead of using Houses and following the chain I could note the directions if I'm in a hurry, provided that the surrounding cards don't already give me a clear answer. 

I've made a list of the directions and only these three are left a bit unclear, that's why I'm so stuck on the subject for now, even if I won't be using them frequently, lol.

 

51 minutes ago, WizardintheWoods said:

Wishing you luck on your search. 

Thank you so much! ❤️✨

Edited June 21Jun 21 by Moon-Hermit

Okay, I don't know why I didn't notice this earlier but I came across it in Andy Boroveshengra's book (mine is the new 2015 edition) and here is what is said about the Snake: "Why would this woman want to deceive you? To discern this little detail, we could look at what the Snake is facing."

This is mentioned in the section on how to build combinations, under the heading "by direction".

I think for the Mountain it is also mentioned that some decks illustrate one with a peak, so the side which you would use to climb up to that peak would be more difficult than the other one, in my opinion. I am not sure yet. It would kind of make sense though, as the deck I use (Dondorf) shows the rising side on the left and the falling side on the right. If the mountain shows up in front of/after another card, it would be a more difficult obstacle than to the card that comes after it. It blocks whatever comes before.

Edited 20 hours ago20 hr by Moon-Hermit

@Moon-Hermit Most of what comes now won't be news. It is neither "da best" nor generally binding.

Its how I fare with the three cards you mentioned above: the Key, the Mountain and the Snake

For the Key I take note where the bit points, that is the card unleashed; the locked one is the one on the side of the shank.

They do differ per pack, indeed - Dondorf and Blue Owl open up the right side, the Brepols the one to the left - and then there are cases where it is ambiguous, such as with the Game of Hope. If things are not so clear, I default to sequence of layout, that is, read the card to the left as locked, the card to the right as unleashed.

With the Mountain, I mind the sequence as well, say if I lay the line out from left to right, a mountain to the left is less troubling (sometimes kind of beneficial, even) than one to the right. Same with top and down. Mountain atop is much heavier than one at the feet. So, not much going by picture with that one for me.

And the Snake. Depends on - Where's my dictionary? - how much "to the fore" she is, concerning the read.

If she's just sitting there at a distance, I do not care much about what she is facing and where, save for the moments my attention is somehow captured by her - when she's close, I do observe what she wants to get (direction she's facing) and what matter she complicates/clings to (card behind or the side where the tree is).

The card she's looking at can also be something she's pissed about. It is a deduction from what she wants to get - rid off, in this case.

Why exactly she wants what she wants I read best from whats above her head if there is anything, if not: see below.

Card No.7 has a strange feature: There are few decks where the Queen and the head of the snake face in the same direction.

There is a tendency to read what is at the back of the head of a court card as, well, what's at the back of the head of the person represented by it, in other words, their intention or reason.

I find it works, however, with the snake I have to watch which one appears more striking to me - the Queen or the Snake - and read accordingly.

With the Brepols, it is the Queen, with the Blue Owl, it is the Snake. No idea why, though. Still works.

The old Dondorfs are particularly nice in that regard, they look in the same direction.

So to her left is her target, to the right her reason (in a line) or the matter she complicates by clinging to it, which will most likely have something to do with her reason.

@Mister thank you so much for sharing such helpful information. I truly appreciate it.

12 hours ago, Mister said:

a mountain to the left is less troubling (sometimes kind of beneficial, even) than one to the right.

May I ask how it would be beneficial? You mean it in the sense that, if, for example, a positive card comes up after it’s good because you’ve managed to get over whatever that obstacle was?

12 hours ago, Mister said:

what matter she complicates/clings to (card behind or the side where the tree is).

Ah! This is the part I couldn’t find anywhere, or figure out on my own. So interesting, thanks for explaining it.

12 hours ago, Mister said:

The card she's looking at can also be something she's pissed about. It is a deduction from what she wants to get - rid off, in this case.

Ooh, I didn’t know this one, but it’s similar to how I read the gaze of the Jack of Clubs. Wherever he looks signifies what he wants to pick a fight on. Though their being pissed off has different reasons; the Queen of Clubs like you said, means it out of spite, whilst the Jack of Clubs can be just hot headed and too easily provoked.

12 hours ago, Mister said:

There is a tendency to read what is at the back of the head of a court card as, well, what's at the back of the head of the person represented by it, in other words, their intention or reason.

I find it works, however, with the snake I have to watch which one appears more striking to me - the Queen or the Snake - and read accordingly.

With the Brepols, it is the Queen, with the Blue Owl, it is the Snake. No idea why, though. Still works.

The old Dondorfs are particularly nice in that regard, they look in the same direction.

So to her left is her target, to the right her reason (in a line) or the matter she complicates by clinging to it, which will most likely have something to do with her reason.

This all makes a lot of sense. What I initially learned was that whatever the Court cards have turned their backs on is what they ignore— in the case of the Queen of Clubs, it’s what she misses. But what you explained here sounds logical, especially as it can also be applied to the card’s illustration.

I think whatever you decide on (about choosing directions in different decks) the universe or whatever is out there responds accordingly, as long as you remain consistent. I had a similar experience with the Whip and Ring. I used to read the former as repetition at first, but then switched to the latter later. Where the Whip used to come up for me as repetition, it’s now the Ring. Everything syncs with the other stuff as long as we are not confused ourselves, I suppose.