Timing with the Tarot Cards

Apart from the 'Calendar' methods of laying out the cards. There are also ways of timing an event using the cards of the Minor Arcana. This is especially true when specific questions have been asked.

First, count backwards from the last card that you have laid down. Ignore all Major Arcana cards and Court cards, then take note of the suit and the number of the First Minor numbered card that you come to.

In this system, each suit corresponds to a different measurement of time.

Cups: days (but cannot be counted unless next to a Pentacle card)

Wands: Weeks

Swords: Months

Pentacles: years

So of the last card placed in a reading was the Six of Wands, the events spoken of in the interpretation would occur within six weeks.

At the risk of confusing you, I should point out that individual cards often have a time period associated with the,. The moon often refers to one lunar cycle of twenty-eight days. The Sun could refer to summer, the Empress to spring, and the Star to Christmas, as well as the astrological signs associated with various Major Arcana cards.

The Minor Arcana suits, too, often refer to seasons. Wands are associated with springtime, Cups with summer, Pentacles with autumn and Swords with the sharp cold of winter.