AUTHOR’S NOTE: Whenever the meaning of the “outcome” card in an online spread analysis is unclear, I expect to encounter advice from the community to “look at the rest of the cards in the reading for the answer.” This is wise counsel since no single card operates in a vacuum when accompanied by one or more of its peers. A variety of interactive influences can modify its behavior, from inherent compatibility or incompatibility to identical or analogous esoteric correspondences such as suit, element, number, polarity and rank.

This concept comes into its own in the practice of Elemental Dignities, in which the elemental “friendliness” or “unfriendliness” exhibited by the cards can increase or decrease the potency of the card that receives the emphasis. For example, an Air card between two Fire cards can be greatly energized and motivated in its mental pursuits, while bounded by two Earth cards its innovative ideas could be dragged to the ground and stomped on. (For completeness, I will add that beyond the cards of their own element, Fire cards are friendly to Air cards, neutral to Earth cards, and unfriendly to Water cards; Water is amiable toward Earth, neutral toward Air and hostile toward Fire; Air is agreeable with Fire, neutral in combination with Water and uncomfortable when joined by Earth while the latter returns the favor. When the cards in a set are of “mixed dignity” (such as Fire and Water surrounding Earth), there is little effect on the target card’s energy.)

This is generally applied to three-card sets with the middle card as the “principle” and the adjacent cards as “modifiers.” But when working outward from the middle, for example in a five-card line (it only functions well in odd-numbered populations), the second card out in each direction will affect the contribution of the two contiguous cards and also directly impact the condition of the principle card in the sense that the complexion of the beginning and end of the matter could have a bearing on the “turning-point” position in the middle. (Applying manufacturing flowchart terminology, the line of cards signifies the process stream, or “what goes in and comes out” at each stage.) The usual interpretation is that, when moving away from center, the elemental impact is progressively weaker the farther away we get, but I see it a bit differently.

In my five-card example, the two cards next to the principle card become “transitional” in their narrative capacity along with their direct elemental input to the occasion. This brings the deployment of other qualities and correspondences into the mix, the most significant of which is the customary meaning of the cards and their relative affinity within the array. Two “transitional” cards that are completely at odds with the character of the “turning-point” card and also with those at the two ends are likely to disrupt the smooth evolution of the events and circumstances described by the reading.

Taking it further, suppose we have all gentle Water cards in a spread except for the harsh, fiery Tower at its heart. There is no way this is going to work out well unless the Tower is reversed, which I’ve come to see as portending a “soft landing” that lets the seeker walk away from the event with minimal damage. Rather than being diminished by adjacent, low-energy Water cards, an upright Tower might just be irritated to the point of venting a cloud of volcanic “live steam” that presages its eruption (anyone who has worked around industrial steam systems knows we definitely don’t want that to happen). When it represents a volatile situation or a bad-tempered person, better run! If, on the other hand, the watery Chariot holds the “sweet spot” it should be an “all systems go” scenario.

Additional nuances can be found in esoteric number theory, especially within the realm of odd-or-even preponderance and sequential complexity (i.e. One to Ten). Commonality or disparity of rank can also play an important part, as can positive and negative polarity. The critical take-away here is that every spread resembles a complex organism in which the constituent parts will either cooperate seamlessly to produce clarity or stand apart with potentially inscrutable consequences. Too often, a spread with poorly-integrated cards can seem like so much “white noise,” and the challenge becomes one of finding a common thread that can create at least a measure of cohesion, thereby offering a narrative “stub” from which to start building out.