Tarot Card Combinations

Many of my mentoring enquiries begin with some version of "I want to learn tarot card combinations". Wanting to combine cards is the natural next step once that you have your meanings nailed down, but this can lead to a different problem.

In the first place, there are a few thousand two-card combinations (the number multiples if you account for the order of cards altering meanings and skyrockets if you bring more than two cards to the combination), which makes memorization unlikely if not downright impossible. In the second place, it doesn't consider context: Not the context of the cards within the spread, nor the context of the question, nor the context of its approach (It's not the same to ask a "what" than a "how" or an "if" or a "when").

And thus, learning tarot combinations as standarized pairings can be a Fool's errand. (See what I did there?)

In my experience, a tarot card, or a pairing, or a trio (whatever you want, actually) interpreted in isolation from its context is going to fall flat, and I would argue that it can hinder your learning more than advance it.

Surely, I have come to see certain pairings or certain cards that tend to pop up in particular contexts that hint towards a concrete situation, but that comes more from repetition and observation than something fixed.

So, if those tarot combinations are not it, what's the solution to bridge the gap between learning your tarot meanings and producing a relevant reading?

Weaving, not combining

I would say that the art of combining tarot cards looks more like weaving textile than assigning pairs. The cards on the table can have different functions (also, depending on whether you're reading purely positionally or in a more dynamic way, such as the Tableau). It is through the interaction of the cards that you begin to unveil the meaning that's relevant to the question, and that you begin to see the picture. I have explained this previously as thinking of a puzzle. A single puzzle piece is not going to give you great information. You might be able to guess if it belongs to the main figure or to the background, or about where in the picture it might fall. If it may be part of a tree, of a face, or the sky, but it isn't until you've assembled the whole thing that you can see what a handful of pieces were not able to show you. Tarot reading works in the same way.

Context is king

Cards without context can be about anything. So, before you begin a reading, take a moment to nail down its context. Think about "what is being asked here" not just in subject (is this a question about personal development or about career?) but what type of question is being asked.

"Will I land a job next month?" is an if question, that requires looking for the likelyhood of a certain thing happening or not. "When will I get a job offer?" on the other hand, is a timing question, so we are not looking for the characteristics of the job, but for a timeline. "How do I get a new job?" is a strategic question that requires looking for an approach to that goal. "Why didn't I get that job?" is looking for a motivation. The cards need to be interpreted under different lenses depending on how the question is framed and what the subject is. Ignore that, and the reading will become way more generic.

Read the table!

Let's approach this with an example, a simple three-card pull, non-positional, narrative, to see what I mean. We are going to ask a couple of different questions to this trio of cards so that you can see where I'm aiming at.

We have three cards on this proverbial table: The Ten of Pentacles, The Sun and The Tower.

"How do I get a promotion?" This question is strategic, the querent doesn't want to know if, or when, doesn't want to know about the environment at work, doesn't want to know how they are feeling about it. So our context is career + strategic. Elementally, this reading offers us a very solid earth with the Ten of Pentacles, and two fires with The Sun and The Tower. So the how requires staying in place and acting when appropriate. We don't have air or water, which in this case tells us that this is not about learning more, voicing their desire to gain a promotion, nor does it have to do with becoming more involved with the company, nurturing connections or devoting more bandwith to it. The absence of air and water in the spread discard those approaches. People love combining major arcana cards, but, if we think of a single combination to define The Sun + The Tower, what would we get? Short lived joy, perhaps? That doesn't quite work. If I approach this reading seeking strategy, I would say that the querent needs to stay where they are, perhaps highlighting the experience that they have acquired over time, so that they can take an opportunity to shine when the company or their department undergoes some reestructuring and it will be then when their opportunity to get that promotion appears.

"Will I get a promotion?" This is a different question that requires a different approach. Here we are looking for a possibility, a yes or no. Will they or won't they? Again, the querent wants to know if it will happen, so this trio of cards is working very differently. Narratively, this begins with the stability of earth but it grows into a fire that collapses. If I approach this reading seeking an answer about whether the promotion will happen, I would say no, it won't. The querent is likely a runner up for it, perhaps, they have been dangling the carrot for a while, the querent might be the obvious person for the job, stable in their position, recognized, perhaps well-known in the company, but when it comes to it, the expectation collapses and the querent is not given the promotion in the end. See how the difference works and why standarized combinations are not really going to help? If you want to learn more about this and how to go from reading card-by-card to read cohesively in every context, check out my book Tarot Tableau Revolution, available wherever books are sold! And if you want one on one help, consider mentoring. We'll sit together, work with the knowledge you have and the goals you set for yourself, and get you to interpret the cards without confusion.

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