AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is another of my “breakout” spreads that explores ways to approach and ideally resolve a known problem. The “root” of the title is the central card of the layout that describes the dilemma; the “stem” is the three-card developmental array that leads from the center; and the “fruit” is the calculated quintessence card that synthesizes the interpretation of the four (or in the alternate version, five) input cards. Depending on the nature of the trump-card “quint,” the symbolic harvest will be either “robust and fully-ripe” or “meager and stunted,”

You will need two decks for this spread, a full deck to populate the ten “outer” positions of three cards each and another partial deck from which to draw the significator or focus card that identifies the “inner” (or intrinsic) nature of the issue. The second deck should be stripped of its trump and court cards, leaving only the 40 cards of the Minor Arcana. Reversal may be used with both decks.

Begin by shuffling Deck #1 and dealing thirty cards (one at a time and face-down) as random sets of three to fill the ten positions of the outer ring. These cards can be dealt in any order as long as all locations wind up with three cards. The position meanings for these triplets will follow the general descriptions of Pythagorean and Qabalistic number theory as shown in the following list. No matter how you distribute the cards, consider the “12 o’clock” position to represent “One” and the last position in clockwise rotation to signify “Ten.”

Aces: An anticipated beginning.

Twos: A period of give-and-take.

Threes: A period of growth and progress.

Fours: A period of consolidation.

Fives: A period of challenge and upset.

Sixes: A period of harmony restored.

Sevens: A period of renewed initiative and testing.

Eights: A period of adjustment and reaction/overreaction.

Nines: A period of re-centering and reconciliation.

Tens: A period of rest and relative inactivity.

Next, choose a focus card from Deck #2 and leave it in the pack; don’t worry about its number at this point and just rely on your inspiration. This can be any card that speaks to the root of the problem and it may refer to an objective state of being, a subjective sense of affliction or another person who is causing the feeling of unrest. In this method it will always be a minor card numbered from One to Ten, so some creative imagination may be needed to relate your visual impression of the image to the subject of the reading; go with your “gut feeling” on this.

Shuffle Deck #2 and begin dealing cards face-up into a pile at the center of the layout, continuing until the focus card appears. Note the number on the face of this card and find the stack of the same number in the outer ring. Spread out that pack in a line radiating from the hub of the spread. This series describes the developmental arc for evolution of the matter.

An alternate approach would be to bring out the card that lies immediately beneath the focus card and treat it as the “external motivator” or driving force in the situation, in which case the highlighted pack on the outer ring would be the one related to that number and not to the focus card (which remains as the initiating “trigger”). This has the advantage of not pre-selecting the developmental path in a de facto way according to the identified subject matter.

Read the four or five cards as a narrative explaining the “root-and-stem” of the problem and how the path it displays might be navigated. Finally, calculate a quintessence card (which will always be a trump) using the face values of the developmental sequence (use “11” through “14” for the court cards in ascending order from Page to King) and, if necessary, reducing the total to a number within the span of the 22 Major Arcana. That number will represent the trump-card “quint.” (There is calculation guidance elsewhere in this blog.) This card symbolizes the final “ripening” of the matter and shows the long-term consequences of following the prescribed road to its destination.

Here are two brief example readings to illustrate this technique. In both of them the subject is a challenging initiative I hope to undertake, so I chose the Ace of Wands as the focus card, and it appeared upright in the draw. In the first reading I used the number of the Ace (“1”) to target the first sub-pack as the narrative path for development of the matter, while in the second reading I identified the 10 of Cups as the card underlying the Ace and used its number (“10”) to select the tenth sub-pack as the proposed route of the forthcoming “story.” (All images are from the Thoth Tarot; card faces are copyright of US Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT, while the card backs are from the privately-published Retro-Thoth deck.)

In the above reading, the Queen of Wands reversed isn’t her usual feisty self and seems meekly accepting of my thrust. The Hermit suggests that I will have to keep up the momentum on my own initiative, while the Queen of Swords is elementally friendly to both the Ace and Queen of Wands, furthering my agenda with her carefully-reasoned judgment. Although the Air of this Queen is elementally hostile to the Earth of the Hermit, in the Golden Dawn’s “Chaldean” zodiac she partakes of the last decan of Virgo, the Hermit’s corresponding sign; so he will at least receive an audience. Because the two Queens (one reversed and one upright) cancel one another out, the quintessence calculation generates “10,” the Wheel of Fortune, lending a slightly positive emphasis to the proposition.

In the second reading I retained the original pull but used the card immediately beneath the Ace of Wands as the “selector” for the rest of the narrative. The 10 of Cups reversed implies that I might be “roiling the waters” of emotional equanimity if I proceed, and it points to the tenth sub-pack of the outer ring, advising a relaxed attitude. As an expression of Earth, the Knight of Pentacles is the least volatile of the developmental cards and is committed to stay the course. The 3 of Wands reversed is titled “Virtue” in the Thoth deck, and its reversal hints at possibly compromising my integrity by catering to the Knight’s stolid posture, while Temperance means I will have to “walk a fine line” while exercising delicate finesse if I go forward from there. (This card echoes the equilibrium of the Queen of Swords in the same position of the first reading but ups the ante a notch.) The Tower as the “quint” looks like its saying “Beware! Back off or else!” and thus reiterates the advice of the position meaning. In both readings Earth is the anchor that keeps thing from flying apart, although the Tower is trying hard to explode. The first reading is encouraging while the second one is cautionary. I’m more inclined to listen to the warning since my unquestioned self-interest has set me up for the first scenario.