AUTHOR’S NOTE: In his book Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson discusses three-dimensional “Euclidean space,” observing that every human experience displays not only a perceived* temporal shift from the Past to the Future (conventionally graphed as left-to-right) and a non-temporal “chaotic-to-concrete” organizing principle that devolves from top-to-bottom (my Qabalistic take, not his), but also a psychological “in-and-out” aspect passing through current circumstances that is both “internalizing” (moving inward in search of “root causes” ) and “externalizing” (moving outward toward a conditional future that transcends the normal objective outlook).

His isometric illustration shows the third axis as an oblique arrow increasing in size as it emerges left-to-right from the background into the foreground, but I think of it more as a reciprocal flow rooted in the Present that has epistemological (knowledge-seeking) and transformational (mutably-causal) “tentacles” reaching into the Past and the Future, respectively. I’ve labeled them the “Innermost Working” and the “Long View” in the second image.

I’ve worked with three-dimensional spreads in the past, notably with the Lenormand Grand Tableau, but I decided to “explode” the ordinary past/present/future line spread onto two intersecting diagonal “3-D” planes. (I should first mention that the “cross” section of the Celtic Cross spread already gets part-way there, as does the French Cross, but they are still basically two-dimensional and linear in focus.)

Here is my working model in graphic form. The concept as I use it is that the past, present and future “stack” from bottom-to top, with a peripheral “reach” that moves even further backward and forward in time. (*Note that quantum theory does not recognize chronological time as a given but we tend to “live it” that way with our existential emphasis on yesterday, today and tomorrow.)

Begin by shuffling the deck while concentrating on the past/present/future dimensions of the matter in question.

Deal Cards #1 through #3 from left-to-right in a diagonal pattern, noting that they are “nested” with each card slightly overlaid upon the previous one. Read this series in the standard “past/present/future” way, paying particular attention to their subjective (idiomatic), intersubjective (self-evident) and objective (conceptual) qualities typified by the established Past, the emerging Present and the projected Future.

Deal Card #4 under the bottom-left corner of Card #2. (I decided to work from bottom-to-top with the “Internalizing Emphasis” because it is subliminal in nature.) Read this card as suggesting the root-cause that reaches beyond the “known” Subjective Past into subconscious motivational territory.

Deal Card #5 over the top-right corner of Card #2. (The “Externalizing Emphasis” emerges from chaos into concrete expression.) Read this card as implying a conditional future that is predicated upon the transformational “reach” of the superconscious influence. (It may or may not have anything to do with the “Objective Future” shown by Card #3 because it is a “step beyond.”)

Read the overall layout as a developmental scenario that offers more depth than the typical past/present/future narrative.

Here is an example reading about a problematic scenario that has been “on the back burner” for some time and hasn’t been brought to a head:

The Root Cause of the uncomfortable state of affairs was recognized to be emotional dissatisfaction with circumstances as they stood at that time (5 of Cups).

The Magus in the Subjective Past shows that “rational realism” (perhaps tinged with unblinking fatalism) was brought to bear on keeping disappointment in check.

In the Present, the Princess of Disks conveys a patient readiness for whatever comes of the situation.

The Objective Future delivers an echo of the Root Cause with the 8 of Cups, but the reversal takes some of the sting out of the emotional distress, producing abated resignation that the Princess of Disks can live with for the short term.

The Conditional Future capitalizes on the emotional maturity of the Queen of Cups to ride out the discordant trend with consummate poise. I would count on her getting whatever she wants from the outcome.

Conclusion: What could have been a dismal future with the reversed 8 of Cups is redeemed by the gracious equanimity of the Queen of Cups backed up by the steadiness of the unflappable Princess of Disks and the firm grasp of reality expressed by the Magus. If anyone involved in this matter is challenged by the two disaffected Cups, it is unlikely to be the Queen and her entourage.