Timing and the Tarot
Stop reading. Right now. Go and put the kettle on, and make yourself a cup of your favourite hot drink...this is going to be quite a long posting, and I want you to be comfortable when you launch yourself into it! Why not treat yourself to a couple of biscuits while you're about it?
Cuppa in hand? Excellent...on you go, then!!
Timing is a tricky subject in the tarot, and can be quite contentious amongst readers.
Some readers will approach a timing card much as they would the bubonic plague...they'll avoid it at all costs, vaccinate their spreads against it, and advise their clients that there are other measures of approach to their question, other than the "when" question.
Some readers will embrace the invariable human desire to be able to know when something is going to happen, especially where the client is looking for information about the outcome in a situation, so that there's clear guidance on when they might see movement in the influencing factors, or towards a successful outcome.
And then there's everyone else, wedged in-between, trying to work out how to include timing successfully into a reading, and how to translate a given card into a timescale against a question with variable influences, multiple mitigating factors and internal and external motivations that are variously within or beyond the querents control. It's distinctly an exercise in trying to stilt-walk across an ice rink covered in marbles and banana skins while blindfolded - the chance of hitting the target can feel marginal at best, and the chance of missing the target altogether can loom so large in a Tarot readers perspective that it can derail the intuitive flow or smooth narrative of a reading.
It doesn't help when a search for information on timing in the tarot cards yields very divisive results, with the no-mans land between the two extremes littered with snippets of information, half-formed theories, intuitive approaches not clearly given form outside of that particular readers head, and just some shocking esoteric and convoluted ideas that would take years of additional study just to start to wrap your head around, assuming you were so inclined!
I'm going to present here three types of approaches to timing and the cards - 2 main ones: the intuitive and the astrologically influenced, and then the miscellaneous 'fillers'. In all cases, I'd recommend approaching all three types with a singular set of techniques:-
Be specific - pick a technique and stick to it for that reading. Be clear to spirit, your guides, or whatever influencing factors you believe assist you with your reading about what technique you're going to use, so that the card that comes out has clear guidance...otherwise you'll draw the card and then be faced with several potential interpretations on timing that can confuse and frustrate, as you won't know which to select.
Separate timing from the spread - draw a card for timing, but read it separately to the other cards in the spread, in that you don't interpret the card for its normal meaning, but instead gear it solely towards answering the question about timing. If you draw the Empress, it would not imply fertility or pregnancy, it would not suggest a period of plenty or of progression or growth, it would only answer the question about timing.
Weave the information from the timing card into the narrative of the spread - it's one thing to get a firm answer from the cards about timing - lets say you whip out a card that, with the technique you've chosen, means "November"...what is going to happen in November? the successful outcome that the querent has asked about? the blockages or obstacles that they're likely to face will come into play? the decisions they need to take to enable the next step on their journey? Where the timing card is included in the spread can be just as important as the timing answer it gives you, so ensure that you word your question in such a way that the cards can successfully provide you the information your client is looking for.
Remember that you're a card down - when you draw a timing card from your standard deck of 78, you remove the ability for the usual meaning and influence of that card to be felt in a reading...some readers look as much in a reading for what *isn't* there, as much as what is, or look for ways in which the cards could more easily express a concept, using the absence of those cards to mould the meanings of those that do appear. Having the Fool appear as the timing card removes the ability of the cards to easily express in the remainder of the spread the possibility of a journey starting, the need for a devil-may-care attitude, or the continued influence of innocence in the situation that's unfolding for the querent. If you were reading with only 77 cards, missing the Fool, what cards would your deck use to suggest the start of a journey to you?
Apply those 4 pieces of wisdom when you read for timing, and they'll help you avoid trundling merrily into a cul-de-sac of confusion and frustration!
Now, for the first of the timing techniques - the intuitive approach.
You've selected your spread and included a timing card, and opted for an intuitive interpretation of the timing element, and personally I find it useful here to initially check if a card feels 'fast' or 'slow' in its energies. If you draw a card like the Eight of Wands, which is traditionally associated with swiftness, then you might interpret that as being a quick resolution to the issue at hand...but similarly your intuition could associate more readily with the implication that there needs to be movement away from the current situation, or that success will come after a period of travel over some distance.
Alternatively, you might draw a card like The Empress. Your intuition may lead you to feel that it is a slower energy by comparison, that perhaps the pregnant figure of the woman suggests a nine month wait for the desired outcome, or maybe that things are ripe for birth imminently, or that there needs to be a period of rest and appreciation before the final push to success.
By using an intuitive approach, the cards are capable of communicating very diverse timing sensations, from 'now', to 'something needs to happen first', through 'push ahead despite resistance', to 'later...much, much later' - the intuitive interpretation of the cards gives far more flexibility in the application of a timing for the reader, but that great strength is also its weakness: that there is no definitive answer for the querent, and any flicker in the intuitive connection by the reader can lead to some unusual interpretations on the 'when' of things!!
The second of the techniques - the astrological influence, loses much of the flexibility of the intuitive approach, but allows for more specific timings. This can be extremely helpful in allowing a reader to work with a client on those particular timescales, enabling planning, scheduling and actionable responses, but similarly can be inflexible when facing those mutable influences in any situation that could potentially cause adjustment to any set-piece plan. However, used sensibly, and as a piece of guidance, rather than a set-in-stone, cast-iron guarantee, it can certainly offer some excellent direction for the querent!
There are various systems for this astrologically influenced approach, which can vary by technique, date associations, and deck, as artists and deck authors add their own twist on the traditional symbols designating those influences on individual cards, but once you find a system that you're comfortable with and makes 'sense' to you, then stick with that, allowing experience to allow for any changes that you adopt into the technique.
Personally, I use a table of associations, allowing me to focus my intuition onto the reading itself, and then have a little check of that table when I come to integrate its influence into the reading narrative, rather than attempting to memorise every cards timing association. You can see this table below, along with the adjustment I've made for myself (marked TMoW), as my suit associations differ slightly from the 'astrological norm', where I favour a seasonal approach - remember, any tool that you utilise can - and should! - be personalised to your reading style and individual preferences.
From the table, you'll see that dates are divided down into roughly 10 day slots, which have a Minor Arcana card associated with them and appear in groups of three from a single suit, and then those groups of 30(ish) days are associated with one Court card and two Major Arcana...so, as an example, the Sun and Strength cards, along with the King of Wands are associated with Leo, covering the period from July 22nd to August 22nd. That period is then further broken down into 3 x 10 or 11 day groups, associated with the 5 of Wands (July 22nd to Aug 1st), 6 of Wands (Aug 2nd to Aug 11th) and 7 of Wands (Aug 12th to Aug 22nd) respectively.
The exception to this rule is the Pages, who are the heralds of a particular astrological association (or, for me, personally, seasons), and so indicate an entire 3 month period. I've also included the Golden Dawn associations (marked GD) to show how another esoteric system differs again in their assignments. I've never quite grasped the GD associations (such as Swords for Spring or Pentacles for Winter), but that's down to personal preference, and forming my own clear associations for the seasons!
Finally, there's a mish-mash of different timing associations that combine various aspects and approaches.
The most common of these is the suit x number calculator - Suits variously represent days, weeks, months or years, and then the number drawn is multiplied by that timescale, so the Four of Swords is 4 days...the Six of Cups is 6 months.
There are also various techniques for day of the week, phases of the moon, and even the time of day which can be applied by drawing from those cards only - so for the phases of the moon, based on the aces, you could either take the aces out, shuffle them and draw one to give you your timing card, or alternatively, shuffle the remaining cards after the spread is laid out, and then deal the cards out until you find the first ace, and that gives your timing card. Interestingly there's a technique where cards are considered active (Swords and Wands) or passive (Pentacles and Cups) - it's associated with elemental dignities, and influences how cards react with those surrounding them...but in association with a timing card, when used with an intuitive approach, it can suggest whether timing could or should be a leading concern, or whether it will be passive to other factors or influences...or whether the timing requires something to happen first before it can come to pass.
Take a look through the additional pieces of information and see if any of them appeal to you personally!!
I'd love to hear your feedback on the timing techniques: whether you use timing in your readings already and have your own approach, or whether it's new to your Tarot Toolkit and you'd care to give it a whirl with either the intuitive or astrological techniques above!
