My Tarot Reading Using Helen’s Illumination Tarot Spread!

I try out every spread that is sent to me. My favourite ones are those that offer the most flexibility, and Helen’s Illumination Tarot Spread is one of those spreads! Its shape is a familiar one – I’ve used it myself on my blog. What’s unique about this particular spread though are the names of the positions. I’m not one who usually uses positions as I like to free-flow in my Tarot readings, but I love the way Position Four anchors the other cards together, almost like it’s bringing two warring sides to the table to co-operate!

I want to show you how great this spread is, how flexible it is, and how much information you can get from just four tarot cards – join me while I explore my reading in depth, up close and personal.

1: What I need to be aware of in the coming week

Ace of Pentacles – You would wonder what there is to be aware of with the Ace of Disks, wouldn’t you? But we can’t ignore this is a great card in a potentially troubling position. If we examine some keywords a little, we might be able to reconcile this:

• represents the beginning stages of something tangible; prosperity; growth; material abundance; new enterprise; improving finances or wealth; a solid fruitful foundation.

Looks like my week is off to a great start! What do I need to be aware of? I think it’s highly possible I might miss my opportunities or worst still, waste them. There’s a clue in the next card.

2: This is what my emotions tell me

Four of Cups – called Luxury in the Thoth deck that I used for this reading. It often speaks of opportunities you don’t see; or, ones you feel you don’t need – goes nicely with the Ace of Disks! On an emotional level, this card speaks to me of nonchalance, perhaps even melancholy; but most likely inertia.

3: This is what my thoughts tell me

Eight of Wands – called Swiftness in the Thoth, I think it’s safe to say that my thoughts are many and in quick succession, in fact I’m going to say that those thoughts are ideas and expansions on the Ace of Disks.

4: This is how I combine my emotions and thoughts to assist me through the week

Six of Swords – called Science in the Thoth, this card has a number of divinatory meanings, but often talks of travelling and/or learning. My preferred interpretation is of mental clarity, or using logic to solve problems. I feel it’s saying to me “You’re allowed to feel your emotions, but Catherine, have a bit of clarity, would you? And hey, use the skill in the Eight of Wands to negotiate your distractions and difficulties this week!”

Summary of My Tarot Reading

Well it seems like a great start to the week with a new project(s) in the air (Ace of Disks). I have to be careful of my emotions and not missing out on any opportunities (Four of Cups) that may present themselves as they may be gone as quickly as they appear (Eight of Wands). By being decisive and using clear logic (Six of Swords), I can rescue the week and those plans/projects that I could quite easily jeopardise, and turn this into a productive and profitable week!

Applying Elemental Dignities to the Reading

I said in Helen Howell’s Illumination Tarot Spread, that it lends itself well to reading with elemental dignities and card pairing. Let’s do that now with this reading and see what else we may be able to work out.

Looking at the central card, in my reading the Ace of Pentacles, it is supported by both modifiers. However, they are contrary to each other and would therefore cancel each other out! What does that mean exactly? It simply means they are having no effect at all on the central card, according to Golden Dawn rules.

There have been some adjustments to how people read elemental dignities over the years, and one way to look at this triad is by looking at how the water card, the Four of Cups, is actively supporting the Ace of Disks, an earth card. The Eight of Wands as a fire card, is neutral to the Ace and so the Ace is in a strong position.

Both ways to read that triad show the Ace to be pretty strong, even when it stands alone as per Golden Dawn rules. We’re helped along by the fact the Ace is, well ace! It’s a great card so it stands well. We could think of the Ace (my work this week) as being unaffected by the Four of Cups (my emotions, and therefore my missed opportunities) or by the speed with which those opportunities appear or disappear (Eight of Wands).

Let’s just stop there for a moment and reassess what we have just worked out. In standing alone, the Ace is unaffected by either the fire or water; or in being supported by them, it’s in a strong position.

Are you seeing the contradiction there?

If you didn’t, let me point it out. I interpreted the Eight of Wands to mean my opportunities may go as quickly as they come around this week. The Ace of Disks has shown itself to be either, standing alone; or, in a strong position. Either way it’s unaffected by the Eight of Wands. So my original interpretation was wrong! We now have to look to the other divinatory meanings for this card to find out what it may mean, and they are:

• Acting quickly; overcoming obstacles, directness; communications; events moving swiftly; blockages removed; opportunities arrive quickly

I rather like ‘overcoming obstacles’, and ‘blockages removed’. Fits better with the Four of Cups, I feel.

So what just happened there? Well, elemental dignities showed me that I was barking up the wrong tree! That the Eight of Wands was saying that these blockages and obstacles (from the Four of Cups and my interfering emotions) have to be, and can be overcome. These two cards don’t say how though – enter the Six of Swords and the next triad:

Again we have the central card (Six of Swords) actively supported by one of the modifiers (Eight of Wands) and neutral to the other (Four of Cups). So by applying the rules above, we have exactly the same situation. The Six of Swords can either stand alone, or, it can be supported. The question now becomes “is the Six of Swords a strong enough card to stand alone and not lose any of its power?” I think it can, I feel it’s a powerhouse of a card.

When I read this card without elemental dignities, I felt it was uniting the Four and the Eight – acting as a bridge to the fire and water. Here though, it’s seeing what they can contribute; and in leading from the front, it’s making the modifiers tow the line as opposed to trying to bring them together. So which ever way we look at it, the Six of Swords is still uniting them. Pretty cool.

If we quickly look at the elemental dignities of the secondary triads, we can see that they are all happy and fully supporting each other. This simply means that the Four and the Eight are strong in their triads, reinforcing their divinatory definitions – which may not be such a good thing! My emotions will be strong and difficult to bring under control, and likewise, the energy in the Eight of Wands could cause me to be impetuous.

Card Pairing

We can pair any of the cards in this set of four as they’re all so relevant to each other and in very close proximity. There are six pairs in this formation, though I will just be going with the most common two as it’s likely that’s all we would do under normal circumstances, and, these cards are quite clear in their message so I wouldn’t in this situation, dig any further.

Four of Cups and the Eight of Wands

“I can’t go on,” “come on, it’s this way,” “no, just go on without me,” “but it’s just down here, come on – we can do this.” You get the picture, right?

Ace of Disks and the Six of Swords

Cool logic expanding on the original idea, moving it forward with skill, but also grace.

*There’s two very important points to be raised with this pairing. There are some quarters who say the Aces are unaffected elementally and so this pairing of earth and air, usually seen as enemies, would be having no such effect on each other. That’s an advanced theory for another day, but one we will be covering soon enough.

**The second point is the Six of Disks. If we keep the Ace and the earth in the mix, we still have an unhappy combination of earth and air. However, it’s my feeling that this card in particular has a sub-element of water – a concept you can explore further in my post on sub-elements in Tarot cards – in which case, the usually angsty earth and air would have a bridge from the water sub-element of the card. This is also advanced elemental dignities, but is something I’ve been working on for a while and plan on writing about very soon. I just wanted to wet your appetites ahead of it

The Key to the Reading

Well, each and every card is strong in one sense or another, giving credence to their meanings. Individually, they’re all very valid things I need to work with or overcome. There’s no doubt that the Six of Cups is still the key card to this reading – it unites the two cards in a divinatory sense and also elementally, and while the Ace of Disks does that also, it’s making an offering, giving a gift, if you will. How I deal with it is via the Four of Cups and the Eight of Wands – the mediator between them being the Six of Swords, the key to the reading.

Post Reading Notes

I actually performed this reading on Monday, right at the beginning of the week. As it turned out, Monday and Tuesday were in fact, highly charged emotional days for me (the handy work of the Four of Cups). What I planned on trying to do this week, what my original thoughts about the Ace of Disks were, well, I haven’t pulled that off yet – the week so far has been a fast moving one with things changing by the minute – remind you of the Eight of Wands?

However, I had some great news yesterday, with some amazing people agreeing to guest write in Contributors, and an awesome invitation from a top name in Tarot that will help propel my Tarot career and reputation forward. I’m both excited and terrified! Remember the card pairing of the Four of Cups and the Eight of Wands? That’s me right now. I have accepted the invitation, but my terror remains, only I know (the Six of Swords) that it’s the best move forward and this is one opportunity (the Ace of Disks) that despite my terror, I’m going to take and rise to its challenge!

Don’t you just love the Tarot!

You May Also Enjoy:

• The Tarot Elements Signature Spread©
• The Elemental Dignities Dictionary – Two Card Combinations
• The Tarot Lady’s Horseshoe Spread
• Having Fun With The Magic Square© – The Tarot Elements Signature Spread©
• Tarot On TV Magick Tip
• Introducing The Elemental Dignities Dictionary
• Using The Question As A Significator In Your Tarot Readings

Tagged as: Card Pairing, Elemental Dignities, Tarot Reading, Tarot Spread