#sorry this came out so abysmally late- I have been v sick

[witch-of-snow-and-stars]

Tarot Notes & Musings Part 4: Signifiers and How To Read for Individuals

Hi! So with this we're going to be looking over signifiers/significators and my process for drawing signifier cards. In this I'm going to go over how I draw and read signifiers, but depending on someone else's methods how they read will be different

🔮First let's get some definitions/clarifications out of the way. Signifiers are just cards meant to represent how someone you're reading for is operating generally or operating in the reading (depending on what is being read for and how the rest of the reading is set up). Signifiers deal with how someone is currently and those signifiers can definitely change over time. For example, I wouldn't expect someone to have the same signifier cards years after an initial reading or after going through a major life event. I tend to see signifiers as both part of the setup for a reading and part of the reading itself (they act like a prompt/jumping off point and major structures of the reading if that makes sense). For a small reading I'm only going to draw a card, but for the setup for one of my Pick-A-Card readings or a large reading I could pick up to 8 cards from my various decks to get some extra nuance.

🔮So when I'm selecting multiple signifier cards, my tarot and oracle decks are all going to be present but have different jobs in the reading. If you're picking signifiers like I do, how your individual decks operate is going to affect your setup. Here are my decks and how they operate (excluding my Nature Spirits tarot and my Gothic oracle, we're still breaking those two in):

Rider-Waite Tarot: how someone is showing up in the reading. If it's a face or major arcana card it is more likely to be how they are/are behaving currently, if it's the other cards it's likely where they're at currently (like a Queen of Wands is someone embodying those traits, a 3 of Pentacles could be someone who is a student).

Shadowscapes Tarot: same as the Rider-Waite, although with my deck it can lean more towards the person's emotional state or how they tend to be in relationships. To use an astrology analogy, my Rider-Waite is a sun sign and my Shadowscapes deck functions as a moon or a venus sign.

The Faeiries' Oracle: think something along the lines of someone's Patron energy. Due to how the deck generally feels and operates for me, whatever shows up in that signifier card is going to be representative of beliefs or themes surrounding whoever is signified in this (ifykyk, but if someone's signifier was the Spirit Dancer it wouldn't shock me if that person was very in-tune with their emotions/is very open to self exploration in themselves and others or they're someone that finds those principles important).

Wild Unknown Animal Spirits Oracle: broader, more basic traits and inclinations. Instinctual or primal unconscious responses that are what I find this deck deals with.

Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle: with this deck it really depends because there are 4 types of cards (selves, places, tools, and initiations). So depending on the card type the card is going to represent personal archetypes, life events, energy surrounding the person, what they could represent in the reading or represent to others, or where they're metaphorically at during the time of the reading.

Dark Mirror Oracle: I don't usually use this deck because of how the deck is designed (basically, it's a deck of primarily negative traits/behaviors) but it can show negative traits present at the time of the reading.

🔮While looking at the cards I've selected, I look for patterns and correlations within the meaning of the cards. When I'm pulling cards to describe someone, I'm looking for the cards to start referencing and building off of each other. The visual patterns of the cards matter too, like if the same colors or images are showing up in most/all of the cards, that could be indicative of something connected to the person being read (ex all the cards have blue prominently in them= maybe blue is significant).

🔮Part of reading signifiers is considering what the reading is for. Most cards can be interpreted in a few different ways, so it's important to know what exactly you're looking for to narrow down what information you're getting.

I drew some cards at random for an example reading of signifiers below the cut if you want to see a in-depth way of how I'd read a large reading for someone.

*click to enlarge for better picture quality and The Dark Lady is censored a bit*

Ok so now that we have pictures for what we're looking at, let's get out how I would interpret of each card and the cards in total.

Rider-Waite Tarot: the Queen of Pentacles is someone who is successful, financially independent, generous, down to earth, and practical. They could be read as a woman or a more feminine person, but I don't read for gender.

Shadowscapes Tarot: the Magician is someone who is skillful and knowledgeable, they're the type to be resourceful using what resources/knowledge/skills they have to get where they want.

The Faeiries' Oracle: we have two cards here, The Green Woman and the Dark Lady. The Green Woman represents wildness, natural magic, expectant gratitude, and untrammeled creativity. I would expect someone with this card to be connected with nature and someone who is helpful while seeing reciprocity as important (ie they see help as something that encourages mutual support). The Dark Lady deals with unconscious power and wisdom, rituals, mysteries, and secrets. I would associate the Dark Lady with the altered state you achieve with spiritual meditation or using ritual practices to connect to magic or supernatural entities. As for the person that could be signified by the Dark Lady, I wouldn't be surprised if they were interested in the occult, secrets and mysteries generally, or if they were someone who engaged alternative spirituality/spiritual practices. I also associate the Dark Lady with shadow work to some extent.

Wild Unknown Animal Spirits Oracle: the Vulture is representative of cleansing/purification and balance, seeing the good in the bad and the drawbacks to supposedly positive things.

Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle: In the Archetypes deck, The Siren is someone who is alluring and who is familiar with exploration of the taboo. I could see someone like this being interested in studying taboo things if they're not participating in things that may be considered taboo (nothing malicious or harmful necessarily, but for example maybe they're knowledgeable in the occult or have researched/explored things like sexuality or kink)

The cards all together in a reading would be representative (to me) of someone who is very grounded/earthy and the type of person who has skills and knows how to use them to the best benefit. I could see them being crafty or creative in their spare time. They know how to make things happen. They're someone that is generous and I would expect them to be pragmatic about what they pour their resources into (this could be someone that pours a lot of resources/energy into community works because if something benefits the community they are benefited as a community member). They also likely quite fair in that they see the good and bad in things and will allow for both (within reason). They may be seen as alluring or charming, but in a way that makes them seem like they have hidden depths or a dark side. They do probably interact to some level in alternative spirituality/ the occult or taboo topics, but that could just be an interest that they have researched instead of direct engagement.

That's all for this topic! Thanks for reading💜

Deck Care/Storage and Tips for getting a good reading are up next!

#tarot notes #tarot musings #tarot #cartomancy #divination #tarotblr #tarot readings #sorry this came out so abysmally late- I have been v sick