Confirm, Encourage, Divination

If you've been to one of my classes or readings you have probably heard me say this. When we do a reading there are three things the cards always do. They will be in varying degrees with each reading but all three will always be there. 

 

CONFIRM - The human mind can and often will vacillate with how it feels about key events and circumstances in life. One of the least recognized roles the cards play in a reading is to confirm things we are indecisive about. The cards want you to know that just in case you're unsure and need that extra "prodding," the answer is yes, this is true. They validate the importance of the matter at hand.

 

ENCOURAGE - So who doesn't need a little positive reinforcement every now and then? Often we are on the brink of taking that last crucial step to making a choice about something but we get stuck. The cards come along and give us that last glimmer of hope we needed to feel safe and secure in the action. But encouragement also spans all four elements. Besides action (wands) we can also be encouraged mentally (swords,) emotionally (cups,) and with material matters (pentacles/coins.) 

 

DIVINATION - The word comes from the Latin divinare which means "to foresee." This area of course relies heavily on interpretation and there are many things which can be revealed, the most common being events, signs, and people coming ahead. The divination in our spread almost always comes in the future positions in the spread, for example positions 6 and 10 in the Celtic Cross. 

 

Also note that individual cards in the spread that might do two of these at once, for example encouraging and confirming, or encouraging and divination, etc. Every now and then there will a card that does all three. The past position in the spread is usually a confirmation and only a confirmation.