Relationship Spread #2

Difficulty: Easy

This relationship spread focuses more on the common ground of the relationship, with three cards in the middle column showing the common ground. The middle column essentially displays the past, present, and future of the relationship.

Card #4 stands for the common base of the relationship, which may be thought of as the past events which have shaped their characters, bringing them together. The current connection that binds them together is Card #3, indicating the values shared. Card #7 implies the common goals that would keep the pair together moving into the future.

The columns on either side show what each partner brings to the table. Remember, relationships need not be romantic, and the partners could even be groups rather than individuals. In this layout, the other person is on the left-hand side and the reader on the right.

Cards #1 & #2 indicate the separate personalities of each member of the relationship. These cards form a sort of bridge with the cards beneath them, #5 & #6, which show the qualities that each partner offers the other person, and thus to the relationship as a whole.

Your Relationship #2 Reading

	Mutual Goals
Your Qualities	Connection (Present)	Others' Qualities
What You Bring	Common Base (Past)	What They Bring

The prince appears unexpectedly in the picture. We are slightly alarmed. He looks as though he were made of fire and he seems to be setting his surroundings on fire.

He is lifting his wand as though to fight and moves everything out of his way. But the purple vase, which he has broken in his haste, might have perhaps been useful to him. He hardly notices it; the contents are now lost. In the background a volcano is erupting and pouring its lava over the picture.

The picture has the effect of being rather poor and harsh. The blue colours represent coolness, but due to the red and yellow one can sense a certain energy, which also appears in Aries' head at the corner of the throne, connected astrologically with the Emperor.

The card's number four, which also represents the element earth, can be found in the house in the square of rocks and the crown also shows four spikes and four stones. Further symbols of the Emperor are an orb (symbol of world dominion) and a form of sceptre (symbol of materialism in life).

The throne-room looks very tidy, but at the same time very bare. The throne itself has hardly any decoration. The king is protecting himself by his complete dress; his coat of mail can be seen under his shirt; on his chest he is wearing the sign of Libra, an indication of his connection with justice and his role as a judge.

The two butterflies above him indicate that he shows a tendency towards black and white-thinking. The crown, with its three points, refers to the third element, air. His sword is not completely straight and the square tiles in the background emphasise, through the different tones of red, that life cannot be locked away into boxes.

The picture is based on a classical presentation. The alternation is portrayed by the changing of the green and yellow colours and in addition through the movement the snake makes around the two pentacles, fashioned in the circle of colours. This appeals to a repetition of experiences. The double loop relates to our entire path through life.

The two eyes indicate that the High Priestess perceives the polarity in their dualism but doesn't take any valuation into account. The light and the dark side can be seen, as well as the waning and waxing moon and the full-moon, which unites and contains both sides.

The water and the two fish also symbolise the connection, the flow of energy and the dualism. The feather stands for the High Priestess' sensitiveness, the pomegranate for her fertility.

All the elements are present on the picture, because the element, earth, actually contains all the other elements. The pentacle, as the fourth element, is mounted in a square frame, emphasising its relationship with the number four.