Oct. TdM Circle Sign-UP

[Charlie Brown]

Hello all,

I'm looking forward to this month after September's strong showing! It will take me a day or two to get the spread posted, but we can still sign up right now. I'm like 85% sure we'll be doing something with the French Cross, but I need to look at some notes.

Also, if people have wishes for future month's exercises, please PM me. I do myself have a nascent vision of where we can take things over the next several months, too.

Dates:
Respond here to sign up by October 9.
Partners assigned October 10.
Readings posted by October 23.
Feedback posted by October 31.

The French Cross a.k.a. the tirage en croix is one of the basic spreads of historical TdM reading. It is (generally) a MAJORS-ONLY spread. Most versions of the cross use 4 drawn cards and also a 5th card called the quintessence. The quintessence is not drawon but is determined based on the other four cards. Instructions for how to calculate the quintessence will be given below.

There are several versions of the cross. The one I'm labelling at "traditional" seems to be the most common and is the basic form presented by Kris Hader. Oswald Wirth's version of the cross is the one I personally gravitate towards on most occassions. The two versions are significantly different in terms of how they treat the quintessence card.

Traditional French Cross
1/left: For— That which is in favor of the querent
2/right: Against— That which opposses the querent's desires
3/top: The Past—That which situations the question within the querent's past experience
4/bottom: The Present—The context within which the reading relates to the querent's life
5/center The Quintessence—The answer to the question and/or the course of action of to be taken

Wirth's Cross
1/left For
2/right Against
3/top: The Judge—What arbitrates between the for and against. This card often offers advice and/or clarifies the choice involved.
4/bottom: The Resolution— The answer to the question and/or the course of action of to be taken
5/center: The Quintessence— This card gives the general tone of the reading and acts as a sort of lens through which to view the cards. In Wirth's resding method, the quintessence is read first and used as a guide for interpreting the other cards.


Calculating the quintessence.

The Quintessence is calculated vis "theosophic addition." It's a bit tricky to explain but very easy to show and do. Simply put, the number of each Arcanum is added together. Then, each digit from the sum is added together. This card is the quintessence. Take notice that the quintessence may be the same as a card that's already in the reading. That's OK.

Examples:

Empress (3), Lovers (6), Death (13), World (21): 3 + 6 + 13 + 21 = 43. 4 + 3 = 7. The Chariot is the quintessence.

Hermit (9) Tower (16) Moon (18) Judgement (20): 9+16+18+20 = 63. 6+3=9 The Hermit is the quintessence.

Magician + Empress + Pope + Wheel = 19. The Sun is the quintessence. There is no need for further addition.

There are a few minor variations in how people calculate the quintessence. But this is historically "correct" way and, frankly, the only one I'm willing to countenance.

[Diana]

I'm in !! Thanks again for hosting this Charlie Brown. Can't wait to see what you've got in store for us this time. I don't know what a French cross is, but you will no doubt explain well and this time I'll try and understand quicker. (I don't know really what a Celtic cross is either, so if you say it's just a version of the Celtic cross, this won't help much. But I'll figure it out I hope !!)

[Rachelcat]

Oh, heck, why not! Yep, eager to see what you have for us!

[qndynes]

Count me in.

[Charlie Brown]

Hi everybody,

I updated my original post to include instructions for the French Cross. It's a little hard to explain but, in practice, is a super easy-to-read spread that I've found very effective. It also is a good spring board for some more advanced things. Kris Hader actually has a 600 page book (which I've sadly never read) devoted solely to this one spread.

I do plan to make another post in a couple of days that shares a couple of cool optional techniques that you can use as add-ons to reading the French Cross.

[Charlie Brown]

If anyone is interested, here's a French Cross reading I did last year.

viewtopic.php?f=112&t=713#p3053

[Diana]

Aaaaah ! Le Tirage en Croix. Je connais bien sûr !!

Only know it by reputation though. Look forward to this. Kris Hadar is one of the tarot specialists that I respect hugely and I actually love him to bits. If he can write so much about this, then I trust his judgement. And yours too Charlie Brown.

Thanks for all the info.

[dodalisque]

I'd like to sign up again this month. I have done a little work with this spread before. Marigold was a good sport last month but I won't be coming up with any more trick questions, at least not without asking permission first.

[Charlie Brown]

Charlie Brown reads for Marigold
Marigold reads for Rachelcat
Rachelcat reads for Qndynes
Qndynes reads for Dodalisque
Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown

[Diana]

My computer is dead. Well and truly dead. RIP. Reading and feedback therefore delayed. New computer ordered. Don't know how long it will take to be delivered. So there are unfortunate delays for the work I need to do for this reading exchange. Can't type all this out on my phone. So sorry!

[Charlie Brown]

Isn't that the start of that Camus novel? Mon ordinateur est mort.