Tarot Timing Information Chart

Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop!

“Tackle timing” is the charge given us by summer solstice blog hop wrangler Arwen of Tarot by Arwen. Timing in the tarot can be a tricky topic. But successfully identifying when something will happen is invaluable. The symbolic structure of the deck offers a framework on which to hang a multitude of coherent timing systems. If your deck already has clear timing indicators, great! Otherwise, finding the system that works for you is the first step in determining correct timing. Today I’m sharing a free downloadable tarot timing information chart that offers a clear timing correspondence for every card in the deck.

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Different Ways to Tell Time with Tarot

There are many ways to tell time with the tarot. For example, classical interpretations of the elements provide a speed for each suit. This is a simple way to determine whether something happens sooner or later. The traditional Golden Dawn correspondences propose planetary and zodiacal associations, resulting in the assignment of days of the week and dates of the year. More confusingly, various analogies for the suits lead us through an array of contradictory seasonal systems. For instance, the suits align with the seasons via the start of the season, the cardinal signs. This gives us Aries/Wands/fire for spring, Cancer/Cups/water for summer, etc. But the Pages are allotted the quadrants of the year. As such each Page represents the fixed signs or fullness of the season: Taurus/Page of Pentacles/earth for spring, Leo/Page of Wands/fire for summer, and so on.

Find Accurate Timing with the Tarot Timing Information Chart

The truth is that no system is perfect. The best technique for getting accurate timing in the tarot is to pick one system and stick to it — while being open to intuitional nudges. As a case in point, my sense of the Pages is that they are too young. So to me they indicate that it’s not time yet. This Tarot Timing Information Chart is a compilation of the systems that work for me, plus the nudges that have been consistently correct. It offers a timing interpretation for each of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana cards. I offer this in the hope that you will find accurate answers to your timing questions.

How to Use the Tarot Timing Information Chart

The key to establishing timing with the tarot is to ask timing questions separately. Don’t use the cards in your main spread for timing. First, I perform a spread on the topic at hand. After completing the interpretation, if my client would like to know the timing, we ask that as a separate question. I have the client cut the deck and pull one or two cards. It is important not to interpret these cards in any way other than timing. If someone asks when they’ll get that awesome new job and you pull Death and the Five of Cups, you can guarantee they’ll start by Halloween! Any meaning of the card other than the strict timing component is irrelevant.

Using one card will give a straightforward answer to the question. I like to pull two cards, the first giving the timing of the first part of the situation, the second signifying the completion of the situation. For instance, first, when you get the offer, second, when you close on the property. Or first, when you meet the person, second, when you start dating. It’s amazing how often people ask about having a baby and the two timing cards indicate time periods nine months apart!

Use your common sense to determine which timing meaning to use for a card. For instance, if your client wants to know when they’ll receive news about something important, chances are it will be fairly soon, hours to days to weeks, not months or years. So using the dates for the cards is less likely to be accurate. Instead of using ten-day segments of time, we want something scalable to indicate how quickly it will be. Likewise, adjust accordingly for things that will happen much more slowly, such as getting an inheritance, selling a house in a slow market, or waiting for that proposal. For these types of questions, the seasonal correspondences or the speed will be your best bet to get an accurate answer.

Printing Hints

This document is a comprehensive system for telling time with the tarot. The two-page document shares timing for each of the seventy-eight tarot cards — so you can determine the timing for any card in the deck. I recommend printing this on heavy paper or cardstock. There can be a lot of bleed through due to the saturated colors. You can print double-sided or single-sided and place the two sheets back to back and laminate them together. Choose borderless photo printing if your printer offers that option. Otherwise, select the “shrink to fit” option and trim the margins if you like. Have fun and I hope you receive many accurate tarot timing answers!

By the way, I love giving away cool free stuff! And I hate feeling ransomed for my email address for every neat thing on the internet. So this free resource is completely no-strings-attached. But if you like stuff like this, and if you think you’d like other free stuff that I put together (check out all my downloadables), then I’d love it if you signed up on my mailing list. Thank you!

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Hop on to find out who knows what time it is! Check out all the other bloggers and learn their tips and tricks for telling time with the tarot.

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